Not sure whether to post this in "Showtime" or "Forestry". I guess a lot of others post there work here in "Showtime". I'll try to add some decent footage or photos every so often if you guys like what you see or if there is any interest in it. Mulching is like a magic show - make it disappear. As I tell customers, "I can take it down but don't expect me to put it back up if you change your mind!" I started into the forestry mulching business way back in early 1997. So, I'm starting on my 27th year of this activity and not ready to quit unless my health forces me to. I wanted something different than dirt and WITHOUT the need for employees, something I could work at alone so that I could more easily coast on the bank account in lean times. This also provided me with a lot more freedom with my time management. It has been ideal for my needs and given me a reduced stress level in life. Best of all, I still enjoy it every single day, especially on jobs far away from people and civilization. Crank up Megadeath's "Symphony of Destruction" to nearly max volume, push the throttle to max and let's get some work DONE! When you take all the risks/liability of hurting someone or something out of the scenario, it's a stress free job for me. NOT so much for the trees. Here are a couple of before/after photos of a recent job that I've been working on with the Barko. 30k lbs of tractor and 10k lbs of cutterhead moving at 6 mph gets a lot done fast. This is not neat work, not in my book, but "just get it down flat enough to bush hog next fall" is what the customer wants. I try not to leave anything big enough to hurt a rotary mower and slam on just as fast as I can, dependent on conditions. It looks pretty good from a distance and all the stumps are cut to grade.
Very nice. I got into land clearing mostly for the same reasons as you did. I was not as smart as you though, and it was later in life when I got started. So, I only got in about 14 years before I retired.
It appears you started up when I was being born!
That's quite the machine there
Well I'm guilty of posting dirt moving in pictures in Showtime too. Damn you're a young'n! I was 2 years out of college in '97.
The sad part is most people think I'm 40 my lady freind was born this century and her dad calls me gramps.....
That Barko is a beast of a machine. It's not for every job but when it's suitable, it's the most productive machine I've run. It's maintainence intensive and it sucks 20 gph of fuel in many applications. More $/hr and cheaper per acre. I'm often asked, "how big can you mulch?" This red oak was the largest to date that I've measured. 5'4" at the saw cut and right on the roadside. It was a shame that I could not save that one. It's the one over the top of the machine's radiator
Do you do everything with that Barko, or do you have other machines as well?
wow. That thing is "Pardon me" and total destruction.
We have 3 large (24") nat gas lines less than 1/4 mile behind my house. Many moons ago I came home from work, heard this "noise".....***? Grabbed a beer, back in the truck. DTE deciced to clear their pipeline that hadn't been touched since the early 60's when it was put in. Drove back and *** is that? Weapon of mass destruction, nothing was spared. My first time seeing a Hydro-ax in operation...a come to Jesus moment for sure. Ed
I own several different machines. For me, heavy equipment is like an addiction. I should really join a therapy group so that I own a lot less than what I have...or hire help and then need different kinds of therapy(s). There is not too much ground that I can not cover with what I have to choose from. As I go along, I will post pics of different machines that I own. I'll start here with the big hoe. It's the machine that I originally got into mulching with. It's what was the main machine for my dirt/clearing work that I originally started contracting with back in '94 or there abouts. PC200LC-6 excavator with 300hp cummins powerpack just to run the mulching head. I also have bucket, shear, rake, hydraulic thumb, ripper and two different mulch heads that fit this machine. I started with 170hp power unit and smaller pumps but wanted more power so I did a retrofit some years ago. If there is a lot of big wood or tornado damage, this is the fastest solution. I can also neatly limb with it. You can initiate a crack or multiple cracks in a stem 25+ ft above the base and chase it/them to the stump thereby destroying the tree several times faster than on-the-ground mulching. Having the dexterity and power to move debris about where needed is another added bonus. High finish quality is more time consuming with this machine but it will slam out big wood fast and reach the work that the other machines can't. Taking out a big hackberry next to a creek for a road right-of-way. Reclearing a levee and ditch Clearing for a new sewer line right-of-way
You missed a spot back there......
Dang that is a "Tim Taylor" moment if there ever was one. It had a 170 HP power pack But it was not enough. Now it has more engine hanging off the back than a 450 excavator has UNDER THE HOOD!
There is no lack of a good warm spot to heat up a can of ravioli on that rig. How is the balance? What does it weigh all tooled up like that? I see you swapped out the entire counterweight.
How do the rubber tires hold up when mulching thick, thorny brush? My experience was always with steel track or rubber track equipment. I was always afraid to try rubber tired mulchers. Just curious.
I interviewed for a job and they tried calling me out that I had 20 years experience. "What, did you start in grade school?!... harrharrharrrrr" Uh, no, around 20. Had to show them my license to prove I wasn't ~25. Needless to say, didn't get that job.
It weighs in about 53k lbs but that was with the old head that was significantly heavier. Full stick out with the old head was almost guaranteed to lift a track. The machine is balanced just fine. Even with the old head on, I used to have to do an annual job where I would sidehill a 30-35 degree slope and cut as I went. I did have to keep the stick in from midway (90 degrees) and closer or end up lifting the back track. The only time it was really a hassle with that much weight was working a steep uphill grade. Too much stick out or too far off to the side and it would relieve the swing valve. It's all just a balancing act. Think of working with a full bucket of dirt at the end of the stick all day long and that's sort of what it is like. The only drawback of the rear engine counterweight assembly is that my center of gravity if further away from the center so swing acceleration is not as quick as a standard machine. Getting used to the amount of overhang is no big deal on most jobs. One of my favorite jobs with the hoe. Legally speaking, in my state, you may not live relocate these dam critters. They must be euthanized. It's fast to "suck & shuck" if they make themselves available. Sometimes I've seen the results of other critters that crawl out of a hole with bad timing. Fwwhumppp! Just mix it in with the dirt & chips and no one is the wiser but the vultures. No telling how many scaly or furry things I eat in a day that are never seen nor felt. The worst thing I ever did was to eat through a cow carcass that was not completely dessicated. After that, I did not enjoy the smell of cooked beef for well over 6 months. A rancid stench lingered about that machine for at least on month!
That a Komatsu 200? We have a 220lc3 stroke delimber. Most fecon heads I've seen ran off excavator power.
I’d be interest to hear how your industry has changed from ‘97 to now? It seems like every Tom, Dick and Harry with a CTL has a mulching business now, some do good work, but a lot of them don’t. Or they are pushing their services where conventional clearing clearing would be better (Horse pastures, hay ground, tillable farm ground, etc.) Has this had an impact on your business or are you in a different market altogether?
We bought a mulching head for mulching along roads, as apposed to using a tractor with a bush hog. Now everyone with a hoe has one. I think they are made here in the province. It does get a lot of use though. We are doing site work for Bird construction, and you can't have a chain saw on site unless you complete their 4 day safety course, so they just mulched the entire site
PC200LC6. I've been to demos where they showcased mulcher heads running off of the same machines from the machine hydraulics. I laughed and shook my head as they nibbled away. I watched them spend over 10 minutes on a 16" diameter stem and progress through maybe 2' of material. Back then, with my smaller engine and older head, in 10 minutes I would have eaten the entire tree in that amount of time. Running off of machine hydraulics vs a dedicated powerpack is nearly the same as a 5 hp push mower vs a 15' batwing with a 120 hp tractor. If you have the time, you can get it done with less but if you want efficiency, dedicated power is king. I let the excavator engine do what it is designed to do: move the machine and swing the head, that's it. Otherwise you're trying to regenerate rotor speed while picking up the boom or moving stick out. That's just a parasitic loss to the hydraulic efficiency which results in really slow performance. If all you're doing is grass and small materials (under 2"), a powerpack won't make much difference on a larger hoe. Example: This section of a job would have been weeks without the powerpack. I was done in a couple of days, even with chain saw time. note the amount of rock outcrop - ate plenty of that too! When a lot of skid steer mulchers started hitting the market around here, maybe 15 years ago, it started educating the general public. That actually helped my marketing as many people could now see the services that I had been offering for 10+ years at that time. That resulted in more local work for me instead of hunting jobs up to 5 hours from home. Life got easier. Over the years, I've seen countless numbers of people get into this business and bail out of it. They're chasing a gold streak that runs through a really deep manure pit but all they see is dollar signs until they realize how deep that pit really is. They take a hit for $25k-$75k or more in repairs and they are out. I've experienced it, I'm always ready for it and I persevere through all of it no matter what hits. Experience is the best teacher and I've earned my degrees. They were not handed to me. Along with ROW work and new site development, I do lots of pasture conversion work and overgrown field reclamation. Mulching is the best way to convert wooded ground to pasture with minimal evironmental impact and the fastest way to healthy grass. One of my farm customers can usually set his cows out within 2-3 months of me finishing my work. Customers just cast seed directly on top of the mulch that I've mixed into the first 1/2"-1" of soil and nature does the rest. Really thick beds of mulch will retard grass growth for 2-3 years but after that, it takes off thick as can be. Chemicals can be added to compensate the mulch in order to burn it down faster and make it suitable for immediate grass growth. I've been reclaiming an overgrown golf course in stages over the past couple of years. As soon as I'm done, my customer rechops with a low set flail mower, adds his "secret mix" (likely enzymes, fertilizer & lime) and in 3 months he has a brand new section of his course being maintained and nearly ready to play. I've got another upcoming stint over there very soon. I'll be sure to post some pics of that work.
Not having all the right tools was a huge handicap for the skid steer crowd. They make a nice product in the right conditions, but all of your examples were too steep, wet, whatever for them. Also the 220 reach is golden.
I put new shoes on the Barko in December. Not a whole lot of tread height difference but the new tires really do so much better in the soft conditions. They were worth the cost & labor. I used the Menzi with the grade bucket as my tire tool. 20 ply 28L-26 Logstompers don't slip on well in sub-freezing conditions. Without the Menzi and the Rototilt coupler, I would not have been able to change these out by myself. New tire in front, old on rear Ready to start new tire installation Inner bead is on. Ready to set outer bead on with the bucket. Now the fun part - time to set the beads and inflate. The blast tank won't do it but a partial can of ether certainly will!
I forgot I had this one on YouTube
What is your opinion of skid steer mulching? Is a properly set up 100hp CTL with a mulcher a worthwhile tool? Obviously it is not going to compare to the dedicated pieces that you run, but for the cost is it reasonable? I have thought of the possibility of adding that capability to what I do as a small (currently one man) dirt moving outfit, mostly for the purpose of diversifying beyond being dependant on the new housing market. It would probably cost anywhere from $50-75K to get set up with that, and I am very aware of the "deep manure pits" and general lack gold streaks.
My experience with a CTL/mulcher, was not too good. On one large property, the landowner rented me a Kubota 95 with an FAE mulcher head. Maybe it was just the fact that it was a Kubota, but I found that it would not do well at mulching much of anything over 4" diameter. I did some larger Mesquite trees, and it was slow as all get out compared to a dedicated forestry mulcher I had used before. This application is very hard on machinery, and I just don't think a CTL is built tough enough, even with a "forestry package" on it. I went through one Kubota CTL/week. After the 5th machine, I gave up on the CTL and went back to a Rayco 100. The Rayco, while about the same HP, was much more capable on the site. I found that a 125Hp tractor with a 16' batwing was just about as good as the CTL rig, and a lot faster.
My second machine in mulching was an ASV 4810 with 105 hp, about 40 gpm @ 3500 psi. I replaced it with a Fecon/Rayco FTX140/C140 running 140 hp, 69 gpm @ 6000 psi. Productivity on a 6" elm went from 2.5 minutes to 30 seconds. A dedicated machine means dedicated pump(s), no more overheating, good AC, pressurized cab, increased head torque, winch, properly guarded and a machine built for forestry work without much more weight. The floating head on the FTX meant a lot less stress on the carrier machine and a better ability to follow natural grade variations. I made more money and saved my customers money. I have absolutely no use for a skid steer in forestry work. Just my opinion from my experiences. I removed a lot of repair time and hassles moving to a dedicated machine. If you want to be successful, specialize in one service. You will make more money and have fewer troubles and increase your efficiency. I was given this advice when I first started in dirt and I was trying everything to stay productive. That advice worked extremely well for me so let me pay it forward to you. If you want something for light clean up (briars to 2" material), a skid steer is a suitable tool if used with care. No matter what you do, a skiddy will still be nothing more than an agry chihuahua with an elephant bone that's prone to overheating. It's just not as efficient in comparison. For a little more money, I could set you up and ready for business with my FTX140 that would include 2 working mulcher heads, one parts head, stump grinder attachment, extra teeth, filters, misc new parts, new rails and sprockets on a skid and tons of extra parts from a burnt machine. It also has a new, updated mulcher pump with less than 50 hours. It's ideal for 6"-8" and smaller material but I have cut as large as 26" material with it. I moved it with a 10 ton tag trailer and my F550 for years. Weighs under 15k lbs and will operate up to 45 degree slope (and holds good oil pressure at that angle). PM me for more info if you have an interest.
Thanks for that. People seem to discount their time. I think it is valuable too.
That Fecon in the photo is just like the one I ran for many years. That was a great machine, mine had a JD diesel in it. I am glad it was always leased and not purchased though. I bet we had the rental dealer's mechanic out twice/week to work on that Fecon. It had a lot of issues, which I heard were warrantied from the Rayco factory, the ones who made it. It had frame work, both track motors replaced, fuel tank work, and I can't remember everything else that broke on it. Still, was a very capable machine when running.
Mine has had all of the updates done. Updated finals, track adjuster relief valves and floating head conversion provided by Fecon factory guys at my shop. I did the frame and tank updates. No such thing as a mulcher machine without issues. As my HE mechanic neighbor stated, "every time you turn the key on those machines, you're self destructing them with impact and abrasive wear!" That why I charge what I have to, to keep up with what it costs to keep them running and profitable. It is not a maintenance free operation. Deere 4045T @140hp. Excellent engine.
No, no stop, I have that HE addiction you mentioned earlier as well, I am trying to recover, and this isn't helping . . .
At least it's an addiction that can actually pay for itself and do some good! Imagine, if you will,.....a 6,000 psi 65+ gpm snowblower attachment on that little bad boy!!!! If not blowing chips, it could be blowing snow! Just a little taste...........makes that imagination run wild with ideas...
No kidding. Go watch a few videos of those, or the amazing Menzi 'tire machine' a few posts up and gotta-wanna-have-it kicks in.
That mechanic must've worked on trench rollers as well.
From everything I've seen and experienced myself I'd agree, every skid steer I've seen that has been used for mulching looks like its been to hell and back after 500hrs. I'd even go as far as including bush hogging work as well. People are crazy about these front mount bush hogs on skid steers, not me. You're constantly running in a plume of dust and debris, they don't follow the ground well, and take a relatively narrow swath. On top of that is the overheating, plugged air filters, damage to rubber tracks, etc. Sure they may have their place for soft or steep ground, but I see people out bush hogging a 20ac field with a CTL, man what are you doing lol. An old cheap 4wd farm tractor with an 8-10' heavy bush hog will cover a lot more ground and cost far less per hour to operate. If you want to get really serious pick up a decent used 4wd tractor with a forestry package and a Brown tree cutter, probably for half what a new CTL + bush hog/mulcher would cost....
