Yair . . . Got your message I can never get the private messaging reply to work . . . probably me. I been out of the game too long mate, no contacts any more but if I was looking for a job I'd contact this mob . . . http://www.berajondo.com/ They work out of Bundy and have good gear . . . the boss is a cattle-man . . . or was, it's probably been taken over by his young bloke. They used to shift the 65Komatsu for us way back and they seemed to run like clockwork. All the best with it and keep us posted. Cheers.
Thanks scrub looks like I've got a start with em thanks a heap he tells me he's got about 4500 acres to rake and 2 d8n dozers to do it its pulled plantation in undulating country with little dirt heaps everywhere something to do with when it was planted apparently.Any idea how long that much country should take to rake also I haven't raked that sort of country b4 ant tips would b great. Reguards cameron
Yair . . . Cam85. Good one mate! I hope it works out for you! Dunno about raking that plantation timber thought I imagine it would be a right pain in the azz. Depends a lot on the size of the timber of course. Problem is all the rows would have been planted into beds (often on the contour) thrown up by one of these. Again depending on the rake it might be a little hard to get clean heaps. If possible I always try to avoid raking into windrows . . . you will cover much more country if you rake it into heaps. I like to work back and forth across a face where ever possible at ninety degrees to the way the stuff was pulled. Just push along and before the tractor struggles turn in and dump the rakefull, back off and continue. On the way back provided its fairly uniform the tractor will load up at about the same place and you just bunt the rakefulls sideways, the heaps will tell you where they want to be. A lot of fellers seem to think the object of the exercise is to push the timber into heaps or windrows . . . I look at it the other way and believe the object of the exercise is to leave cleared country at the minimum cost. You can't always work heaps of course, some bosses/cockies/Government Departments have there own ideas of how they want it done and if they want windrows I tell them that's fine but I reckon a tractor is not doing much if its rattling backwards and if you screw round to push both ways between windrows it's hard on tracks . . . just my opinion. Don't forget to keep us posted and put up some pictures! (big grin) Cheers.
Hey scrub thanks 4 the pointers but its no longer a concern the job fell through young sal couldn't seem to make his mind up and seemed to think ime a bit of smart arse are well u get that.never mind if ur willing to work you will find it.the hunt continues!
Yair . . . Cam85 . That's a bummer mate . . . I found out early in the piece though that sometimes it pays to shove the throttle back on your reactions even though it slips your clutches. All the best with it. Cheers.
Yea thanks scrub I loved ur analogy me and my big mouth aye it can get me into trouble sometimes problem seems to b I won't say much but when I do I won't engage low range I go strait to top gear and drop the clutch at full noise and to make matters worse the engine can pull wont stall out to much torque. I might have to tie the throttle back at low idel for a while.
Yair . . . Cam85 . Gotcha mate. I reckon you'll be fine. It's obvious you know where part of the problem is, we can all be our own worst enemy at times. Once you know your bickies (as obviously you do) it's difficult to go with the flow when dealing with **** heads but you just gotta learn to cool it. Cheers.
Excellent advice Scrub puller,and to Cam85 hope things work out good for you in the future. That Berajondo mob are a proffessioal set up and have good machinery and do A-class job,they had a contract here on the roads around me a few years back. They have been around a while and have probably sacked more operators than you've had P'S. Just wasn/t meant to be I guess. All the best.
Thanks Garry ill b right mate I've been here b4. And yes scrub is right I do have a bit of blue dog in me i might put a ice pack on my head. I tend to do my talking from the seat or with my hands and feet communication and people skills is something I need to improve. On the up side I might b going plowing around huenden.
