We've been clearing some ground to build two new cranberry bogs... Thought people might be interested in the process. We'll clear the land, sell the logs, burn the stumps and debris and then start the construction phase. You can stay abreast of the project by visiting our website. These pictures are of the equipment we'll be using: Cat D6D John Deere 490E John Deere 762 www.petersfamilytrucking.com
I've been doing this project completely by myself. It's nice not having any labor costs, but at 39 years old, I'm beginning to feel the aches and pains that go with doing it alone!
Dont wanna be the only one that doesnt know. But... What's a cranberry bog? nice pics! -Michael-
A Cranberry Bog is... You know that tart little red berry that people eat at thanksgiving? Or the juice that is delicious with vodka... That's a cranberry. The fields they grow in are called cranberry bogs.
Nice photos. Is the price of Cranberries up? I didn't know they grew them in Oregon.
Will it be dry enough to do much with the paddle wheel scraper???? Also do you have to be careful where you build the bogs,because of the wetland issue.Heard where one guy got into trouble because of deverting water from stream into a cramberry bog. Good luck:usa
Cranberry bogs are only wet during harvest...The water is purely a method of picking picking the berries! So, the paddle wheel works good... Once the winter weather goes away.
Thanks! I knew what a cranberry was DUH? ointhead But the bog messed me up. Thanks. ( now is the time for the rest of you people that didnt know to come out and admit it so i dont feel like an idiot. ) -Michael-
bog = waterless swamp. I think. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bog that dam wikipedia site has everything on it, I Am still amazed by it. PS: do a goggle search for your own phone number... I was not happy with what I found.
Does Oregon have any special rules for cranberries? Here in Wisconsin there is a rule from the 1800's allowing anything but I think they have thrown in all sorts of 'other' permits and inspections to slow them down. When we lived on a marsh, Dad put in close to 200 acres with a D6D LGP so you have the right machine. Is the soil sandy or peat there?
The soil is both SANDY and PETE. There is typically a layer of pete below the duff layer that must be pushed up in a pile so you can level the ground below. Then the pete is returned in a level manner and about 6 inches of sand on top of that. Wa-la -- a cranberry field, bog, marsh... Whatever!
Undercarriage Rating According to the records I can find, my D6D only has about 2100 hours on it. The previous owner only put about 250 hours on it over a 15 year period. So, I believe the undercarriage is in great condition... But I really don't know how to come up with % figure... Does anyone have any suggestions on how I can figure out exactly how much undercarriage is left? I am always reading, "xyz dozer with 80% undercarriage." Just want to be able to ascertain that myself! Thanks for the help!
Call your cat dealer. Talk to the service dept manager. Or if there is a person that sells service for the dealer, talk to him. Im sure they will come out at no charge and measure your UC. They will want to sell you something, so take what they say with a grain of salt.
At my shop,I have 2 acres of basically unusable land that's in the flood plain {under water 5-20 days of the year} that's right next to a major creek.What growing conditions do you need and how profitable is being a cranberry farmer?I was joking with the town supervisor after my taxes tripled,all in 1 year about growing rice there,but now this has my interest.
Tuney, right now the market is still not what it was for cranberries and for the future it may start to creep up but it doesn't look to good. The other bad thing is it takes about three years for the vines to mature and get a crop. Vines are spendy also. To give you some idea, cranberries sell for 30-40 dollars per barrel(100 pounds) and an established bed averages 150-200 barrels per acre. If you could sell then at a farmers market yourself it could be much more profitable. Don't let me discourage you, see if they would let you develop it.
Oregon Market Actually, there is a fairly drastic difference in market conditions between Oregon and Wisconsin... Due, in large part, to the quality of the fruit, Oregon is fetching between $70-80 per barrel. The market hasn't always been that lucrative, but it looks to be stable for the next several years. I don't grow cranberries myself... I just build them for others. My family used to be heavily involved in the farming and handling aspect of the cranberry business, but those days are gone! I may put in a few acres of my own one day, but for now I'm busy enough trying to keep our trucking/excavation business in growing.