I'm rained out today. Reminds me of a wet job I worked last April. Wet ground needs tracks, not rubber tires. Some jobs are little more than a slop fest. This one was particularly wet but I was able to stay afloat without ever needing to winch out. I don't like being "temporarily immobilized". Pasture/hay ground reclamation job from last April down near Memphis. This is why I have a pto driven pressure washer and 55 gallon drum of water on my service truck. Jobs like this need regular glass maintenance in order to see what I'm trying to do. This is still relatively clean in these pics. Windshield wipers will just score the Lexan so I try to never use them unless in heavy rains. If it's not too wet, I'm usually able to erase my tracks instead of leaving a bunch of ruts. Just a tad soft next to the ditch that was backed up by the dam critters. I was wishing that I had my wide tracks on for this section of the job but I was able to do well with the higher ground pressure narrow tracks.
"Pucker Factor" job: I saw these photos on an old backup yesterday. Old flip phone photos. I had a rather steep lot to clear off with the big hoe. There is a 15' sheer drop off at the edge that drops to the water that can't be seen. I well remember having to push and pull the machine with the cutterhead so that I could "safely" travel this hillside. I also had houses on each side of this tiny lot to watch out for. This is likely one of the steepest slopes that I worked with the 200. Every time the tracks would start to slide, my rear iris would suck up fabric!
Had to be young when you did that! I'm old enough and wise enough now to say "Nope". However back in my 20's I would've bailed off that slope with ya.
Funny thing about photos, never really shows the grade right. It's probably steeper than it looks.
True. That one was very difficult to walk/climb up. I had to work my way down, leaving "parking stumpage" to rest against while working. Those were erased on the way back up the hill. It took a fair amount of pushing to get back up. On the other hand, the "After" drone shot made this hill look nearly impossible. It was only about a 25-30 degree slope which is easy stuff. 35 and over become more difficult. Before: After: It really was not all that bad. Just a lot of cantelope sized rock that I reduced to baseballs and golf ball sized materials. I left as much grass/vegetation base as possible to limit any erosion.
Cool house.
That bare earth hillside looks like a land slip waiting to happen. Great work though. It looks fantastic.
I finished up a job this week. I had sense enough not to push the limits with the rubber tires in the wet areas, even though the new tires kept me from getting "temporarily immobilized" in some really soft situations. Apparently, some dam critters have flooded the creek and put the old field that they wanted reclaimed very close to the water table. That, coupled with spring time hillside springs, made for a few wet sections that still needed to be cut. I must have been fishing on this job being that it was so wet. Crawfishing, that is. Plenty of their mounds out there on this terrain. This was the largest tree that I encountered on the job. It was a storm damaged blow over that landed into the field. I was a bit over 36" dbh, white oak and as heavy as could be. This was just field reclamation for wildlife so it was fast work, not clean work. "Just get it chopped up enough to bush hog in the Fall" was what I was told. Chop up what I need to and push the heavy stuff off to the edge. The Barko loves these big trees! Maybe 6-7 minutes worth of work here, if that.
A little subdivision job I finished up early this week. Just a good thinning and wiping out hundreds of hardwood stumps left over from last years logging operations on the property. Medium quality finish work on this one.
And a couple from a 1000 acre tract I worked on for another subdivision last month. This was a last minute rush job so nothing fancy on finish work and go, go, go as fast as I could all day long. No time for good before & after photos. Worked with the rubber tire machine on this one. The welcoming reptile at the gate when I started! Everything was surveyed prior to my arrival so I had to attempt to dodge all lot stakes and roadway pins. Mostly cutting in paths to home sites and roadside clearing work.
Looks good, I sure wish we had smaller soft woods to grind on for a while. Grinding Bois D’ Arcs suck
I chew up plenty of those Osage Orange trees. Taste just like a wire brush! I find them to be fairly brittle and easy as long as there is enough hp. They really suck with a low hp machine. I'll take Hedge Apples any day over Elms, especially dead Red Elms!
I could sure use one of these machines for a hot minute on my place. Doing it super hard way Jones with chainsaw and weed eater.
I should have taken before pics but my nose was already on the grindstone. This swamp holds water much of the year and the customer waited until it was dry enough to work without fear of sinking my machine. It was as thick as hair on a dog's back with sweet gum trees. It was pouring rain for the last 2 hours of this job but I had enough chips down not to mire up. 4 acres cleared in this pic. lea This job was not without its painful & expensive moments..... Right track 3/4" 6 wire hose from right track pump to the track motor blew an end off and dumped the tank contents where it stopped. No way to move it and the hurricane remnants were on the way. Tried to keep everything in the dry as I finished winching the new hose into its contorted position. My custom pulling fitting broke with 8"-12" of pull left to go. Fortunately, I was able to loop a rope around the fitting by then and finish winching in to finish up the install. A great way to lose another 8-9 hours of life to repairs and laying out in a huge puddle of hydraulic oil but I got back to work just before the heavy rains hit. The RZR has been a great investment for these repairs way out in the field far from the service truck and in places the ST can not get to. It also made a great anchor for my giant umbrella!
Why do you charge so much? Yeah
All day long, Metallica's "Seek & Destroy" playing in my head as I hunt for stumps in this regrowth mess 3 years after it was logged. Most of the time, I can't see 2 feet in front of the cutterhead, sometimes not 2 inches. Numerous burn piles within, pushed up stumps, huge embedded stumps, logs, critters and whatever else in an unknown, mostly invisible, hidden terrain. Customer said to leave it rough but good enough for a bush hog. He is super happy with the results and ready to spread seed this week. NOTHING better for business than happy customers! He and his family will have a beautiful homesite overlooking some of their farm fields.
Good song!!! Looks great in the after shot!
Under promise and over deliver
Always! Being fair and honest in business will make you successful. My last customer ran a box blade over the stumpin' job that I did. This is what it looked like when I picked up my machine on Monday AM. He was then able to run a seed drill over it. I thought it looked fantastic. He is well pleased. Moved onto the next little job and got a fair sized chunk of elm into the tracks. I broke off 3 track pads on that one hit. Not enough track bolts on the machine or semi so 2 hr round trip to the shop for parts and service truck. This is the first time that I've knocked off 3 pads in a single hit. Usually, it's just 1 or sometimes 2 pads when it happens. Customers were ecstatic with the job that I completed today. I should have taken before pics but I did not. This was as I was finishing up. After the job, they told me they were quoted $15k to do a portion of the work I completed. That bid was with a trackhoe doing a clear and bury job. I had them finished up for under $6K for about 4x the area. Happy customers always get me more work and I made good money! I don't know where all of those 6"-16" diameter gum trees disappeared to?
Recut some portions of a farm that I did clearing work on back in 2019. The farmer that leased it did not keep it 100% cut back for the property owner, who is now unable to care for it. I am working for his son who is trying to get it back into shape for planting. The result of the overgrowth is wetter ground and the beavers have moved back into the ditches and the creek, adding additional damages. He already got his tractor stuck due to the wet conditions that my machine breezes through. This is another "farm finish" quality job where it's good enough to drag a bush hog over - not clean & neat to look at. Nothing like cutting swamp areas with thick growth. ALL DAY, I can't see ****. Feeling my way along for those 10' sheer drops into the creeks and unseen ditches along the way. The first passes are always the worst, especially on jobs that are 1st timers. I've been fortunate over the years, missing some of the 3'-20'+ drops that are hidden by vegetation. This short video is of some short, thick growth to get a feeling of what conditions are like. I can't see anything other than leaves & stems, except for what's left behind on the rear monitor. https://photos.google.com/album/AF1.../AF1QipPRd2dhd7qPj5efZAbowBGTJ_1wYDkCQ-RRvYx8
Same farm in another part that was a bit drier.
Always looks like usable ground after, what would happen if someone ran a til through the ground after you, there gotta be tons of roots in the ground still right?
Certainly. If the ground is to be used for pasture, just cast seed and keep it mowed. If the chips are thick, the grass may not take off good until the 3rd year without chemical help. Stump sprouts are best treated chemically as that will dry out the remaining stump/roots for faster degradation. Some customers will try to disk the ground as soon as I'm done. If there has been any heavy growth, I recommend avoiding any ground penetration tools unless you plan to dozer or hoe rake the ground first. Row cropping operations will need the stumps and roots removed. Once a stump is planed down flush to grade, they break up with ease into smaller pieces and shed the dirt easily. Stumps rarely have much more that 8"-12" thickness below grade. I prefer a Tiger Tooth at the corner of a hoe bucket if I have to destump anything. You can punch the tooth down in and pull sections apart. Larger stumps can be split easily if you punch a "fault line" across the stump face with the tooth. A dozer blade with a stump splitter or an angled 6 way blade will also split them quickly. Every job is different. I was really surprised that a recent customer was able to run a seed drill over his heavily stumped ground after I did my thing. He ran a box blade over it first and then the drill. He claimed he did not have any issues and it worked out really well. His job was nothing more that 3 years post logging growth and the remaining hardwood stumps so not a heavy load of mulch to contend with.
This may be a common or easy question or whatever but do you working guys have something in your contract for when your machine dumps oil? Like a "Hey, this thing may barf up a bunch of fluids at any time." clause? What's that look like? Do people expect it to be cleaned up? Your work is incredible treemuncher.
The only place I ever worked that had a "spill policy" was at a TVA powerplant. If I was not over a few gallons, it really was not a worry. I have yet to see a hydraulic spill cause barren ground or issues with vegetation. Best thing to do is "don't ask & don't tell". I do use Panolin biodegradable oil in the Menzi Muck. From what I've been told, you can have a direct spill into a water body and it will not be an issue. Not even with the EPA or the Coast Guard. That stuff is pricey, though, at about $350 per 5 gallon bucket. Hydraulic leaks on that machine bring many tears to my wallet! Aighead, thanks for the compliment.
I bought a pail of compressor oil today for 200 and was in tears!
Holy crap, 350 or 200 is a lot!
Ive had many leaks, oil is organic fertilizer
What oil?
Nice day to be by a lake! Just the daily grind and hunting for stumps hidden in the overgrowth.
I love Fall weather but I hate the dust that it brings with it. My view so much of the day trying to feel my way along for stumps to cut. I feel like Pigpen from the Peanuts cartoon strip - always have a dust cloud following me around. Sometimes it gets so bad that I have to stop to see where I am or what is in front of me after the cloud passes by. e
I've gone from too dry to too wet as our winter rains have moved in early. Broke a rib while working on the seat in the machine has slowed me down a bit but not as much as I should. Finished up this little day job before the rains moved in. Taking back a field edge to where it used to be many years ago. Called back in for more work on the previous stump & slash cleaning project. I got a good start before the rains hit but damn, did that several inches of water, combined with the trees going dormant, make for a fast return to hazardous conditions. Nearly stuck the machine numerous times. Pictures of conditions do not do it justice. That and the fact that I usually erase my tracks as I back up. I have also had some large stumps to erase. This one was over 4' at the cut!
Challenging conditions after the loggers did their thing. Buffing out the worst of the blemishes. Still making good headway with what I have to work with. Customer will have a good collar of green grass that he can keep bush hogged as long as the conditions dry out enough next summer. A 4X4 tractor will be required. That timber that was left is in a major swamp. It was too wet for machinery. Even my machine @ 4psi won't stand up in that stuff.
Man, I'd love to have a mulcher like that for a week or two. Just reclaiming fence rows and property lines would be a huge help. Cleaning up some of the forested ground would be nice too.
Yes, I had a leased one for nearly 3 years, doing ranchland. Turned some basically brush-covered, unusable land, into useable pastures and highly desirable real estate. Just be sure to rent one, do not buy one. Maintenance is pretty outrageous. Also, get one that is powerful enough. I have found that for my use, a machine of about 140 HP is good for most anything up to 8" in diameter. The skidsteer-mounted rigs can work, but are limited by the HP of the machine, which is generally under 90HP. I think 4" diam is about it for them. This is just from my experience, others may have had different results.
Pretty much on the money as to HP versus tree size but found the ASV RT120 wasn't that far behind my 140hp machine. Skidsteer mulchers still have balance and traction issues which limits were they can go though.
I agree Colson, but I just need the kind that attaches to the tractor and swings out to take care of the stuff, like honeysuckle, about 3-10 feet high around the yard and property lines. I don't mind some hanging over the yard, but I've got a few killers if I drive the mower too hard into them. My wife does most of that clearing by hand.
Finished up the wet job yesterday. I never did get stuck but came close a few times when I drug the belly. Hope to get some photos with the drone in the next day or two. I got all but the biggest stump planed down so the customer should be able to run a bush hog over it once it dries enough next summer. Initial conditions that I started in. This is what the logging crew left behind after they did their thing. Finished up enough to keep it mowed down with a bush hog on a 4x4 tractor. Time to wash out the undercarriage and see how bad it is. This sandy swamp was no treat for it. Pretty sure I have a front idler that went out.
It's a little hard for me to imagine churning up something that looks that wet !! Seems to me like a) it would be a serious load on the mulcher and b) the churning and vibration would tend to suck the whole machine down to china ! I guess I'm trying to say that the wet spots like that that I know well are wet all the way to bedrock and they intend to suck any machine down that far which can be 2 feet or 10 feet...
Back in 2008, I was using a Fecon 140 in property that was that wet or worse. Blew a track motor way out in the middle of the muck and water. W used an all-wheel-drive tractor to drag it onto a high spot. Then we called the dealer we had it leased from. That poor mechanic had a horrible job for about the next 3 days. Plus it was in the middle of the winter.
Gezz I don't miss those days at all. 4 times I had to do that on my 140. Got it down pat at the end, 3hrs from stop to the dam thing on the Ute on my own. No mechanical lift available. It's amazing how much strength you get when anger gets involved .
I took a few photos of the last project via drone Work area from post #74 as seen from above. The tree line running from far left towards the center is the Obion River - nothing much more than a straightened ditch. I think we had another 1/2" rain after I finished up. It's looking damp, again. Same work area from opposite direction Other side of the swamp. My work area was on the left & center, mostly tan & wet colors. The red roads were done by another with a dozer. One of the wider areas of the "collar" that I cut around the swamp. My job was to seek & destroy all stumps and any remaining chunks of wood (or dirt for that matter) within the work zone to make it suitable for maintenance cuttings with a bush hog. If my customer gets his beavers evicted, the swamp re-ditched with an amphibious excavator and dries things out a bit, I will put on the wide pads before venturing off into that mess again. I can drop down from 4.0 psi to 3.3 psi with the wide pads on. I would also prefer the leaves to be pulling water out. The later half of Fall can get really soft in this swampy ground. I was pushing limits in several areas.
Cleaned up my undercarriage after the swamp job and starting inspecting undercarriage, like I always do. I knew that I had 1 bottom roller that was going out about 75 hours ago. Now the left idler and the first 4 following bottom rollers are totally trashed. Add to that, more cracks in the track frames, again. Looks like I will either patch up what I can, quickly, so I can knock out some waiting jobs or pull track frames and do an entire rebuild with lots of custom reinforcements. This will be dependent on parts availability time frame. This machine eats track parts at a record pace, especially when a track pad is thrown off! Not a cheap one to run but it gets a lot of work done. It won't be the first time to remove the frames. I think I've been through this about 5 times already. It's not a fun process.
