Just thought i would share a few pics of the cottonwood tree that farmer needed removed where he will be farming nextspring It took me about 30 mintues to remove it,because of it size i decided to proceed with caution It was about 50 ft. tall and took awhile to get it pushed to the brush pile that was located down the hill about 900 ft.Took way longer getting the roots and branches that broke off cleaned up and piled. Farmers don't like to pick up stick no do i,plus i was going to be trenching through where i worked besides.Hope you enjoy since it took me about an hour to size them so i could post on here.:Banghead Have a good day:usa
Nice pictures!:usa
Nice photos. Hi, Construct'O. That tree looks like it would be a fair task for the D6 with no tree pusher bar. Nice photos. Thanks for sharing. And welcome to the forum.
nice pics welcome to H.E.F.
Thanks for the welcome and glad you enjoyed the pictures.Have a good day!:usa
Nice Tree Nice pictures. That must have been fun to push over. Pretty big tree. How old do you think it was?
A excavator is quicker to remove trees It is surprising what a good Catskinner can do with a dozer. I know around here good dozer operators are few most of them are in their late 50s-60s.
Excavator might be faster for taking out some trees,but thats about all.When it comes to cleaning up messes,leveling up large areas,moving material long distances! their worthless !!!! unless you want to bury it right on the spot. Who wants to bring in 25 to 30 ton excavator for the small bunch(but big trees) i had to clear.Waste of time and money!So faster isn't always the solution or cheaper!!!!!! Where as the complete big picture of the job the dozer wass faster. The size of that tree ! would get you attention looking up at it through the window in the top of your excavator cab and wondering what it would feel like if it decided to come your direction. ointhead Which in my case,i proceed with caution and took more time.That was the reason of building the dirt ramp and getting higher on the tree,to make sure it went the direction i wanted it to go. Farmer didn't want it piled in the middle of the field ,so had to push the distance mention (900)ft to get it out of where he wanted to farm. The roots on the tree was over a ft. around and had to seperate them out of the dirt that needed to go back in the hole.Farmers don't like hitting tree roots with there high dollar planters and other equipment. Plus i was installing field drainage tile with my trencher through where i cleared the trees and i didn't want to hit stuff.Trenchers don't like rocks,junk(old car bodys), or tree roots especially a ft around one.:usa
I've done some of that, the part that scares me is the dead limbs that can fall on you when you shake the tree. Always glad when the big ones are down safely. DP
Good looking pic's there Construct'O. Looks like we have done some simular work. Keep them coming. P. S. Nice looking Cat
Nice pics. That a good size tree, but cottonwoods come down easy.
Construct'O, I had a friend show me a program for resizing pics that works really slick. Very fast and easy to use, for one pic, or a couple dozen at once. Look up picsizer, I think it's by Axiom or something like that. It took me a few minutes to figure it out, but man is it slick. Brian
Thanks Brian I used infinite.com to resize them,which is a free site.I hadn't used it much for resizing so it was a learning experience.I'm sure that i can do it faster now. I do have just dial-up internet,so takes time to download and to send files.Just don't have high speed close enough here.Thanks for the info ,i'll have to take a look see.
picture resizing If you go to this link and scroll down to the picture resizer it's a .exe file. Open it and start it, it will install the resizer, it's a actual windows program so there's no problem with viruses or such. After it's installed, right click on a picture and in the menu will be a resize option, select the one you want and it will resize it. The program doesn't destroy the original, it makes a new version with small, medium or large after the file name and takes about 3 seconds to do it's job. http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx The pictures still look good here's some I posted using this technique. http://www.letstalksnow.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12965
I like the pic's and love the Cat. I wish I was running it. P.S. Welcome to HEF.
