Was just curious if anybody was roller chopping on here and had pictures, i have a 16 wide roller chopper that holds 3000 gallons of water and is 5 foot dia and bout 17 feet wide, its a copy of a old Fleco chopper built in the 60's, I have owned about 15 choppers or repaired them over the years and have a picture collection to post up later on this post, last time we were working it we were getting $40 a acre for pulling it over mesquite in 1 nd 2nd gear depending on how thick the trees were with a d9 18a cat with a full operator protection package, total weight loaded wa 60,000 pounds more or less, think it weighed 37,000 pounds empty with the seeder on the back?/
We run a few choppers, but nothing like your behemoth. We pull 10' Marden's, Fleco's, etc with JD 748GIII's. How long has it been since you were pulling that 16' chopper? Just curious with the $40/acre price. I have pulled a mostly filled 10' with a D7G and a K/G blade on the front, but the dozer didn't think too highly of that, wanted to heat up (was chopping an area that needed an occasional cluster of hardwood stumps sheared, working a couple of hours from home.) Did you ever pull any Rome or Savannah plows?
We pull a trch 20 36 inch rome with a weight box every once in a while next door, used to be tons of plowing with those 36 inch rome discs, never liked the 36 due to the spacing was to far apart to pull easy and take the land, the 32 inch trch has the discs closer together and is easier to pull and killed the brush better than the wider spacing trch at least down here, its been years since we pulled with $4 a gallon diesel, hard to get acres with a d9 drinking lotta gas, lots of times we would tree doze the larger trees down by the acre and theh hook up the chopper to chop everything else left, was your d7g a powershift or direct drive tractor??? I pulled this chopper with a d8k powershift once but we had to install a new blow fan and put engine enclosures on it to keep the dead leaves from stopping up the radiator and blew it out with 125 cfm air compressor about every 4 hours or more if needed, depended on what kind of brush we were chopping, we were in a big pasture doing 2000 acre job and they brought in some steigers in next to us to show us how its donelol Of course they had the kevlar tires and no knockdown blade on front of them, one of them was pulling a marden old bearing axle set up with the frame very close to the blades, it was constantly hooking the outside chopper on top of the other or getting hard oak limb stuck in between the barrel and frame locking up the chopper and mking the operator go get a chainsaw and truck to dislodge the tree limb or trunk or trash, they knocked out windows retty quick in the steigers and soon got them all armored up with a very closed up belly panlol We finished the job and let the price cutter have the rest of it and left the dozer on the job site, once a month i went by and checked the dozer out and drove by there camp, the blew a big cm cummings up from overheating and had the core on the ground and had slpped the truck engine in it and kept going trying to make it to first 500 acre paycheck, they made that 500 acre draw and went back in there trying to get to 1000 acre draw, never made it, they had made the belly pan with no way to clean it our or open a hatch to blow it out, those steigers had a turbo that hung out side the motor right by the right front fender, leaves gather under the fender until they get so close to the turbo they combust and be bye burned to the ground steiger on those $4000 each radial logging tireslol Then they wanted us to take the job back and pull there chopper with our tractor, lol they got ran off and the rancher bought a d8 high horse driect drive 5000 series and got a taste of extreme rolling chopping, the tried to chop it with a cowhand who knew nothing about it but he was smart really, he dropped the chopper and spent 3 weeks tree dozing anything big and then went back and stacked it with a 21 foot stacker and then picked up the chopper and finished it, it was virgen land and had never had a dozer in it, we were lucky and i got the one tract to do where it had been chained and stakced about 15 years earlier so regrowith and no big oak trees, they stuck the pricecutters in there and they committed succide and then finally nobody would do the job so they bought there own dozer set up and just tree dozed the big stuff and then went in and chopped it, but they would not let us to that when we were pulling the big chopperlol We made money because we had the width and armored d9 cab and better operator who knew how to make us money, takes a specialist to roller chopp for sure in some countrty, we also had a spring loaded d6 trak spring on the hitch to keep virbration down and not so hard to sit in the dozer cab when getting in lots od downed timberlol
I can imagine needing that D6 spring for a cushion with the weight you were pulling! The D7G I was on is a powershift, a 65V s/n. It could handle either one or the other, but the combination of shearing and chopping at the same time was a little too much heft for it. We stick to just regrowth or burnt over land with the choppers, have a 20' knockdown bar that we bolt onto the front blade of a skidder to knock the burnt trees down because of the trees breaking up and dropping dead needles onto the hood. Anything much over six inches and we lean to shearing to windrow, tired of tearing up tractors for cheap. I love those "let's use your equipment and my equipment, do it together" jobs, what a freaking headache. How many acres an hour were you running? We shoot for three to four.
I have only seen choppers one time and they were idle. Never pulled one.