It does make me wonder when staff turnover is high though why there are a lot of useless divers out there but come across some pretty ordinary bosses to I'm not going to speculate about a bloke I've never met but if ur going through that manny men there must b more to it. Also the hard road of experience has taught me to b a bit ruthless. Something else to consider is the ability to work to a grade has probably made me a bit arrogant this attitude has come from working with what I call the moron factor ( blokes that can't or don't understand dirt , levels , miosture , compaction and so on ) But don't go thinking that ime a know all n such I've still got a lot to learn and don't deny it. However when asked what I can do I tell in confidence with a no lies policy. For some reason people hear that but don't listen when I start naming my weaknesses and what I can't do I never could understand why. For me dozer operating is not just a job I do it because I love em and what they can do, it's an obsession that I've dedicated a hell of a lot of time to trying to get good at not only in work hours but in my own time as well. One day when I think I have learned enough I would like to own my own but that's a long way of. There is a little background on cameron.
Its all good Cam,youul be right ,everything happens for a reason,thats the way I take life,as long as your still breathing in the morning youre way I front of the bloke who karked it in his sleep. Now you mention Hughenden,I worked there for about 3 years back in 82,the had not hadany rain for 8 years to speak of until me and the missus turned up,2 months later the little bridge heading out of town towards the tip, ad what they called the common flooded. Very dry, hot,but good people. was there the time the hotel burt down.was 4 . Goodluck bloke.
I forgot the name of the bridge,its over the Flinders river,just past the Flinders Club(Adrinking hole for the uppers in society)
Yair . . . Cam85 . Can't reply on your other thread but see you got a job pulling and raking 75,000 acres in the Gulf. You will keep us posted with details and pictures? . . . The gear, the country before and after . . . anything would be of interest especially to me. Don't stick your neck out though, clear it with the brass before posting details, some of these jobs are commercially sensitive. In due course, if are you able to mention the area and what the country is going to be used for it would be good. The southern Gulf and eastern Cape was my old stamping ground . . . we had a business in Karumba for close on fifteen years. It's going to be a dream up there. . . God's own country coming into winter, hot though and you'd be choked down doing maintenance in the wet . . . traditionally in the Gulf the rain starts in late November stops on St Patrick's day. the seventeenth of March. The timber is very light and even and on our fishing/shooting trips (you do chuck a few lures and wallop pigs with a .308 or such?) I would positively salivate at the prospect of being let loose with three D8's. I won't flap my lips any more at this stage but if it all goes well there are ways and means of setting up such a project to the contractors advantage . . . for instance you would be pulling wide (depending on the tractors) and visibility with dust will be an issue. I would seriously look at running night shifts and resting up in the air-conditioning in the daytime back at camp. The dust never seems to be as bad at night, I think because of the dew, the tractors snort and get the bit in their teeth and you can see you mates position from the angle of the lights . . . and there are no breakaway gully's to fall into. (big grin) Cheers.
Hey scrub I'll b sure to take a camera funny of all the dozers I've been over the years I've never taken any picks. But that is about to change I will b heading off Wednesday the job is on well i better not say but it's near George Town. We've got permits for 75000 but waiting 4 more I can't tell u how much more there is but I can tell u there is a lot more 2 b done. Ime working direct 4 the land owner ( yes I know but it's better than sitting on my ass ) he has 2 d11 size allis chalmers. He has for d9 dozers two series 1 r models the last of the clutch steer machines . And 2 n series also clutch steer. And two d6d power shift machines and a big rubber tired dozer we are prepping the ground for sorghum ( not forrige the outher one ) so there will b some plowing as well. I'll b I the shed 4 the 1st two weeks and then he want me to run 2 nines pulling as there is already somebody on the allis chalmers pulling. I have worked around chilligo b4 so ime guessing its similar country. Verry close to the Gilbert river I forgot to mention that b4 . There is also some dams to build. It's kept and fed so that's good not much dough but it's still worth doing its a job and it's an income and there is plenary to do. If the permits come through and this bloke doe sent run out of money there should b about three years work ( including the planting) Oh it's virgin country 2 buy the way running 3 inch stud link he tells me but I will know more rafter I get there. It sounds like a big link but those nines have plenty of grunt unsure of length or spread ( the timber will let me know if ime to greedy ) I say with a smile from ear to ear lol ha ha ha. I'll b. doing a minim of 4 week stints out there so u won't hear from me for awhile. Mabey longer as long as ican go without going mad is wat ime aiming 4 apart from loving it I've gotta do the big hitches to make it pay. Rest assured ill b in touch with all the right info in due course . Reguards cameron .