Glad that in some areas you can still make money in cranberries. Do the growers sell a lot to Ocean Spray there? A lot of the blame here can do to the 'gold rush' that had every grower planting as much as they could and over producing. If the market is that good, know of any land to put in about 100 acres? I would argue about the quality thing, though
Actually, there is always the opportunity to put in acreage... Come on out to Oregon and I'll give you a great quote on the construction. I didn't mean to ruffle any feathers with the "quality" comment. I should have worded it better. The Oregon cranberry averages 18% more yield, when being concentrated, than the Wisconsin berry. It doesn't necessarily mean the quality is better, the yield is better!
No you didn't upset me with the quality thing, just giving you a hard time. My grandpa worked on a marsh most of his career, dad and us kids have grown up on marshes. I tried to buy a 40 acre rundown marsh last summer but just couldn't get everything to work out (the low money for berries didn't help). I hope in the future to end up with a marsh. Do you get a lot of sunshine out there? Dad has a theory about the more sun, the better yield and color. Hope the project is going well.
Actually, we get a fair amount of sunshine during the growing season. I agree completely with the more sun the better the yield. The temperatures here never reach 80 and the wind blows hard enough that a guy almost has to tie down his bricks. I would like to buy a little hobby farm with 10 or 12 acres. A well-kept little farm that I can handle part time with no labor would be great. I've run a large (for Oregon) farm and it's not what I'm after at all. My love lies with the trucks and equipment, so it would have to be a small farm. www.petersfamilytrucking.com
I always thought it would be cool to start a new marsh where you could lay everything out, pick the right vines, use some of the new irrigation stuff and build it so it could be expanded if you wanted down the road.
Updated pictures... The weather is finally starting to give us a break, so the project is beginning to make progress. Here are a few pictures... For those of you who operate new dozer's with EROPS, air conditioning, and full electronics... I put in a view from the seat of my machine! No creature comforts for me, but I still love that view!!!! www.petersfamilytrucking.com
Log Prices... Well, I'm ready to ship out several loads of logs and the prices are the lowest in decades!!! I've got some nice size fir and cedar that are going to the chipper... Pretty sad when chip prices are better than lumber prices.
When I look at dozers for sale I always do a quick track check by reaching in and feeling how round the bushing is. Tracks start out at 120%. Different areas wear differently, but if you feel the bushings regularly you should get an idea where you are at. Round bushings -- excellent can feel some wear -- good wear obvious -- ok excessive wear -- poor bushings with holes -- junk If i had to put percentages with those 120-95 excellent 95-70 good 70-55 ok 55-30 poor 30-0 junk
3306 horsepower differences I have a good friend who was just using an older Cat D5B and it had a 3306 in it. I believe it had 108 horsepower, but my D6D has a 3306 with 145 horsepower. Does anyone know why the big difference in the engine rating?
Does the 5 have a turbo? Looks like you're making progress, keep the pictues coming.
An Ugly load We hauled an old D8-14A to the scrapyard and threw part of an old grader on the same load. Here is that ugly looking load.
The D5's I've seen haven't had turbos.... I see your using a rake on the D6...I've thought about finding one for my D6c but have been told it might not do what I had in mind. I've got quit a few small/med size cedar trees (eastern red cedar) from 5" to 12" dia. to doze plus a couple of years ago I cleared one area by sawing but didn't do anything with the stumps and wondered if a rake would pop them out? Got any reccomendations on size or type of rakes for a 6s blade?
I would highly recommend a pin-on rake. Mine is made by Shamrock Steel Fabricators (the same as my hydraulic grapple for my excavator) and I really like it. It's self cleaning, tough, and will work on both my blades.
Finished the clearing, logging process I am finally done clearing and logging and have started shaping the ground that will soon be two cranberry bogs. I'll upload some photos of the progress in the next few days! The logging was definitely long on work and short on profit, but I was able to get it done without using any hired labor. Which left me sore and tired!!! Now that the dirtmoving has begun, I'll be on the scraper and a hired catskinner will be running my dozer! Although I'd rather be the one pushing dirt with the Cat, I'll demote myself to the scraper. It's always easier to find a catskinner than it is a scraper operator. www.petersfamilytrucking.com
Bog Building... I thought I'd update the pictures of our cranberry bog building job... The ground has been cleared, overburden removed and the pete soil is piled... Now we will begin to level the subgrade and construct the dikes surrounding each cranberry bog. Pictures updated regularly at www.petersfamilytrucking.com
Is that a 762 b?? my friend is having trouble with his transmission on his. he thinks it might be his transmission shift clock. he can only randomly use certain gears and and lock out the torque converter. very weird and noone can figure it out
call yer local dealer and they will send out a PSSR (product support sales represenative) to you. CAT uses market segmentation so U should have a PSSR person covering your area. they will measure your undercariage for free and give u options for future purchases on undercarriages and G.E.T. ( GROUND ENGAGAING TOOLS)
I just searched my number and found it in mostly appropriate places although I did find it misused as a fishing charter company. Funny thing I have never received a call for fishing!
