Can a Bobcat do this?

[Marctrees]

I have never operated heavy equipment, nor been around many dirt moving jobs.

So we're needing to make a level pad for lets say a 30 x 40 pole building..

The ground is sloped about 1ft in 10ft, so were gonna put a retain wall to one side of the pad area, cut the "wedge" that's leftover, to make the pad level.

Very basic stuff, around 80 yds cut, use some for fill on low side (if deemed suitable) toss the rest somewhere else.

No big rocks, pretty darn sandy easily diggable soil.


ALL I need to know is, is a typical common Bobcat type rubber tire small skid steer w a decent operator, capable of all parts of this job??

Or, is something bigger or different needed?

Thanks !! Marc

 

[ssdave]

The bobcat will probably do it. You will need to put the soil in the fill side in about 6 inch lifts, water it well, and compact each lift with a roller compacter or wacker packer before going on to the next lift. Don't get fooled into thinking you can run the bobcat on the fill and that will be adequate; it won't. Nor will a plate compactor do it. A roller would be fastest and best, but a wacker packer will do it if you take the time to get full coverage and get the moisture level right.

 

[LXCam]

Sure can, but can you. Getting a pad level with a skid steer takes a **** pot load of experience and trickery. It's not anything I would suggest you try to do. You're most likely gonna make it worse by trying.

Oops, I didn't catch it where you mentioned an operator.

 

[Marctrees]

ssdave - Totally gotcha on the compaction.

LX - No no, I would not try it.

It would be a guy that has run equipment for years.

I'm only askin this, cause I got my recommended local guy tryin to tell me he needs to use his new mini excavator, @ $1250/ day, "cause will do a better job than Bobcat alone." he sez.

Sounds like BS to me, so I'm askin here. Marc

 

[LXCam]

The tracks on the miniex make compaction easier and quicker but I think your SS guy has been around the block or two. At 1200 a day I'm sure you're saving a few bucks.

 

[Marctrees]

The tracks on the miniex make compaction easier and quicker but I think your SS guy has been around the block or two. At 1200 a day I'm sure you're saving a few bucks.

Sorry, unsure what you mean after the compaction comment. Marc

 

[ADSR]

ssdave - Totally gotcha on the compaction.

LX - No no, I would not try it.

It would be a guy that has run equipment for years.

I'm only askin this, cause I got my recommended local guy tryin to tell me he needs to use his new mini excavator, @ $1250/ day, "cause will do a better job than Bobcat alone." he sez.

Sounds like BS to me, so I'm askin here. Marc

That's a rip off. mini rentals are 325/day in my neighborhood. (35 - 50 mini's)

 

[ssdave]

The tracks on a piece of equipment are specifically meant to spread out the weight, so they work counter to compaction. A bobcat tire will compact a whole bunch better than a track piece of equipment ever will.

You have to use compaction equipment to compact soil. Nothing else works real well.

 

[jfish]

I would imagine (hope) that the 1250/day is operator and machine.

Either machine will do it, but it sounds like this is a matter of cost. If you feel like your getting smoke blown just go get 3 bids. Any operator worth his salt should be able to hit you with a time and cost on the back of a napkin.

Yeah sure he wants to put that iron to work but keep in mind, they spend 50k+ for a shiny new mini because they get work done.

Good luck!

 

[Marctrees]

Compaction will be a future issue, right now I guess I just need to confirm the Bobcat can cut that much of my kind of soil I explained above, and roughly move around that amount of material.

Cause right now I'm more concerned about the cutting of that material, so we can put in the wall uphill from the future building.

When filling time comes for slab, I'm gonna try to get a guy w a real live vibrating roller to work along w the pad fill guy.


The same guy also tells me - the mini trachoe will make a "more level pad much more efficiently" than the Bobcat.

NOT talkin about compaction in above sentence, only talkin about efficient leveling.

He says the Bobcat only follows the existing grade, not good at making level out of sloped.

Again, sounds like blowing smoke.

Seems to me it all depends on the operator.

Even though a bulldozer is usually used on bigger leveling jobs, the machine ain't magic, it's the operator skills.

No ?