Is that a Fecon machine? We had continuous problems with the main frame, and track frames , on the Fecons we leased. Thank goodness we never bought one, just leased for several years. Those were Fecons built by Rayco. Do you know who builds Fecon track machines now?
From what I understand, Fecon has re-badged a number of different manufacturer's machines. I have yet to own a mulcher or carrier for mulching that has not stress cracked somewhere. Although I still have 1, Fecon is not my go-to brand when in the market. I did have the Fecon FTX140 (Rayco C140) and once I installed the fish plate kit, I never had any other issues with cracks. For me, it was a good money maker that got me to where I am Yes, this machine model has been sold through the Fecon network but not this particular one. The track frame axle has been welded to the main frame as per factory service bulletin - no problems there once I completed that. The track frames continue to give me grief. There will be a number of dog bones welded in next time the frames come off.
Is that an oscillating frame? If not it may have a twist in it causing the front left to wear. The Rayco c140 had a 2.5 inch twist in the fame with the left front and right rear rollers wearing. Funny thing Rayco didn't charge any more for it.
Surely that has to be design flaws to have cracked frames? I imagine a mulcher get a rough life, but that's what it's sold as, so shouldn't it be designed to handle it?
I can't say about other brands but Rayco have serious manufacturing defects that they wouldn't acknowledge. I with the help of others figured the twisted frame was a result of robotic welding. The weld started in 1 corner and was continuous back to the start. Even though it was welded in a gig the heat distortion caused it to spring when released. The fuel and hydraulic tank were more than likely welded in at this time hence why they cracked also. There were plenty more defects of poor design, workmanship and QC. Ain't hindsight a wonderful thing.
The early Fecons, built by Rayco, were too rigid in the frame area. There was no flex at all from the head, stress was transfered directly to the arms and the crawler frame. One of the worst frame cracks we experienced, was a crack in a weld between the frame and the fuel tank. The frame made up a portion of the fuel tank, and flexing was not a good idea at that weld. One day I noticed the cab was flooding with diesel fuel. It only took the mechanic a short time to discover the cause. I believe Fecon warrantied that repair for the dealer, as well as several other frame cracks that occurred. Fecon also ate the cost of several track motors. I don't know how the dealer , or Fecon, made out on our lease of those machines over more than 2 years. I am glad we did not own them.
Not to mention air cooled Deutz diesel engines that did not cool, A/C units that had continuous problems, hydraulic lines that were way under the machine and liked to break on a regular basis, exhaust parts that fell apart and caused wiring harnesses to burn up, and on and on.
Yep to all of that except the Deutz engine, mine had the Deere.
Had both. The one with the Deere is the one the exhaust clamps failed and let hot air burn up the wiring harness. Kept the dealership's mechanic busy for about a week. Meanwhile they brought us another one to destroy.
And that **** rubber elbow on the inlet side of the turbo which would split on the engine side where it couldn't be seen.
I finally got my idlers and some rollers in yesterday. Had to go OEM and pay through the nose. Shortly after diagnosing all of the frame cracks, I made a mistake with a long lathe chip and required 6 stitches in my left thumb. No heavy work for a few weeks while waiting to heal up so welding finally got started on the frame yesterday. I had to pull the idler spring to do the repairs and I noticed the idler track had some wear - time to build that back up. Idler channel edge cleaned up with grinder and copper buss bar clamped to the bottom of the edge to be repaired. For those that don't know, building up and edge is easier with a copper bar clamped to the edge . The two metals will not fuse when arc welding and you can flow the steel over the copper. After a couple of passes with a stick. Way too windy (and cold) today to even think of the MIG. Looks like my phone did not take the final pic after I detailed it with the grinder. Tested the spacing after building up both sides with a wooden test block. Some minor grinding of the face and good to go. Ready for the next repair.
Did you try getting idlers from Komatsu? The only undercarriage parts I had to by OEM was the sprockets at $800 each plus freight. Before assembly check the bolt that goes through the spring, they have a habit of snapping.
I'm working on my Lamtrac. I was looking for Berco front idlers or other that would match. Never thought to try Komatsu as it has a Deere 450 undercarriage but not typical dozer idlers - more like excavator style slotted guide rails. I wound up getting Berco idlers via OEM. My original Berco bottom rollers still had a lot of life left after 2,500-3,000 hrs. The replacement ITR rollers are about shot at 1,500 hours with 4 completely trashed and a few others not looking too good. I purchased the last 6 Berco bottom rollers and 2 carrier rollers that they had on hand. I would rather purchase longer lasting parts than put in more labor. Trashed OEM front idler (Berco) with 4,500 hours on it. Took another couple of pics of the completed temporary repairs that will allow me to knock out a few pressing jobs prior to tearing down right track frame for a more complete welding & reinforcement job. I am thinking about a piece of 1" threaded rod installed just in front of the reinforcement piece that I installed. The cracks always propagate from the spreading of the bottom rails and a tie bar should allow a preload to alleviate that condition. A quick couple of holes with the Mag-drill and some A193 threaded rod @ 105ksi yield strength should do the job. 1" threaded rod should be over 80ksi yield strength. Not my finest welding job but it was limited access, cold and windy. Everything was preheated to chill-chase the metal prior to welding. This is the same as photo from post #79 pic #1 after the repair has been completed. The more rearward cracks have since been addressed too. Finished build-up on upper rail on left side. See post #90 pics 1 & 2 for the before and during pics. You can see where the copper bar left a flat bottom edge on the finished build-up. The bottom of the left side did not have enough wear to justify a bead. The right side took most of the beating and took a lot more build up. Certainly not my prettiest work but the gaping crack was veed out, clamped tight, built up and ground flat prior to the reinforcement plate being set in place. It should get me through a few jobs if I don't put it into any really extreme conditions right away. Yep, these kinds of repairs really suck but if you run a mulcher, you better plan on it. "For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction" - these machines dish out and take a hell of a beating!
Just for future reference, Komatsu used to make Berco parts under license but apparently had a falling out. They now make their own track parts based on Berco with improvements. To give you some idea the idlers on the C140 from Berco were good for 1000hrs, changed to Komatsu and were still good with 4000hrs use but cost 2X the price which made them cheaper overall. Checking the numbers on the original idlers they were made for a 4ton Volvo excavator.
Thanks! I never knew that about Komatsu and Berco. That's what forums are all about. Pay it forward and try to help each other out. This will be the machine I run until I decide to retire out. I might go through another set of sprockets but I should not have to change out idlers again.
treemuncher, reading through the thread it looks like you have kept to dedicated mulchers. When you needed to do steep ground, you went with a spider excavator. What is your take on the Slope mower/ mulchers out now that advertise 45–55-degree slope ability? Looks like they offer 50-120hp and I assume similar tool performances a similarly powered skid steer. Likely make a much better flail mower than mulcher? FAE RCU Prinoth Raptor 100 Green Climber ect.
I have not tried anything like that nor do I need to. I have all of the work 1 person needs to stay more than busy. The spider excavator is a fall back in case I get run out of my normal work, which I do not see happening before I retire out. I like the concept of the remote control vehicles for safety on those steep slopes. I don't think that they have enough power for anything other than re-clearing work with grasses and very light brush. My experience is that anything over 20-30 degrees make steering difficult and complicates the job. I have been over 45 degrees a couple of times when traction allowed it. At those slopes, there is almost no steering possible because if you start to slide sideways, you lose all control. Next phase after that is a potential roll over, situation stuck and/or machine damage. A roll over with an RC vehicle would be a lot less stressful but could still be very expensive. Because I work alone, I am always trying to be as time/money efficient as possible. I don't worry about re-clears that need a smaller machine, I don't work partial day jobs unless I get paid for the entire day, I try to spend my customer's money wisely and give them advice if I can not be cost effective for them. I don't see an RC machine in my future as it would/could not demand the rates that I get with my larger machines. For a big operation with lots of employees, an RC machine could make perfect sense but not for me. Unless they made them big enough to work 16" diameter trees or larger, there is no way I would generate an interest unless my business model was different. As far as flail vs drum, I would NEVER own another flail mower unless I only wanted to cut grass. I started out with a Brown Brontosaurus flail mower. I got really skilled in my welding and gouging as I was forever chasing out cracks and rewelding the flail axle bushings in the rotor. It could not handle the size material that they advertised, without damage. I was forever welding bushings, replacing shafts, replacing broken knives, sharpening or rebuilding. When I made a new fixed tooth rotor for that head (using Fecon teeth), my world changed and productivity skyrocketed. I was getting nearly 40x energy transfer per tooth strike vs flail cutter. I no longer had size limitations as long as I had the time. Unless it is grass or saplings under 1" diameter, I have no use for a flail cutter.
Longer term before and after: my customer has been keeping his hillside weedeated a couple times a year. Still looks good! During 9/1/2023 Immediately after 9/2/2023 Updated after photo 1/14/2025 - green grass is starting to fill in! 1/14/2025
Looking at the machines at 50-75hp I would need to bring in ~$150 per machine hour to make the numbers work given the $100-160k sticker prices. With a flail that's about $300/acre mowing grass and light brush. With a mulcher $1500/ acre assuming I could complete 1 acre a day on a slope running through heavy brush and small trees of 6 inches or less. I previously used goats clearing light brush on steep ground but that came with a lot of hand labor cutting in fence lines. A stroke put an end to that for me I don't have the energy to do hand labor 7 days a week. There was plenty of work doing that, but I don't know how much would transfer over to machine clearing. Running goats, I priced everything by the job, and I took the risk on how long it would take. After a couple months I got good at estimating how long it would take to clear a given area.
I'm ignorant to the economics of all you guys are talking about but I think I'd like to be on receiving end of 300 bucks an acre to mow grass and light brush...
They're talking steep ground. You're not doing an acre very fast compared to flat ground.
Steep ground is a very different challenge to work and it is very time consuming the steeper it gets. It also puts a lot more stress on the machines. Almost every tree has to be mulched tight to grade in order to keep traction. Even then, get on too many chips, a slick stick, a stump in the wrong place or a track derailment and you get to realize how fast gravity will suck you into the land of the pucker-fest. Wear tight underwear so you don't suck it up!
I do have a torch and diesel fuel
Eh, nevermind then, I'm out. I have a few comparatively shallow angles in my yard and I'm not very fond of them on the tractor, or small mower for that matter.
Almost all of the acerage I cleared was level ground, or nearly level. One time I got the Fecon down in a creek of a sidehill creek bank. I kept the mulcher head down and it did not turn over. However, it was so steep I had to have the excavator cut dirt out from under the uphill track so I could get the Fecon transmission to start working again. That was pretty scary, and I learned my lesson about steep slopes. We cleared those with the excavator after that episode.
Back out working while the weather is nice. I am still waiting on a sprocket for the undercarriage so I am slowly chipping off what is left of the super sharp sprockets while waiting on new parts. Working on some larger than average material to clean up this old farm and prep for fencing, grass and cattle.
In Oz the last time I tried to get sprockets it was easier to get rocking-horse poo. Oh and the price tag $1400 each IIRC
Treemuncher, I found working on steep country working up hill was far easier on the idlers and track chains.I know this seams counter productive but the other thing, here at least we have drop off's that can't be seen and going down over these can be painful. Working up hill you can back away from them.
Finally got the new undercarriage install, fixed a couple of hydraulic leaks, some major cracks in the track frames, a good wash-out of dirt/oils/debris and put back to work. I should have taken some video of the first job with the big oaks that were leaned back towards a house - those were cabled and saw cut to drop with precision, then ground to mulch. I did hang the camera in this pine thicket that I am currently clearing for a home site.
Just some of the track frame cracks that I have been dealing with on the Lamtrac. Manufacturer told me that they have never heard of anyone else having this problem. I call BS. I own it and I do not beat on this machine. Poor design of the frame structure and some factory welds that never penetrated the axle metal is the most likely cause of some of this. This is the third time that I have welded on the cross members of these frames. This time, the right side got some dogbone supports installed to see if this keeps it together for a longer period of time. Trying to keep mulchers operating takes a lot of R&M work, a lot more than conventional dirt equipment
I really think Lamtrac should have stuck with their snow machines and stayed out of the forestry mulcher market. I think they bit off more than they can chew. As you say, mulchers take a real beating. While Rayco and Fecon have had their problems, they have been in the business long enough to get some of the problems worked out. Notice I did not say "ALL".
Lamtrac snow groomers don't seem to have been a huge success, either.
Let's see if I got this one uploaded right...
And this one. I have a customer needing to make a quick presentation to his group so I quickly put these together. I really should take more footage but I am always determined to keep working pretty much non-stop.
I imagine rototilling your lawn or garden wouldn’t be much of a problem. Cool videos.
What brand of mulcher do you run on the rubber tire and on the track machines? Looks like both machines are doing a great job.
The Barko has a Seppi Superforst head on it. 10k lbs head + 30k lbs tractor. The Lamtrac has an FAE head on it at around 6k-7k lbs. I like the FAE best then Seppi takes second place. The FAE has a smaller rotor diameter and is a pure torque monster at 6,500 psi. The Seppi only gets 5,500 psi but at a higher flow rate.
The latest T.V. drama series "As the Tree Falls"......
That must be the most boring show that I've watched, but I still try to tune in daily. In thick, light brush it's like a cascading waterfall of green constantly falling in front of me. Made me sick to my stomach a number of times in the old "Pitch & Puke" Posi-track 4810. Not so bad in the bigger machines with a solid undercarriage or rubber tires. Today's job: Blew a tire on the semi while in transport to this job. Limped it in the last 5 miles and got unloaded and set to work. Farmer takes out a bunch of larger trees until his TD15 pukes a tranny seal. Calls me in to clean up the brushy stuff. He will take out the bigger trees later after the dozer is repaired. Let's just say it's interesting / challenging trying to get through the leftover mess without jamming brush into my machine the wrong way, wiping out a hose or scratching new "glass". The area is already wet but some stumps were dug out so deep that I am amazed he did not get stuck, especially seeing where the belly pan made contact. The burn pile does not look clean - likely going to be difficult burning when the time comes. That won't be my concern. Making headway. Actually got all the way to the right finished prior to shut down for the evening. Looks like I got about 4+ acres done today, and definetly the worst of it is behind me. I will have to look for semi tires on Monday.
I had the same problem the first couple times I picked tall corn. Eventually I figured how to look at what's going on without staring at the corn stocks being pulled down.
I think it will rank between "Ice road Truckers" and "Hiway from Hell". Need a backstory if your gonna make it to seasons 2-5 though.
