"Selective" Bulldozing

[hpp4me]

We will be closing escrow on a lot in HPP in a few weeks. The lot, 1 acre, has a small grove of Ohias on it that we would like to preserve, but not much else in the way of native species. No large junk trees, fortunately. I have a few questions:

(1) Is there such a thing as selective bulldozing? We would like to level the lot to prepare for a house and plantings, but don't want to lose the trees.

(2) What does ripping cost these days for an acre of land?

(3) It is my understanding that after ripping, they surface the ground with black cinder. What's that going to run?

(4) Any suggestions on who we might hire to do this?

Thanks, all!

[JerryCarr]

Aloha, hpp4me. Yes, there are bulldozer operators who will work around your ohia trees. You should definitely do this, since deforestation in Puna is becoming more and more prevalent and has serious ecological and aesthetic consequences. Not every one gets the ground covered with cinder, but it is easier to plant things if you do. It adds considerably to the price, which may be why not everyone does it. Perhaps someone else on the forum is familiar with the current cost of all this. I do know that when saving trees, it is advisable to be on premises when the bulldozing is being done. I know one person who left during the process and just got a shrug when he complained later about a clump of ohia being gone.

Cheers and good luck,
Jerry

[Genxor]

Hpp,

Definately be there when your lot is excavated. Turn your head and there goes an Ohia !

Our guy did a great job. We had planned the drive and flagged ( with survey ribbon ) all trees and plants we wished to save beforehand.

Understand though, that some equipment takes quite a bit of space to manuever. So you may lose an item that you intended to keep.

Email me for specific information .

Good Luck !

Greg Henderson

[ericlp]

Yes, D9's do turn left and right. The problem is they are WIDE! If the D9 can't get around the trees then maybe some of the trees would have to go... Depends how many and how thick, tho, if you want to drive back into the trees then you'd want to thin some out anyway.

I almost did 4-5 acres, kept every ohia tree/palm and 100 or so other trees on my lots. The dozer dude I know did a great job, I was on the my lots while he worked but, I didn't have to be, he was cheap and had 30 years of experience. Anyway... He did knock over one pine tree, ooops, backed into it... Saw it go down, but, it was an accident and it's not like a had 20 or so trees so it's not like it bothered me too much...

email for me info ...

[hpp4me]

Thanks, all! Greg and Eric, I've contacted you through private email to get the contact information for your guys.

Here are two follow up questions.

First, would I first clear the land of weeds and unwanted plants before having the property bulldozed, or is this cleaning done by the bulldozer person?

Second, given the high cost of bulldozing (one site says it is nearly $7000 an acre), does it make more sense to just use that money to bring in cinder and soil to cover the un-bulldozed land?

[hpp4me]

As I researched the possibility of "selective bulldozing" I came across something called the catapillar auger for tree planting.

Here is a picture: http://www.greenmediaonline.com/uploads/...Lauger.jpg

Can something like this work on lava? If so, is anyone in Puna available to do this?

What I am trying not to do is bulldoze indiscriminately. I'd rather drill holes where I want trees (for a small orchard) and leave the reast of the land undisturbed.

[Noel M2]

Holes can be drilled in rock. There are some outfits here that do that. An excavator may also work.

One thing to consider is drainage. One of the reasons for ripping part of the lot is to facilitate draining and to make it easier for planting to grow.

You can certainly bring in cinder and cinder soil to cover the surfaces and drill holes in order to support the plantings. However, if there are drainage issues, your plants might suffer or not survive.

Noel

[hpp4me]

This is a good point, but I was under the impression that ripping only creates a few inches of cinder, so how does that support drainage?

[Mitzi M]

Unless you are on a shield of solid rock (pahoehoe) or have made a hole in solid rock, then you will probably have fast draining layers of 'a'a rock. Usually there are a lot of prety big spaces in these loosely compacted layers, and you may be able to take advantage of that to create tree planting holes. Depending on your situation, the easiest way may be to get someone with a bobcat to dig the holes for you once the rest of the clearing has been done. You'll need to add soil to the planting hole, so the trick there becomes how to keep the soil from dispersing into the porous rock around it (gardening in lava is really different, in case you hadn't noticed!. What I generally do is line the planting hole with enough black cinder so that the biggest spaces seem to plug up, and then use a soil mix high in organic material, (mac nut hull compost is a good one here). Another solution that works especially well for planting out younger trees, say up to a 25 gallon pot, is to dig down some, but then use the rocks to build up a sort of raised bed that you then fill with soil and can cover with mulch on the outside edge. I've seen this work well in Puna. Cinder is generally used for leveling your housepad, driveway, and any other place you want to be flat, like a turf area. It's good to have some flat space where its easy to walk, but consider leaving some of the natural rock formations, especially around the existing trees (it sounds like you are). To me, its always sad and ironic when people pay big bucks to have boulders brought in and arranged to look "natural" on top of land full of lovely rock formations they just paid big bucks to have dozed flat. Other thoughts... find a contractor who has a smaller machine - like a D4. This will reduce the possibility of accidents caused by a D9's humongus turning radius. Finally, remember that the trees you want to save have roots that may run a ways from the actual tree, so tape off a wide swath around them, say at least 15'-20' where possible, to reduce compaction and root disturbance from the heavy machines. Jerry and Greg have an excellent point about having someone there to supervise when the clearing is being done. I've heard some heartbreakers about that kind of thing. You are being a very wise and considerate new neighbor by deciding to save the native trees on your land.

Aloha and welcome!
Mitzi


Uluhe Design
Restoration Based Landscape Design for Hawai'i
uluhedesign@yahoo.com

[hpp4me]

Thank you so much, Mitzi and others! This clarifies things greatly. If I use the big bulldozer only to make the driveway and housing pad, and then have holes dug with a bobcat, I would seemingly not only save big bucks on bulldozing, but would also retain the natural beautfy of the stone formations.

Sounds like a plan!

Mitzi, can you tell us more about your business? It sounds interesting (and noble!).