Don't concrete crews, that do have equip, use a Bobcat for like garage floors?

Seems to me they do, but again, not too familiar w this.

But isn't that what they use?

Again, sounds to me like he wants to use that new machine for alllll he can to $ bill it out. Marc

 

[JerryB]

A Bobcat with an experienced operator could do it, but it really isn't designed for that type of job. The Bobcat is really a loader, usually used in close quarters, therefore the skid-steer.

A medium-sized 4wd tractor with a box scraper & rippers is much more suited to what your are describing. That machine will usually have a front loader that can be useful in certain digging situations and, filled with dirt, be used as ballast to help with the ripping operation. That type tractor also has the advantage of helping compact the dirt as it is placing it.

The excavator with the proper bucket could then be used to dig footings.

I would definitely check on prices in you area, as you friendly excavator owner seems to be pretty pricey.

 

[PugetDude]

Sounds like you've got a guy trying to pay for his shiny new excavator...

Get the Bobcat and operator and run the garden hose and plate compactor yourself.
Your concrete guy is going to want to compact it again anyway...

 

[Marctrees]

JerryB - When you say "4wd tractor", please give an example of what you mean. Marc

 

[Marctrees]

And if we were in middle of nowhere ( kinda my situation) would the Bobcat handle it end result??

(Other than full proper compaction, familiar w that.) Marc

 

[finn]

Sounds like work for a small dozer, trimmed by a bobcat.

I don't see where an excavator fits in for this job.

 

[Farmall450]

Sounds like work for a small dozer, trimmed by a bobcat.

I don't see where an excavator fits in for this job.

'Letsdig18' on YouTube shows an excavator fits into any job!

 

[PeterT]

I'd call a local guy, he'd bring his dump & a trailer with a med size dozer, he'd have it done in a morning for $500

 

[WhiffySpark]

Mini is the wrong tool for this job unless he's bringing a skid with it.

And the dozed blades are useless on a mini. They're good for pushing spoils back into a trench and stability. They even **** at pushing soils lol

 

[mmb617]

When we put in our first above ground pool we had a site that needed leveled similar to what you have. That was many years ago but we hired a guy with a small dozer and he did a fantastic job. Very little trim work was needed to bring the entire 20'x40' site within 1/2" level everywhere.

A few years ago we were adding on to the garage and needed some site prep. It wasn't nearly as much slope as the pool site had been so I thought I'd try to do it myself. I rented a bobcat and it worked quite well even with me learning on the job how to operate it. I see no reason why an experienced operator couldn't do your job using a bobcat on the type soil you have.

A bobcat might not be the ideal piece of equipment for the job but I certainly think it would be adequate.

 

[TractorJeff]

Bobcat/Skidloader can cut a flat bench in the middle of the slope to work from. Maintaining a level cut off the high side, throwing it behind him on the low side.
Eventually removing the high side wedge while building up the low side.
Can it be done with a Hoe? Answer is "Yes!"
$1250/day is about $150(?) an hour.
He may have delivery padded into that.
I just leveled up my driveway this way with a Skidsteer, cutting on the high side while dumping on the low side to come up to the cut eventually leveling the slope out of it.
Learned how to do this years ago!
Also learned that with a backhoe, you can do the same thing by using a combination of the hoe to tear down the high side and deposit on the low side while using the bucket to level out the final grade on it.
Which means a Track Hoe would work!
BTW
You'll get more compaction from the Skidsteer tires than the Trackhoe do to the weight being distributing into a smaller square inch patch of ground!

 

[K'ledgeBldr]

I don't see any reason why the bobcat can't handle the job. As previously mentioned, the mini ex guy just needs to paid for the rig.

For your area I think "compaction", as everyone has mentioned, is basically a moot point. The Toledo Bend Res/Sabine River basin is pretty much all sandy loam to fine sand loam. And what bit of clay you may find is quite expansive- soil conditions can have wide expansion and shrinkage ranges- making slab prep very detailed and somewhat time limited.