Glad you enjoyed the pics I turned 60 in July and plan on running it as long as i can stay healthy. One never knows.:beatsme Took me several years working for someone else before i was able to get my own. Hardwork and lots of luck:usa
dozer vs. excavator, i say neither. give me a track loader, you can reach high without building a ramp, you can dig around them faily well, the teeth help get all the roots up, can fill the hole in, carry the tree any distance, and the teeth help dig in to the tree so you can get a better grip on it. only down side is that the tracks on a loader tend to be slicker but you can grab it higher so it is not that big of an issue
Keep that track loader and Construct'o and I will keep are dozers. Track loaders may work on small trees on flat ground but you would be helpless on hillsides, mud, or with trees of any size. Excavators are nice to have after the small stuff is out of the way but there still has to be a machine to cleanup. When you work by the hour and don't have an arsenal of machines to use the dozer is still the fastest and most versatile machine to use for clearing.:IMO The 8ft log in the third pic weighed 39600lbs try to carry that with your track loaders
Seems to me that any of three would be a good choice.My first pick would be a machine that i owned . I think that usally a person is a better operater on one type of Machine so he will tend want to use that type of machine more.
I agree with lgammen, a track loader is the only machine to use for clearing and grubbing. When it's too wet to move dirt we can always go take out trees, even in the snow. There's no reason why you can't work slopes. If I could only have one machine, no question it would be a loader cat. Just hogging dirt, a dozer is the way to go. But put a 963 beside a big D6 (an H, R, or a T) and the 963 won't be too far behind at the end of the day.
If it only took him 30 min. how wrong can he be? how much of that 30 min can you save him? I do not believe he owns a shovel dozer, USE WHAT YOU OWN, THATS WHY YOU OWN IT! I personally would have chosen a shovel dozer, but thats cause I own one. I also doubt that I could have done it any quicker There are advantages and disadvantages to each type of machine with a lot of overlaps. One Big disadvantage is how much quicker shovel dozers eat up ft. idlers and bottoms in general.
Cstrktoe nice pics of the job and your machine, looks like you take some pride and care of it, I would as well considering the costs nowadays and it helps on the resale, I won't get into the debate:beatsme looking forward to more pics:cool2
Nice pics....It's always fun to knock over big trees.
Welcome to HEF BOSS EXCAVATING! :drinkup
I agree Dirtdogg, it takes a bunch of large excavators to do what one large dozer can clear. The way we clear out here is log it all first then go in and clear the stumps out. On big ones we split them. On that big tree that is shown, after it is cut down, I would probably quarter that stump and push it out no digging at all. Maybe a minute and half to do it. Maybe less don't know for sure. D8 size dozer. I've used a 977K before trying to clear with it. Basicly it could barely move it self around with those flat loader pads, let alone try to push anything. It could lift a full bucket of dirt just fine, but didn't even come close to the blade lift force of a D8. Also the way the lift arms are situated on the loader frame of the tractor it tends to pry the front end up real fast if you raise the bucket and try to push high on a large tree. Loaders are good for loading not dozing or clearing. Excavators are great for swampy wet area clearing.
Wadda Loada Ferty-lisa To anybody who might be interested, QUOTE: "Also the way the lift arms are situated on the loader frame of the tractor it tends to pry the front end up real fast if you raise the bucket and try to push high on a large tree. Loaders are good for loading not dozing or clearing." UNQUOTE. All I have to say about this statement is that if the 'stater' really believes it to be true, they just plain don't know what they are talking about.
How high off the ground plane that the tracks run on is the lift beam pivot point? That is the point the force is applied and its acting through that height lever. If the bucket contact is at that or above that level and you are pushing on that tree whats going to happen? Been there done that, it wants to climb the tree, unless it is a small tree that gives real easy. In comparison look at how low a dozer push beam is pivoted at, lifting and pushing with a dozer blade adds downward force.
