I have about 70 acres of mesquite that I'm looking at clearing. I've looked at several grubbers and getting one fabricated runs about $5k (Browne Bros)... I was thinking about just getting an old bucket and cutting out the back end. Would that be about the same or would it be structurally weak?
Yair . . . Jonnn . I don't know your conditions but I do know mesquite and would imagine any form of "bucket" would be a poor place to start. You don't mention the machine but if put "mesquite grubber" into google images you will see various attachments you could weld up from used cutting edges for very little money. Cheers.
The machine is a Komatsu PC300 Lc-3. I've talked to a few machine shops and local welders. One said he didn't have the correct equipment to weld something that size. One said they needed more detail regarding metal type and thickness. Do you have any suggestions of what would work? Thanks!
What the heck kind of gyppo welder wouldn't have the equipment to weld on a 300 bkt? What's he run a lincoln 130 from Home Depot?
Yair . . . Jonnn . A excavator that size is a bit of overkill for "grubbing". . . what size is the mesquite? When "grubbing" you will normally deal with one stem/root ball at a time and as mentioned used dozer cutting edge is suitable for making an attachment . . . I am talking here about a tool to do a few acres of clearing, fit and finish are not important. I have made many cutterbars/grubbers to fit on various tractors and dozers and the only cost was a day or so's labour and a bit of gas and rods. It is not hi-tech fabrication. Cheers.
I looked at the Browne Bros site and the BS style grubber looks like you could knock one out in an afternoon if you had an old bucket to start with. Just blow the bottom of the bkt out right behind the frog and let er eat.
Rather than all the work to fabricate what you're talking about (never mind ruining a 'good' bucket), wouldn't it be faster to use a skid steer with a rock bucket? Or even a heavy duty grapple with tines on the bottom? Or, take a old cutting edge and sharpen the leading edge and place it about half way back on the forks of a skiddy? (Even if you use the hoe, you'll still have to chase all that material around 70 acres to pile or load it with another machine it would seem.) Just seems like a lot of unnecessary wear on a nice machine (over-kill with a large excavator)... ~ Mark
Deeretracks: I just talked to him again about it and the issue is the current bucket has 1.5" thick where it attaches to the arm and he wants it to be that thick else hes afraid it would bend. He also doesn't have the setup (cranes) to move that kind of a weighted attachment. I did just find an old bucket for about 40% the price of the grubber so that's what I"m going to do. The very bottom was cracked so I'm getting a deal since I'm just ripping it out anyway. Scrub Puller: The biggest mesquite is about 20 feet tall and 6-8 inches thick. I need to get down about a foot underneath and get the rootball. While the machine may be overkill, it's what I have to work with. I'm also going to be ripping out a few other types of trees too. Fit and finish are not important Treehogger.. I don't think a rock bucket will be sufficient at really getting down because of the depth I have to go and even though the soil is sandy, there are pockets of rocks 3-4 inches big. Would a lot more time consuming. Here is a sweet video of one with a hydraulic thumb ripping through the mesquite in no time! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_PTSq6Y-7I
Cool video. Looks like that setup is very effective.
Why is everyone removing mesquite? I have never been to the area. Are they more like brush and take over woods. It just seems there is a lot of money spent in that area to remove the stuff Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk
Yair . . . 1466IH . Yes mate Mesquite is an invasive species and can take over completely. It is a declared weed in Australia and becoming a problem in some places. It is very difficult to kill and will sprout from the root node if the whole plant is not removed. That excavator in the video (and in particular the operator) is a very specialised and effective tool for dealing with scattered small scale infestations but once the stuff becomes thick the only option is a horizontal cutter working about a foot deep behind large crawler tractors. This site gives some indication of the problem in the Australian context . . . http://pilbaramesquite.com.au/photos/mesquite-infestations-in-the-pilbara/ This Pilbara infestation is just one area . . . there are significant areas through out much of the inland and given fuel prices and low returns on marginal country unless some biological agent is found to counter the pest I see little prospect of it ever being bought under control. Cheers.