Yair . . . Gotcha Cam85 Bloody marvellous. 75,000 acres is a big patch but that could be fifty to one hundred acres an hour country with the big Allis's (while he can keep them going) and a little less with Nines . . . won't take long to get it on the ground. Seeing it all has to be raked I'd be looking at pulling back and forth across a face instead of going round and round . . . less turning, the fuel/lube truck just follows down the end and, most importantly, you set it up so the rakes can always work at ninety degrees to the pull. It makes a difference. In that sort of country rubber tyred loaders/dozers would probably be the go for raking. I have never run them myself but when St George was firing a bloke had a Hough with a "V"12 Cummins and forty foot of rake that scratched sticks together better than any rig I've ever seen . . . they called it "The Scrub Turkey" actually. Actually I remember a few years back there was a bit of a kerfuffle about a 40,000 hectare cane farm and sugar mill on the Gilbert near Georgetown, I wonder if that deal fell through and those land clearing permits are being applied to the same country for sorghum? Better shut up, I'm getting all excited and running off at the mouth agin'. (big grin) Cheers.
Don't you guys have environmentalists in Australia? We've plenty to spare here in the US, but you probably don't want us to export them.
Yes mate we have greenies here there thick but we had an election not that long ago and the liberal government has been trying to roll back the clearing laws it is a slow process but it has been gathering momentum. The drought has most cockys on there knees but the bigger players are starting to get the permits and beginning to develop county again. Ir looks as though the days of the scrub puller the racker and the plow man are coming back. It will never b like it was back in the day but never less it's making a come back. Some regrowth has been let go that long that it might as well b virgin but it's now harder to pull because it wasn't raked and might have only 1 fire through it so the timber lying on the ground can get rather hectic. Also back in the day some crews left nothing standing ( not good this destroys the country ) but now days it's regulated a lot more there are some trees u can't touch such as the bottel tree the currajong tree and in some areas tue beef wood ( or in southerner talk the needle wood ) wee also have to leave a lot more shade patches and a reasonable area around protected trees and any puller worth his salt will leave a few trees around. This depends on what the country will b used fore and the area but u get the idea. A few years ago things got so bad it was easier to go ahead and pull and pay the fine and any shows that were pulling were pulling a patch , droping the chain and loading the dozer on to a ready waiting truck. While the first dozer was mobile the outher would get a spot ready and the chain ready to load. U get the idea u had to have the dozer out of there b4 u got caught. That's how much power the greens had but the times there a changing. Please keep the greenies u have reguards Cameron.
Strathmore rings a bell
Yair . . . Garrie Denny . Yes mate, its a big block up in my old stamping ground on the Gilbert and Einasleigh Rivers out from Croydon . . . supposed to be the biggest station in Queensland. Old Mate has been making waves for a while . . . . http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/22381917...y-over-land-clearing-permits-in-states-north/ Google "Strathmore" it's an interesting family, movies, victims of large scale duffing . . . . (big grin) It will be interesting to see if they can make it work. In general large scale farming in the Pacific tropics has been a failure . . . Tipperary, the Ord and Placer Developments attempts to grow sorghum in the Markham Valley in PNG all went okay for starters and then were plagued by diseases, geese and ducks. I believe agriculture in these areas may be best carried out by lots of little brown hands and water buffalo rather than a few white blokes sitting up in the A/C on John Deere's and Cats. It will be interesting to see how it all pans out. Cheers.
Hey Scrub I agree with you they have their work cut out for them,but heh,why not ? they might find some coal while their at it.:beatsme, and duffers never took from anyone who didn't have too many or the time to watch em properly, a clean skin is a freezer pleaser in my book.
Scrub,from my experience if the neighbours slaughtering a beast,best get on the bike and start counting your stock, just saying.
If Cam is up there he will have a few stories to tell us later no doughbt.