Currently working a stump & loose slash clearing job. I got in a good 1.5 hours and then my fuel injection pump took a dump. The machine was dead where it sat. Fortunately it was dry enough, and cleared enough, to get my service truck in close to the machine for diagnostics and repairs. It really sucks when I break down in a swamp or in the bush and everything has to be hauled in, sometime miles in. Air, water, tools, everything right there at the machine - that's about as easy as it can get. Thankfully, I had an extra FI pump on a core block back at the shop that a buddy have given me after it dropped a valve. Once the other pump was on, the fuel line on #3 started puking diesel. I had to pull air cleaner and other parts to get a clean shot at the valve cover to pull and inspect the problem injector. New seating washer, retorqued all injector clamps, checked #4 & #5 seating tubes as well. Fixed. Washed it down good and started work again the following morning. If you like being a mechanic or just fixing stuff, mulching is definetly the way to go! The machine is running good. Not a perfect finish job but perfect for what they want/need right now. I got a couple of acres done of mostly pine stumps with a few large hardwoods mixed in here and there. The customer is happy and ready for the big rubber tire machine. I told him to try the tracked machine first to be sure that his group was happy with my performance and cost basis. It's cheaper for them to try me out with the tracks first before making a commitment with lowboy costs on the larger machine. I should have another 20+ acres of this stuff to knock out as soon as the weather clears and the machine is moved on site. I will try to get some video footage if time allows.
I see guys all the time, trying to get into the clearing game with a much too small compact track loader and a light head. End up with overheated hydraulics and the machine beat to pieces. You prefer running your tracked machine, or the big rubber tires?
Bigger is always better if there is a lot to be done. However, unless I ever get 750 - 1000 hp under the hood, I will always want more power. I do about 90% of my work with the track machine because I can move that with my custom built straight truck myself. I sold my lowboy after the divorce so I have to hire out moves on the 2 larger machines. Normally, any more, it's just the Barko 937 for the bigger jobs, unless I get a ditch mowing job, then I need the PC200. I keep looking at lowboys and telling myself "NO!" With the track machine, tracks go more places with fewer issues and the floating head allows me to contour uneven ground much better. The rotor on the track machines FAE head has a smaller diameter so that gives more usable torque. The cab is large and spacious, air ride seating, nice BT stereo with subwoofer system and a hydraulic push bar. I have been up 44 degree slopes with this machine and side hilled over 30 degrees without issue. The main drawback is that the tracks are always slower than tires and there is no adjustable head float system. It is pretty nimble for its size. With the rubber tired machine, ground speed is much faster, especially on back dragging with the electronically adjustable float pressure. Steep side hills are no place to be with it and neither are swamps or wet conditions. It is only suitable for flat ground or certain slopes with head-on access up to about 25 degrees. It has a road gear and will do about 15 mph on the highway - easy to move on right-of-way work or job to job if within about 5 miles or so. It takes a lot more maintenance time as it collects so much dust and debris into the machine. It also has more greasing points and is just so tall that it is difficult to work on at times. The cab is smaller, good AC, fairly quiet, fixed push bar, spring seating (or maybe the ladder) that kills my knees after a long day in the seat. I do not have a refined control for dropping trees with the fixed push bar but it does have a lot more butt to push with and reaches higher. I can also make a finer finish product with this machine when required. I enjoy running both machines. I just don't get to run the Barko as much but when it makes economic sense for the customer, that is what I push for to save them money. I get to chew trees like an over-caffeinated Godzilla with that thing, especially when it is reclaiming overgrown farm fields. Some jobs, depending on conditions, allow me to cover well over 10 acres in a day. It is a beast with an insatiable appetite that nearly runs through jobs. Today was a "show it some love" day for the Barko. My two lift cylinders have been weeping for a while and needed a rebuild before starting another job tomorrow. Some squirrels also got into the machine during the winter and chewed up the newest camera wiring - new one on order. That will get changed out on site. Barko cylinders are some of the easiest units that I have ever rebuilt. Unscrew the cap bolts and that's it. Just damn big and heavy to lug around and hold up is the hardest part of the repair. If you don't have a seal folder kit, get one. Best thing I ever purchased for installing hydraulic seals in those inner rings. No more damaged seals and no sore fingers. I always work alone. Winch straps are my best friends for many repairs and the forklift for heavy work. I think out the possibilites before tearing things apart so that I do not lose any digits nor pieces of any body parts. A few close calls taught me well to be prepared for what can happen if I do not think it out or pay attention. Here I was winching the cylinder closed while lifting it for the installation of the eye to the lift arm.
Not too bad for 13 minutes of work in wet conditions that were slowing me down. Covered in stumps (6"-24" mostly pine) that were cut low, now ground flush and easy to drive over. Ready for the customer to throw down grass seed and able to keep it cut with a bush hog mower. Knocked out over 5 acres yesterday and 200 gallons of fuel.
Thirsty!
That seal folder looks different than mine. I bought a cheapy set off Amazon for 16 bucks but it doesn’t have that center post. They work okay, sometimes great for some seals but if they have a good taper on them, I want to throw them in the trash.
200 gallons, it certainly does not run on good intentions. Probably still efficient for the work done.
Really impressive, top quality work!
This is exciting to read! thanks for putting this out there. We just bought a '14 Barko 930B with a Fecon Head. We mainly do residential pads 10k+ sq ft and a couple 5-10 acre borough road jobs a year. Been around mulching a little bit, but mostly deal with the excavation and trucking side of things. Excited to be able to grind it all up onsite and not deal with so many trucks! We had Hendrix Timber Mulchers go through the entire thing before getting shipped up here. Should be here this week, cant wait. Anything you recommend specifically watching out for with these machines? I saw you mentioned extra cleaning.
Keep the head balanced. Build extra guards to keep the discharge minimized. Learn what it does far away from people because it can/will throw chunks a long ways when least expected. Keep a close eye on the temps and clean out the radiators if it runs warm - warm goes to hot pretty fast. Most importantly, keep those hydraulics immaculately clean. A filtration cart is an excellent investment and use it every time you service the machine with an oil change. Good tires will keep you from getting stuck.
Okay will do! Did you have to modify your head with the extra guards, Do you have a picture of what you’d recommend? How often do you get your drum balanced? Fecon just balanced this one and installed new teeth, so excited . Is it okay if I just PM you if I have further questions so I don’t clog your thread up here?
Don't worry about adding to this thread. I put this up for others to share and maybe learn from. That's what I see forums are for. I thought I had an injector go out on my #5 cylinder back at the end of May, so that got replaced with a working extra that I had. Once that job was finished up, the machine was moved to the next job that I had hoped to knock out prior to vacation time. No such luck - machine started running on 5/6 cylinders again so I called my customer, let him know my situation, loaded the machine and dropped it off at the shop. I knew I would not have time to work on it again until we got back home so there it sat, waiting. Once we returned, the diagnosis was #5 rocker bridge was off the mounts, causing #5 cylinder to be down. I would bet money that I missed that when I thought the injector was out. I put the bridge back on, set the valves and went back to work on the job that I had pulled off of. #5 rocker bridge jumped off again within about 10-12 hours. This time, once I put the bridge back on, I watched the lift while the engine was at idle. Damn, #5 intake lobe on this cam (or the roller lifter) is going out on the Cummins QSC 8.3. It's running at about 50% lift height compared to other cylinders. This will be a couple more weeks out of work between repair time and parts delivery. This one is not going to be fun. I finally got to the timing cover after 3 days of draining fluids, removing electrics, sheet metal, tanks and more. Now Cummins claims I need a $2k-$2.5k tool set to hold up the tappets to pull the camshaft on this engine. I am still waiting for the new tappets to arrive. Once I have those in hand, I will build my own tooling for this operation. No diesel shop local has ever worked on this engine, let alone know what tool set I speak of. Another typical problem in my life to be solved. I will either machine something to fit or plastic-cast what I need. The good news? I used my borescope camera to check the flywheel coupler plate - no evidence of cracks showing so I don't have to pull the engine. At least not yet at this point. Days like these, why did vacation time go by so fast? I miss those cool weather conditions and fresh seafood! 30 minutes after picking these up at the dock, these were ready to serve. Back to reality of my life - living in high humidity swamp ass conditions of August in the mid south with major repairs under way. Now it's just a waiting game for the lifters too arrive so that I can make the tooling. Until then, I can not proceed any further unless I want to pull the entire engine.
Waiting on parts........so I had time available to repair the leaking floor cylinder on the 862B. Definitely the easiest rod end to pull apart with the locking key thread system but what a heavy b*****d to do by hand and alone! It took the 1" impact gun to knock the bolts loose. Even with that, one bolt still required heat to get broken free. The rod had suffered some bad rock scrapes that marred the chrome and wasted the seals. I filed down the high spots and then took a cotton buffing pad with metal polishing compounds to smooth the rod as best as I could. I think that it should hold pretty well as smooth as the compounds got the surface finish. I found a thick gallon jug that fit perfectly tight to protect the piston as I pulled and installed the rod. There is also a piece of rubber conveyor belting on the edge of the metal to keep from scarring the rod when sliding it up into place. Straps, straps and more straps to get this job done. Just about to install the piston into the cylinder. I lost count of how many times I was in and out of the belly. I got my ladder steps in on this job! On testing, everything is tight and dry. This rebuild was long and slow due to the weight and being careful not to scar up the parts nor myself.
I'm in the keys and it's packed forest where it hasn't been developed yet and thought of your machines trying to chew through it. It's really dense I'll try to get a pic today
Will these repairs ever get done? Damn, I miss being able to work and listen to the trees scream!
I still have vivid memories of the pain you've going through. That part of the job I don't miss.
What happened?
I had #5i lifter go down and ruin the camshaft. Things went downhill from there but I still see light at the end of the tunnel (maybe bowel?). See HeavyEquipmentForums
All back together and running as of today. However, the air compressor for the reversing fan is dead, again. I've got another one on order for later this week. I also found one of my hydraulic filters is bypassing so I have to figure out which one it is and diagnose that situation. Obviously a replacement will be in order but there should be a reason why it has gone to bypass. And the front lights are out. It seems endless trying to keep everything working and in proper order. Lots of parts, panels and connections to be made to put everything back together.
Just as busy on the right side as it was the left.
I am impressed by the cleanliness of how you've got that machine, it looks in good shape with the maintenance you're doing. The photos don't show how hot a job is, either. Looking good
Yeah that is work and machines like that go back more of a maze then they came apart
Thanks. If I own it, I try to take very good care off it. Any forestry machine is prone to fires. I have a pressure washer built into my service truck that runs off of the PTO. I do not let chips nor dust build up in my engine bays. Regular blow offs with the leaf blower and a quick wash down, especially important for the glass so I can try to see what I'm doing. Currently, this machine is at 4800 hours. I've had it since around 1400 hours. I also spent a few days straightening every bent fin on the heat exchangers and adding new wire mesh covering over the intake side when I was waiting on parts. A cool running machine is very important in the conditions that I often work in. Keeping the hoses and wiring tidy make routine maintenance and repairs that much easier.
Cooling makes a huge difference currently in my pickup my condenser is pretty flat and I put a bumper on I think is hindering cooling a lot and making a lot harder to do work. I ran a rig a while back that would shut off during the day and the summer and they just wait 30 minutes and go back to work
Now that the tracked machine is running, but waiting on a few parts, I moved the rubber tired machine onto a job last night. That got started up this morning. Feels good to listen to all the trees screaming again! I am reworking a job that I did quite a few years back with the trackhoe cutter. It was a nasty swamp full of beavers, about 8 dams in less than 2000 ft of ditch at the time. The customer has now passed the farm duties to the sons. I'm getting it back into shape enough so that they can see which culverts are missing, where the current dams are and get it into shape enough for a bushhog. Maybe they will plant for hay for the next few years and then corn further on. First pass I never see anything but a falling wall of green. It's a jungle out there! Once that's cut, I have a little bit of a clue what to expect. Feeling my way along to find the feeder ditches. The main creek ditch is the furthest that I am able to cut back. Of course, along with the feeder ditches, I also have to dodge the occasional spring holes - locked in 4wd a few time after sinking down in a couple of those a good foot or more. Usually the change in vegetation gives me a clue where those are, but not always. Small field reclaimed first thing this AM Same small field when finished
Same job. Covered lots of ground again today. This section was a few hours this afternoon. Not a real clean grind but it's the quality that the customer wants. Get it done fast & cheap so he can run a bush hog over it. Every dark spot is a spring. Only one that I was unable to completely clear off. Most years I would never be able to run this machine on this ground but it's very dry right now. Time to make the best of it. Once my customer gets some of the washed out culverts replaced, he plans to turn me loose on a fair amount more across the beaver ditch until we get to the big creek. That will need the crossing reworked before anything can be done to the other side of that one.
Short video of Barko at work https://facebook.com/reel/1290342892774674/
That is completely awesome
Well, I heard the sound of a leaking exhaust manifold "popping" on start up last week. I knew that I had an extra set of gaskets for the QSM/QSC exhaust manifolds on hand. I went into Cummins Quickserve and researched their suggested replacement process and measurements. The maximum "out of plane" measurement was listed as 0.012" for the measurement across the flanges. I had blown manifold gaskets on this engine before and it was time to get this issue solved right rather than just slapping in a set of gaskets. I had replaced the gaskets with this brand once before but the warpage must have caused the blow-out on #6. These gaskets are thicker and of better looking quality than others that I have used in the past. After pulling the manifold and placing a long 1/2" extension bar across the flanges, there was no need for feeler guages to test that manifold. It was likely out by closer to 0.100"+ across the flanges no matter how the test rod was laid across it. It was rocking. Fortunately, I was given an old QSC engine from a business friend (same as my Lamtrac) after it had dropped a valve duriing his use. It was scrap and in the way of his shop so I re-homed it to keep as a spare block. He so happened to replace that QSC with a QSL and the new QSL manifold did not fit the Lamtrac setup. Hence, I was also the recipient of a brand new exhaust manifold for the QSL that so happened to be the exact match for the Barko engine and application. Not all of my days run with this much luck! Otherwise, I would have had to chuck up the old manifold on the vertical mill and tried to fly cut it to spec. After the installation and torquing down to the suggested 20 ft lb (normally 39 ft lb for cummins gaskets), the beast in this machine has re-awoken. Funny how a slow exhaust leak that went un-noticed over a long period of time made such a noticeable difference in performance once the problem was repaired. At WOT, head speed regeneration is back down to about 2 seconds or less in most condition. Lots more torque and performance which is exactly what is needed as I get started on the thicker portions of the current farm reclaimation job. It was not a problem for the light stuff I had been in to. If it is back to running prime, a 10" loblolly pine is usually completely chipped and flush to grade within 45-50 seconds in most cases. I will try to get some updated video later in the week when I get back onto this job. New culvert put in so I can access the next section of this farm. Previous one was rusted out and washed out. 48" culvert installed and needing another just past this one now that I found the next one. Looking back at where new culvert was put in. Other rusted out one is about 100' closer in this pic. Previous pic was taken at blue arrow point. I can't access much more between the culverts due to the swampy conditons between the two. Maybe as I get further upstream, I can cross over to the larger, first ditch with the 48" pipe.
Not a fan of CMP - corrugated metal pipe in any drainage application in the south due to the acidic soils. HDPE or RCP is a much better choice IMO. Mulching work looks fantastic. How far do you travel?