Let's get this straight. Hello, Ladies and Gentlemen. The previous poster has asserted that a front end loader will simply want to climb a tree rather than push it over. This is totally contrary to my own personal experience. And I have a LOT of that experience to back me up. somewhat more, I'd wager, than the previous poster. Firstly, a front end loader has lift rams for raising the bucket that will do just as good a job of stopping the front of the tractor from rearing up if used correctly. They can also be used to put weight on the front of the tracks for extra traction. Secondly, if the loader bucket has teeth, these will dig into a tree trunk and very effectively stop the bucket sliding up the trunk. If you have a straight cutting edge, simply take a little time to cut into the tree trunk at a height roughly equivalent to 75% of the lift height of the loader, making a groove or cut in the trunk that will stop the loader bucket riding up the trunk. The fact that you still have lift height remaining will allow you to use the lift rams to put weight on the front of the tracks and add lift to your push force. In spite of the mechanical reasons presented above, if used correctly, a front end loader will push over FAR bigger trees than a dozer of similar horsepower and weight. I have several hundred acres of clear ground behind me to prove it. I have flattened trees with a Cat 941 that a D6C couldn't knock down without a LOT of digging, ripping and breaking roots, simply because of that extra reach. Mind you, the same D6C could push those trees away to the fireheap far better than the 941 could. Then the 941 shone again because it could stack the logs on the heap far better than the D6C. 'Nuff said.
Ten minutes with a 963. Walk up to it, push one fork over, shove it to the burn pile. Go back and push the second fork so it starts to lean, back up and get under the rootball and pick it up and out. Rake some dirt off the rootball, fill in the hole, and shove it to the burn pile. Fold some of the top branches around to the trunk and light 'er up. I've done a boatload of trees just like that, including some humongo cottonwoods that make that one look like a sapling. Yes, they took a little longer. As for using a 977, that's what, 30 year old technology? The newer 953, 963, 973 machines are far more advanced, just unbelievably better. I agree, use what you have. If all you do are little nickel and dime jobs that's fine. Around here the competition will cut your throat if you can't meet the customers expectations. You have to be as fast and efficient as possible, and still try to make yourself some money. A half-hour taking one tree out is just not acceptable, even if your working by the hour or not.
If you use a term like "height lever", then you know what a free body diagram is, right?
Not interested in debating, just speaking from a quarter century of experience myself about the effectiveness of a track loader vs. dozers pushing over BIG trees. There's no SAFER way to apply force than by getting AS HIGH UP as you can on a tree trunk. (That's simply why when tree surgeons drop them, they get a line up to the HIGHEST crotch to pull it down.) Locking the teeth into the bark/wood is also advantageous. (I personally prefer an excavator boom at the maximum reach, where I still can maintain leverage,myself.) Likewise, if a bulldozer is the only thing available, you use what you got. However, I almost was killed once when a (seemingly) know-it-all homeowner who insisted he cut this 80+ ft. tall ash tree down on his land, near his house with his brand new Echo chain saw.(I should have ran the other way when I see this "engineer" come walking towards me fully dressed with the ear muffs,saw chaps, the hardhat, the safety glasses, all Home Depot storebought.) I was locked against the bottom of the trunk with my 450C (how high can you reach, right?) and let this joker have his moment in the spotlight in front of several spectators who knew about as much as him on the topic of tree cutting. I was sitting in the machine ready to apply forward force once I felt he had made enough of a notch and was around the backside starting the backcut. I happened to sit up and take notice of him...he notched the trunk ABOVE where I was making contact with the tree! I immediately screamed at him to stop cutting and get out of the way. Geez, he was on a suicide mission, and bringing me along for the ride! I then took control of the scene and threw a rope up as high as I could get it in a crotch, and re-cut it myself with 2 guys pulling the line, and everything was O.K. Moral to the story: The higher, the better.(In dropping trees, that is...) Don't let someone else dictate the outcome of a dangerous situation...KNOW the dangers, prepare for a safe procedure, and follow through. (Not like I did letting Thurston Howell III cut his own tree, but that was the last time.):drinkup
pushcat you would rent a machine because you think you can save 20 min? This is ONE TREE! AND He never said that it always takes 30 min ! I personally would have chosen a shovel dozer, but thats cause I own one. I also think his D-6 has the power weight and size to make it a fair choice To push over What appears to be a Quite Large tree ( or the guy with the chain saw is a very small person), Travel 3600 FT, (you said two pushes at 900 ft) 1/2 of which your pushing trees, then grading. I doubt he will lose his customer for taking thirty minutes! Shovel dozers appear to be regional ,so as far competition goes there are not many contractors with a shovel dozers in southern N.H.. For that matter try and find a contractor to do a job that small. There availably, just not many of them.