Yair . . . Garrie Denny Gotcha mate! (big grin). They really get upset about that sort of stuff around here . . . even had a court case a couple of years back. You would have heard the story about the old cattle man having a feed one night at the bough-shed camp of one of the young blokes who won a brigalow block joining him? The young blokes Missus served up some real nice corned beef, punkin and some taters. The old cattle had a bottle of Red Spot under the seat of the Tojo and they all got a little blotto and he says to the young bloke that was a nice bit of meat and how he never eats his own beef . . . only his neighbours. The young bloke grins looks him in the eye and tells him that he's eating it now and don't those little yak heifers of his corn up really good? Going to be interesting to hear the news when Cam85 reports back . . . hope it all goes well for him but I have heard Old Mate out there is a bit of a chancer . . . a good bloke but a chancer. Cheers.
I think Cam came out of the same egg,like to be a fly around those parts .
Hey hey cam is back a bit sooner than I thought. What a laugh and a half that was. Old mate is indeed a chancer I think stroker would b a more accurate description. I will die happy now I have seen it all! I'm no stranger to station life and pay but all I can say is wow what a show. I'm not gunna say to much on here because I don't wanna get in to trouble and u just don't know who is watching. But wow really really wow.
Can read between the lines, So I take it youre not heading back any-time soon ?
Yair . . . Cam85 . Sorry to hear it didn't work out . . . I did a bit of digging and I can't say I'm surprised. Tell us your truth with no derogatory/defamatory statements . . . just some generalisations about the set-up. As soon as you mentioned the big Allis's I smelt a rat. I don't see how you could pull on a job like that with that sort of equipment. In that sort of country you don't need big . . . you need reliable. All the best mate. Cheers.
Come on Cam,spill the beans.
Hey Scrub and Garrie sorry about the lateness of my replie I've been a busy the last couple of days but more on that later. Yes i knew strathmore was a long shot I too smelled a rat I think the panic I was in was blinding me a bit. I wasn't expecting peaches n cream but wat I found was worse than I thought. Now don't go thinking that im having a gripe here goes. I diddnt c those chalmers but from wat I heard I dont want to. I did c 2 old cable blade nines that still had a suck fan on them that needed a cat certified about 20 years ago.I've said it b4 and I'll say it again there is nothing wrong with old gear if it's in reasonable condition. The nine r and the nine n he recently bought néed a lot of love lots n lots it wouldn't take much to save them but with the mentality up there it won't b long and they will b dead such a shame. There not set up 4 timber and he has used kids and backpackers and ringers to build the rakes on them and then wonders why the rakes r bending breaking and falling apart ( I wonder why ) . The two nines he had lined up to buy and pull with ( the ones that were already there ) fell through so now he is going to buy two D11 out of a mine bring them up and pull with them. There not set up 4 timber so he is going to use kids ringers and backpackers to build the canopies and draw bars ( that's a great idea ) some one is going to fi
Find out when u buy that big u can't just put em on a float and take them where u want as u guys probably know a D11 has to b dismantled 4 transport blade ripper box and even the cab. At best per dozer there is two weeks to pull down shift and reassemble. Oh and dozers must run on air because I seen no support equipment ie fuel trailers. Truck . Compresser and so on. Tucker now I will eat anything and I mean anything mum calles me a food disposing unit but a miserable rib bone and rice how u gunna work on that. Accommodation I would rather strap a swag to the inside of a canopy than sleep in those quarters I've been all over QLD and the Northern Territory and never seen a set that bad falling apart and the floor about to cave in not a dunny that works so if u need a crap u gotta go to the kitchen, the shower would rather have a boogie in a trough. And no bit of elbo grease and a good clean wouldn't fix it. I thought being an ex stanbroke place the ammenitys would have been reasonable. Apparently someone is buying dongers but from wat I hear I don't wanna know about it.