New pipes are HDPE. I did not really get it in the pic. Old pipes were rotted steel. Last time I worked the job there were holes in the steel pipes but not a problem to get the big hoe across but that was also 7 or 8 years ago. This time, I sqeaked the tires through the edges of the existing holes for access to the new section. Sure is fun trying to find the holes in these jungles when you're flying blind. It's all about feel for how soft the ground is and where the drop offs are. Some of these ditch edges drop up to 4'-12' straight down in places. Not much room for error. Travel distance depends on the size of the job. Usually within 1-2 hours or so of home these days with plenty of work available. If there is a big job to keep me busy for 3-4 weeks or more, I can travel further. I used to do quite a bit of 4-5 hours trips from home but that was when there was little competition in my market and I was hungry for work.
What's the purpose of that aluminum hand pump?
It's for adding hydraulic fluid to the tank. It feeds the fluid through the return filter on this system. There is also one on the Barko that has its own spin-on filter prior to entering the hydraulic tank. I've thought about replacing with electric if the diaphram ever fails. Pumping is slow but it ensures clean fluid transfer and it is convenient to use with 5 gallon buckets for topping off after a leak. I also have a fitting at the bottom of the hydraulic tank for connection to the filtration cart in order to empty or fill the system. The cart requires no manual labor, just electricity, which makes it super easy/convenient.
Knocked out this little ROW job for a new water main today. 1st run with new camshaft. Ran good and strong. Had to cable off a few leaners and saw cut so that they could not land on the highway. Dry and dusty but a fairly easy job.
Just a little bit of today's job reclaiming some farm fields.
Got all of that section finished. Customer is very happy. He is impressed with the speed and efficiency of the Barko. He has had me working with the Lamtrac before and he thought that was fast. When the conditions are right, few machines cut any faster than the 937. Next will be the Menzi Muck to trim out the ditches, remove the beaver dams and do some reditching as required. If it will dry out enough after ditching, I might be able to access the last 6 acres with the Barko as firm as these wet areas are. If not, the Lamtrac will do the job. We are in a drought and the timing could not be much better.
Now trying to dry up the middle 6 acres. Brush cutting out the ditch line with the Menzi, what I could not get to with the Barko, and opening the beaver dams with the foot on the cutterhead. After that, I put the smooth bucket on and started hogging out the main ditch up to the point where the biggest dam was. I got the dam out but the soils are so saturated that the machine is sinking in above that dam. It will have about a week to dry out better. I ran all day without AC as the system was empty and did not seem to be taking any freon. It must have been 120+ in that cab, all day long. Even my water was burning hot, enough so that it would have made a drinkable coffee. Damn near got bit from the heat when I bailed for the day at 5:30. I was starting to get cramps and dizzy so I did not work till dark as intended. This is really the first ditching job that I've done with this machine. It is fast and strong at this application. I am impressed with it. This is farm work and the customer wants fast & cheap - don't worry about pretty or clean.
Kind of reminds me of a tracked Gradall.
Bearing went out on the Seppi cutterhead for the Menzi today. I worked this job on a Sunday to try and beat the upcoming rains. Likely too much wet work on these ditches for the bearing but I have been greasing it plenty. Smoked and locked the bearing up tight. Just another repair job to look forward to. So I put the grade bucket on and hogged out the main channel for a bit to remove the remaining beaver dams. Just a quick clean out of the spoils. Nothing fancy. Next flood will smooth out the creek bottom with more spoils anyways. Then I put on the ditching bucket, straddled the ditch with the machine and proceeded to clean out this feeder ditch that comes out in front of the above pic. The Roto-tilt allows me to smooth out those spoils quick and easy to leave it looking good. Once this last portion gets de-watered, I might be able to get a machine in there to finish up the last 6 acres of regrowth.
Just another view of the ditching bucket. Notice the spoils on the left that have been smoothed out by rotating the bucket 90 degrees and giving the slop a quick sweep. Two tires stradling each side of the ditch. Too bad I'm to lazy to get out into the mud to take more pics but trying to beat the rains. This bucket was well worth the price for ditching work,
Our 210 came with a ditching bucket (we call it a ”vee” bucket here). Have never had a need for it but can see the potential… Nice tidy work there!
Finished up the re-grind on a portion of this job to meet customer's preferences. This is one of the best looking lots that I have ever done. The big timber really makes it pop. You don't see all of the rock shelf on the left side of this picture. Lots of iron ore / sandstone on this property. Then back to the shop to fix a siezed bearing... Hate to say it but I've had a fair amount of practice at these and I've gotten pretty good with the cutting torch although not by choice. Nothing nicked on the shaft.
On that Seppi in the wet, how regular were you greasing - once a day, once an hour? Makes you wonder if that kind of failure has any kind of remedy, in those conditions. Great photos, by the way
Head only has about 75 total hours on it. It has been greased at least every 10 hours but usually more often. This was the first really wet job that it has been used on. It did not get into a lot of water. Greased at least every 4 hours on this job. Bearing smoked out about 1.5 hours after last greasing. I like the Seppi designed heads better than most others. This should not have happened. I wonder if it had a bad seal? Too much fine dust inside the bearing cover? No way to tell. Too old to expect warranty to cover the parts. The down time costs me more than the parts. Fairly easy repair compared to some of the others that I have worked on. Many thanks to those who recommend welding the inside of bushings and races. I had not used that trick in the past but I certainly will from here on out. That made pulling the destroyed race out of the housing a very simple task without any damages. It was not my first rodeo for cutting the inner race off of a shaft. For this, torch beats plasma hands down.
Your probably greasing it too much
Google Image Result for https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ea/Gahnia_grandis_in_flower.jpg The biggest bearing killer we have here is this stuff. Man hasn't yet designed a seal that keeps it out of bearings no matter what type of mower is used. Laughs at sprays, starving goats won't eat it either. Extreme Green was my go to grease, extended bearing life from 300hrs to 1000hrs. At $30 a tube it was a good investment for me. Because of the risk of fire cutting bearings out on site wasn't a good idea so the machine was trucked off site, repaired and returned on my dime. Just that cost alone justified this grease.
Could be possible…the 2” flange mounted ‘Dodge type ‘E’ bearings on our double screen deck plant seem susceptible to over greasing-building too much heat….
It's hard not to grease it a lot if I'm running in wet conditions. I normally use my basic moly EP #2 grease and yes, I know, you're not supposed to run moly in roller bearings but all of my other machines run 1,000's of hours on the bearings with this type of grease with no ill effects. When I last greased that outer bearing, I did not see any grease escaping the bearing which was unusual. But then again, I don't use this cutterhead very often. Back onto the beaver-land job today after a little bit of rain. It was too wet for the Barko but not for the Lamtrac. The Barko was never going to go any further into the last 6 acres of "slightly more than damp" conditions even when it was at its driest condition. Even then there was standing water visible. I cleared a solid 5+ acres in about 4 hours. My customer thought I got there early AM and he was very happy when I told him I was only on it for about 4 hours today. Not pretty, not super clean but fast & cheap and what he wants. Dam beavers rebuilt about 6 spots, 1 really big one, but those got wiped before I left for the night. There is one more big dam if I can access it with the Menzi. Conditions are really soft up there and I still have to find the last dam and clean around it. I expect this ground will start to dry well as soon as these rains stop. Sun and wind will do this place wonders. I keep thinking that a song mashup of "Winona's Big Brown Beaver" and "Cowboys From Hell" would make a great soundtrack for this job.
I always use some 3/32 stainless rod like 308 or 316 to weld the races out. It is much stronger rod than 7018 and shrinks the race way more. I have some super strength rod that works very well also. I try to weld in a circle the way the bearings turn, in that way the whole circumference shrinks. I have taken some out that need 5 tons to press out and when I flipped the housing over the whole race fell out. I freeze the new unit and install very fast. The new bearings in front wheel drive cars are dual roller in one housing. Have welded these type out also with same technique. Most of the time less than 15 minutes and all out. Simon C
I like the little and often method, at least I do when I'm not time pressured/nagged into the more abusive method of 20 pumps til you see it come out the seal, deal.
Managed to finish up the wet job today, even after having a fair amount of rain make a sloppy mess of the situation. I was able to drag & push the Menzi through the soft areas to access the last and largest beaver dam in the ditch near the property line. I was able to take out the dam & mud and clean up the narrow sections of ditch with a better taper. I also took out every anchor point where the dam rats could start another blockage. It's not super pretty but it is clean and flowing well. Cleaning up the spoils as I work my way back out.
Polishing a turd into gem. This rough land was logged off a year or two ago. Playing seek & destroy with all of the stumps & slash hidden in the brush to get it where the customer can at least keep it mowed with a bush hog. The worst part is all of the flint and chert rock throughout this bottom land. It's a "sparky" job when it gets near dark. The rough ruts, washes, unexpected pokey sticks trying to kill me and deep creek edges don't make it any faster. I lost 5 teeth in the first day on this job! But, the teeth are at the end of their useful lives anyways so not a major ordeal, just a lot of accelerated wear rates on everything. Bottom line is the customer is happy and more work to come! He will seed it over the weekend.
A good job to do with worn out teeth
Just wanted to stop by and say thanks for all the information! These things sure are maintenance hungry. Seems like we run for a day and work on it for half. As long as you factor this in, they sure do munch up some trees! Really amazing how it just compounds it from forrest into workable material. Thanks again for taking the time
Treemuncher, a job I did years ago the customer wanted to seed it straight way so we came up with this plan. I would rough cut an area and the customer would seed it after I knocked off for the day. Next morning I would finish cut that area while the dew was there. The benefit was that the seed was covered so it had worm damp conditions to germinate. He was grazing cattle on it in 3mths. I fully understand that weather conditions have a huge part to play in all of this but used this method on numerous occasions along the eastern seaboard in Oz with near the same results. It may work for you as well.
What's your thoughts on this set-up ? Not that i am looking to buy or anything, Facebook www.facebook.com
My opinion is that forward visibility could be hindered sitting at the back of the machine compared to a front mounted cabin which is bad enough especially in the areas were I worked Mechanically I don't know anything about them but having 135hrs on a machine that old might tell a story.
The ad says 3000+ hours. However, I do agree about possible visibility issues. I knew Cat made these rigs, but this is the first one I have ever seen. 2008 is probably the first year they were offered. Don't know if they still make them, or not.
SUPERTRAK is a company who reconfigures machines to dedicated forestry mulchers, based in Florida I believe. Supertrak® - Forestry Mulcher, Land Clearing, Vegetation Mgt - Machines Forestry mulcher machines for land clearing, vegetation management and right-of-way maintenance www.supertrak.com
At first, I thought this was the Cat built combo machine. If I remember correctly, Cat's machine setup (I think D3 size) with a blade & mulcher on the dozer chassis had an extremely low flow rate/pressure to the attachment. It, IMHO, was a useless p.o.s. from what I had read in the specs. It may have been a decent dozer but as for a mulcher, it was basically a heavier version of a skid steer. SuperTrak would have likely reworked any of their machines to better specs but, if the machine was not designed for the cooling demands of mulching, you would likely end up with a problematic machine. As Tones said, operations could be difficult sitting so far back. If it is not designed from ground up for a specific task, it likely won't be competitive with a purpose built machine. That's what I liked about the FTX140 and the LTR8300 -purpose built machines with a cooling capacity that allowed me to run on the hottest days wide open without worry of overheating issues. The 8300 has the best air management of any machine that I have experience with because of the way it supplies and discharges heat exchanger air. SuperTrak has been building/retrofitting machines for a long time. I am sure they build a quality product but I would have to try one to know more. I am wound way too tight to have the patience to run a slow machine. Personally, unless I have at least nearly 100 gpm @ 5k+ psi, I feel like I am wasting my time and my customer's money. It's painful for me to run the Menzi cutter with only 45 gpm @ 5k psi. The only thing that keeps that one interesting is the capabilities of the carrier and what I can access. I want to be able to chew through anything in my path, not be limited to brush and small stuff. A 6'-12' diameter upturned stump should be a minor slowdown, not an impedement to a workspace.
We need to see a video of that happening from the operator's perspective!
I looked up specs on the Super Track unit in the add, it's not the Cat built 105hp toy, it runs a 200hp engine with 60gpm@6000psi from a dedicated pump.
With a 60 gph fuel use haha
I've been busy with repairs as of late. The last job I did, the head had noticeably noisy bearings. The debris blocking plates had so much wear that lots of string and wire had been able to penetrate into the seal areas and trash the seals, then the bearings. There was noticeable scoring on the seal surfaces on the arbors. Actually, a little wear past suggested use of the wear sleeves but I installed them with some Loctite 600. They should do fine. The installation tool had to be modified on the lathe in order to get the sleeves deep onto the shafts. Wear sleeves were a lot less labor intensive than repairing or replacing the arbors. I was sure to get the newer abrasive resistant sleeves. The blocking plates that fit internal and external of the roll ends had significant wear. I built them back up with ER70s-6 mild steel mig wire and turned them down on the lathe for about .020"-.030" clearance. My lathe is not large enough to put the entire roll on so I did not attempt any rebuild on that, just the wear plates. The fixed bearing had become loose and the roll was shifting side to side causing excessive side wear on the outer edges of the roll. I had to weld up some 3/8 square stock on the outside of the external wear rings and then machine that down to a fit size in order to make up for the wear on the edges of the main roll. Otherwise, there was too much open area for more dirt & wire to be sucked in to the seal cavity area. Ideally, I would have chucked up the rotor and built up the outer edges to square to make the repair 100% but not possible with the tooling that I have. Bearing replacement is not a job that I enjoy so I would rather take the time while work is slow in order to get it done right with what I have available. It was slow going but tolerances are now tight again and the seals should be safe for another couple thousand hours. An inner and outer block ring as well as a rebuilt bearing assembly. The bearing mounts directly to the inner ring via 8 bolts with the mulcher housing between the two. The outer ring bolts to the inside edge of the mulcher housing with 4 bolts. View of finished innner and outer block plates. Getting ready to re-install the rotor.
Good looking repair. Also, liking the bright sunshine in the last pic, been staring at it trying to absorb some vitamin d. Grey ol' day here where I am
While the machine has been at the shop, I have also had to repair some leaking coolant valves. I tore them apart but I did not have any of the square shoulder o-rings available. Regular o-rings have sealed those well enough that they are staying dry. So while the coolant was a bit low, I set out to repair the Eberspacher hydronic heater. It has been problematic for close to a year. I really miss it when temps drop below 45 as it really speeds up the heating of the hydraulics to operating temperature. After a complete tear down, cleaning and component inspection, I still could not get it to fire up. I had an extra Chinese hydronic heater on the shelf for when the Eberspacher quit so I pulled that out and installed it. After about 8-10 attempts to fire it, the fuel finally primed (I could not find the prime function in the included manual) and it fired off just fine. At 5 kw it's not a powerhouse but I don't need too much here in the south. I wish I had these on the other machines but they don't get used as much so not a major concern. For those not familiar, this is the basic unit for a 5 kw hydronic diesel fired heater. The red arrow is where the coolant IN and OUT lines go. The electric water pump is plumbed in just before the IN fitting. The yellow is the exhaust outlet, the green is the fuel inlet and the blue is the fresh air inlet. This unit included an air filter for the air inlet line and a fuel filter for the fuel inlet line. It's possible that the Eberspacher quit because of having neither of those 2 accessories. Nice kit for under $300 delivered. FLIR pic of unit during initial start up. The exhaust is getting hot but the coolant lines are still cold. Exhaust pipe has since been trimmed to fit flush to closed door. First thing that gets heat from the heater is the hydraulic tank. It then flows to the engine block. This is a couple of minutes in on the initial burn. Maybe 10 minutes or so into the burn and you can see the block getting warm. The controller is set to get the coolant to 80 degrees C before it throttles back. If pre-programmed, I can arrive an hour or two after heat starts and have a machine that is nearly ready to work in 10-40 degrees F. Once the hydraulic components are heated with the warmed oil, I'm ready to get to work. No painful 1+ hour warm up exercises to get to operating temps when the heater can do it for me. Even if I don't start the heat until I get on site, it generally heats up 2x-5x faster depending on local temps. It takes a little bit of extra plumbing and wiring in the engine compartment but these heaters are well worth it in my opinion. Not needed above 55 F but certainly saves me time in temps lower than that. YMMV.
