Lots of information on clearing land with the biggest available dozers and a chain off a battleship.... But does it work and on a smaller scale? In particular I am looking at reclaiming an old gravel pit. Lots of sumack trees and multi flora rose. Could a much lighter chain and some weights improve clearing with a 450j Deere ? I should have just asked Scrub Puller. Lol
Mate ,most chaining is done with two tractors ,though i have seen in the britstand book using a large tree as the anchor point and going around it .
Yes two machines,or an anchor point, this I know. My point is if the chain works because of the fact that the tree acts as the axle of a pulley and receives more pull than if it was just hooked to the chain. Then why not on a small scale? If a contractor could save time and get a return on investment by having a200' 3/4" chain and anchor it to his dump truck while pulling the other end with a small dozer or in my case a 30,000# farm tractor, then why not? Those small and thorny bushes are a pain to attack head on, if the chain could pop then out or lay them over a bunch of time and safety may be gained or do I not understand the workings of chaining?
I think you would just drag the truck around .Mate i have never done any of this type of work . Scrubpuller is the man that can give you the advise you need .I have actually meet him ,,Nice bloke .
Yair . . . Guday ianoz . Still not got round to calling in have I . . . I'd like to catch up with you one day. FarmWrench . Dunno mate, I think you would find the small single tractor caper would be more trouble than it's worth. As you have obviously realised a light chain rides up and doesn't flatten stuff and it would be a pain in the butt to shackle on some weights. As ianoz mentions useful clearing has been done working circles around large trees. I have never done it but I saw where a feller cleared probably the best part of a thousand acres with a D7, five hundred feet of chain and about the same again (so I was told) of cable. I am not too sure about your "axle of a pulley" anology . . . I suppose the chain can impart some twisting moment to a tree but it is mainly brute force and ignorance as far as I can see. Your post was a little ambiguous . . . do you have the little Deere dozer and a large wheel tractor? Is so what I have seen done . . . I used to have some photos . . . was some fellers clearing lightish sandalwood and brigalow with an D4 and a big old International wheel tractor. They pulled back and forth in strips . . . before they started they had pushed tracks through with the D4 to give the wheel tractor a place to run. It worked very well and they covered a lot of country for not a lot of money. Just some thoughts. Cheers.
Hey Scrubpuller ,Likewise if i was a bit wiser as to exactly where a bit south of Miriam Vale was ,i would call in .Pretty sure , those Carter Bros DVDs i was telling you about finally come home to roost .Gunna see one day how smart i am at copying them .
I don't know if sumac and multiflora rose are common in Oz. Sumac is a large shrub, small tree that spreads underground, mostly under 2" stems and not terribly thick either. Multiflora rose is a large invasive rose bush. So I don't think more weight is needed on the machinery, maybe the chain will need weight? 200' of 3/8" chain is relatively cheap, but I don't know it would work without any weight. A lot depends on the soil conditions whether they will pop out, snap off, or bend over. And what you plan to do with the ground, if I understand, Scrub would pull it over, maybe windrow it, then burn it. A heavy disc or a mulcher/mower might work as well as anything?