Private Range - Construction Compary or specialized ?

[85MikeTPI]

A land clearing company would be your best bet. They have the equipment to take out trees intact and will truck them out to a mill. Any debris can be chipped and left on site. Personally, I don't think 50yds is wide enough.

This range is 1000 yds...on the side of a mountain. Is this what you want?

http://mifflincosportsmens.com/

50yd min width, but that concerns me less than the leveling of the land and removing the stumps and the trees for maintenance.
It's private, so I don't have to accommodate the multitude of different shooters, and I don't have to worry about "rules"..

[Brick]

You are talking some very expensive work! 50 yard width would be wide for a state road right of way! And the limiting factor would be the amount of earthwork needed to have a profile so you did not have hills or defilades masking you line of sight. You might be able to get a logger to clear the trees but, to go beyond that you're going to need a half-away decent excavation outfit. Try finding someone who understands what the term "grade" means and consider narrowing your range to say 10 or 15 yards.

[RenoV8]

50yd min width, but that concerns me less than the leveling of the land and removing the stumps and the trees for maintenance.
It's private, so I don't have to accommodate the multitude of different shooters, and I don't have to worry about "rules"..

I would focus on the tree clearing first. Not sure why you are concerned about stumps and leveling. Have an access road leveled or rent a piece of equipment yourself. Having someone do this work, with all you have mentioned is going to be a nice chunk of change. Our Township had a 4.5 acre piece of land cleared and sprayed to keep down weeds...40k. They cut all the trees down but did not remove the stumps.

Once the trees are cut, removing the root balls and filling in, is a job of, in itself. Might be worth the money to buy a backhoe.

[MikeStull]

The range sounds awesome. One potential fly in the ointment, PA DEP. It's been 10 years but: https://archive.triblive.com/news/pr...uble-with-dep/

[JoshIronshaft]

That’s funny. I also first hand know a wealthy person who was targeted by the DEP with fines when he removed trees along a creek to beautify it and restore it to how it appeared decades ago. You definitely have to be careful working with wetlands and streams. Even your crossings have to be approved. Also you need approvals to cross gas lines with equipment or disturb the earth on gas lines (I forget how wide of an area that gas line rule impacts but its not just the dirt right on top of the gas line). They regularly check gas lines from the air with helicopters so they will find out.

Honestly I would do as little as possible to clear the shooting position, target area, and line of sight between the two to minimize the attention this brings.

I would definitely look at going with a logging company if 100% clearing. Make sure your expectations of what the finished product will look like are very clear because they can leave you with a bigger mess than what you had to begin with.

As far as buying a machine vs hiring someone with a machine, that is a roll of the dice.

I bought 23 acres in 2019 and I purchased a 1976 CAT 955L crawler loader for $8k. Basically a D6 size machine. It’s done a lot of earth moving and tree removal but used heavy equipment is a gamble. I’ve done a lot of repairs and maintenance but one major component failure could turn it into a lawn ornament. There is no doubt I have done more than $8k worth of work with it, and the ability to use it as my time allows is priceless. I will consider it nothing less than a blessing if it continues to serve me well until I’m done with my “big projects” and ready to sell it. Hopefully in a year or two. Pray for me!

Anyways, if that isn’t appealing to you then stick to hiring someone with equipment. An excavator and a dozer will make quick work of it. I went with the crawler loader because it is ok at everything, where other machines will do better jobs at individual tasks. I wouldn’t do clearing work with a large backhoe on a slope.

I would look for a smaller single owner excavating business. Ask around your area. Look for someone with machinery that isn’t falling apart. If they have machines that are in poor condition they may end up having to do involved repairs on dangerous slopes, while dumping gallons of hydraulic fluid, losing weeks of time, etc.

[85MikeTPI]

There are no gas lines or water on the property, just a 1.5mile long mountain range. Hopefully DEP
won't be concerned with me.

I found a link on land clearing that seems to estimate $7K/acre, which would definitely be a deal breaker
https://homeguide.com/costs/land-clearing-cost
A 50yd X 1mile range is 18 acres of land.

We have a CAT305 mini Escavator doing the work now, but it does have its limits. But it may have to do
the job over the next few years and we just push the berm out a few hundred yards each year..

thanks

[Daycrawler]

There are no gas lines or water on the property, just a 1.5mile long mountain range. Hopefully DEP
won't be concerned with me.

I found a link on land clearing that seems to estimate $7K/acre, which would definitely be a deal breaker
https://homeguide.com/costs/land-clearing-cost
A 50yd X 1mile range is 18 acres of land.

A logger will pay you for the wood. That is where your money is. As for the DEP, I would look at your local codes, if any at all exist. No water and wet lands to deal with is a major plus. I have a guy who did work on a local gun range I can ask him about it.

Called him: He said he would get a forester to evaluate the plot. Then figure out the board footage X vale White oak and walnut trees are doing really great right now. Ash is not doing well due to the ash borer. If you want more info PM me.

[85MikeTPI]

A logger will pay you for the wood. That is where your money is. As for the DEP, I would look at your local codes, if any at all exist. No water and wet lands to deal with is a major plus. I have a guy who did work on a local gun range I can ask him about it.

Called him: He said he would get a forester to evaluate the plot. Then figure out the board footage X vale White oak and walnut trees are doing really great right now. Ash is not doing well due to the ash borer. If you want more info PM me.

Thanks. The land was logged about 25-30 years ago, so I presume the trees are not large enough for a logger to have much interest.
(Mostly we're cutting/knocking-over 8"-14" diameter cherry and locust, which is what the logging left previously)

[Gunsnwater]

At the very least selling fire wood. You really need to use the wood for cash unless you're independently wealthy. Stumps can get in the way of mowing. Weeds will take over. Vines will spread and kill all your trees. Personal experience. Then the dead trees get infested with bugs, quickening the tree appocollaps. Wood peckers will love you. I hope you can make it work. I dream of a personal range every day.

[Royinmontco]

Cody Detwiler (WhistlinDiesel) states that it cost him "50,000 dollars" to pay somebody to mulch a mile long driveway:



If you don't want to watch the whole video, you can skip to 12:09 for the mulching clips and cost comment. No way to know if he was being serious.