You learn something every day, Scrub I did not know we had that growth here,thought it was a usof a thing,never heard of it before, the root system when pulled looked similar to Wattyl,big spread but shallow, the worst plant that I have on my place and will stop a bob-cat dead stop is the bauple bush,it has a root ball like you wouldn't believe and is extremely tough, know what im going on about Scrub ?
According to University of Texas this is the most cost effective method of removing Mesquite with minable soil disturbance and no spraying for up to 5 years. They only have 3 million acres of the stuff
So i guess it is similar to what we have around here called honey suckle. once it gets started in the trees it is next to impossible to remove and it will keep growing untill it chokes everything else out (even 100 year old oak trees). It is so bad that the state of Illinois as broke as it is is paying people to remove it. Of course they are too broke to pay for the whole thing and for what little bit of reimbursement they give you it isnt even work the hassle of trying to get them to pay. This stuff isnt as difficult to remove though as what you guys have
I had a call from a land care group at Charleville and they have over 100,000 acres of mesquite around Quilpie
That is a big coverage., Are they doing something about it,erradication ?
Sounds like it spreads like Lantana.
It's probably worse than Lantana. If it's mown or broken off at ground level it comes back thicker than before hence the reason for whole plant removal. Prickly Acacia is the same and there is 4.4 million hectares of infected land in Qld according to the DPI.
Yair . . . Garrie Denny . Can't say I know the bauple bush mate. I don't know this coastal country all that well . . . mostly worked on the western runs and up to the Gulf. I'll ask around and see if I can find one . . . I assume it is a scrub bush that grows on better country. We are in the sand and wattle belt (tobacco country) just south of Miriam Vale. Tones . I can remember when that main Mesquite infestation out from Quilpie was just a few hundred acres . . . went to a field day out there one time they were raking it with a D9G which would have made it worse, I forget the name of the Station. The only good thing about Mesquite is that it is a good general smoke wood. I use it on chicken, pork and brisket/beef rib bones gives a nice mild smoky flavour. Cheers.
Nice country up there Scrub,im guessing youre left off the Highway(west) in that sort of soil you describe,but then again im probably wrong again,youre probably east,either way Mirriam Vale is a nice location. Next time I root-out a plant and bulb I will post,the re-groth is unreal unless you go back and bucket out the Ball.
I don't have a great deal of respect for the DPI.as you would know ,a lot of our so called noxious weeds that councils in North qld are stating that land owners are required to eradicate,(Giant Rat Tail,Latana ) to name a few were introduced by the Government in their wisdom at the time. now we get the expense of getting rid of it. Go Gov.com. Don't start on Cane toads,I have never seen one eating Sugar-Cane yet,(Their too busy eating my dogs dry food.)
Yair . . . Gotcha there Garry Denny with the GRT . . . found a couple here last week. I believe it was introduced in an improved pasture mix. We're about seven kays south of the village, just off the highway to the east. Cheers.
This page is pretty good showing different tools to deal with land clearing tasks . Have to scroll down abit to see grubbing & root plow attachments. http://reveg-catalog.tamu.edu/04-Mechanical.htm
That's right Scrub,early 60/s GRT was introduced to our country by the Gov of the day.(****-Heads). It is very invasive,i advise you to poison using Glisophate, when it is really growing hard (Now),let it die off and cut the seed heads off and put in a plastic bag and burn. If you let die off,the seeds can still propogate from the dead plant. Class 2 noxious weed. It is actually very good feed for cattle if you are not looking at keeping them for more than 12-18 moths,after this time the grass wears the cattles teeth very badly.
Tones:When you say prickly Acacia do you refer to what I call Chonky-apple bush ? Grows out west in Prarie, Richmond,Hughenden,Muttaburra, areas ,very thorny, virtually nill leaf coverage,approx 2-3 metres wide-3-4 tall ?