Excavating Contractor in West Alabama
Footings, trenching, culvert sets, stump and root removal, and the jobs that just need a machine on site and somebody who knows how to run it. An excavation contractor based in Berry, digging across eight west Alabama counties.
Excavating, Start to Finish
A lot of digging does not fit under a heading. Footings for a shop. A trench for a water line to the barn. A dead stump and its root ball in the front yard. A level spot cut into a hillside for a shipping container. A spring that has been seeping into a field and keeping it too wet to work. Each one needs the same thing: an excavator, an operator who knows the ground, and somebody who answers the phone.
That is the excavation work we do. Our excavator handles the digging and the lifting, the Cat dozer handles the pushing and the grade, and the compact track loaders move and place material in tight spots. The machines are our own, and they run on tracks, so they cross soft ground and finished areas without cutting ruts across them. If your job involves a machine and moving dirt, ask. The answer is usually yes.
We work Fayette, Walker, Tuscaloosa, Marion, Lamar, Pickens, Cullman and Winston counties out of Berry, on farms, home sites, town lots and commercial lots. Estimates are free and priced off the property after a look. Small jobs carry a minimum to cover moving the machine, and you hear that figure before you commit. Call or text (205) 535-6376 and tell us what needs digging and how a trailer gets to it.
Excavating work we take on
- Footings dug to your plans
- Trenches for water and power lines
- Driveway and field-road culverts set
- Stumps and root balls pulled whole
- Level benches for shops and containers
- Wet spots and seeping springs dug out
Footings and trenches
Footings are dug to the size and depth on your plans, with square corners and a level bottom, so the crew forming them can go straight to work instead of fixing ours. Trenches run where you need water or power: to a barn, a shop, a well house, a poultry house or a new home site. Tell us the length of the run and what it crosses, such as a drive, a fence, a ditch or a tree line. The trench is backfilled once your line is in and checked. There is more detail on our footings and trenching page.
Culverts, stumps and benches
A culvert is a small job that goes wrong often. The pipe has to be sized for the water above it, bedded so it does not sag, covered so it can carry traffic, and left with both ends open. See culvert installation for how we set them. Stumps and root balls come out whole with the excavator, and the hole is filled and levelled: that is our stump removal work. On a slope, we cut a level bench for a shop, a barn or a shipping container, with the cut side taken to firm ground and the fill side built up in layers and packed.
Call before you dig, every time
Alabama 811 is free, and a locate request is required by law before excavation, including on your own land. Buried power, gas, water and fibre do not announce themselves, and hitting one turns a small job into a very large one. Alabama 811 says to send the request two to ten working days before the planned start, not counting the day you make it, so build that into your date. Nothing gets dug until the public lines are marked. What a public locate leaves out is private lines: a water line you ran yourself, power to a shed, the field lines off a septic tank. Tell us about those, and about any old well, cistern or buried tank you know of.
What the ground does to a dig
West Alabama dirt changes fast. Red clay digs clean when it is dry and turns to grease when it is wet. Sandstone ledges and chert gravel slow a bucket down. Creek bottom ground can hold water a few feet under the surface. Walker County is old coal country, and ground that was surface mined and reclaimed is dirt that has been moved once already. It can be loose spoil, broken rock or old fill within a few feet. We find out what is there as we dig, and we tell you what we find. If the dig is part of a new home site, our guide on clearing land for a house pad lays out the order of the work.
Real Job Photos
Phone pictures from real jobs, captioned with what they show. See more recent work.
Can you dig footings for a shop, barn or house addition?
Yes. Footings are dug to the dimensions and depth your plans call for, squared and with a level bottom, so the forming crew can go straight to work. Have the plans or the layout stakes ready, and tell us where the spoil should go. Your builder or concrete crew takes it from there. If the site needs levelling first, that can be done on the same trip.
Do excavating contractors remove stumps, or only dig?
We pull stumps. The stump and root ball come out whole with the excavator, the hole is filled and packed, and the ground is levelled. A row of stumps along an old fence line and a few in a yard are both normal jobs. What happens to the stumps afterwards, hauled off or dealt with on site, gets settled and priced before the work starts.
Do I have to call 811 before digging on my own land in Alabama?
Yes. Alabama 811 says locate requests are required by law before excavation, and the service is free. It says to send the request two to ten working days before the planned start, not counting the day you make it. The member utilities then mark their own lines. Private lines, such as water you ran to a barn or septic field lines, are not part of that, so tell your contractor where they are.
Can you trench a long water line to a barn or poultry house?
Yes. Tell us the length of the run and what it crosses: a drive, a fence, a creek, a terrace or a tree line. Rock and wet ground slow a trench down, so say what you know about the dirt. The trench is opened, your plumber or electrician lays and checks the line, and it is backfilled behind them. Water and power runs can be dug on one trip.
Do you take small excavating jobs on town lots?
Yes. Footings, trenches, stumps and drainage on a lot with houses either side are normal work, and so are commercial lots and site prep. Tracked machines spread their weight, which is easier on a yard. Small jobs carry a minimum, because loading and hauling a machine costs the same for a short job as a long one. You hear that number before you agree to anything.
How a Job Runs
Tell Us What You Have
Call, text or send the form. County, rough acreage, what is growing on it and how a truck and trailer gets in.
We Look at the Ground
Close by, we come and look. Farther off, we can go over it with you on satellite first, then see it on the ground before the work starts.
A Number to Plan Around
Estimates are free and priced off the property. Small jobs carry a minimum, and you hear the figure before you commit.
The Machines Go to Work
We settle what comes out and what stays. Mark the trees you want kept, or walk it with us and point them out.
Finished, Not Just Knocked Down
Holes filled, ground pulled back to grade, and the fall set so water leaves the site instead of standing on it.
Excavating Near You
Based in Berry, in Fayette County. Eight west Alabama counties. Pick your county or town, or call or text and ask.
Towns
Pages for your town
Specific excavating jobs
More services
Need Excavating?
Call or text, or send a few details. Estimates are free and priced off the property.