Another way of fixing is to fit a slightly larger diameter sleeve and bore the bearing housing to match a larger bearing. I did this on my AHWI head and went from a 22212 bearing to a 22213 which was still well within the speed rating. It was a one of fix though and when that finally wore out new housings were required.
Winter has always been a slow period but a bit slower than usual, even though we have had really dry conditions. I've had a lot of shop time getting smaller projects fixed and doing a lot of clean up. I did get a call from a previous customer to cut in some fencing lanes for a new chicken egg operation where the chickens are "Free Range". I had over 2 miles of lanes to cut in plus some waterways and field edges. The fence installer should be happy with these results. I was unable to climb the far slope as it was in excess of 45 degrees and the tracks would not hold traction. I was able to access from above and continued on. One of the waterways. A lot of the heavy stuff was wadded up into the deep ditch and then ground down flat in order to slow the washing and collect the silt.
No job, ever, seems to go without issues. The air compressor stopped working but that was just brush breaking a wire free - easy fix. While pushing this big wad of elms and cedars, that 7"-8" elm got into the track sprocket and jammed the works. I relieved the grease pressure but that was not enough to slacken the fresh tracks. I had to get a sawzall, winch straps and drop the top rollers to get enough play to be able to rotate the sprocket to get that trash out. The wood had gone through both sides of the sprocket. This was a first for me. Just a wrong twist of the tracks at the right time to set this into motion. I don't normally do a lot of pushing with the machine but in cases like this thick fencerow and nearby creek with bad erosion washes, I will to save my customers money. I drop the larger trees and push the wads into the erosion holes. I then grind the pile flat so that they can bush hog over it and the pile will start to trap silt and prevent further erosion from happening. Gets the work done faster and helps the customer save their land. Win-win. I think that this is an Anti-ICE hotel in this pic. Chicken house going up with a remote RV for the "immigrant" workers that were on the job. They are really cranking out the work on this job. It's going up fast. My customer provided me a map of where the fencing was to be done. I upload that diagram into my GPS, adjust the picture to fit the satelite view and then hit the job. Tracks show exactly where everything was cut out. Some minor adjustments to the paths were made too avoid impossible slopes or areas that had no reasonable access. Over 2 miles of just wooded areas on the fencelines plus some waterways and field edging. LOTS of honey locust trees on this job - good thing no tires on this machine!
20,240 birds! That will keep @CM1995 busy building new fast food chicken joints. Oh never mind, you said egg operation...
Amazing what can get jammed up in tracks. How are they going to get the chickens to go to the more remote fenced areas ?? Is there a chicken herding dog ??!!
Had a hard wood tree get stuck in the 953 one time like that. Luckily had a trackhoe there so we wrapped a chain around it and pulled it out while slowing tracking forward.
It would have been easier if my track would spin. That chunk siezed it up tight - no movement forward or reverse. After the grease pressure was deleted and the carrier roller were loosened, I was finally able to move it 1/2" forward or reverse. I had a cargo strap pulling as tight as it would go while I did the wiggle, all this after removing as much pressure as I could with a sawzall taking out chunks of wood and cutting in reliefs. I was not sure it was going to let loose there for a while. No way to get the truck back in there for more support tools. I just hope that I did not trash that new final drive.
Things that happen to you on jobs, reminds me of various issues I had running a leased FTX140 Fecon. Used it, and its sister, on and off for about 5 years. Your mechanical skills are great, mine, not so much. Fortunately I ran a leased machine and we had the equipment lease company's mechanic available any time we needed them, and it was weekly, if not twice weekly. Had a travel motor fail while I was down in a narrow swampy creek, about a half mile from any road. Cold, snowy nasty day here in Texas, and oil pouring everywhere. The landowner's ranch foreman brought 10 gallons of hydro oil and a 100+HP,4x4 tractor out. We used the tractor to drag it up out of the creek, while I kept one track moving and oil pouring out of the other motor. Went through all 10 gallons, but it made it up to solid ground. Then we used the tractor to drag the mechanic's truck way out to the rig. Glad I was not responsible for repairs. What a mess.
Those drives are pretty hexy here, 14grand a side 7yrs ago. I found a dealer for them 3500 to rebuild .
I think that the chunk of elm was worse than I thought. I'm currently working some bottom ground that is extremely sandy. I was running my tracks quite loose, or so I thought, and then when doing a hard turn, sand filled up the rails and locked up my left track. 29 years of mulching and this was a first for me. I dropped the grease pressure but to no avail, dropped the carrier rollers and still barely able to rotate, then the right track bind up, sand again, I am sure. I dug things out as best I could, dropped the grease pressure and the carrier rolls - still a no-go. Then, with a little more finagaling, the right track locks solid and loses all power as well as the left side losing power. I'm a little over 1/4 mile from the truck. Grease is leaking out of the right final and the sprocket is now hitting the track frame and the rear roller - F this and head on home to get the Menzi Muck tomorrow.I hope the Menzi makes it through the soft spots and creek jumps without too many issues. Puddle under the drive. Sprocket is hitting the frame. I knew Friday the 13th went too well! So this morning, I get the Menzi loaded, serviced and hauled to the site. At least it's close to home. I got it back to the site of the crime without any major issues and started felling trees with the chainsaw to make working room and to put logs under the tracks. The Menzi has a lot of power for such a compact machine. I am able to lift the rear enough to get wood underneath a little bit at a time. I also start hammering out the mud holes in the tracks so I can drop pressure when the tracks rotate. They are currently packed solid with clay, gravel and lots of mulch from previous jobs. Oil has been leaking since the machine went down. I'm down at least 1/3 tank. Every time I fire up, more leaks then, too. I finally get enough sand dug out of the back end and get the rear somewhat elevated enough so that I can crawl under and pull the side plate from the right final. Oil still dripping and a fair amount pours when the cover comes loose. The flashlight shows me the damage once the cover is off. It is not pretty unless I call it pretty ***. The diagnosis: the final drive has come loose from the track frame and the hydraulic motor has also stripped out of the drive. I think it was a bad casting. That explains why the drive was offset and allowing the sprocket to hit the frame. Ok, I've seen enough and I have to go back home and get the buggy to shuttle tools, parts and oil. It's not good to see the hydraulic motor hanging low and flopping around when prodded. It's also sitting in a puddle of oil. Yep, just like Ozzy Man says on YouTube, "Destination ****!" It took quite a bit but I finally got it lifted onto some wood. Damn master link is on the bottom side and I can not get the track to rotate. I will have to break it in the AM. I've already placed logs on each side of it and dug out enough working room. This sand digs too easy and blows into everything when dry and windy. I thought about dragging the machine out but with the loose drive hitting the frame, that's not going to happen. I have to strip in down where it is.
I do know your pain,so glad to have those days behind me.
Yes, that is not pretty. Wish I lived closer, I'd offer to come take pictures of you fixing it to post on here. Or maybe help out too
Finally got the final drive out yesterday after more lifting, digging and cribbing the machine into a workable position. Yep, those rails were packed with way too much debris to let the excess sand pass through. I don't think that the Polaris RZR 900s is too happy with such a load in the back end but it was able to carry the final out of the swamp and onto the trailer. I will have to strip a used final off of my burnt machine. The old component that looked trashed was the speed sensor and that, if I recall correctly, was about $800 about 7-8 years ago. The hydraulic brake line was stretched and abused but still looks viable. The hydraulic motor appears unphased other than that sensor. Lucky! Front of tracks just past the idler before pulling the tracks off. Packed with debris and sand with no place to go. A super tight working fit here between the cribbing and the tree but here we are pulling out the rails. I don't know how I would have gotten this repair underway without the Menzi. Just to the right is a drainage ditch leaving me minimal working room to get this done. I've sawed down at least 8-10 more trees just to allow reasonable access into the working area. I went to Harbor Freight in the morning and purchased a Hercules battery operated impact hammer with multiple style bits to see what works best. I swear that thing runs for a solid 30+ minutes on one charged battery. Very impressive performance and a free 5 year replacement warranty. I wish it would hit harder but it's not wearing out my wrist from swinging a short handled drilling hammer. It is a bi-directional drill as well as a hammer with free and fixed modes. I know that it is speeding up the debris clean out process. I will custom build some tooling for this to speed up the job even more. $100 was well worth the investment to keep this problem from happening again and clean out clogged rails. Get the main debris out with this and the pressure washer rotary tip should be able to handle the rest. Time to crib up the burnt machine and start the same process to steal the parts needed for the working machine.
The guys at work make fun of me for saving old parts and stuff, but it sure comes in handy when you can go to your own junk pile for hard to get parts.
That's not a junk pile. That's an open air parts room with a proprietary location system. After all, if no one else knows about that part under the left center of the pile, it'll be there when you're ready for it.
I got a final drive stripped off and prepped, yesterday, from my "donor" machine. No evidence of damage to the hydraulic motor or the planetary drive from the fire that consumed the machine. Lots of good parts here for me. This machine basically has/had a new undercarriage on it with nearly new final drives. Thankfully, the speed sensor on the drive motor was unscathed. I ruined the one on the final that spun out. If I remember correctly, those were about $800+ 8 or 9 years ago. Poor little "pack mule" RZR 900 was carrying quite the load into the swamp, today. The front end felt really light when the final drive was in the back! It will be carrying a lot of oil tomorrow. This buggy sure has saved me a lot of steps and time on some remote breakdowns that I've had over the years. I don't know what I would have done without the Menzi. What you don't see is the barbed wire fence right up against the front tires and the ditch right behind the right side tires - on the edge of no working room. This whole repair was worked in a tight spot. Picked my way right between the trees and placed the drive right into position. Winched it in sideways with another strap then adjusted the height to drop it into place for bolt in procedure. Tomorrow, hydraulic motor, new brake line and lots of hydraulic oil.
The brake line to the final drive was the only "side" casualty of the drive stripping off of the frame and twisting about. I made up a quick pulling tool to speed up install and make the process of hose replacement easier. In fact, I only replaced the hammered end fitting and reused the same hose. The hose still had to be R&R'ed and taken to the hydraulic hose builder. It had enough slack to lose a couple of inches without issue and save some money by just replacing the mangled fitting. These pulling tools really speed up the process and make life a lot easier to pull a hose in place when it runs through a bunch of framing with lots of bends in the routing, not to mention the accumulation of dirt & debris within the routing space. My poor little pack mule was really put to the test on this repair job. I filled up the passenger seat with tooling and then strapped a full 55 gal drum into the back. The 55 just barely fit in the back. I did not want to make multiple trips with 5 gallon pails and keep refilling them from the 55. Too much potential for dirt addition that way even though everything is run through a filter on the way into the tank. I can no longer even think of these repairs without the RZR and the Menzi, especially in the sandy conditions this job was in. Both machines saved my back, time and labor. I did miss out on a lot of miles of walking and lots of fence crossings. Thankfully, my buddy that oversees this farm and got me the job was available to help a lot on this repair job. Due to the obstacles (mostly fencing & trees) of this repair location, I was working blind a lot of the time when trying to place materials such as positioning the 55 into place within reach of the pump intake tube. Once positioned, the drum was strapped into place and the thrill of the pump commenced. I did not count, nor did I wish to, the number of pumps it took to move 45-50 gallons of oil into the tank. It seemed to take forever. Back at the shop I usually refill with the hydraulic filtration cart in a matter of 5 minutes, not an hour of pumping by hand. Even after everything was together, primed and running, the left track was still binding. EVERY mud hole had to be cleaned out from the top and sides AND the machine would only travel in reverse until all of the packing was cleaned out. Most all of the problem was attributed to the cedar from the previous job and the consistency of the sand on this job. It was a perfect storm. Mulch, gravel and sand making a near impervious concretion within the rails to the point of tight tracks and little sprocket engagement. The battery powered hammer was the key to getting this stuff cleaned out quickly. That was well worth the $100 for that tool. It will be getting used quite a bit in the future.
Wow, impressive work! Nice job on that puller. I have had snow and ice cause a 'ice rind' build up on each chain bushing but nothing as severe as what you had on your bushings/rails. An atv is a really indispensable support tool as you have clearly shown!
Impressive field repair.
Speaking of the munchies, this beast was working next door on a clearing project. Had to go take some pictures.
I like the concept of those subsoiler heads but they are pricey, take a lot more maintenance and all of those that I know that have purchased them only kept them for a little while. Customers don't want to pay what it costs to run those things from what I understand. What I have works for me and that is what I'm sticking with. I think that the install of the track drive motor on Thursday put my back over the edge. I worked the mulcher for a few hours on Friday and had to quit earlier than I normally would have. I was barely able to walk and the ride was getting excruciating at the end of the session. So, I took the weekend off to heal up. Today, Monday, I was back at it with the Husqvarna 385xp notching & prepping the big leaners (some 26"-30" diameter trees) that were headed towards the fenceline and dropping those that the wind and gravity would help ease over. I mulched up everything to finish up the job and then ran the Menzi for a few hours building new water crossings and repairing damaged crossings. Everything is now prepped for access to accomodate new fencing install. My customer and her representative are impressed and thrilled with the work. During work pic. You can see the Menzi and the mulcher ahead in the distance where I blew the final drive on the mulcher. Same location as above picture after the rest of the leaners were cut down & mulched up. I did rework this water crossing before taking the Menzi out of the swamp but I did not take a pic after working the crossing. Down past where the Menzi was parked looking back at it. You can see the existing fence line on the right. 180 degree view from previous pic. Note the tire. I lost count of how many tires that I "processed" on this little job. You would not think that it was possible for so many tires to get caught up in floods over the years. I did not notice any getting "de-rimmed" but I did see some that had rims about.
The munching game is relatively new up here. I think the local guys are trying to figure it out.
