a lawn tractor with a small utility trailer works well; hire a guy to load it with a scoop shovel, you drive to where you want it dumped, another guy spreads it out as you direct.

Thanks guys.

The bobcat rental I was looking at in the link has wheels, not tracks. Not sure how much difference that makes in ease of use. Dumb, but I'm not even sure it has a steering wheel and gas/brake pedal. Or if you drive and steer using other methods. And not sure how complicated it is to operate the bucket, even if it's just scoop and dump.

It's hard to hire teenagers and day laborers around here. Or at least I have no idea how to find them. And I'd be averse to hiring illegals just on principle.

I won't be going over grass but will need to go over a river rock area and concrete patio. So, no lawn to destroy except for the concrete.

I'll look into the walk behind units. Maybe that's a good way to go. The power buggy looks interesting too but seems like I'm still shoveling. I recently did about 3-4 yards that took about a day - it was a lot of work for an old geezer like me. Well, I had to haul the load uphill a little each time and that took a lot out of me. But I'm not looking forward to doing 15 yards (although this time it would be flat land although a little farther in distance, say 150 feet).

I could hire a contractor to get it done quickly but it's costly. I'm guessing $600 in labor.

I'll inquire about blower delivery. That might work well if they can do it.

I looked up Mini Tractor and seems like I rent one of those w/ a bucket. Both the tractor and the wheeled bobcat sounds like about $300 / day. Assuming I can tow it w/ my truck.

Looks like some options:
1) do it by myself w/ wheelbarrow. 20+ hours so about 4-5 days (5 hours / day).

2) Mini tractor OR walk behind mini-bucket . $300. Can I operate? And not damage concrete?

3) Wheeled bobcat $300. Can I operate? And not damage concrete?

4) Contractor. $600. I don't think I could find ad-hoc labor to do this.

I could probably go w/ #1 but it's a lot of work for me and it's hot these days (doing it a month ago may have been okay). Prefer #2 or #3 - save my body for $300 and get it done in a day. Just still uncertain I can operate the thing or not. Not sure if average joe can use them or if it's assumed some professional is renting them.

Don't you use a lawn maintenance service? They will usually do this type of work

Join Nextdoor. You should be able to find laborers or high school/college kids who can knock out the work. Going rate here is $20/hr for the gringo kids looking for summer money. The yard guys on Nextdoor probably charge the same. The guys in the Home Depot lot might do it hourly but more likely want a day rate.

I learned how to wheel around on a bobcat and a small tractor in about 15 minutes when I was a kid. I was in a more open space than a standard backyard with stuff I could wreck.

You might try pricing the entire job with a yard guy.

Earlier this summer my wife and I rented a tracked skidsteer to do some work around our property. Neither of us had ever used one before and we both got the hang of it pretty quickly. The tracks didn't tear up anything. Renting that required a 3/4 ton truck to tow though. You mentioned going over river rock, without seeing or knowing more about that I think I'd rather have tracks than tires.
+1 for nextdoor

quote:

Originally posted by konata88:
Thanks guys.

I'm not even sure it has a steering wheel and gas/brake pedal. Or if you drive and steer using other methods. And not sure how complicated it is to operate the bucket, even if it's just scoop and dump.

No steering wheel - it has levers like a zero turn mower. The levers control forward/reverse, speed and direction. Hand throttle for engine speed.

The dump bucket is controlled by either 1) foot pedals, one pedal for raising and lowering, one pedal for tilting the bucket, or 2) hand controls at the top of the levers that function like the pedals. Many Bobcats have both, you can switch to your favorite.

A big Bobcat may weigh over 8,000 pounds, make sure your concrete is thick enough to support it.

Tracks are no different than wheels in terms of ease of use. The difference is tracks spread the weight of the Bobcat and its load over a greater area than tires would. You’ll be fine with tires over good concrete. Bobcat is an equipment manufacturer. What you are looking to rent is a skid steer. The left and right side tracks or wheels are independently controlled like a tank or zero turn mower. One control in each left and right hands. Push both forward, you move forward. Pull both backwards, you move backwards. The farther you push or pull, the faster you move. To turn left, you push the right control further forward than the left control and turning right is the opposite. To spin in a circle, push one forward and pull or backwards.

The trick to not tearing lawns up is to keep both sides moving and not do really tight turns. For example, with my mower, when I come to the end and want to turn, I could just stop one side and push the other side forward essentially pivoting on the non-turning wheel. This will tear up the lawn. Do this with a skid steer and you really tear it up. Instead, I do a three point turn or Y-turn.

“Renting that required a 3/4 ton truck to tow though.“

This was my experience as well.

I avoid shoveling mulch by buying it bagged on pallets. 15 yards is about 3 1/2 pallets. The wheel barrow fits about 8 bags. The garden cart towed behind the mower carries about 15 bags.

We’ve owned several skid steers over the years in my construction business so let me offer a few comments.

1. Skid steers are easy to use. You will get the hang of it in 10 minutes. If your lot is fairly level it will be even easier. Many of our clients husbands have asked to try it out on their property when we were building their houses as they secretly always wanted to run equipment…and they all had a blast.

