Came across this site while researching a rootivator, thought a lot of you would appreciate it. It gives general descriptions and applications for a variety of implements and attachments for land clearing, including chains, choppers, root plows, etc. Also provides manufacturer contacts for the various manufacturers. http://reveg-catalog.tamu.edu/04-Mechanical.htm
Pretty cool. Nice to be able to put pictures (even if they are small) to what I've read on the forum in the past. Although, I really doubt my little D3 will be pulling a chain or a chopper, still fun to look at.
Here is an operation we done near Caliente, Nevada a couple years ago. We used two D9 cats and about 200 feet of the "Ely Chain". By the way I am from Ely, nevada which is where that chain got its name. I work for the BLM and one of the guys that worked there years ago came up with the idea for this chain. We pulled over about 1000 acres on that particular project, getting about 150 acres a day. Wee did another one this past fall in roughly the same area that was about 900 acres and we used two D8's and had better terrain and got about 200 acres a day as we did the 900 acres in 4 1/2 days working 12 hours a day. Fun for the first little while but does get monotonous after the first day. Takes a lot of coordination between the two dozers. The lead dozer runs a gps with a shape file on it to get the desired shape so that it looks more natural. Here is a link to the video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMfToF3dAKA
Yair . . . Hello raceanine I don't understand what you mean by "lead" dozer and what exactly is the purpose of the GPS? Cheers
The lead dozer is the one in front as we run the chain in a j pattern so one dozer is about 2 dozer lengths in front of the other one. The gps is a trimble that has the outline of the area to be chained on it. You follow the line on the gps and that way you don't have to mark the area with flagging. they try to build in some islands of trees and the outside line usually follows the contour of the land so that it looks natural. The reason for the j pattern is the chain seems to roll better and when it rolls it doesn't tangle up in the downed trees. We made three swivels out of D9 road wheels and install one about 20 feet behing each dozer and one in the middle of the chain. By the way that length of chain in the video weighs just over 22,000 pounds, not your normal pocket watch chain. We use a backhoe to hook it up and load it in a dump truck for transporting it to the job site.
Yair . . . raceanine Thanks mate very interesting. That GPS sounds handy. As as I say on here all the time it is fascinating how different methods evolve around the world to deal with similar problems. Various ideas were tried over here with railway line and other bits and pieces welded to the chain and they all proved pretty use less and vey expensive to make. In light brush country like in the video we would sometimes shackle on some worn out chain onto the back of the main chain to give a bit of extra hold down weight. Once the patch is marked out I always like to work back and forth along the longest or most convenient face The most effective way of dealing with some light country was to pull it buth ways . . . you need a lot more than 200 feet of chain though. With the nineG's we used up to 600 feet, a bit less with Allis 21's and eights. Three tractors was very effective in heavy going. It seemed to work best with the centre tractors chain about 2/3 the length of the side chains. What eventualy happens to the country you are pulling in the video? . . . over here it would probably be seeded to get some grass through it and then burnt . . . some folks seed before pulling as the stir up with the tractors can give a better strike. Cheers.
Hey scrub puller, what happens is we drag all the trees over in one direction and then they come in with a helicopter that has a big broadcaster hanging underneath it and apply a mixture of grass and brush seed and then we come back in behind that and drag the trees in the opposite direction to finish braking them off and to cover the seed. Dragging the trees the second time is a real pain because if you do not keep the chain rolling and keep it stretched tight enough the trees and brush will wad up into a big pile, we have actually had it wad up and stall out both the D9's and D8,s. This is also hard on the dozers as they are in a constant pull all the time, and the various pieces of brush and dust and dirt tend to clog the radiators. We have to blow the radiators out twice a day in order to keep them running cool.
Yair . . . raceanine This old thread may be of interest if you haven't seen it. . Have you tried putting (say) one hundred feet of 11/2'' straight behind each tractor and fitting your prickle chain so it just rolls nice and easy back in the loop? As a matter of course I always tried to have at least fifty feet behind each tractor clear of joins and shackles . . . makes it a lot easier to rattle back and sort out any log jams . . . the chain should not hinder your movement at all. It would get old very quick for me having to keep a chain tightish and hard on the gear as well . . . what you are doing there is pretty easy going and the tractors should amble along real nice. Just a few suggestions. I have probably fifty thousand hours of seat time doing large scale chaining. I hear you with the radiators. We tried air but found a water and a high pressure pump was more effective. Cheers.
Please what is D9 road wheel?