What Equipment is required for Earthwork in Vero Beach

Core machines

• Mini or mid‑size excavator (8–14 ton) – For digging ponds, drainage swales, culverts, and shaping banks; long‑stick or ditching/contour bucket is ideal for pond work.
• Compact track loader (CTL) or skid steer – For grading pads, shaping contours, backfilling, moving spoils, spreading rock, and final dressing of lots.
• Small dozer (D3/D4 class or equivalent) – Very helpful if you plan serious pond building and large‑area contouring; speeds up bulk earthmoving and rough grading versus using just a CTL.
• Dump trailer or small dump truck – To haul in/out fill, riprap, and debris from clearing jobs.

Attachments you’ll want

• For the excavator:
  • General‑purpose and ditch/contour buckets (for swales, ponds, drainage ditches).
  • Hydraulic thumb or grapple (for brush, logs, and concrete).
• For the CTL/skid steer:
  • Standard bucket plus grading/land‑plane or box blade for finish grading and driveway crowns.
  • Brush cutter / forestry mulcher head for palmettos, scrub, and light underbrush on Indian River County lots.
  • Root rake or grapple for pulling roots and piling debris.​

Supporting gear

• Plate compactor or small roller – For compacting around culverts, swales, and pond berms so they hold up in our summer rains.​
• Trencher or trencher attachment – For French drains, yard drains, and utility runs.
• Chainsaws, grading lasers, hand levels, and layout tools for precise drainage slopes and lot layout.

Local/regulatory angle (Indian River County)

• You’ll also need:
  • The right contractor license classification for excavation/land clearing and drainage work in Indian River County.
  • Comfort working under local rules on pond construction, wetland impacts, and stormwater (often involves SJRWMD and County permitting for larger ponds or work near ditches/canals).

Operational Expertise

So, in addition to possessing the property heavy equipment, you must have the expertise to operate all these pieces of equipment. If you have ever watched a skilled operator use a skid steer, they make it look easy. It is the years of experience operating such equipment that makes it look so.

DYI?

So here is our sincere advice. Before you head to the equipment rental yard or hire that handyman from Facebook, do yourself a favor. Talk with an expert. Give us a call at Garrett Property Management and Landscape Services. Give us a chance to explain why you will come out miles ahead when you hire the experts at Garrett. Call us today at (772) 539-3365.

We provide services clearing land, excavating ponds, contouring drainage, digging ditches, and such every day in Indian River County, for all sorts of residential and commercial projects.