I got a quote on having my driveway and parking area redone with crushed stone and curbing. $4,500 is a bit steep and I could do it myself if I had Bobcat or similar.

I've never had to deal with maintenance on one so I'm not sure I want to buy. Locally, renting costs a little under $800 for a week. I've seen used ones for sale for about $2,000 and I could find uses beyond the driveway.
If I rent I'll probably have to rent for 2 weeks, 1 week for driveway and a week later for some other landscape issues, so I'd spend around $1,600 for rental once all is done.

Is it worth getting involved with owning one or should I just rent. I always like the opportunity to do a job myself and get a new tool out of it. I just don't know if the maintenance and parts costs are what make the rental so much. Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks

__________________
Chad
2006 Nissan Pathfinder LE
1998 Acura 3.0 CL
OBK#44
"Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work." - Aristotle (384-322 B.C.)

SOLD
1985 300TD - Red Dragon
1986 300SDL - Coda
1991 - 300TE
1995 - E320
1985 300CD - Gladys

That's an extensive project if your gonna use a Bobcat for a week. But I think you'll be better served by renting.
I did a 120' drive with a Takeuchi trackloader in two days.

what else could you use it for? I mean.. there is always an excuse to buy tools.. and heavy machinery...

Knowing me.. I'd buy it..

The driveway will be 250' and 12' wide with a 40'x50' parking area in front of a 3 car garage. I need to scrape alot of the area to properly grade for drainage in front of the garage, and then spread out about 60 tons of crushed red stone. I also have about 200 foot of sidewalks I want to redo 4' wide, 2 patio areas and some minor regrading around the property for drainage issues and beautification.

Maybe I should buy one, use it until all my stuff is done and resell.

__________________
Chad
2006 Nissan Pathfinder LE
1998 Acura 3.0 CL
OBK#44
"Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work." - Aristotle (384-322 B.C.)

SOLD
1985 300TD - Red Dragon
1986 300SDL - Coda
1991 - 300TE
1995 - E320
1985 300CD - Gladys

do you know how to operate a bobcat? just asking

...if it has tits, tires or tracks you should rent it.


Honestly, a $2000 skid loader will be a clapped-out POS looking for a place to die and someone to pay for it. Don't even think about it.

__________________
Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.

For that type of material, $4500 sounds like a steal.

You should consider doing some sort of soil stabilization so that pretty stone doesn't eventually get pushed out of sight, down into the dirt.

__________________
Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.

RENT! you dont realize the work the require to keep up.

__________________
have no worries.....President Obama swears "If you like your gun, you can keep it

I've used them on smaller jobs or tight access jobs when I used to do paving and concrete.

The $4,500 was for a scaled back version of what I want to do. I agree on the soil stabilization, that is part of the problem now. The existing red stone is getting buried and the driveway gets muddy in areas. I think I'm going to put a slotted pipe in front of the garage also to be sure no water will get in there as it does in heavy rain. What would you suggest for soil stabilization? How about plastic or landscape fabric?


Thanks for the advice. I only ever used equipment on jobs I worked, so I have no experience with the cost or difficulty of repair. I guess the rental cost is worth it as I kind of suspected.

Thanks again,

__________________
Chad
2006 Nissan Pathfinder LE
1998 Acura 3.0 CL
OBK#44
"Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work." - Aristotle (384-322 B.C.)

SOLD
1985 300TD - Red Dragon
1986 300SDL - Coda
1991 - 300TE
1995 - E320
1985 300CD - Gladys

There are some geo-fabrics made for this but the cost and trouble of installation scared me off. I've had excellent results simply tilling portland cement into the soil at about a 90#bag/sqyd rate with a small tractor powered garden tiller. A section of road I did in this manner easily supports a 38,000# motorhome when wet. BTW-Cement modifed soil is nothing new. Google it and you'll have more than you can read.

The farm has about 3400ft of main road and about 40% of that will need soil stabilization before any rock is put down so, the cost of bagged portland is a bit too steep for that project. Consequently, I'm looking into using lime or, since we have a lignite-fired steam generating station nearby, ash is an option as well.

I own several pieces of equipment including a small Komatsu dozer, a Kubota BX1800 tractor and a 70's vintage John Deere tractor. Despite getting plenty of TLC, they are constantly needing some sort of work and absolutely NOTHING on them is cheap.

__________________
Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.

The rental available comes with a tiller attachment, trailer with a few other attachments. The cement sounds like a good solution. Hopefully I can get to this soon, it's pretty high on the list of home improvements.

__________________
Chad
2006 Nissan Pathfinder LE
1998 Acura 3.0 CL
OBK#44
"Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work." - Aristotle (384-322 B.C.)

SOLD
1985 300TD - Red Dragon
1986 300SDL - Coda
1991 - 300TE
1995 - E320
1985 300CD - Gladys

Here are some links:

Soil-cement stabilization

Soil cement

__________________
Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.