I agree that a tractor is far more economical. The problem is that
driving one on the slope would be suicidal. I'd guess it's close to
a 100% grade. That's the catch-22. Once a house is built, the slope
will make for a fantastic view. The price for that view is the
difficult construction, especially initially. The very reasons the
land is unusable for farming/grazing are the reasons it will be
challenging to build upon desirable to live there once the structure
is finished.
If I were to use one of those walk behinds, it would be a rental.
I'd get some friends together and we'd try to knock out the critical
work in one or two weekends. I even can imagine tethering it, just
in case it wants to roll.
The other alternative would be to do a lot of hand digging. I'd
probably need to buy a jackhammer to get the big rocks down to a
manageable size. It's mostly limestone, so breaking it up shouldn't
be unreasonable. I wouldn't even consider attempting construction on
this site if the rock were granite. Ideally I'll use a lot of that
rock in the structure.
--- In papercreters@yahoogroups.com, "Nick Boersema" <picknick@...>
wrote:
>
> Slurryguy wrote:
>
>
> Building a road and digging out for the foundation will be no small
> tasks. It won't be easy to use heavy equipment at the construction
> site. I saw a tiny tracked walk behind skid steer the other day on
> the boob tube. Something like that might be ideal, at least at
> first. If it can handle the slope well, it might make things
easier,
> especially initially. It would be nice to excavate without
> destroying the natural beauty that exists.
>
> I think after about a day and a half if you last that long the walk
behind
> will drive you mad.
>
> They are very expensive for what you get because of their unique
nature and
> limited application. They are also terribly slow. I picked up a
used 34
> horse JD 4wd tractor loader backhoe for $18k Canadian. I think it
would
> likely have cost about $14K US. For another $3k you can get a pin
> attachment if the rock is a real problem. If they are over 5 years
old they
> tend to keep their value very well so you could sell it when you
were done.
> The combination of loader, backhoe with side stabilizers make this
a very
> agile little beasty. Plus there is so much more you can do with
them. PTO
> driven mixer? Cut the brush, dig the septic, lift 600lbs up 8'..the
list
> goes on and on.
>
> Hope you get your property
>
>
>
> Nick
>
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