Cost of Excavation (only) for an Arena?

[Paige777]

To those of you who have built outdoor arenas, does anyone recall the ballpark price of excavation only? I know I can’t afford a full-blown arena at this point, but am beginning to wonder if I could swing at least having a space excavated and leveled so that I could ride on the dirt. (Long story - I bought the property planning to go to the big facility a mile down the road to use their indoor, but the facility closed a month after I closed on the house.)

I don’t want to waste an excavation company’s time coming out to give a quote (I’m rural) if I’m thousands of dollars out of budget. Anyone have an idea of what you paid?

[Guilherme]

This is so dependent upon the specific job that any number given here would be meaningless. You don’t note the specific size and that is the first thing we need to know.

Go ahead and get a couple of quotes. Then you have real knowledge vice 'Net speculation.

G.

[OneTwoMany]

Yes. Get some quotes. You aren’t wasting anyone’s time. You intend to have the work done. You just need to know what to budget.

On a separate note, one man and a machine often runs $800 a day (sometimes more). You won’t have a sense for how many days/hours of work are needed until you get a quote.

[dkcbr]

Another urging you to get quotes. There are too many variables that affect costs. Get companies out to see your property and dialogue with you about what you have in mind. Remember, too, you are not wasting their time. This is part of what they do!

[TMares]

Hugely variable- depends on soil, rocks, clay, zip code. Get quotes. Define exactly what you want quoted (clear a pad that is X by Y and whatever else you want) so your quotes are as apples/apples as possible.

[gumtree]

As other have said, depends on the job/site. Which will dictate the size and type of machine/s, equipment needed. Some people may quote the entire job in 1 number. Others will quote by the hour. Usually depending on machine, $150-$250+ per hour. Depending on how far their equipment is from the site there may be an additional “delivery” charge.

[IFG]

Totally depends on what is under your ground. We grow boulders and excavating a 90 X120 arena/paddock meant digging up the stumps and boulders and bringing in fill. For a stumpless, boulderless area, it will be much cheaper.

[dkcbr]

Also you may want to ask them for their thoughts on the drainage and managing water flow for your proposed area.

[PNWjumper]

I agree that there’s a ton of variability based on the terrain, size, etc. But I can tell you what it cost me. Probably worth pointing out that it was 15 years ago, so the pricing may be different now (though to that point, we were in a good economy back then and prices for some of the other contractors we’ve used recently seem to be in a similar place now as they were back then, so maybe not too far off?). We were working with a 100 x 180’ space and had an 8 foot difference from end to end lengthwise and that meant that we cut into one end about 4 feet and used the dirt we pulled up from that to fill in the -4 feet on the other end.

IIRC, excavation work in total was about $8500k and included all of the actual excavation and prepwork (e.g. vibratory rolling) for putting in the base layers. All in, my arena ended up in the 30/35k range.

We didn’t encounter anything particularly difficult. There were some big rocks, but the big gear made quick work of getting them out.

Drainage was the biggest focus for our wet, wet area. We managed that through the material selection and the use of a subbase, though, and then a 1% grade lengthwise and crosswise.

[TrotTrotPumpkn]

I am building a 200 x 90 outdoor. FWIW, on a very similar site for a 200x70 ten years ago it was significantly cheaper, just as a caveat to PNW. 10 years ago you could do a 200 x 70 (here) for around 10k (grading, rock base and sand). Anyway, this ground seems relatively flat to the eye and I was using it as a DIY grass arena previously. Both bidders would use laser grading. Contractors are extremely busy and it took months to even get guys out to bid.

This is for ground work only. Both excavation companies believed a crown would be counter-productive on this site, or would require more extensive drainage:

First bid was $6,000. This was for a 2 degree slope on the short side and compaction. They did not include any drainage work on the quote, and it was just a quick visit to the site.

Second bid was $11-12,000. This was for a 1.5 degree slope down the long side to the natural drainage area and a 1 degree slope along the same short side as above. They came twice, second time brought out the laser to check and spent several hours at the site determining the best location. They determined the arena should be pushed out 20 feet from where I had planned to put it and further back on the long side too to allow for a 20 foot drainage swales along both long sides and to take advantage of the best areas for drainage. The bid also includes bringing back top soil to the swales for seeding grass (I provide seed, but they will pack it). They do not have a 15 ton roller, so that cost will be additional.

It took 4 hours to remove the topsoil on 200 x 90 with a dozer, so if you just wanted that done, you could probably figure $175-250 an hour plus whatever they need to make it worth the trip. It would have taken a skid quite a bit longer.

[Paige777]

Thank you for the insight, everyone! I will have some companies out and get some quotes. Thank you!