For those following this thread and reading about my rails getting packed with debris, resulting in the destroyed planetary drive, here is the easy solution for cleaning out these chip and soil packed rails . This $100 tool may be my new best friend in maintenance and repairs. $100 for the bare tool, about $80 worth of assorted bits to try plus batteries and charger that I already had. This is a combination rotary hammer drill with free float & fixed hammering, drilling, hammer drilling options via the rotary switch on the left side. 5 year no questions warranty. Harbor Freight has really stepped up their game with the Hercules branded tooling. These put my Porter Cable 20v tools to shame. Removing a broken exhaust collar yesterday. It does not hit as hard as my long barrel air hammer but it does hit probably 4x faster. Less damage and more control for the win. I purchased a ground rod driver fitting and welded a washer onto it for cleaning out the mud holes in the tracks. The smaller diameter punches through first and then cleans out wider with the washer diameter. I will likely add a smaller diameter starter punch at some time to see if that improves performance. I've tried the pointed and the flat bits. This rod driver is fastest for cleaning out the mud holes so far. Ground rod driver with welded on washer shown loaded in the hammer. Works great! I did have a couple of holes plugged tough with wood. Using the rotary hammer function with the hole cutter, shown installed on the long shaft, quickly tore through the wood that was plugging the rail. Not shown is a carbide tipped pilot drill that works with the carbide hole cutters to keep your holes centered if needed. This sure beats the 2 lb drilling hammer and mushroom punch that I had been using to clean these holes after the break down. video of hammer in action
Started a new job yesterday. I'm sure glad I have the buggy and the tow bar. It would have been a 3.5+ mile walk back to the truck on this parcel! So far, it's just cut over pine for the most part that was likely done about 2 years ago. Soft, fast, easy cutting that should save my customer a lot of money compared to the dozer work that they did have going on. Most of the grass root base remains intact so first next rain should shoot the grasses back up to green over the land and make it look great. It's a jungle out there! No one wants to bushwhack this crap with the number of ticks in this area and this county's reputation for snakes. Thankfully, I can just feel my way along and leave it cleaner than I found it. I was able to cover over 5 acres the first day even though there was a lot of steep and technical cutting included in what was worked. As long as my customer is happy and satisfied, I should be on this job for a fair bit. Maybe another job with them to follow if all goes well. Fingers crossed and working my butt off to be productive and profitable for the customer. I never milk a job but I do fly through it as fast as I can. There is always another job around the corner. Take good care of your customers and you will always have work available. At least that's my take on business and what I live by.
Flat out smokin' this part of the job. 8 acres cleared in 10 hours today. This included a lot of steep perimeter and numerous ditch work. I am always impressed by the speed of this machine. I make great money and I save my customers a lot of money when this machine is used on the right jobs.
Nice easy work done well.
I got into some really dense regrowth on section 2. Much slower progress but lots of elms, oaks and other resiliant hardwoods that require at least 2 passes to look decent. Finished this up and moved to section 3, again with the help of the buggy as that was about 2-2.5 miles away from section 2. Section 3 will be interesting as it is a recent burned area. I don't think that there is enough ash to be of concern and the lack of green leaves will make stumps more visible and easier for me to deal with. I was a little nervous about laying out so much $ in work with a new customer (based out of state) but we are off to a great start in this business relationship. I have provided GPS tracking reports and progress pics at least every other day. I turned in an invoice and requested a prompt payment as per our contract. I was more than pleased to have a direct deposit received later that day. There is nothing better in business than a great working relationship where a customer can trust a contractor and the contractor can trust his/her customer. This makes life a whole lot less stressful for all parties involved! #2 north view before #2 north view after #2 SE view before #2 SE view after
It is amazing what that thing can do. A permit for this job where I am at would cost about $5,000 to be allowed to do that job.
As long as I do not physically pull the stump out of the ground, I can go anywhere that I please without the need for permits or other tyranical obstructions. This includes wet areas. Flat dry ground is where the wheeled machine shines but for steep or swampy, tracks get the job done. I've had some tree-huggers tell me that I am "wasting all of that wood!" My response is generally, "Why don't you pick up a chain saw and go out there and process it into firewood or something usefull if you don't like what I do? Compete against me and make something of the wood." Yeah, right, like they have more energy to get something done other than bitch about something that is not their business. They never realize how much good a layer of mulch does to stabilize the ground, nourish and prevent erosion. I even leave the grass root structure intact on most jobs.
A permit to pull stumps?
That's ridiculous.
Some years ago, before retirement, I was clearing land in our city, for a large landowner/investment company. After mulching everything and cutting down a few bigger trees, I started stump grinding the remains of the bigger trees. This was on a 30 acre tract. The local Parks Dept tree expert and an accompanying police officer shut me down. Said my stump grinding was part of illegally cutting the trees down. I got 60 citations, for $1,000/tree. The customer told me to just give the citations to them, and they would make it go away. They did make it go away, as the land was zoned "Agricultural", so they could do anything they wanted with it as long as it was ag related. We were "improving the pasture". Of course, within a couple of years, that nice cleared land was sold by the Sq. Ft. for development.
Any clearing over 7000 square feet requires a permit. Moving over 100 yards of dirt requires a permit. If you move the brush and stumps it could be considered moving over 100 yards of materials. Stupid , I know. That is our County permitting agency for you.
Legal robbery is what I call it. A permit after the fact is double the original cost.
When I was doing this type of work 1 job the client spent ¼of million on consultants to get a permit without any guarantee of getting it.
Total ********
Sure was, the owner explained that clearing would add 1mil to the property value and so was happy to spend 25% of that. Still crazy that people are forced to think like that.
@treemuncher that is a beautiful job! How much land and do you know what the owner is doing with it? Are the people who hire you just mega rich? I can't imagine getting into this sort of stuff.
This parcel is about 1,200 acres of former timberland. It is being developed into a project. I'm not sure exactly what type of project and unless my customer gives me permission to divulge, I will not go into detail when I do know exactly what it will be. I expect to meet with him again this week. I'm pretty sure he will be pleased with my progress and results. I'm hoping for a long term business relationship with this company as they are talking about another parcel locally. I worked this portion Sunday and Monday. For hardwoods, it has been going faster than expected. I'm due for a set of new teeth and that will push it into overdrive for the short time that they stay sharp and fresh. I lost one tooth Sunday and another today due to worn off bolt heads. I will have to take pics of old vs new pics and post. The sand wash of the steel is incredible compared to the condition of the carbide bits. Lots of sand & rock on this job, including uprooted stumps from blow overs. I eat it all!
The outfit that used to supply my teeth sprayed tungsten on the face of the tooth below were the tile sits then fitted the tile. They outlasted the OEM by 3X. Great in sandy soils.
I used to purchase some like that but they quit offering them. No money for them in selling consumables that rarely get consumed!
This is the company I dealt with. They send their products to the US and Canada. Mulcher parts from page 51 onwards in the catalogue Tungsten coatings & custom hardfacing for wearparts - ATC GROUP Tungsten coatings and wearparts supplier for agriculture, grinding, mining, earthmoving and drilling applications in Brisbane, Australia and overseas. www.atcgroup.com.au
Old teeth vs new teeth. The worn teeth do not wear evenly and this causes major imbalance issues. As little as 50 grams can set in a noticeable vibration. One broken/missing carbide will set in vibrations. So, as the teeth wear, you need to try to match the weight when replacing broken, damaged or missing teeth if possible. Just the variable wear sets in vibration over time. The drum spins about 1,800-2,000 rpms and the entire head is 10k lbs - lots of spinning mass! Notice that the bolt head recess has completely disappeared on the worn tooth. The bolt head wore down to nothing as well.
treemuncher , is this something like yours? https://www.facebook.com/marketplac...wse_serp:83ce3dfc-e640-4527-b4c8-ababb88c7c6a
I'm always interested in the mega wealthy homes/estates, and I assume that people like that get people like you to do big, neat projects like this to make their estate what they want. Not trying to get you to divulge anything, I just started thinking about that process recently as I was looking at satellite shots of big properties.
Similar, but bigger hp than what I currently have. Tool replacement cost on that rotor is supposed to be about $15k+ just for the teeth and bolts! I have considered a Prinoth but they have a bad rep for parts un-availability and weak undercarriage. And then I would have to get a lowboy, again and DEF and on and on. Looks like fun but could be major headaches, especially when I am considering retirement or semi-retirement at this point. I'm not chasing work anymore but it keeps finding me and keeping me busy. I do this because I enjoy it and it provides me more sanity than sitting behind a desk using my other skills.
My job is rained out so it's a good time to change out to a new set of teeth and do some other maintenance work. Once the teeth are replaced, I will have to balance the rotor there in the field. Sometimes that job is 2 hours, sometimes it is over 2 days to get it right. I will have to get some fresh video with the new teeth before they get dulled. Production on those big hardwood stumps and logs will be so much faster! I had a new set of Xtreme wear parts branded teeth waiting for this machine. First time trying their product on the Seppi. I was pissed when only 7 of the 37 teeth that I installed would fit without grinding modification. I have never had to do this with other brands used. Some required about 0.010"-0.020" material removal while others took closer to 0.100" material removal to be able to fit into the holders via hammer impact persuation. Instead of replacing all 52? teeth, I was only able to get 37 changed out before a hard push of rain ran me off of the job late in the afternoon. It was a lot of work with a 4.5" grinder and no vise to hold the teeth. NOT FUN. I think that I got my money's worth out of some of the bolts! This is why the machine has been spitting out a few teeth lately. Old set of teeth was pretty well used up. The carbides were still holding up well but the sand wash on the steel holders has trashed these tools. I really like this style of tool and holder because the holder is well protected from side wear and they lock in tightly. The bad part of the design is the washing out of the bolt heads. A rear mounted bolt is much better than through hole mounts, in my experience. New teeth will tighten up the clearances within the chamber and provide a finer product, at least for a while. I let this cloud chase me out of the project. It was really dumping on me as I drove out down the steep hills to pavement. Access will be a lot easier when they get all of those hills covered in gravel. It gets sketchy when that road gets wet.
After finishing the installation of the new teeth, I fired up the drum rotation. This Seppi unit holds balance better than any of my other cutterheads. I am impressed! It was good enough to start operations immediately, had it not been so wet. I had enough dry time according to radar so I set about to trim up the balance to make it better. I think that I only added about 60 grams of weight per side via a few welding rods. It's not perfect but it is smooth and better. The only way to get it 100% would be to bring in my "lock gate" structure to bind the head down to. It's a former lock gate from the Smithland Locks on the Ohio River according to the seller that I got it from. By binding the cutterhead down to a large, massive object, harmonic oscillations are minimized and balancing results are more precise for the fastest and best results. I did not need to haul 4k-5k lbs of wooded structure up those steep, muddy hills for extra precision. Sometimes good in the field is good enough until I get it back to the shop if I want it closer to perfect. For those without the experience, balancing is as much an art as it is frustration in motion. The results are great but the road getting there is usually agravating and time consuming. I dread doing it but it is required if you want your bearings and equipment to last. Hard to believe a rod or two can make a huge difference in balancing a 6k-7k lb rotating mass! I should have recorded the original vibrations at full speed but I did not. At near 1/2 full speed, this was the result before balancing commenced. After a few iterations and having enough of this, here are the results at full speed. Several thousand lbs rotating at 1,686 rpms with over 300 hp being sent down line. Who do you think wins when contact is made with other objects? Definitely not the furry or scaly little critters too slow to get out of the way! I meant to take a pic of the balancer hook up but I forgot to. It consists of a magnetic mounted LED light sensor that reflect off of a piece of reflective tape mounted to the rotating mass's flywheel and two magnetically mounted vibration sensors mounted above the rotating shaft on either side of the head. This allows 2 plane balancing which is critical for longer shafts. Only short shafts can be properly balanced with single plane (1 sensor) balancing. I used to always use the laptop with an Excell spreadsheet program to calculate the results (lots of vector math via matrix equations) until I found a free app for the Android phone that works just as well. Now balancing in the field is much easier and more convenient. And I don't have to fight to read the laptop or keep it in the dry. No idea how much a new balancer cost today - this one was $5,500 back in the late '90s.
I saw this snake when leaving the jobsite yesterday, on the side of the road. Maybe 30"-36" max. Not much of a warning system for the size of this snake! Maybe these are what the buzzards have been cleaning up behind me. They always find what I do not see. 34 years working in the TN & KY woods and this is only the second live buzz noodle that I have ever seen and both on the roadside on the way out of a job. The greenery has returned once the rains started again. All of this had been burned off a few weeks prior to me starting the job. That made seeing the hidden stumps fairly easy with all of the leaves gone from everything. Easy no more. I'm flying blind by feel, finding stumps by impact like I normally have to do. Back to the "bar" for another drink. These wet conditions really make it suck up the dino juice. Sometimes approaching 20 gal/hr on heavy cutting. Making good progress even though some areas are still really wet.
Lots of piled stumpage and trees throughout these sections. This is a typical one. Just like the ice cream cones I remember as a kid - "Eat-It-All"!
I used to like wet days, no dust, machine ran cooler and more productive. It was on tracks through
I hated wet days. The mulcher would throw mud, chips and leaves all over the front window. The wipers were no help, due to the sticks and chips mixed into the mud. Had to stop and clean the window about every 15 minutes.
Like Tones, I prefer damp conditions. Nothing worse than a sunny day with dry conditions where I can't see the head in front of me. I always run extra discharge guards on my heads that keep mud and chip spray on the windshields to a minimum compared to stock. If I'm in the tracked machine, I have continued to work with over an inch of rain falling on me. When it gets too slick, then I will stop. It all depend on the jobsite conditions. I had a clicking noise last night about 15 minutes before shut down. I thought that I had picked up a logger's cable at first but no imbalance and continous clicking. Turns out I wore out one of my hardbars of the liner and partially ate it. I had rebuilt this head maybe 1,500 hours ago. I has eaten a lot of gravel and rock in that time. I guess it was due. I can't get in there to cut, grind or weld with the roll in the way. I got started on dropping that, today. Not a fun task, especially out in the heat on a remote jobsite. At least it's not too far from home.
Damp works for me, but not wet. Dust is ok, IF, the A/C is working properly. We usually have the dust conditions here in Texas.
The jobsite got wet again and I really did not want to try to do this repair in the field with lots of mud. I pulled the head off of the machine and took it home. At 10k lbs, it is a beast of a mulcher. Good thing that I decided to bring it back to the shop. The right side bearing was the worst that I have likely ever pulled. The pulling bolts on the housing started rounding off so they could not be pulled back out, a regular screw type puller would not remove it and the torch came into play. That still did not get it off although it did start to move. Yesterday, I went to HF and got their 10 ton hydraulic puller - nice unit, but barely budged it. A bunch more torch work, shock hammering while the puller was fully loaded and air hammering....I finally got some movement. Just a little at a time until the puller was at max displacement. Reset and continue. Eventually, I did get that bearing off and the housing is still intact. It's a really good thing that I did bring the head home. This was not an easy "in the field" job. Finally, after 3 days of work, I finally have the rotor out of the housing and the housing is flipped up into work position, chained down on the trailer. Looking through my records, I rebuilt this housing about 1,000 hours ago. The section that let loose looks to be the original wear plate so that has nearly 4,000 hours on that surface. The super thick wear bars are the ones that I put on when I rebuilt the unit. My stuff should be good for 10k hours in wear rate comparison, maybe longer. I do not know how I would be getting all of this done without the Menzi. It sure is a handy tool to help with major repairs. Flipping this housing about would have been really sketchy with the forklift. Not much of an issue with the Menzi.