Really tired to run in 3rd gear in the driect drive 9 and 8 if it had a Holt Brush Cab or Fleco or Rome brush cab, that 16 foot was very dangerous as sometimes it would get a tree in it the barrel and bust it off between the frame and blade and shoot it right down the left or right track and hit the straight bull dozer face and come right back at the cab, when we got in that junk we added the 3/4 inch rod windsheild so no brush bullets to the face or chest, at one time i had a triplex for maintnce consisting of 3 7 foot wide hi low marden 48 inch drum Mardens from the 50's, they sucked as the bearing and axle set up for diaster due to no stub axle assemebley so you could do feild repirs by unbolting the axle tapered timken set up and rewelding it up and turning it down in winter time, we had a extra just in case spare, those old marden you had to cut the axles out of it and reweld them back in if they were not work fatiqued from too many acres, the new Mardens are not like the old ones as far as bering replacment in the feild, We dont have pine here so dont know jack about it, we have hard wood mesquite and oak regrowth they want chopped so they can get the sun in it to grow grass and weed seeds for quail and cattle, we got a lot of jobs for the big drum after they saw the ground it tore up and penetrated like carpet grass squares, i bet the pine needles will burn like heck if you dont watch them sounds like, I hve used a d7g powershift doing some chaining and stacking and a direct drive d7g as well doing rome plowing with a 9 foot rome 36 inch trch, it had some problems with the disc and had to gear down and not let it get hot, it was a rental tractor and was not set up with a blow fan or engine encloseures or else it would have prob been ok, we had to blow it out and watch for fires etc and leaves blocking the front of the radiator, on all of the d8 and d9 tractors we owned we ran a higher weight oil in the final drives and had very few bearing failures after than, we also added gallon of Lucas to each final to overfill it and help it lube the double reduction final drives, the old d9 18 has the d8 14a single pinion driven final drive bull gear set up so we had to build them up by hand on a jig and keep 2 sets ready all the time, it was almost perfect mahine after than, the floor of the dozer usually dropped about 20 degrees with the Lucas and 90 weight in the finals, we also changed out the transmission and clutch way way more often than cat required to try to let the stuff live when being tortured in land clearing work, we always tried to work by the acre and bid it to where we would make money or stay at the house unlike the dreaded price cutterslol When the land was flat and not too many trees we tried to run the d9 in 4th gear if the operator and tractor could take it, prob with it was fuel pig and needed a 24 foot chopper in small barrel to get acres to really make some chopper money, we got a lot of jobs that the wannabees could not get due to the armored seeder on the chopper on it at the same time making us money as others had to make a extra pass to seed it with grass seed, I wish they still made a low track 8 or 7 in direct drive for sure, those were the cats that cleared the US and made us the crop producers we are now!!!
If we got into hard going jobs with lots of trees we tried to do it by the hour and then run in 1 and 2 and just chug instead of huffing and puffing in 3 and 4 trying to get max acres, I dont even know if rome makes choppers or fleco or what anymore, i think cat bought them all out and then cat bought Marden choppers to i thinking not sure on that, my favorite chopper to pull was one made down here in Corpus Christi, Calwell Manf made them out of a solid 24 inch drum with bolt on blades, that small drum with the weights on it had a faster speed and harder chopper punch than the big drum we had, it really shook the finals especially on th eold d8 14a where they always tryed to back off if you did not have a track spring hitch on them
The choppers did all of the heavy first pass work down there and then the invasion of the Lawson lawn tickerlers destroyed the work as they were getting the same amout to chop with them as the old heavy drum flecos mardens homemades etc, not the same work, apples to oranges, but the ranchers figured out they could get a dozer and chopper the first time and then buy a lightweight rig and some logging tires on a johnny popper and get it done themselves even though not the same work and job, Mexico quit buying them as well, I would hate to be a roller chopper saleman these days with the price of steel and slow ecomnylol We had a track torch set up to cut out all of our own blades from ar 200 or what ever we could get in 10x20 sheets, omg hate to buy that now, no telling what ar 200 is a pound????
We got to finish a job where there was a 24 inch solid drum 40 something twin chopper set up to chop seed oak onthe parrie, it was made out of a drilling rig that burned up on the big ranch, that was where i first saw tons of roller chopping with a direct drive d9 18a, i tried to buy it but guy died and it went to mexico right by my yard one day when we looked up and saw it going down US 59lol Figure out 40 feet at 3 miles per hour, money maker for sure if you had the large pasture for it!!! I lost my picture of this chopper and i still get sick about it they built it so when they had to go thru gates they could flip it over with the drum in the air and hook it behind the other chopper like a long hay trailer and snake it thru the gate then flip it over and hook it back up one man job if he was a hand, used to be tons of catskinners down here at one time, seems like every 5 ranhes had there own dozer especially direct drive 678's, now its a rare ocassion to even see a brush cat unless it someold hard ass rancher who kept his driect drive 7 or 8 just for his own use!!
Chopping is pretty good work, unless you are in heavy growth and you fall into a ditch/ravine. That can and does hurt, lol!
I'll agree with that. Regarding undercarriage, we look for about 900 hours out of a rail on the front side, about 750 hours after the turn. The newer tractors will drive you crazy doing this work, I've held a grudge against D8R II's since the first time I had to work on one! Hoses like spaghetti and too many speed sensors!