Now I never thought I would sat this it's really painful to say but a little bit of safety a very little bit can b a good thing getting his crew to put boots on at least in the shed would b a good start. Now here is the funniest thing I ever seen someone thought I would b a good idea to try and pre fab a set of cattle yards out of old steam pipe in the shed using kids ringers and backpackers to do it ( everything is square ha ha ha ha ) and then someone thought it would b an even better idea to get Cameron to go out and stand them up and weld them up using bits of flat for the joins. If u pay peanuts u get peanuts and um well sorry but in this day and age 150 a day b4 tax it's not gunna happen buddy I can make more than that in a workshop on the spanners buddy. And that's just the tip of the ice berg. Ur probably wondering why I diddnt get all the details b4 I set sail well I did but the details changed and kids n ringers and backpackers with a few beers in em tend to flap their gums . I couldent risk a month only to c no change in my account. The rate had already changed and I wasn't on the books read between the lines you'll Figer it out. In my mind it was only a very tempoary solution any way. Someone is a smart cookie though pig dogs chained up to the diesel tank at night ime not a thief but but would like to have gotten something 4 my 2 days work. On the up side got confirmation last night ime going to miles to push 21s with a d8r mining bentonite willmhave my start date tomorrow night thinking fly down Tuesday unsure of how much work he has but have a back up plan got a start with poppi bros From ingham ripping for scoops up the cape near weipa somewhere once this cyclone goes away they should b kicking off in about a month. Also was talking to my old boss from Roma and he has been leaning on the safety man pretty hard and reckones the safety mans gunna crack b4 to long and the new supervisor ( who I happen to b good mates with ) has been helping to make old safety joes life hard at a guess I'll b back at there b4 the end of the year. ( my old boss wants me back ) Oh Scrub yes ur dead right I almost forgot to say from the timber I seen out at strathmore D8 would b plenty big enough I could get it on the groun with d7 if I tried but a couple of D8 dozers would walk all over it and do it easy anything bigger not necessary. On a completely unrelated topic there is this voice inside that won't stopp bugging me I want to buy a dozer I have my eye on a d7h series 3 xl set up for timber bull tilt blade Lewis ripper box beautiful beetel back canopy draw bar new itr undercarriage very tidy inside done 9000hrs very tidy tractor but I have no idea how to find work for it u guys got any tips it comes with a fuel trailer 2500 liter and a 150 cfm compresser some boots tips and edges asking 200000 including gst I already have a cruiser and tools. The problem I can c is getting the work it would b a 1 man band so chain work is out and who is gunna hire 1 dozer u catching my drift what do u guys think.
Oh I forgot to mention the rubber tired dozer someone thinks it's cheaper to but 3 to make one. Its only my opinion that that's false economy. I won't even get started on the sorgum equipment or I'll be typing for a week chassis about to break in half and all I wish him all the luck in the world he gunna nee it.
Something else that springs to mind have either of u guys ever pushed open bowlers b4 I have once and had a real hard time the scraper drivers had come out of a mine and wanted to load the machine in the length of the machine I imagine that would b fine for a mine but I was boxing out roads in a subdivision working to a grade and wanted to to give those drivers a lesson old school style I went through 4 drivers in a fortnight I eventually went mad and walked off site. That was a few years ago now I'm a bit more tolerant now however apart from that all my scraper experience has been on 615 and 623 Ellervated scrapers the bloke that taught me to work to a grade bt eye wouldn't let me off the dam thing and continually abused me until I learned and that took a while in any case was hoping 4 a few tips on scraper pushing and method I should b fine but feel free to throw a bit knowledge my way if u don't mind thanks in advance.
Sounds like he has a pack of woofers,there working for him,imports through the government system from anywhere,he dosent have to pay them 1 cent,just supply meals and living quarters,could be a tent. Its the latest scam unscroupulus people are using for free labour. It is a complete joke. check woofers on google.,
Re the pig dogs on diesel guard duty,the guy might not be that dumb afterall, he might be a mind reader ?
Yea I think he knew what I was planning I would not have been hard to figer out I'll have a look at woofers. Hey scrub u still kicken old mate
I couldn't believe it myself, my next door neighbor told me. a mate of his is building a two story house and has had 4 of them woofers for about 3 weeks,up on the roof,no ppe gear,no harness,putting on the roof. Its a nighmare waiting to happen if one of them comes off,and he has tham set up in a tent,go figure,no wonder theres stuff all work up Gin Gin way for nus plumbers when that crap is going on.