One question then I'll butt out (pun intended) . Did you make your angle cut first?? :stirthepot
I'm not sure what to call that cut, Grader4me...If my memory serves me correctly, you learned not only the "proper" terminology in a "special course" covering this topic, but the actual sequence in which to make it. Please set the record straight, so I will never make this silly, illiterate mistake ever again. (What do I know anyway?) :beatsme :crying :duh :notworthy
Hey! That's my line! Carry on dude :waving
I think NOT...why, I have to use this very phrase on a daily basis...Seems there are SOOOOO many scientists that I have surrounded myself with in real life lately, that I have realized my inferiorities are substantial! Therefore the phrase, "what da I know?" seems to be the universal fit.
Remember when we talked about learning from the "school of hard knocks" in a previous thread? That will beat out (no pun intended) any scientist anytime. Having enlightned you with this scientific theory, I will ever so graciously turn this thread back over to the original topic ointhead
No need to rent a "shovel dozer", the company's got four I can choose from. Around here the competition is thick so yes, taking taking thirty minutes more and charging $100 more will lose you customers. Most of the work we do is by bid so if I mess up the company takes it in the shorts, not the customer. I think you're confused on the pictures. The one with the guy and the chainsaw is one humongous tree. That's not the same tree that's in the very first post in the thread. After looking at the first tree closer I would probably just pick it up and carry it to the fire, less clean-up.
different angle Here is a closer up of the the tree and different angle.I do agree the higher you can get is better.I was using the top corner of the dozer to push with. Loader would be better if that was all that i do,but like i said there more to the big picture then just getting the tree down,and safety comes first with me,so if it takes longer so be it. Altho it might take longer to get it down ,but when down i slid it around and pushed it to the pile with one push.Altho there was roots and branches to clean up. For me dozer is more versatille then anything else for the all around work i do.Just not taking out trees for a study diet. Here where i work 80% of the time your working in the mud and loaders(hogs in a mud hole) are worthless in the mud period. Every machine has a main purpose,that why they make loader,dozer,excavators ,trucks and so on,plus in different sizes. For me and doing mainly landimprovement work>>>>>> clearing ,ponds,terraces,waterways, and wetlands here lately.The dozer is the tool of my choice. Also in the earlier post i install drainage field tile with a trencher,so the roots are a problem to trench.So if you don't do a good job cutting and getting the roots out its a big problem. Lots of times when you get higher on the tree you break off tree roots under the ground and the customers (farmers mostly) don't like hitting roots under the ground with there equipment.Those grubbing the roots out comes along with the tree removal. Every work for a farmer?????? You think corp engineer inspectors are bad,you need to work for a farmer!You don't leave roots and branches laying all over the place or they don't have you back,or the ones i work for don't anyway!!!!!!! Also working with a 10 1/2 ft.blade compared to a loader bucket is an advantage when cleaning and leveling up.Plus pushing long distance is a pain even with a dozer. Farmers never want to pile trees close ,it is alway half way across the section over in a corner where there never going to farm. Here is a link for my trenchers that i use to install the field tile.Have a good day everyone:usa >>>>> http://www.lawnsite.com/showthread.php?t=199781
tree Another picture!
:iagree Construct'o do you like the buckeye? Dad had a hydromax 2600 before he retired and it was a nice machine. He still has a backfiller for sale if you are interested.