I quit about the time high tracks came out down here, we just work on family or the neighbor next door to avoild the haul truck and trailer insurance, if we can walk the tractor to the job we will work it if its a money maker, no $8500 a month payments for me, sad thing is no work chopping for a dozer here anymore, so many oil patch dozers on ranches getting free hours independeent can not compete, we used to buy used dead tractors and keep 2 or 3 sets of used reshelled or built up rollers ready to change out if we got rained out on a job and always had a set of growsers to rebar and a good set of dry or wet chains we hand built up with wire to keep the height up, what was good about roller chopping you could run with low rails o rollers more so than it you were working dirt jobs with slopes where the chains would come off on yalol always something, omg double flange roller is over $700 from holt cat now days alas on the previous post i meant we changed out the oil way more regualry than cat called for, especially the direct drive clutch and transmssion, always had Lucas in to help cool things
looking for a roller chopper. know of one for sale???
The last Roller Choppers I seen were idle I think they were some Champion Paper owned.
What size chopper are you looking for i have 3 all for sale one 16 foot single drum needs a d7 or d8 or steiger and a couple of single drum projects that need complete rebuilding
roller chopper would like to see them, how can we do that???
Who are you, got a name address phone number and what size tractor do you have, are you a broker, have your own winch truck etc etc? What chopper and price range condition, no need to waste each others time on tire kicking pm me if you like in private your info. I need to sell these I have if they work for you..
RANCH OWNER IN FREER, [email protected]
I have seen these choppers in action in New Zealand . I thought i was seeing a behemoth roaring out of control down a steeep hill . But NO it stopped and then was reversing up the slope \I found it was attached to an old D8 which had two winches mounted on the side of the machine,(from the distance they appeared to be some kind of logging winches) the country was rugged but was told and there would be pine trees planted
I would like to buy a roller chopper Please email me if you have a roller chopper for sale.
WOW,what a strong roller chopper!!!
Chopper rollers manufacturer Hello. I manufacture roller choppers, pasture renovators and other equipment in Mexico. The biggest I've ever built was a 68" drum diameter x 16' for King ranch. If interested in quote or get more info, please let me know. [email protected] Saludos. Ricardo
Jonrood I have two for sale.
dozerman, Do you still have the choppers for sale? If so can you email me [email protected] or give me a call321-532-2131. thanks. We have a d7. Will it pull them in light brush.
dozerman, I gave you the wrong number Its 321-243-3473 sorry about that
hav any of you seen or herd of the chopper roller being let down the hills by a dozer winch?
Hiya Ben; its called gravity scrub rolling; A lot of it has been done in nz with both standard and custom modified dozers. Have got some pics but need to bribe a kid to post them :beatsme I think is some pics on here in a nz thread about twin engine terex dozers.
thank for that mate. do thay still do it or is it s thing past?
Does anyone have a chopper for sale.
You still have the 16 foot roller for sale? email [email protected]
12 Ft long and 20 inch drums.....If anyone is still looking for one. (gas tank not part of the package )
What does that weigh? I'm used to them being a single drum about 48"-60" that you fill with water.
It weights 9500 empty and 12500 full, unless you use oil which is a bit heavier. 1994 yr model from Marden's first production line.
Oil is lighter than water?
Oops (note to self - reread all thoughts before hitting send) Oil is lighter! Feels like my paper was graded by lumberjack's red pen of correction. :notworthy
Fascinating discussion. I'm in VT. Never heard of what you describe. Cutting up roots of fallow field has long been a challenge. If you catch it in time, a bush hog discourages regrowth. Getting rid of stubble is near impossible. I've tried land plows, which bring a huge volume of stone to the surface. An acre a day is an accomplishment for a three man team. An adopted son (sort of) on the tractor plowing, a genetic son on another tractor harrowing, and me running around like a chicken picking, or digging with backhoe to get the washtub rocks out of the way of the harrow. My newest strategy is a dozer to scrape off the top four inches. I'll pile it, and wait for rot. Burning stumps isn't easy here. A pile made up of roots, dirt, stumps, brush, & sod is a perfect sponge. VT is famous for its asbestos forest. Rain is frequent, it never dries out. Best strategy is to pile, and rot. In a couple years it can be spread as compost. Your choppers are a brand new idea here. How do they have enough weight to cut?
Haha I thought it was odd, certainly didn't mean to be a hall monitor! Was oil common to fill the drums? Seems like a lot of effort compared to water to get oil in and out.
Interesting tool pushpullordrag . Looks to be set up like an offset disk with drum choppers . I imagine it does a nice job in small growth .
Pushpullordrag is the chopper still for sale?
Everything is for sale ....just not on sale. Yes it is.
We need to figure a way to talk about this deal. I'm interested.
Message sent.
Marden aerators Are the Mardens still for sale?
Sorry it has been sold and shipping was finally arranged a couple of weeks ago.
roller chopper How much this worth?