Absoutly unbelievable it's because of that sort of bull we have safety men out of controll and wouldn't u give the job to a local roofer/plumber and try n help out ur local blokes trying to make a go of things. Or am I the one whose got it all wrong?
Hey Scrub u wanna weigh in here mate I would like ur point of view on the whole cluster f...
Evachan that is really good of you .You might like to send some of those lights to Cam free of course, and he could put them on his Hard-Hat, then we will know he has seen the light.
Light what light I don't c any light oh u were trying to b funny.
No trying to get you some free lights.
Yair . . . Gotcha fellers . . . been offline with "Optus Issues" . . . we run a USB stick for broadband and sometimes the pilot motor is a little hard to start. Pity about Strathmore, could have been a good gig with decent gear and management. From what I hear the wwoofers deal has gotten completely out of hand . . . WOOFER = W illing W orker O n O rganic F arms. In the early days apparently that was exactly how it worked, backpackers and any one who wanted to learn about organic production could register and in return for a few hours a day assisting on the farm they were provided with shelter and tucker, a fair deal for all involved . . . take it from me, a small scale farmer is in no position to pay twenty bucks an hour when he has ten acres of zucchini's pulling five bucks at Rocklea Markets. Since then it has all gone pear-shaped and I hear some "Organic" beef producers out in the channel country are getting in on the deal . . . and now Old Mate up on Strathmore and others down Garrie's way with roofing, beats me. We considered giving it a go but we weren't growing organically so thought we wouldn't qualify. Dunno about the Seven Cam85 . I have been so long out of the game my opinion is probably of little value. Continuity of work is always a problem. If you could get a long term contract with a pipe-line mob or get in on a station development program or such like it might be a goer but you would have to be sure of your numbers. To me a D7 (in any of it's guises) is an ideal station tractor but a bit neither your arse nor your elbow when it comes to general contracting . . . to big for small jobs and not big enough for serious cutter barring or ripping . . . but it is big enough to be a hassel to shift. I'm not knocking it I like them but I think you will get my drift. Pushing scrapers. Hoo boy, now that's a loaded topic and (in my opinion) I think there is more bull ****e/opinion on pushing scrapers on these "diesel smoke and dust" forums than any other subject. All I can say is the dozer should run the cut, generally speaking always load in the direction they are hauling, and when picking up a scraper come in at an angle and try and make the initial contact as a slight sliding movement across the blade . . . "greasing on" the my Yank dirt boss used to call it. Cheers.
Oh thanks Garrie. Hey thanks Scrub yea the only thing strathmore need is a bit of good management. I think the original idea of a woofer was probably a good one it's a pity it's gotten so warped I can't help thinking something based on this idea run by someone a lot smarter than me could do a lot of good with some of today's youth and street kids maybe a small wage or something if u know what I mean, I'm gunna stop there b4 I open a pandora box. The D7 yea I know what u mean finding work and quoting and a set big enough without over capitalising due to my fussiness would b my main problem and yes either a D6 or a D8 I c what ur getting at I probably better leave that one alone. I have heard the term greasing b4 as an ellervated man this is going to b character building.
Yair . . . Cam85 Nah, your going to have a ball. Take it easy to begin with, come in straight and gentle and after you get a bit of confidence you can develop that little side ways flick, you can sometimes even see a little puff of smoke come off the blade and in an open cab you can smell the friction. One other thing that Yank used to reckon . . . the scrapers should "lift the can" and be out of there as soon as the dirt started falling of the low side. Dunno about that myself I reckon it's one of those things where a goodish operator can use a bit of judgement . . . dirt and conditions vary, in blacksoil I have seen it cut like cheese and go overboard with half a bowlfull. Cheers.
