Excavating, Land Clearing & Site Prep in Rural Saginaw County
Pole barn pads, gravel driveways, drainage fixes, and honest dirt work for farms and acreage — Hemlock, Merrill, Chesaning, St. Charles, and everywhere in between. Site visit first, straight answer, free quote.
What We Dig, Clear & Build
Pole Barn Pads & Site Prep
The job we do most. Strip the topsoil, cut to grade, and build the pad up in compacted lifts of sand or gravel — a level, solid base your builder can start on the day they pull in. Still picking a spot? We'll walk the property with you and tell you which one saves you money.
Land & Brush Clearing
Overgrown fence lines, scrub that swallowed the back forty, or a wooded patch where the new house is going. We clear brush and trees, pull stumps out instead of grinding them, and pile, burn, or haul the debris — whatever you want done with it.
Grading & Drainage
Clay ground around here holds water like a bowl. We regrade so water runs away from the house and barn, cut swales, and put in French drains where grading alone won't do it. No more swamp in the yard every April.
Gravel Driveways & Culverts
New drives cut and built from the dirt up, tired ones regraded and topped, culverts sized and set right at the ditch. We build the crown in so the drive sheds water instead of turning to soup.
Trenching
Water lines out to the barn, electric to the pole barn or the pond aerator, frost-depth runs done clean. MISS DIG gets called first, then we trench, bed the line, and backfill so it settles right.
Ponds, Footings & Basements
Pond digs sized to your ground and water table. Footing and basement excavation for new builds, plus the backfill and rough grade once the walls are up.
Where We Work
Our ground is the rural side of Saginaw County — the farm country west and south of the city. If you're on acreage anywhere near these towns and townships, you're in our area:
- Hemlock
- Merrill
- Chesaning
- St. Charles
- Freeland
- Brant
- Burt
- Oakley
- Richland Township
- Fremont Township
- Marion Township
- Swan Creek Township
Close but not on the list? Call anyway. For a decent-sized job we'll run farther.
How We Run a Job
- We answer the phone. When we can't, you get a call back the same day.
- Site visit before any number. We won't quote your pad off a text message and then change the price in your driveway.
- MISS DIG gets called before a bucket touches dirt. Every job, every time.
- We'll tell you when you don't need us. If a box blade and a Saturday will fix your driveway, you'll hear it from us straight.
- The site gets left graded and cleaned up. Not looking like a war zone.
Straight Talk on Cost
Every dirt job prices off the same handful of things: how big, how wet the ground is, how far material hauls, and how hard it is to get equipment in. So take these as ballparks, not bids — the real number comes from a free site visit.
We walk it, measure it, and hand you a quote that holds.
Questions We Hear a Lot
What goes into building a pole barn pad, and what affects the cost?
We strip the topsoil, cut or fill to a level grade, then build the pad up in compacted lifts of sand or gravel so it won't settle under your slab. Cost mostly comes down to pad size, how much fill your spot needs, how far material gets hauled, and how easy it is to get equipment in.
Do you handle MISS DIG before you dig?
Yes. We place the MISS DIG 811 request before any excavation and wait for the utilities to get marked. It's free, it's Michigan law, and it's not a step anybody should skip. Private lines the utilities won't mark, we'll go over with you before we dig.
How is land clearing priced?
By what's standing on it. Light brush and saplings clear fast. Mature trees, heavy stumps, and wet ground slow everything down and raise the cost. What happens to the debris matters too — piled, burned where allowed, or hauled off all price differently. We look at the parcel and quote the whole job, not a vague per-acre rate that changes later.
My yard holds water every spring. Can that actually be fixed?
Usually, yes. Most standing water around here is clay soil plus a grade that traps it. The fix is regrading so water has somewhere to go, sometimes with a swale or a French drain to carry it off. At the site visit we'll tell you whether yours is a grading fix or a drain-system fix — they're different jobs at different prices.
Can you put in a gravel driveway with a culvert?
Yes — that's a bread-and-butter job for us. We cut the drive, set a properly sized culvert at the road or ditch crossing, build the base, and top it with gravel crowned so it sheds water. If your township or the county road commission wants a permit for the culvert, we'll point you at the right office.
How far will you travel?
Home turf is rural Saginaw County — Hemlock, Merrill, Chesaning, St. Charles, Freeland, and the townships around them. For bigger jobs like pole barn pads, clearing, or ponds, we'll run into neighboring counties.
Get a Free Quote
Tell us what you've got in mind and where the property sits. We'll call you back and set up a site visit. Or just call (989) 789-0289.