Questions about ripping lava - Tree removal - Tiny 'House' in Puna

[respect4pele]

Most of the areas I chopped my way through were aa lava, very rough and chunky. is it possible for a bulldozer or a D8 Cat to level it without ripping when it's all chunky and rough? Someone else suggested the same thing I just don't want a nightmarish driveway LOL.

My friend in ocean view has a rough driveway like yours, but the back of her property is ripped it's kind of weird.

She got a really good deal on her place. A man had built a house and everything was roughed in including the plumbing and electrical, but he never bothered putting in cabinets or flooring or sheetrock or anyting. He just lived in the place all baren for like 15 years. She picked up the place for about 60 Grand and put another 30 grand into it and now she has a really nice house and property for cheap. She used her 100k inheritance it was a perfect situation for her. There are actually a lot of really good deals on Hawaii island if you're willing to put in some sweat equity. But who wants to retire and then just lay around on the Lanai? I want to have projects and stuff keep me busy and make the property really cool and magical to impress my mainland guests!

[Open-D]

Originally Posted by Amadrid

We had a very rough driveway improved last year. The guy that did it also usd the backhoe to pull out about 6trees to extend the driveway around a carport. We live in Ocean View and have mostly aa lava and blue rock with just a little pahoehoe.

Would a sheepsfoot roller help post-ripping in such circumstances?

[Supertav]

Aloha,

I just received an estimate of $20K to clear 1 acre of the 2 acre lot I have in Fern Acres and I was shocked to learn how expensive it is! I was wondering if you actually had moved to the Big Island and how big of the lot you ended up clearing and for how much. I was wondering if you can share your experience in moving to the Big Island and for clearing your lot. Any recommendations or suggestion will really be appreciated.

Thanks.
Supertav

[whtviper1]

Originally Posted by Supertav

I just received an estimate of $20K to clear 1 acre of the 2 acre lot I have in Fern Acres and I was shocked to learn how expensive it is!

How much did you think it would be?

[Supertav]

No clue but definitely not $20K for 1 acre. I will need to shop around and perhaps only clear the driveway and the lot where I'm going to build.

[Grassyknoll]

Originally Posted by Supertav

No clue but definitely not $20K for 1 acre. I will need to shop around and perhaps only clear the driveway and the lot where I'm going to build.

You can rent equipment from Herc or Home Depot in Hilo and do it yourself.

[whtviper1]

Originally Posted by Supertav

No clue but definitely not $20K for 1 acre. I will need to shop around and perhaps only clear the driveway and the lot where I'm going to build.

I don't have a clue either - from what I can tell online $20K seems on the very upper end - I'd get more quotes

[Supertav]

Yeah $20K is a bit pricey. I will definitely shop around and I may have to rent a weed wacker or even a bulldozer for a week and do it myself.

Thanks for the responses.

[terracore]

$20k to clear an acre? Or to rip it? They are vastly different, and $20k for clearing an acre seems crazy high to me, but I haven't priced anything like that in 10 years. Unless you're starting a commercial orchard of some kind you probably don't want the lot ripped. Once ripped a lot can never be unripped. But a cleared lot can eventually recover. Ripped lots are magnets for all sorts of invasive species.

You might need to size the job to meet your financial situation. If it were me, I would put clearing the driveway, house area, and lot lines (for fencing) at the top of my list. One may not want fencing, but it would also provide nice corridors for or walking routes to inspect / enjoy the property and if you keep it clear it would be easier to fence later if that's what you want.

Good luck, and I hope you report back.

Edited to add: Some bulldozing quotes don't include delivery of the bulldozer, because they don't own the equipment to move them and have to hire the job out. And some dozers will want to store their bulldozer on your land until they start the next job. Probably not a big deal but I've heard of some operators getting mechanical and money issues at the same time and wind up "storing" their gigantic bulldozers on somebody's lot for months. Just more things to ask about.