Gotta love that old Kenny!
Sorry to say, the scraper isn't a 762B... The week point in that generation John Deere is the transmision. My 644B loader had to have the transmission replaced, but the scraper hasn't given me any trouble. I'm working it now and have about 300 hours worth of full throttle in the next couple months, so lets hope it holds together!!!
Nice Pics there. Like the winch and rake on yer D6D would love to get one of each for my C prolly settle for the rake. How well does it do against smaller tree stumps and all that stuff?
The rake does a great job with trees, stumps, brush, etc. It's pretty tough for a "pin-on" rake. Not to say that a rake by a different manufacturer would be just as sturdy. I am a big supporter of Shamrock Steel Fabricators... They made the rake and the hydraulic grapple on the excavator. Both items have been used and abused without any problems. The only downside is the cost.. They are proud of their attachments and it shows in the price!
Get A Contract... Wow, did I learn a lesson on this job... After all the "non-profit" work was done, the landowner decided it would be a good time to renegotiate and use some local competitors as leverage. Great... Fuel prices are exploding and he decides it's time to push my prices down. So, I'm packing up my toys and going to a different sandbox. It was really stupid not to have a contract that grew with the job! A mistake I won't make again. So, if anyone has any work on the Southern Oregon coast... I have a bunch of parked equipment! www.petersfamilytrucking.com
best thing to do, fuel prices are too high to be working for free.
Sorry but what ARE we talking about? anyone seen a Shantui lately.
Wish there was work like that in dry little old SA...
The Trucks Are Actually Working... Wow, it seems like it's been forever since the trucks have worked. With fuel prices hovering around "way too much", we've let the trucks sit until a good job came along. We are now on an Asphalt grinding and overlay project that is going really well. It's a short haul and there are plenty of trucks, so we are only burning about 30 gallons per 10 hour shift. www.petersfamilytrucking.com
Do you use any rigid tippers for that or are you an articulated man? Sorry, arb...
Budget doesn't allow for everything... I'd love to have a "rigid dumper" but the wish list is long.
How old is that truck? It looks awesome! Keep the pics comming.
It's a 1984 Kenworth W-900 with a Cummins 400 BCIII. It has been a great truck that doesn't burn a drop of oil and has good power. It's never the newest or shiniest truck on the job, but it sure is dependable. www.petersfamilytrucking.com You can see pictures on our website of just how many different trailers that poor old truck will pull for us.
Lekker, lekker soos 'n krekker! Cool trucks. You just don't get these in SA, and if you do, you have to find an asphalt rehandler (not sure if thats the word I'm looking for), if you do use a machine like that to transfer the asphalt into an asphalt paver to do the resurfacing, or do you just use a skid to level it out and then run over it in a Bomag? Mostly International and Freightliners, but no noses on them, but we do get a few. Most of the trucks like those on our roads are from Zambia or Angola. Thats real far to travel.
If you look behind the truck, you'll see the machine that picks up the asphalt from the windrow the truck leaves and creates a smooth surface. Wow, someone from South Africa checking out our work... Very cool!
Sorry to hear that, they will probably screw the next contractor over too. It takes some fun out of working for people like that.
truck looks real good for an old girl:drinkup
OK, I see. Ja. now what do you call that machine?
cranberrie bog just curious how you dig a pool to grow cranberris, and this low land has no water in it until harvest time! does this pool have inlet and out gates that the farmer can control? and do the berries just float off the vines when the bog is flooded? i think ive seen something about this crop being harvested on "dirty jobs" or maybe "discovery" im sure we would all enjoy your input! we know you are more of an excavator then a cranberrie man! but your input is appriciated! thanks!!!