Bulldozer or Digger to level site

Ferocious

I have a very uneven site to level. The highest point, where one end of the house will be, will have to come down over 2m. From this area, the site slopes off in all directions at different gradients. At the other end, the level had to come up over 1m. The ground has to come down for over two-thirds of the footprint and most of the front of the site.
The site is nearly an acre, with the back of the site around 3m lower than the FFL so this is where most of the excavated material will go.

To add to the challange, the high areas are full of stone - big boulders. I think a machine driver described it as boulder clay(?). A big machine should be able to move it and hopefully it won’t require much if any rock breaking. This is based on what came out of the neighbouring sites although I have to remove more than they did (starting higher).

My query is this: Would it be more efficient to get a bulldozer in to level the site and shift the excavated stuff to the back of the site?
It seems to me a digger would spend a lot of his time moving the stuff he has dug out from the front to the back of the site rather than digging – he’d probably need a tractor and trailer/dumper to do it more efficiently which seems to add to the cost.
I have no idea how much a bulldozer/driver costs and I’m finding it difficult to track one down to have a look.
I’m assuming then that a bulldozer would be quicker? Are there other pros/cons and would it be much more expensive?

Poor Uncle Tom

A 20 tonne track machine and dumper sounds like the answer to me. It's clean and fast moving around the site. The dozer will not be as clean and will take longer.

Ferocious

Thanks Tom. Made a few calls and I suppose the poeple that know really need to look at the site...

C Eng

Might need to use a combination of excavator, dumptrucks and a dozer

Dozer is really only for grading off large areas. Depending on site layout and conditions may need to use more than one dumptruck to maximise the effieciency of the excavtor. Not to have it idle whilst the haul is taking place

Where are you based?

its baltic

you will more than likey end up needing an excavator anyway,ie to dig material away from site boundary and cornor's. My advice would be price the two, dozer per hour and excavator (20 tonne) with dumptruck or tractor & trailer per hour.
I would imagine though if the site is this unevan an excavator would be the best option, get him in the first day or two to open up site and make space for dumptruck to travel and strip topsoil.then might be worth your while to get two dumptrucks and get the most of it moved in as little time as possible, easy then to off hire one when the worst of it is done.

get a few different opinions and prices, people approach these things diffently. might be best to get a few prices to complete the lot not per hour as lads can get it done twice as fast when its up to themslves to make there profit.

gman2k

Have a think about the whole site and project, not just the initial stages.
Get all your topsoil heaped in one location.
Think about your future landscaping needs.
If you need to remove subsoil off site, do it now.
think about site access, storage for materials, truck turning, skip area, scaffolding areas during build, access around the house for long reach machinery such as manitou etc.
Where is your well going? Where is your septic tank if any?
Where are your other services - ESB, Eircom, gas etc.
All these items should be factored in when doing your site strip, so you don't box your self into a corner, requiring further earth moving.
Finally, get your excavator contractor to dig all foundations at this stage! Sounds obvious, but you will need your foundation drawings/ design worked out now!
@ OP where abouts in country are you?

Ferocious

Thanks for the replies. Based in Clare.