Grading Sanborn ground means red clay, and plenty of it. After a hard rain the Bad River runs the color of tomato soup, and that is the same clay sitting under every yard and field drive in town. We have been grading Sanborn homes, drives and building pads with our own equipment, and Mark Hazelquist runs every job.
Rated 4.9 on Google · Owner on every job since 1988
Field drives and farm lanes in Sanborn sit on clay that turns slick the minute it rains. Driveway grading gives those lanes a crown and side ditches so tractors and trucks are not sliding through April. A lot of grading Sanborn farms starts right there.
Where the clay has pushed up through the old stone, our Sanborn gravel driveway work rebuilds the base.
A house or shop on clay needs its pad high and its ground falling away on every side, or the slab sits in water every spring. Site grading sets that height and compacts the fill so it does not settle.
Wooded parcels get cleared and grubbed first, with stumps ground out, then we handle site preparation in Sanborn through to a ready pad.
Clay sheds water instead of soaking it in, so a yard that tips toward the house sends every storm straight at the basement. Yard grading reverses the slope and carries runoff to a swale or ditch.
Bare clay needs cover quickly, so we can seed the regraded yard right after the dirt work.
About a third of our work comes from builders, townships and county boards. Parking areas, road shoulders and shop yards all need land grading that holds up under heavy traffic and plows. Larger grounds jobs run through our commercial landscaping crew for Sanborn.
Grading wet clay smears it into a sealed crust that water runs right off. Most years the window for grading Sanborn ground opens in late May and stays open until freeze-up, with a pause after any long soaking rain.
If you searched grading contractor near me from out along Highway 2 east of Ashland, our lot is only a few miles away.
Mark Hazelquist has run heavy equipment on Ashland County clay since May 1988, and his operators have stayed with him more than 15 years. That experience matters for grading Sanborn property, where the wrong pass in wet conditions can make drainage worse. Whoever you hire, ask for a certificate of insurance before work begins.
Read how Mark built the business and why he still leads every job.
Sanborn sits just east of our Ashland lot. West and south we handle pole building pads in Mason and Mellen land grading near the Penokees. Odanah and Washburn are regular stops too.
Typed grading contractor near me anywhere between Odanah and Mellen? You are in our territory.
Red clay barely absorbs water, so it pools wherever the ground is flat or low. Regrading to give the yard a steady fall moves the water off.
Yes. We crown the lane, cut side ditches and add stone where the clay has come through.
Yes. We raise and compact the pad so the slab sits above the wet ground, with the yard falling away on every side.
Yes. Builders, townships and county boards make up roughly a third of our jobs.
Usually from late May on. Working it wet makes drainage worse, so we wait for it to dry.
Yes. Clearing, stump grinding, grading and seeding are all done by the same crew.
Calls are answered or returned within an hour, and quotes go out within 48 hours.
Yes. If the grade is not draining, we come back and make it right.
Quality Tree Service is a full-property crew — many Sanborn projects involve more than one service. Explore what else we do for your neighborhood.
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