Yea we will have to wait and c
Scrub, can you elaborate a bit on this? I have seen it mentioned on here before that a D7 is unpopular because it is too big to be small and too small to be big. I don't quite get it, I think it is an ideal size all round machine. You mention, "big enough to be a hassle to shift" One place I worked had a D7G with a tilt blade and rippers, and they carted it with a tri-axle float without any escort. I don't know if they had overweight or oversize permits, but it was a large company and would have been within the rules. It was not in any metropolitan areas. It was easier to shift than the D6C's with angle blades. I would have thought a tri-axle float with no escort is about as hassle free as you could hope other than going as small as a D4 or something. For this reason I thought a D7 would be the ideal machine because it was as big as you could go without being too hard to shift. Interested to know what hassles shifting a D7 do you speak of? Are the newer high track D7's bigger or heavier than the D7G?
Yair . . . Plant Fitter . Yes mate you are probably right these days. I suppose I live in the past. I used to regularly shift a D6 on an ordinary two axle trailer working out of Petrie in Brissy and it always seemed a D7 was in a different class completely . . . you needed a float. Cheers.
You are right Scrub, here in the US we always moved D6's on a two axle tilt deck pull trailer, the 7's required what we refer to as a lowboy trailer pulled by a three axle truck with a fifth wheel. Not a huge difference but there is definitely a change up there. Cheers
I feel the same way Plant Fitter about my HD16-B dozer (D7 size tractor) . It's the perfect size dozer for most of my pushing work . Pulled the below quote off the Vannattabros.com website . He was referring to his HD16-B . A cynic would say that it is too small to push rock and too big to level your yard, and the optimist would say it is good for both. We bought it as a site preparation machine to stack brush in preparation to forest regeneration, a task for which it is well suited. It is also big enough to retrieve a truck stuck in the mud and to do modest road building. I say this only conditionally however. You have to remember that it only weighs in a 25 tons, and dozers do a pretty good job of retrieving things that don't weigh more than they do. Loggers, especially those who do cable logging usually have a big tower or something around that weighs over 50 tons, and this sized dozer doesn't cut it when a 50 ton tower or shovel is mired down. A D8 class machine (around 80,000 lbs) is more or less standard fare around such sites. They aren't that much more powerful, but the weight and mass gives them a fair shot at helping a 50 ton machine which has a problem. Besides, if a logger knows how to move a 50 ton tower or shovel, a 40 ton dozer won't be a problem. In fact now in most places in the US permitting loads under 50 tons and under 14 feet in width is not all that difficult. It may take 8 or 9 axles and depending on the road, flag cars, but it can be done.
Manny good points raised here yea the D7 can b floated on a standard 3 rows of 4 float without a pilot or anything special just a few flags and away u go. However scrub has a good point in if u look at a 7 using 350 litres a day then u compare it 2 a d6 same engine using about 250 litres a day then look at a D8 using 450 litres a day compare the work produced by each it makes the 7 look a bit thirsty another thing to consider is component life and price the 6 or the 8 are much more cost effective that yay way. But in the hands of the right person the 7 can do a lot I was looking at it because of the quality of the tractor and the price and the malty purpose ness of it but I think scrub might b right either a 6 or an 8 in the long run the 8 is a clear winner but I think the 6 would b a better way in based purely on cost. It doe sent matter anyway I don't think I can find the work 4 it
Yeah Cam85 , I didn't mean to imply there was a rite or wrong answer . This will differ with each individual & type of work they do . For myself the D7 size dozer works good on most of my pushing work . I like it as it's the last size that can be hauled on a standard tandem tractor trailer rig . Big enough to move some dirt yet not to bad for moving from job to job .
I totally agree a 7 is as big as u can go b4 u need bigger floats and escorts and so on and a good size
Cam , Check again on Rules ..We looked at buying a D7G .Measured across the blade and found it was just a little wider than Allowed for just oversize signs .So escort vehicle is required . Only way to get away with it is remove Outside blade cutting edges .
Up to 3.5 metres wide with just signs and flashing light, but I think you can get a permit that lasts a year at a time to be a little wider and still have no escort. May be only outside of the metropolitan areas.
Drop the corner tips and your good to go