Rock Spreading (rent, how much, house)

[Solere]

I need to order about 100 tons of rock to fill a flat, empty dirt lot and was wondering how long it would take to spread that amount of rock with two people working? Landscaping companies want $22 per ton to spread rock. Some say they will use a manual labor crew, others say they have a couple of trucks/heavy equipment to spread the rock. $22 per ton x 100 tons equals $2200. That seems like a lot of money to me for spreading rock, or is this about right for the work involved? If me and three friends bought shovels, could we spread it in a day?

[PHX Newbie]

That is 200,000 lbs of rock that needs to be taken from piles and moved to cover the lot. I'm glad I'm not one of the three friends you plan to call.

[ReadyFreddy]

$22/ton is better than any of the quotes I found. I just had 24 tons spread. My friends wanted to do it (with a borrowed bobcat to help) and I said, "no way". I figure my friends and my back are worth the cost.

I think a tip I got here (and didn't use) was that it's a little cheaper to hire someone with a bobcat from Craigs List to spread it, than to pay the landscaper's crew. I got some quotes on that too but it was 'per hour' and I preferred to know the total in advance. I knew it'd need shoveled and raked, too. And I didn't want a pile of rock in front of my house for a week while I waited for various pros to show up.

[locolobo13]

I think you can rent a bobcat for a daily fee. Have no idea how much. That would save a lot of labor.

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by Happs

I need to order about 100 tons of rock to fill a flat, empty dirt lot and was wondering how long it would take to spread that amount of rock with two people working? Landscaping companies want $22 per ton to spread rock. Some say they will use a manual labor crew, others say they have a couple of trucks/heavy equipment to spread the rock. $22 per ton x 100 tons equals $2200. That seems like a lot of money to me for spreading rock, or is this about right for the work involved? If me and three friends bought shovels, could we spread it in a day?

If you have access, rent a Bobcat and go for it. By hand it will take a couple days and it will be brutal. Your friends won't return on day two. If you don't do this kind of stuff regularly you are going to be in a world of hurt after 100 tons of rock. I ache just thinking about it.

[DewDropInn]

Originally Posted by Ponderosa

Your friends won't return on day two.

Your friends won't return after they take their first bathroom break!

[AZgarden]

Maybe your friends will return if you provide 3 cases of beer to ease the pain.

[Xica_da_Silva]

I've found that raking rocks is a killer on the back/neck, mostly. Not immediately but you'll feel it at the end of the day, or the following. But maybe that's just because I'm a forty-something old lady! I had the bright idea of creating a garden area in my backyard (12 ft x 7) AFTER already having had the rocks installed. Love my garden now but...Ouch!

So my advice is: Rent a bobcat or hire a crew. And if you ever plan on having any trees, shrubs, plants, or drip line that waters them, it's a really good idea to plant/install those before the rocks...sad to say I learned that one the hard way!

[Finger Laker]

I spread about 7 tons over my yard ...... mainly front & side of the house with a little in the back ..... with 2 wheelbarows, shovels and 3 helpers it took us a solid morning

It was also a cooler time of year

I imagine your lot is fairly decent sized to need 100 tons of rock ... even if they are nice enough and the space accomadates drops in a few different locations you'll still have ground to cover

that's a lot of loading, pushing, dropping, spreading & repeating

I couldn't imagine doing 100 ton by hand ... would definitely take a few days at the least and you'll be hard pressed to find many people wanting to gift you that much time and that much effort

Either rent some equipment to do the job, hire out labor, both or just pay to have it done

[madmmac]

If the dump truck has access to the majority of the lot, a good driver can dump and spread it pretty well just with the truck. It's all about the access and the skill of the driver.