Texas has many soil conditions; the worst to deal with is the "Black Gumbo" region that runs from NE of Dallas down to Austin and Houston- that **** is a ***** to build on; even a pole barn!

https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/texas/TX419/0/Shelby_TX.pdf

 

[jimgood]

Bobcat was used to excavate for our 80 x 170 riding arena. The slope was significantly steeper. Seemed to do the job just fine.

 

[mz44]

I have many years experience operating equipment. A skidsteer will do the job but combined with an excavator or backhoe is much faster and more efficient. It takes time and patience to pad out a hill with just a skidsteer. Also depends on the skidsteer, a track machine will dig better than a tire machine.
The excavator will dig out the cut and level the area and the skid will pick it up and move the material where it needs to go.
If I were doing the job for you I would tell you the same thing. The price seems fair to me. Even if the contractor bought the machines used he probably has minimum $60 grand invested in them.
I would get a few more prices, but I don't think he is blowing smoke.

 

[prostreetamx]

Here in Las Vegas we need soil tests and compaction inspected at 1 foot levels. They had to remove 42" of the soil and reinstall the same soil in 1' layers. They were allowed to use a wheel loader to compact. They used both a skid steer and a loader/ backhoe to complete the job over several days. The garage in 30x38' and they had to go 2' bigger. This extra dirt work added $5000 to the $12,000 original slab bid. Add in all the permit, soil testing and engineered plans, I hit $25k and only had a slap,though a pretty tough, nice one. The garage is almost finished now but a good slab is very important.

 

[jkeyser14]

I'd call a local guy, he'd bring his dump & a trailer with a med size dozer, he'd have it done in a morning for $500

I am jealous of you midwest guys. Around here most guy charge a $500 mobilization fee before work even starts. Want to rent your own mini excavator? $750 per day...

 

[turbowoodworker]

Funny stuff here. Cut to the chase. If the OP is not doing it himself, is paying for a completed task, why would you care what equipment an experienced local professional uses. Get three bids. Pick the one you are most comfortable with ( may be not the cheapest) and write the check for a proper job.

Worrying about what method a professional uses is like worrying about whether he drives a Ford, Chevy or Dodge. In the end it doesn't matter. ( Provided you don't choose low bidder).

 

[Firebrick43]

Bobcat/Skidloader can cut a flat bench in the middle of the slope to work from. Maintaining a level cut off the high side, throwing it behind him on the low side.
Eventually removing the high side wedge while building up the low side.
Can it be done with a Hoe? Answer is "Yes!"
$1250/day is about $150(?) an hour.
He may have delivery padded into that.
I just leveled up my driveway this way with a Skidsteer, cutting on the high side while dumping on the low side to come up to the cut eventually leveling the slope out of it.
Learned how to do this years ago!
Also learned that with a backhoe, you can do the same thing by using a combination of the hoe to tear down the high side and deposit on the low side while using the bucket to level out the final grade on it.
Which means a Track Hoe would work!
BTW
You'll get more compaction from the Skidsteer tires than the Trackhoe do to the weight being distributing into a smaller square inch patch of ground!

This past September I had a mountain of dirt dug for my 9.5'x28x50 basement. The excavator was a pc320 kamatsu ((100hp~ machine)) and it was 150 and hour with operator.

 

[3rdgendslmech]

I just had a close family friend who does concrete level my pad (24x32) for a pole barn. Elevation was a foot low from the high side to low side all the way across. From start to finish he was only here about an hour and a half. He used a tracked bobcat T590 and a toothed bucket. We strung out the site 1 foot offset on each side, stripped the topsoil, cut about 3-4 inches on the high side and filled and compacted the low side with a 24" ballasted plate tamp. I'm about 2 inches shy of being completely level on one of the low side corners, just gonna put extra gravel in.
Use a tracked machine if possible, they're more stable on the ground and you'll get a better finished site. A rubber tired machine wont get as much traction and if you're in sandy soil or unstable ground it'll fight you to the finish.

 

[ishiboo]

A medium-size Bobcat will do that no problem. A medium to large one will have a 1 yard bucket, so you can imagine how long that project would take. Compaction is the issue. As mentioned, a mini excavator has a very LOW ground pressure, so while it will look smoother than what a Bobcat leaves behind in terms of ruts, it will NOT be as compacted. Neither is appropriate for actually compacting soil.

