Site work for people with a schedule to keep.
Grading, utility trenching, septic, drainage, land clearing, building pads and hauling across Northwest Georgia and the Chattanooga area, plus an operator who runs shears, grapples and breakers for derailment response. Owner-led and fully insured, with a full spread of owned equipment, our own trucking and more than 20 years on the ground, so you can put us on the vendor list and get back to the job.
- Since 2022Built on more than 20 years of running equipment
- Fully insuredCertificates of insurance and W-9 on request
- CDL on staffWe move our own equipment and material
- Our ironTrack hoe, dozer, skid steer and dump truck, owned and ready to mobilize; shear, grapple, breaker and mulcher attachments sourced per job
- Owner on sitePriced, scheduled and supervised by the owner, not handed off
What we do
Dirt, pipe, septic and rock, done to the grade on the plans. We handle the scopes below as a prime contractor and as the site subcontractor on larger packages.
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Site prep and grading
Clearing, stripping and stockpiling topsoil, mass grading, fine grading to plan elevations, and compaction for buildings, parking and laydown yards.
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Utility trenching and pipe
Water, sanitary sewer, storm, gas and conduit trenching with proper bedding, shoring and backfill. Service taps, laterals and road bores coordinated with the utility.
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Septic systems
New conventional and chamber systems, tank and field line repairs, and replacements, installed by a Georgia certified septic installer and inspected with the county health department.
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Drainage and culverts
Ditching, culvert and headwall installation, catch basins, French drains, rip-rap and erosion control. We fix the wet spots that keep coming back.
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Land clearing and demolition
Lot, pasture and right-of-way clearing, stump removal and grubbing, and removal of houses, barns, slabs and pavement, with debris hauled to a permitted landfill.
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Derailment response and scrap shear
An operator with hydraulic shear, grapple and magnet experience for cutting derailed cars and heavy scrap to size on site, with excavator, dozer and dump truck to clear and restore the right-of-way. Details for railroad contractors.
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Pads, driveways and gravel roads
Building and equipment pads, access roads, haul roads and long driveways built with proper base and crown so they hold up to loaded trucks and Georgia rain.
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Hauling and material delivery
Dirt, stone, sand and spoil hauling with our own dump truck and a CDL driver. We supply and place material for our own work or deliver to yours.
Set up for public and commercial work
A lot of excavators can run a machine. Fewer have the paperwork to be put on a county, utility or railroad job. Ours is in order, so hiring us is the easy choice for a purchasing agent or project manager.
- ✓Fully insuredCertificates of insurance issued on request, additional insured endorsements available
- ✓Georgia certified septic installerState on-site sewage system installer certification for new systems and repairs
- ✓Georgia LLC in good standingW-9 and vendor packets returned the same day
- ✓CDL holder on staffEquipment and material moved on our own truck and trailer
- ✓Georgia 811 locate practiceEvery dig ticketed and marked before the bucket goes in the ground
- ✓Twenty-plus years on the equipmentTrack hoe, dozer, skid steer and dump truck owned and operated; experienced on hydraulic shear, rotating grapple, hydraulic breaker, scrap magnet, forestry mulching head, auger and compaction wheel
Need a vendor packet, a certificate of insurance, a W-9 or our capabilities statement? Email [email protected] and you will have it the same business day.
Who we work for
Most of our work comes from people who need a site contractor that shows up when it says it will, brings its own equipment and trucking, and answers the phone.
General contractors
Site packages, pad prep, utility runs and punch-list grading on commercial and institutional jobs.
Cities, counties and school systems
Ditching, culvert replacement, drainage repairs, site packages and emergency call-out work.
Water, sewer and gas utilities
Main repairs, service taps, laterals, manhole and valve box work on unit-price and task-order contracts.
Railroad and industrial contractors
Operator for shear, grapple and magnet work on derailment cleanup and railcar scrapping, plus crane pads, access roads, drainage and grade work alongside track and in rail yards.
Builders and developers
Lot clearing, house pads, driveways, septic and utility trenching and final grade for new construction.
Farms and property owners
Ponds, roads, culverts, pads for barns and shops, and drainage for pasture and fields.
Where we work
Cohutta sits on the Georgia–Tennessee line between Dalton and Chattanooga. We regularly work anywhere within about 75 miles and will travel farther for the right project.
- Whitfield County Dalton, Cohutta, Varnell, Tunnel Hill
- Murray County Chatsworth, Eton
- Catoosa County Ringgold, Fort Oglethorpe
- Walker County LaFayette, Chickamauga, Rossville
- Gordon County Calhoun, Resaca
- Gilmer County Ellijay, East Ellijay
- Floyd County Rome, Cave Spring
- Chattooga County Summerville, Trion
- Hamilton County, TN Chattanooga, East Ridge, Ooltewah
- Bradley County, TN Cleveland, Charleston
- McMinn County, TN Athens, Etowah
- Polk County, TN Benton, Ocoee
Who you are hiring
TM Excavating is owner-led. The person who walks the site and prices the job is accountable for it from mobilization to final grade, and the company behind him has the equipment, trucking and crew to carry a full site package.
Travis Mendenhall, owner
I have run equipment for more than twenty years and started TM Excavating in 2022 to do the work the way I think it ought to be done: show up when I say I will, build it to grade, and leave the site clean. I am a Georgia certified septic installer and hold a CDL, so site work, utilities and septic can be one call and one contract.
You get one point of contact from the first phone call to the final grade check, straight answers on schedule and price, and a company set up to carry the work: a full spread of owned equipment, our own dump truck and CDL driver, and crew and partner capacity that scales with the job. Concrete and specialty utility work come in under one contract through partners we have worked with for years.
- Founded
- 2022
- Experience
- More than 20 years operating heavy equipment
- Equipment
- Track hoe, dozer, skid steer, dump truck
- Attachments
- Experienced on hydraulic shear, rotating grapple, hydraulic breaker, scrap magnet, forestry mulching head, auger and compaction wheel; sourced per job
- Credentials
- Georgia certified septic installer, CDL, fully insured
- Capacity
- Crew and trucking scale to the job; vetted partners for concrete and specialty utilities
- Phone
- (423) 681-2247
Request a bid
Tell us about the job and we will come back within one business day, usually with a site visit scheduled. Plans and specs can be emailed after you send this.
Calls and texts are answered during working hours, which on a dirt job means early. If you reach voicemail, we are in a cab and will call back the same day.
Prime contractors and agencies: send your bid invitations, vendor applications and prequalification forms to the email above. We return completed packets, W-9s and certificates of insurance the same business day.