The culprit that refused to let go but the shaft is still perfect. Patience is a virtue. Midway through the removal process.
Nice work!
Well, I caught this at a good time. Nothing below the liner was worn away. I tested the original liner and that appears to be common mild steel. It drilled like butter. It cut the same with the plasma cutter and I ran a cutoff disk to make the new bottom line as I did not have quite enough chromium coated hard steel to fill in all of the original 2 strips. The bottom strip still had a lot of material left so I snapped a chalkline and set out with a cutoff disc where I needed the new bottom weld line. I will grind out the rest of the welds in the AM and get ready to install the new pieces. I still had this piece of 3/16 on 3/16 left over from another rebuild on the FAE head. Although extremely expensive, this stuff wears for a super long time. 3/16 chromium carbide laid over 3/16 hot roll - weldable, bendable and easy to cut with the plasma cutter. Not so much with a wheel! The edges of the housing did not have as much wear as the middle section did so this will fill in the worst of it. 60" wide by 6.5" plus anothe 5.5" cut off will be used. This leave 15.5" on either side that I will likely hardface to extend its service life.
Head bound down on the trailer in repair position Replace the worst worn area with hard plate. Used mig hardface wire to rebuild the original liner that I did not have hardplate available for. Assembly time. Good thing that I have that orange rotator fitting, otherwise there was no way that I could have put it back together alone. Makes spinning a heavy load effortless. 2 new main bearings. No sense in putting anything used back into it when I have this much labor in. Although not pictured, I rebuilt the worn areas of both skids with mig hardwire, new hydraulic return line, rewrapped the existing lines with any needed spiral wrap and installed new rear guard materials before taking it back over to the machine. Ready for service.
Finally dry enough to get a day in before the rain chased me off again. The after shots were about 2/3 through the day. I did get to enjoy watching a full grown bald eagle join me on the jobsite but I was unable to get a decent pic of him. He was likely cleaning up my leftovers of furry or scaly critters consumed during operations. I enjoyed watching him more than the vultures. There is an untold number of hardwood stumps hiding in there along with tops and lots of ruts from previous logging operations. Same area, a little to the left of the first set of pics
I can only imagine how many snakes and other wildlife that have gone through that machine. I remember bush hogging in my property in TN and I mounted a rifle mount because the coyotes would come running, every time I lit the hog up!
One time on a job I cleaned up a small heap of trees then stopped to have some lunch,looked back and about a dozen Kestrels were flying of with stuff in their beaks. Curious about what they were taking I had to check it out. A nest of Red Bellied Black snakes had called the heap home. They are on the list of the world's most deadliest snakes but only while they're alive. That day they became bird tucker. It also proved how environmentally friendly mulching trees is.
That have a separate powerpack/ engine?
No, it does have a splitter box on the rear of the engine that drives the 4 main pumps. Fan, travel, accessory and mulcher pumps. It has the Cummins QSL 8.9 engine.
Back at the daily grind after vacation time ended. Right back into more repairs with a blown exhaust manifold gasket, again! I think that this is the 3rd set that I have put on this engine, maybe the 4th? Last time I had determined that the manifold was warped but I did have a brand new one in stock. So this blow out was with the new manifold and Remflex gaskets. I used Remflex gaskets (touted as "seals even warped manifolds") that were claimed to be superior graphite gaskets. At what, burning out? They offered no support and only 6 month warranty period, also claimed this was a problem engine and that they quit making a gasket for it because of problems. I replaced the gaskets with what was available at Napa. I also have a set of OEM Cummins latest number units on the way in case these go bad. You can see #4 was the offender, this time. I wrap my exhausts to keep temps going down the pipe, not under the hood. I will be redoing this machine in the near future with a better system. I will post pics after I get it re-insulated. This machine came factory encased in exhaust insulation post turbo but nothing on the manifold or turbo. Other than another blown hydraulic hose, everything else has been going fairly well on this job. Damn loggers really left me a mess when conditions were wet on their cut. It's a really slow, rough ride when I hit those area. The pine stumpage, mostly estimated at 8x8 plantings, have been going pretty fast except in these rough areas where the ruts slow me down considerably.
Is it possible that wrap on the manifold is contributing to the premature gasket failure? Increasing the heat and possibly uneven heat, as the wrap is perhaps not able to cover every part of the manifold?
We had special heat diapers on the manifolds of a fleet of scooptrams underground with Cat 3306 engines in them. When some manifolds came off, they were warped so much the bolt holes were out too far to go back on. Those diapers prevent fires but at a cost. Simon C
I suppose it is possible. The reduction in under hood temps and fire hazard reduction is worth the risk. I plan to resurface the original manifold on the vertical mill to keep as a backup unit. I have ordered parts to do an entire wrap on the manifold and turbo. I will also insulate the post cooler intake piping. I will post pics when that gets done.
Every consider or try ceramic coat and with or without exhaust wrap?
I finally took a few minutes (hours) to wrap the exhaust manifold on the QSL 8.9. I used some 0.004" thick stainless from Boost Products for the outer wrap. I used some 1" thick ceramic insulation pulled down to about 1/2" thick for the inner wrap. I did not bother to remove the existing fiberglass wrap already on the manifold. I had pre-cut the first piece of outer wrap at the shop using an old manifold for the fitment. I should have tossed that in the truck to make the second piece but I forgot to grab it. That one took a bit longer to cut out while in the field. Thankfully, I was a sheet metal mechanic at one time in my life so layouts like this are pretty easy for me with that work experience. I used some stainless straps to bind the outer wrap into place. The strap pliers that I purchased for these bands worked really well to get them cinched good and firm. After all of the pieces were in place, I used the small, battery operated spot welder set on #4 power to lock the pieces in place. While not as perfect a job as I could have done with the manifold off and back at the shop, I am happy with the results. I think it looks pretty good and I am satisfied for my first attempt at this. I will get a turbo wrap built next. After getting the manifold wrapped, I checked on the exhaust turbo to muffler pipe as I had a problem with that recently. That had come out again. I needed a new 4"-5" adapter and some length adjustment on the existing pipe. Adapter was in stock (very lucky on that one) but the Vee flange on the outlet pipe broke off so shop time tomorrow to make what I need. I'm not likely to find that on a Saturday, if at all. Manifold at start with just the fiberglass wrap material Ceramic insulation wrapped on manifold. The shop-cut 1st piece of stainless is at the bottom of the pic and ready to go on the right side. The pre-cut piece went right on with minimal adjustments. The finished product. Note the small box in bubble wrap lower left - this is the battery operated spot welder that I used to weld up the stainless. I never knew they made any of these but it works great on this stainless. I've tried it on aluminum but it did not weld that material. Welder was about $50 and stainless sheet was about $50. If this keeps my engine temps down, it is well worth the cost and labor. I will report results later after I get the outlet pipe repaired and back to work.
I had some more exhaust issues after wrapping the manifold. The 1st pipe out of the turbo was not seated into the muffler and adapter correctly and the turbo outlet pipe flange started to break. The insulation blanket on that pipe had severe degradation and needed replacement. I was able to machine out a new flange outlet for the turbo at the shop, on the lathe. Also, a new adapter piece, some new clamps and a new insulation job on the first oulet pipe and now the machine is running cooler than it ever has during my ownership. Certainly well worth the effort to rework the insulation. NOTE: for anyone considering doing a job like this, the stainless sheeting is just about the same as playing cards with a set of razor blades for cards. I've done a lot of sheet metal work over the years. I have NEVER bled so much with any materials like I have with this stuff! No matter how careful you are working with it, you will bleed. Cut proof gloves recommended. Basic tooling for these insulation jobs. Not shown is the battery operated spot welder for tacking up the stainless sheeting. Basically wrap the pipe with ceramic wool then an outer cover of stainless. Cut custom sections for the bends and weld as you go, applying pressure to keep it tight as you go. The outer pipe covering is still warm to the touch during operations but won't give you an instant burn. Former insulation blanket that was rubbed out in some areas. It was too much work to try to rebuild this unit. Insulating the up pipe underway. Some spray contact cement hold the insulation in place during construction until it gets the outer wrap. Stainless zip ties hold large pieces in position until I get it welded together. Final product installed. I will get a turbo wrap and outlet wrap made after I get the machine back to the shop. It's running about 10-20 degrees cooler now compared to what it was operating at. The entire orange piece above the turbo is the muffler, wrapped in insulation blanket.
I'm curious if you've ever considered or tried ceramic coat instead, you could add it in addition to what you have or possibly just use that alone
I have never looked into it. I already had some ceramic insulation from building a pizza over for the wife. Yeah, that's oven has been used 2 times in 5 years after constantly wanting one. But, because of that, I had the ceramic insulation in stock. I have built a couple of thermal devices for my other machines so I am quite familiar with working with the ceramic wool both dry and with liquid hardener. It makes a huge difference in keeping the temperatures down within the engine compartments.
I used ceramic coat spray paint on my exhaust because I didn't want it rusty, has stayed black for 4 years outside every day. Im not sure how well it would work for your uses. I also used it down hole in a oilwell to keep the bugs off
While running at full bore, I can touch the outside surface of the stainless that surrounds the exhaust wrapped with ceramic wool without getting burned. I'm not so sure that the ceramic coating could do that much without the insulating qualities of the air spaces within the ceramic wool. A quick check on AI gave me this: No, ceramic coating does not insulate an exhaust system as effectively as bulk ceramic wool insulation. If I was worried about rusting or looks, I would look into the ceramic coating. My needs are temperature reduction only so that the heat runs out the exhaust pipe and not into the engine compartment. I've been using this stuff for quite some time with excellent results.
Nice looking work treemuncher!
Just about finished up the big project that I have been on for the past few months. I really should fly the drone over some of my work but so much of it has turned green with re-emergent grasses and weeds that most of it is hidden. My customer did have me cut back the sides of the road for a final objective. It has been hazardous for contractors running this road when meeting oncoming traffic. I had over 2 miles of road to do on both sides so 4 miles 15'-25' wide depending on growth and conditions. I should have taken a true before picture of this area. I had already roughed in a pass or two on the right side. The road was dangerous without any sight distance on the corners. Some places had limb encroachment touching the vehicles on both sides before I cut anything back. This is an overgrown logging road. Cleaned up with a decent visibility through the corners. I really need to put a limbing saw to it but they are now on a budget. The grasses will start popping up during the next rain and really make it look good.
I spent a bunch of time on a John Deere 7210 with a Tiger side boom mower/rotary head brushing out logging roads. The alders can grow up thick on the shoulders and if left alone will choke out a road in 5 years. My favorite work was when I could go into a road that was barely pickup passable and open it up 15 feet on each side. Also satisfying when I could beat back brush and smaller trees on corners to improve sight distance, especially when I had also hauled on those same roads before.
I returned to a small subdivision tract to do a little more work over the Labor Day weekend. This land was logged off about a year ago, high graded and not clear cut. All went fairly well until the AC went down. The AC compressor clutch started throwing sparks. I checked the pressures and dropped them a little bit. Then, the compressor siezed up and broke the belt. Ordered compressor, belts and receiver/dryer. Back up and running as of late Tuesday morning and ready to finish up this little section and jump onto the next. Running out of the allocated time for this lot so I went to cut a section of the east line before time expired. Trying to feel my way along in the weeds with a high cut to minimize how many stumps I cut and damn if I did not find a logger's trap. Not sure if it was a wash hole or where they got a machine stuck, but my right side went down....deep. No sense in wiggling it any more because it's not going to come out without some serious help. I was barely able to get the door open because of the heavy side tilt and the weight of the armored door. I loaded up the Menzi, a bunch of heavy straps, snatch block pulleys and clevises and headed out into the heat. Another high humidity day at 98 degrees really sucked me down. The first few attempts to lift with the Menzi were not successful due to the suction factor, and the Menzi was wanting to go down as well when on the other side of the wet line. Water was starting to pool around the machine. The big stump that I anchored to started flipping up and releasing my anchor strap on every pull attempt. No progress to speak of other than heat exhaustion and then the Menzi's display went out, along with the roto-tilt coupler. I could not even put the bucket back on. Enough for that day. Headed home and researched what I needed to do to repair the display and think about my options for the pull. Strap was placed low on the big stump when I started the pull but it still flipped up. This was just before the roto-tilt quit. Of course it quit when the bucket was off! I had some hours to rethink my plan and decide if I needed to hire out a big hoe to get me out. Why? I can do this - I've got the Menzi...if it works in the morning. I reset the computer first thing this morning as the sun was rising and the monitor and roto-tilt were working again. I scraped around a bunch and found plenty more stumps hidden in the weeds. I selected what was in the correct pull line, cleaned around it with the bucket and had a couple more readied just in case. I ditched around the machine to get the water flowing away from it. Situations like this are where the roto-tilt couplers really shine, allowing me to get into impossible positions and pull back excess mud from otherwise inaccessible situations. I used the Menzi as both an anchor point and as an additional pull point. I used two sheave blocks to triple my line pull with my cable termination at the Menzi's underbelly. My cable is not 100% healthy so minimizing the stress and maximizing the pull was really key. I double strapped the pull from the excavator's squirt stick so as not to break anything. This allowed me to give an upward pull with the Menzi's stick and use the power of the squirt boom - it's got a lot of pull there - at the same time that I was winching. With the winch remote, I was able to operate the Menzi while operating the winch. Progress. It was minimal at first but there was movement. I transferred over to operating the mulcher tracks and winching - more progress. Slow, but there was travel. I alternated operating machines as needed to continue progress. After using up my available line movement, I repositioned the Menzi. This time, I was able to pre-load the squirt boom load by pulling hard enough to lift up my front axles. Winching did not affect this balance point. Therefore, I was able to get the pull from both machines while working alone. Once the axles touched down, I preloaded the squirt boom again then got back into the mulcher so that I could track and winch at the same time the Menzi was pulling up and back. Worked slick as snot, or the mud that I was buried in. It took a couple more repositions to get the mulcher completely across the wet line. This went well and without issue. Recovery completed! Not bad for a 1 man show if I say so myself. Assessing the situation and coming up with a good plan really paid off. Now that the machine was extricated, I got to work mulching on the next section. AC broke the fan belt, again! 2 belts in under 6 hours. I purchased these from VBeltGuys.com - never again - must be cheap imported crap as they felt really soft - nothing like the Napa belt that I had on before. To top that off, after that I walked back into the swamp to get the Menzi - got that up the steep hill and back close to the road to my parking area. Then, white smoke everywhere right after I reversed the fan to blow out the radiator debris. Major oil leak somewhere behind the heat exchangers. This machine uses Panolin Bio-safe oil. The last time I purchased some it was about $400 per 5 gallon pail. I hate to think of what it is today. I swear that this job has an indian burial ground on it because I have had so many issues on this land. It could have been worse if the machine blew the hose (or whatever it is) while I was on the steep hill or in the swamp. I guess I should just count my blessings instead.
Well done tree! That looks pretty sketchy!