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Ranch dirt work: Water, roads or usable ground
The ranch work you’d hire an earthmoving company in San Antonio for comes down to water, a way in and ground you can use. Our dozer and loaders leave you a stock tank that holds, a road that’s drivable after rain and pasture worth grazing. Which one comes first depends on what’s in the way, and we sort that out with you before anything’s dug.
We’re an excavating contractor, and on ranch ground that means agricultural earthmoving: the tanks, pens, graded pasture and connecting roads a working ranch leans on. If brush or rock piles still cover the ground, pasture clearing or debris removal comes first, because a dozer can’t grade what it can’t reach. Open ground that’s only rough and rutted needs land grading and not much else.
Set a tank in the wrong spot and it’ll never catch water, or it’ll catch it and let it seep off. A road with no crown, the hump that sheds rain to both sides, turns into a ditch in the first big storm. And a drive over soft subgrade, the native dirt under the base, ruts once loaded trucks use it.
Water: Dig a new tank or bring back the old one
Plan the water first, because a tank’s spot decides where the road out to it runs. A new tank depends on its catchment, the patch of ground that drains into it, so the site follows where water actually runs after a rain. An old tank needs a different first question. If it fills after a storm and then falls, you’ve got a holding problem. If it hardly fills at all, a deeper hole won’t fix a catchment that’s too small. Both jobs belong to pond excavation, where the tank gets sized to your ground.
Drives to the house, roads across the pasture
A drive and a road look alike from the gate, but they don’t carry the same traffic. The house drive takes daily cars, delivery trucks and heavy builder loads, and a caliche drive built for that is gravel driveway installation. When its route is still raw ground, the subgrade cut comes first as driveway excavation. A road across the place runs longer, follows the land and mostly carries a pickup and stock trailer, which is ranch road construction. If the drive ends at a new slab, the house pad goes to our earth works company crew, built to the engineer’s plans.
What high water and county rules mean for ranch dirt
Flash flooding is a known risk along the Guadalupe River corridor near Spring Branch, and low ground there gets hit hardest. We route roads out of the low spots and around the draws, and we don’t build creek crossings, culverts or drainage systems.
In July 2026, flash floods made a Bulverde livestock sanctuary’s only driveway undriveable. A Boerne horse ranch on West Sister Creek took several feet of water when the creek couldn’t drain. After high water like that, we rebuild the drive or road on compacted base with a crown and grade the torn ground back into shape.
Atascosa County’s floodplain development permit form lists filling, grading and excavation as development in the special flood hazard area. Tank, road or grading work on a mapped flood zone tract there may need that permit first. We’ll ask where your tract sits and send you to the county office before any dirt moves. Water rights and dam rules get the same treatment: we’ll name the agency to ask and won’t guess.
West of town, you’ll often buy ranch land with an old tank to check and a long way in off a county road. One 195-acre ranch on FM 462 near Hondo was listed as open fields and mostly brush, with a well and a tank. Jobs like that start from a map pin and photos of the tank.
Have these ready before you call
- A map pin on the tank, road or drive
- Photos of washouts and rutted spots
- Rough acreage and the county it’s in
- Where the county road meets your gate
- Old tanks, dams or pens you’re keeping
- Whether a flood map shows the tract
What one ranch dirt crew brings
- Calls answered 24/7 by Sarah
- An estimate built from your photos
- Our dozer and track loaders on site
- Dug dirt placed where you agreed
- Rock and root piles hauled off
- A layout you okay before any digging
How a ranch earthmoving job runs
Every ranch dirt job runs through the same five steps, whether it’s one tank or a road, drive and tank on new land. Nothing gets dug until the order’s settled.
- 01
Call and pin the spot
Call (210) 866‑3822 any hour. Sarah picks up in English or Spanish, takes down what’s going on and has you drop a pin where the tank, road or pad will go.
- 02
Photos and a free estimate
Send photos through the estimate form: the old tank at its lowest, the worst washout, the ruts in the drive. With the pin and rough acreage, that’s usually enough for a free estimate, and a site walk happens only when the ground calls for one.
- 03
Settle what goes first
We’ll lay out the order with you. Access usually comes first so the dozer and dump trailer can reach the work. Brush comes off before dirt moves, and we agree where the dug dirt will go.
- 04
The machines unload
Then a dozer cuts and pushes dirt while a compact track loader shapes and loads. Longhorn Land Clearing & Excavation is owner-run and licensed and insured, and the crew works to the layout you’ve okayed.
- 05
Finish pass and haul-off
Last comes the finish pass, where rough spots get smoothed and leftover rock and roots get hauled away. Walk it with us before the trailer’s loaded, since a dirt work contractor fixes a soft spot fastest with the machines still on site.
Earthmoving
Our earthmoving services
Land Grading
Washed-out ruts, a lumpy food plot or a round pen that’s never been level all get a dozer and box blade working the native soil. We pick rock as we go, so the finish pass leaves ground you’ll use.
Pond Excavation
A stock tank’s only as good as its dam. We dig the basin, build an earthen dam with a compacted clay core, cut a spillway, and add bentonite where limestone wants to leak. We’ll clean silted tanks.
Ranch Road Construction
An all-weather ranch road starts with the route: around draws, through cedar and rock, wide enough for a trailer to turn. David’s crews cut it, lay road base, crown it and add turnouts you’ll need.
Gravel Driveway Installation
We’ll fix a long rural drive that ruts, potholes and washboards on thin base. Or we’ll build a new one with caliche road base, compacted and crowned, plus a parking pad at the house if you’d like.