You never took over the tiling,when your Dad retired? Around here you have to do do both the tiling and the dozing! Like every piece of equipment the Buckeye is okay,BUT since it was the number 2 machine built it isn't new,so it has it's problems just like all equipment. Been around HydroMax also.Things i like on them and things i like on the Buckeye.They keep improving on the new machines like most machine.Learn by their mistakes.Most of the time!!!!!! As far as the backfiller i use the Deere CTL 332 with the 6-way blade.Auger backfillers do a great job,but that is about all you can do with them is backfill. For the cost a backfiller and being able to use it for just backfilling i went with the Deere CTL,because of all the other things i could do with it.I have a bunch of attachment,including a silt fence installer for it.Just so many more uses for the CTL for the type of work i do. They are starting to have us put silt fence in our waterways.Do you do any of that yet? The 332 does a good job backfilling the trenches and is fast enough to keep up with the trencher.As far as backfilling don't see as many guys using them anymore here.They do a good job and are good for there job. Brown Bear auger backfillers are built just 20 miles from me.They are starting to put brushcutters on them now.Maybe you could sell your backfiller to someone that is wanting to get into that business,and they could add the cutter to your backfilller. Post a pic of it on here sometime! :usa
I wanted to keep the tiling business but I couldn't afford to buy everything he owned. Dad said if I wanted it I was buying it just like he did, so I kept the earth moving side of things because that is something I could do with myself and my wife (she's been operating for 10 years). Sometimes hired men can be a real pain in the butt, and I know she isn't going to tear the equipment up because the money comes from the same place. Yes we have been putting silt fence in waterways for the last ten years and we built a fence installer. I have a guy that tiles over it the next county that does my tiling when I need it done. Yea it's a pain in the butt, but I couldn't afford another 300,000 on top of everything else I bought but I hope to find a 7060 or a 600 Vermeer. We put duals on the 2600 and built the cab for it. Talk about impressive you can't believe where it would go without a winch This is the back filler that is for sale we built it in our shop. Port Industries built the auger and bent the back plate everything else we did ourselves. it backfills about 4000 fph at 6 ft and really moves at 5600 fph at 4 ft.
Thanks for the cool pictures!!!!!!!! The one of the trencher is great.Never seen one with dual wheels like that.She looks like you might have had to give it a little winch job on that line? Thats where you need to be backfilling right behind the trencher to keep the tile from floating up. The 7060 would be my choice over the vermeer,because they hold your grade better.The pictures of my yellow trencher is a 7060.It has been really relieable for me.You would have to get use to winching again tho. If your thinking of getting trencher ,you might just as well keep the auger backfiller.Nice job on it also.You guys must be handle fabing thing. It is good that your wife is helping you.Nice to hear,altho at times it might be a little stressful.My wife use to help me also.Good luck and keep up the good work.:usa
You guys argue way too much.Like a couple of old ladies. I'm not getting in the middle of this,but I just want to say that when I was about 6 years old,Dad let me push the plunger down for some dynamite that he placed under this huge oak tree.That was some cool **** I will tell you seeing that tree jump up a few feet then crash down.
Tree Clearing Day -- Again Hi, Folks. Some of you may remember a little earlier in this thread that we were all reliably informed by an 'expert' (See note below.) that front end loaders were no good for pushing trees 'cos the bucket would just ride straight up the trunk due to the angle of the push - or the dangle - or some such garbage. (Note: An 'ex' is either a has-been or an unknown quantity and a 'spurt' is a drip under pressure.) Well, further to that statement, I wish to post some photos of a track loader NOT sliding up the trunk and some trees becoming lazy and lying down on the job because of this lack of slide. And the little Cat 943 had no trouble getting the downed trees to their final resting place, either either pushing or carrying, depending on size. The beauty of having a toothed bucket for doing this sort of work is that you have a built-in rake right there with you and the 4-in-1 bucket is the icing on the cake. More photos to come.
More 'IMPOSSIBLE' clearing photos. Here are some more of those photos that we were all assured earlier, by the afore-mentioned 'expert', could not happen.
Some more 'Photoshop Trickery'???????????????? And still more of that 'Photoshop Trickery'. Jeez, ain't it amazin' what yer kin do with a PC, an image management program or two and a little imagination? LOL.
And still more 'doctored' photos. Well, they HAVE to be 'doctored' if a front end loader can't do these things, don't they?
And the last of them - maybe. Here are the last photos that I plan to post tonight. The site is a 2-acre block in a (semi-) rural development and the owners plan to build a house right where the trees WERE standing. The last 2 photos are of the house area minus the trees. There is also a small shed pad to be cut adjacent the house pad. I will try to remember to take some photos of the finished house pad and post them here as well.