2. Get a tracked machine as that will soften the impact over your yard and tear up less of it.

3. As mentioned above make gradual turns. Keep in mind that the rear visibly is very limited.

4. Have a blast!

I have a few hundred hours on a Bobcat S185 skidsteer, moving snow, dirt, loading/unloading stuff..... definitely a learning curve to operate one smoothly and efficiently. Taught a couple friends to use it. Out in the open, no chance of doing any damage.

A skidsteer would be a great choice for your job if an experienced operator was running the skidsteer. No experience, not so much. You'll be very jerky with it, spilling/bouncing out the light weight material, hand cleaning up the trail of spilled bark. 15yds is a lot of material. Skidsteer buckets are in the .3-.45 yd range. Newbie will not be running full buckets, maybe a .25yds loaded so not spilling as much. That's a lot of trips. Skidsteer tires will mark up your concrete patio, power washer will take them off. For a newbie loading one off/on a trailer could be an adventure.

Everybody keeps saying "shovel, shovel, shovel." The proper hand tool to move bulk mulch/shredded bark is a pitchfork.

WRT power equipment, I will echo the suggestions to use a small tractor with a loader bucket attachment rather than a skid steer loader, but neither of these move material as quickly as a power buggy, especially when the latter is loaded by a bucket rather than by hand.

Back in the day, some (cheap bastard) homeowners would seek out the local boy scout troop leader and convince them that, in return for a small donation to the troop, the boys might "volunteer" to help out a senior citizen. I don't suppose that is a thing any more, unless the boys can do it exclusively with their cell phones, but it might be worth an inquiry.

Maybe a dump trailer would work if you can get into your backyard.

I went through a similar situation 2 months ago. We had 10 yards of mulch delivered in front of my house in the street. My wife, her niece and nephew and I moved it about 80 feet downhill into the very back of my lawn. I rounded up 3 wheel barrows. I used a scoop shovel and loaded the wheel barrows assembly line style. It took us about 5 hours with some breaks and what not. I don't think they had ever worked that much at one time ever. It was a good experience for them. I paid them $100 each and they were overjoyed.

Note to self, I'll try a ptich fork next time

lots of great inputs here. thx!

I no longer have a maintenance service for my yard anymore. So, it's just me unless I hire someone by project.

There is no real training area in my yard - but maybe I can practice in some field first before bringing it home. And also try getting the unit on/off the trailer in an area w/ more space.

So - track or tire are both equally trainable for a novice and could work for me since I won't be riding over a lawn/grass? Just bare ground, river rock, concrete.

The walk behind is still a good option here? Sleeping on this: I'm still hoping to be able to use a bucket. Failing that, I think I would do it myself with a shovel and wheelbarrow over several days before I hire a contractor. But it's a lot of work and it took me a day or two to recover after moving the 3-4 yards recently. I didn't hurt much anywhere but I was tired, weak and exhausted.

Its fun and easy. No big deal. Ever driven a fork lift ? Trackhoe ? similar type stuff.

Just play with it in a clear area where you won't hit something and then go to work...

A) These days, the blower folks charge a small premium over just dumping it - mainly, its just that they have larger minimum sizes.

B) Er... +1 for your equipment experience. If you're a life-long desk driver, set up video cameras for your invisible friends

C) Perhaps a powered wheelbarrow? And plus one for a pitchfork. There's a reason why the Amish have so many different hand tools.

Has this material already been delivered?

If not, the sellers may have referrals for you, or they might even do it themselves, as an added service.

Good luck to you, I'm getting to where it's difficult for me, and it takes a lot out of me, to do the yard work myself, and it certainly takes longer.
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I'm amazed at the people suggesting to pick up people from 7-11. First off it's 90% chance they are illegal, second I'm sure they don't have business licenses, insurance, or workman comp insurance, lastly it's a great way to have your house cased for a B&E.

quote:

Originally posted by Skins2881:
I'm amazed at the people suggesting to pick up people from 7-11.

Locally the "in place" is Home Depot

I work for bobcat, and we have a small fleet of equipment we can take home on the weekend to do projects with. I've brought home everything from the largest loaders available to very small walk behind units. For what you want to do a walk behind like the MT85 would work really well. You've gotten good advice in this thread to use tracks to lower the impact on your yard versus wheels. Additionally you may want to check out an SAL or small articulated loader. Bobcat makes one as to do several other companies. You drive it with a gas pedal and steering wheel and control the boom arm with a joystick. The tires are low pressure and wide and do little damage. It will fit through some gates if you have a fence, and it's designed for exactly what you're looking to do move material for a homeowner or a landscaper in a way that is conscious of your landscaping..

quote:

I'm amazed at the people suggesting to pick up people from 7-11.

Lol, me too. Blindfold them maybe

Some solid advice already in this thread. For what your looking at either a walk behind (stand on) or a tracked skid steer would be my recommendation. Both will dispense the weight of the machine better than anything with wheels and prevent as much damage. The key to operating any piece of equipment like that if wanting to avoid turf damage is to not make tight turns.

Also as a side note depending on how much river rock your planning on traversing you could be in for a bumpy ride with any machine, but particularly the walk behind.