Dozer or Trackho???

[JW01]

What about a big forestry mulcher. They are usually at $500-$700 per acre

 

[JCDEERMAN]

30" is massive. I can't imagine what that root ball looked like.

That is massive. We pulled up smaller diameter trees and some of their root balls were the size of my truck.

 

[megalomaniac]

What about a big forestry mulcher. They are usually at $500-$700 per acre

Not even close to ideal to use as a stump grinder... will take forever. Plus, years later after the remaining stump below dirt level rots out, you will still have to come back through with either a dozer or a bog disc to smooth out all the potholes.

 

[megalomaniac]

That is massive. We pulled up smaller diameter trees and some of their root balls were the size of my truck.

Took us 2-3 hours just to pop one stump up angling blade to dig around it and break roots, etc. (but again, I'm NOT an expert). I thought it would have been easier since it was cut 3-4 years prior... If if was freshly cut, it would still prob be right in the middle of my plot and I'd be working around it In retrospect, I'm thinking a combo of excavator digging around to bust all the roots free, then popping it out with the dozer would have been easier.

 

[tellico4x4]

One of our guys has a 450 JD, plus he's a good operator . It sure is handy but you lose quite a bit of topsoil pushing stumps with it. If a lot to clear an excavator is way to go.

 

[Mattt]

Why hasn't anyone asked what size tree stumps these are? Can make a huge decision on what I would getU said hardwood cut. Tells me all I need to know. They didn't come out for two acres so it's substantial. After that doesn't matter. Something in the range of a 318 cat trackhoe needs to go first. Then at a very minimum d-5. Can it be done with smaller equipment? Sure. Will it be cost effective? No. I can get pretty much anything out of the ground with a 450 dozer but it's gonna take time. As far as the hoe goes yes you can dig and backfill pretty decent but in 6 months it'll be so rough you won't want to drive over it. Hence the dozer to clip and smooth. Only money saver I k is is if you have a tractor and a heavy duty scrape about 3 rains after the trackhoe leaves start dragging with the rippers down. Probably take 5-6 passes over a few months to turn it into something you wanna drive across. Ask me how I know. Doing it for the third time on my place and done it multiple times on my little side gig. In the long run it is considerably cheaper to push the trees and burn/bury than it is to log them clean it up.

 

[Ski]

Reading this thread I can't help but think of the first settlers, imagining how they cleared ground. Man work

 

[DoubleRidge]

Reading this thread I can't help but think of the first settlers, imagining how they cleared ground. Man work

Years ago we lived in an old farm house that was on a 10 or 12 acre field...the older lady who owned the land said her father, uncle and grandfather cleared the land with cross cut saws and mules. They worked for years clearing the land.

 

[ttf909]

I just need roads built. Not great roads. Not roads you can drive a car on. Just ATV/UTV roads that won't wash out in the first heavy rain. But ever dozer operator/owner I contact is too busy leveling new home sites. And I don't blame them. Home sites are a lot easier and easier on equipment than building roads cross country through steep ridge-and-hollow terrain.

The guy that clears land for me uses the danuser intimidator for road clearing and works circles around the other guys with excavator and regular bucket skidsteer .

 

[Acorn Goat]

I'd dig them up and leave them laying next to the hole so when the dirt in the stump dries out you can shake it loose and pile stimps up to dry and burn them. What part of town are you located

 

[double browtine]

I think a trackhoe or backhoe is your best bet. I have a case 450c dozer and it takes a while to dig around a tree and push it over. The hardest tree you'll ever try to push over is a sweetgum! I had one that was 24" diameter at the ground. I dug around it 4' deep and cut all the side roots. Piled all the dirt up and made a ramp to drive up. With my blade raised all the up, and tilted with the bottom point of the blade at about 14 ft up on the trunk, I finally pushed it enough for it to fall over. I can't imagine trying to push out stumps with only a few feet out of the ground. It would take a D6 and lots of digging all the way around it!

 

[TX300mag]

The guy that clears land for me uses the danuser intimidator for road clearing and works circles around the other guys with excavator and regular bucket skidsteer .

That's my favorite implement to use

 

[Granddaddy]

30" is massive. I can't imagine what that root ball looked like.

Need an excavator to get those stumps out of the ground & the dozer to pile them. A good excavator operator can roll the stumps removing most of the dirt pretty quickly & then piled/dried they can be burned pretty efficiently

 

[Granddaddy]

I just need roads built. Not great roads. Not roads you can drive a car on. Just ATV/UTV roads that won't wash out in the first heavy rain. But ever dozer operator/owner I contact is too busy leveling new home sites. And I don't blame them. Home sites are a lot easier and easier on equipment than building roads cross country through steep ridge-and-hollow terrain.

The art of bar & side ditching roads & trails seems to be a lost art. Done correctly roads last indefinitely even with steep grades.

 

[BSK]

The art of bar & side ditching roads & trails seems to be a lost art. Done correctly roads last indefinitely even with steep grades.

Agree completely. When done right, the last a long, long time. But no one knows how to do them right anymore.

 

[Ski]

Why not buy a 3pt stump grinder? They grind several inches below grade and you don't lose all that organic matter.

 

[Granddaddy]

The art of bar & side ditching roads & trails seems to be a lost art. Done correctly roads last indefinitely even with steep grades.

I recall the US Forest Service published a very detailed, multi-page bulletin on the correct construction of water bar, turn-outs & side ditching years ago. It's probably still around in some form. I had some great work on my roads at my West TN farm that were as good 20 yrs after constructed as when originally graded in. But when attempting that technique here on my GA farm it was essentially a waste of the $$ spent. The operator with lots of grading experience seemed to have no clue how to do it right. I had to go behind him, add dirt to his little gravel speed bumps, increase the height & width and change the angles then add turn-outs.

 

[BSK]

I recall the US Forest Service published a very detailed, multi-page bulletin on the correct construction of water bar, turn-outs & side ditching years ago. It's probably still around in some form. I had some great work on my roads at my West TN farm that were as good 20 yrs after constructed as when originally graded in. But when attempting that technique here on my GA farm it was essentially a waste of the $$ spent. The operator with lots of grading experience seemed to have no clue how to do it right. I had to go behind him, add dirt to his little gravel speed bumps, increase the height & width and change the angles then add turn-outs.

Yes, somewhere I have a copy of a Forest Service publication on building roads. Excellent diagrams. However, finding a bulldozer operator who can follow those instructions is an effort in futility. At least from what I have experienced. We did find one once, and he made our roads perfect, but I believe he's now out of business (equipment repair costs). And the next logging crew that came along said they had to level the roads so they wouldn't break the axles on the logging trucks, and promised they would put the roads back exactly as they were. What did we get when they were finished? Flat, steep grades with no tilting of the road and no water turn-outs. But we did get some massively tall water bars on our main roads that couldn't be driven over!