I'd imagine on that small of a building, a skid loader would be the tool of choice for most contractors.

 

[Radix2]

Funny stuff here. Cut to the chase. If the OP is not doing it himself, is paying for a completed task, why would you care what equipment an experienced local professional uses. Get three bids. Pick the one you are most comfortable with ( may be not the cheapest) and write the check for a proper job.

Worrying about what method a professional uses is like worrying about whether he drives a Ford, Chevy or Dodge. In the end it doesn't matter. ( Provided you don't choose low bidder).

This is the answer.

 

[rburke65]

My guy used a small dozer to remove topsoil. I'm not an Op Eng. here but in my opinion that's a lot of dirt for a bobcat. Just my opinion.

 

[Kaizen]

for my 30x36 I had to remove 2 or 3 feet and add fill to bring up to grade we needed. I too have sandy gravel soil under the loom they removed. guy had bobcat, small front end loader, and a bobcat mini excavator. he only used the excavator. His reasoning was he didn't want to disturb the soil below and cause the need for more compaction. I paid the same price regardless of his machine so i'd wager the mini was the best/most efficient.

 

[JPD Motorsports]

I use a Kubota SVL90-2 for the work you are talking about daily, doing all sizes of pads in the DFW area. our rate for a day is 1450 operator and machine, if need a compaction roller on job then that is an extra 300 for the day. It will cut that at about a 4-6" cut depending on the soil. To do it I would cut the whole pad top 6-8" deep and pile to the side. Then start your cut. as you do a lift "with skid loader we do 6-8" wet before you fill and wet in between. use skid loader to track it down and make sure the dirt isn't "pumping" take the roller attachment and roll in the lift on vibration. do this until desired lift. After done with pad take the top soil and spread around the pad to get proper drainage and small slope away from pad.The skid loader can cut that pad level and balance no problem. If you can i would dig about 2 feet deep then have a proctor pulled on the soil to see what moisture and compaction is recommended. In raw field land where we have over 1 foot of fill and the owners are not doing piers we pull a proctor to cover us and have lift tests done thru job.

 

[BDT/NWMN]

When I want something level; I call in an experienced guy with a road grader.

 

[bigcreek]

The guy who leveled my shop pad / parking area did it with a D6 dozer with a laser or gps thing and he had it looking perfect. Didn't take long either.

 

[Captain Spaulding]

The operator will make more of a difference than what you use for the job

^1,000,000 this!

Find the best operator and hire him. Doesn't matter if he says he will be using a steam shovel.

 

[Captain Spaulding]

So we're needing to make a level pad for lets say a 30 x 40 pole building..

The ground is sloped about 1ft in 10ft, so were gonna put a retain wall to one side of the pad area, cut the "wedge" that's leftover, to make the pad level.

Marc

The question is why?

Strip the top soil and put up the building on existing grade with skirt boards. Fill to level and build up the low end outside with road base or whatever is available where you are. The slab will be above any water and no retaining wall required.

Having your finished floor below existing grade is always much more complicated than having it above existing grade.

 

[slackdaddy1]

Just a suggestion, if it were me, I would put a retaining wall on the LOW side and bring in fill to level the building site "UP". I was never a fan of having a "moat" on one side of a building nor sitting a building low,, always bring fill in and perch the site "up"

 

[larry_g]

Trackhoe, backhoe, skidsteer, or dozer? Any will get the job done and a lot depends on the operator. If you can deal with a slope on the wall of the dig then the SS or the dozer does fine. If you want a near vertical wall on the edge of the cut then the hoe's would be the preferable tool. Personally I would want a bid for the job, not an hourly or daily rate. I would also have in your agreement just what MEASURABLE level is.

I know for my shop I really did not want to build on any fill but like you I had a slope to deal with and I now have a nice crack in the floor right about where the virgin material meets the fill.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[nes999]

A Skidsteer is rarely the right tool for a job. It can do many jobs, just not any well. I truly depends on the operator and how nice you want the job. I would believe that the operator wants to use his mini ex so he can get a nicer result.