Driveway Excavation
A long drive off the county road needs a cut that follows the ground. We dig the path, pull roots, fill low spots and compact the subgrade up to your gate. Check the county’s permit before we cut.
Grading & Leveling
Before a shop, an arena or a barn aisle goes in, the ground under it has to be level. We re-level it with a dozer and track loader, shoot elevations, and leave it flat right where you’ll need it.
Fire Break Installation
A dozer blade cuts a fire lane down to bare mineral soil along a pasture edge or fence line. Built a little wider, that break can double as a ranch road, and a mower keeps it open once it’s in.
Pasture Clearing
Floresville pasture near the river fills in with mesquite and huisache over time. We root plow or grub the brush, pick out roots and rock, and smooth the ground so it’s ready for cattle and hay again.
Debris Removal
Dirt work leaves rock piles, root wads and stumps behind. We’ll load them with a grapple bucket, haul them off on a gooseneck dump trailer, and leave acreage clean enough to mow, fence or build on.
Did you know?
About 70% of the earthmoving equipment the U.S. Armed Forces used in World War II came from one self-taught inventor’s company. R.G. LeTourneau’s outfit also built land-clearing machines, and after the war he’d open a plant in Longview, Texas.
FAQs about earthmoving company in San Antonio
Ranch dirt, answered
If it’s rained lately, walk the tank and the road before you call. Where water stands, runs or cuts a rut shows more than any dry-day photo, so snap those spots for the estimate.
How much does it cost to dig a stock tank in the Hill Country?
A stock tank’s cost comes down to its size and depth, the soil it’s dug in, and whether it needs a clay core or bentonite. Tanks dug in shallow limestone take more work than tanks in deep clay, and rock can change the layout. Spillway work, dozer access and spreading or hauling the spoil add to it. Longhorn Land Clearing & Excavation gives free estimates once we’ve seen the site and where water collects.
Why won’t my stock tank hold water?
Leaky stock tanks usually lose water through the bottom or the dam, where fractured limestone, gravel or sandy soil lets it seep out. Hill Country ground is often shallow over rock, and the Handbook of Texas describes Bandera County soils as alkaline and generally shallow. The usual fixes are a compacted clay core in the dam, a clay blanket over the bottom, or bentonite worked into the soil. Which one fits depends on what’s under the tank, and test holes dug before work starts answer that.
Do I need a permit to build a stock tank on my land in Texas?
Check with your county before digging, because some counties regulate fill and changes to waterways. Bandera County’s development permit application, for example, covers placement of fill and alteration of a waterway. A tank that dams a creek or draw can also raise state water questions, and those belong with the state or your attorney. Longhorn Land Clearing & Excavation digs and builds tanks but doesn’t give permit or water-rights advice.
Is caliche or crushed limestone better for a ranch road or driveway?
Both work, and the choice comes down to traffic, slope and what’s available near your tract. Caliche packs hard and binds well when it’s compacted at the right moisture, but it can turn slick when wet and dusty when dry. Crushed limestone sheds water better and holds up under heavy trucks. A common setup is a caliche base with a crushed limestone top course where the road takes the most wear.
What makes a ranch road last on Hill Country ground?
A ranch road lasts when it’s built on a firm subgrade, crowned so rain runs off, and topped with compacted road base. Wide spots for passing and turning a trailer help on long roads. On shallow limestone, the dozer often builds up instead of cutting down, since rock sits close to the surface. Longhorn Land Clearing & Excavation builds ranch roads and access roads on acreage across Kendall, Bandera and Medina counties.
What does gravel driveway installation involve on acreage?
A gravel driveway goes in by cutting the route, stripping the organic soil and shaping the subgrade. Compacted base goes down next, with a top course of gravel or caliche. The surface gets crowned so water runs off the sides instead of down the middle. Where the drive meets a county road, the county may need to approve the access first. Around Floresville and La Vernia, where Wilson County soils run deep loam over clay, the subgrade’s shaped and compacted before any base goes down.
What can land grading fix on rural acreage?
Land grading smooths and reshapes ground that’s been rutted, piled up or left uneven. On acreage that means leveling old ruts and tire tracks, spreading spoil piles, smoothing holes left after grubbing, and shaping the ground around barns and pens. It’s often the last step after clearing or demolition, so the land can be mowed, grazed or built on. Longhorn Land Clearing & Excavation does land grading with its own dozer and track loader.
Can a dozer work on steep, rocky Hill Country land?
Yes, within limits set by slope, rock and soil depth. Bandera and Kendall county tracts often have shallow alkaline soil over limestone. A dozer moves the dirt that’s there and works around rock it can’t cut. Pads, tanks and roads on that ground get laid out to follow the rock, building up with fill where cutting down won’t work. Very steep ground may call for a smaller machine or a different route for the road.
When is the best time to dig a stock tank around San Antonio?
Dig a stock tank in a dry stretch, when the ground can carry the dozer and the clay can be compacted at the right moisture. Summers around San Antonio are often dry, and a tank finished then has fall and spring rains ahead to fill it. A tank built in wet weather is harder to compact well and more likely to leak. Rainfall isn’t the same year to year, so the schedule follows the ground conditions.
What happens to the dirt dug out of a new stock tank?
Most of it goes into the dam, compacted in lifts so it holds water. What’s left over is spread and graded on the property, or loaded into dump trailers and hauled away if you’d rather not keep it. Good topsoil can be set aside and spread back over the dam and disturbed ground so grass comes back. Longhorn Land Clearing & Excavation plans where the spoil goes before digging starts.