Those aren't trees those are little weeds. Now stick that thing on some nice slimey ground, and push on a 3 foot diameter fir, with nubbins for teeth. That is typical flat land clearing I would like to see some steep slope stuff using that loader. Now remember you can't always get up hill behind the tree, because we have to work in what they call clearing limits, and that means if the tree is right next to the limit on that slope you gotta just live with it, as you are not allowed to encroach upon the sacred ground outside the limits. I would really like to see how you would use a loader like that to accomplish the feat.
Do you really think a contractor would specify that size machine shown above for the task you describe??....I think not. You made a point about clearing with a Trackie and Deas has answered that point. Deas response is informed, detailed and educational showing what can be done. Either continue the debate in a logical fashion or not at all. We are happy for these threads to evolve...we started with some pics of some clearing...with the machine that Construct'O had available or was given for the job...and the discussion has moved on but stayed on the given topic to a degree. It needs to stay that way. I'd rather see more meaningful contributions or legitimate questions.
Trees, weeds and answering incorrect posts. Hello, Dozer575/D8Bob. Squizzy has already answered you covering most of the points that I would have covered. I will simply add a little more to it. Firstly, I will give credit where credit is due. You have, over the time I've seen you posting under various names and on various forums, put up some good posts, asked some good questions and participated in some good debates. END OF CREDITS. However, I would take an informed guess and say that roughly half of all the posts I have ever seen you put up have been either incorrect or inflammatory in some way or other, with a high percentage of those harping about the evils of high sprocket drives and the delights of oval tracks. To the point of being way past ad nauseum. You have also dispensed some 'gems' of information of, shall we say, 'dubious parentage'. The one above about track loaders being no good for clearing and the 'fact' that they will slide up the tree due to the angle of push is a shining example of this. If you want to go on making statements which are patently incorrect, you had better expect to be corrected as well. And if you have 'nubbins' for teeth, maybe there is a lack of maintenance somewhere. Could that be your responsibility?????????????? And if you're sitting there thinking that I haven't been in some steep country with track loaders doing clearing jobs, think again. We might not have Mt McKinley or any other 20,000 foot mountains in DownUnder but we do have some fairly steep country all the same, maybe just not as far to fall. And I count that a plus. We also have clay soils on some of those steep slopes. And just behind the coast, about in the middle of our operating area, is the second wettest place in DownUnder, after Tully in North Queensland. I would put it to you that if you want to call yourself an operator, you need to be able to use 'the machine you have' to do 'the job you've been given', if at all possible, SAFELY. We also have clearing limits here and I have had to work with them. So far, I have always succeeded in staying within them, one way or another. Squizzy raised the point about the size of the machine for the task at hand. Again, if you're sitting there thinking that those are the biggest trees that can be pushed over with a Cat 943 TRACK LOADER, think again. I HAVE been sent to clear trees 3 feet in diameter with 941's and 943's and I have done it. It does take a little longer than it took to clear those 'weeds', but it got done. IF you had posed your statement as a question in the first place, I would not have jumped on it like this. However, when you come out and make it as a statement of 'fact', I WILL put in my 2 bits worth and I will continue to do so with all those statements that I consider to be incorrect. Have you seen my post, "Professional 'Knocker', " on page 4 of the Komatsu D51P thread? Or the "Tell It Like It Is" post on page 9 of "Three Things To Know To Operate"? If you've read through this thread all the way, you will have seen a couple of other recent posts of mine too. You even replied to one of them on page 2. I haven't noticed you taking up my challenge to you earlier in this thread though. Again, see page 2. Expect more of the same each time I see that you have posted misinformation. I stand to be corrected on ALL my posts but, if you want to disagree with me, be prepared to back it up. Happy posting.
D8Bob/D342/D575, I've been reading your posts for seven years on IBDozing, ACMOC, and ACME, and can't seem to remember you posting a single picture of work YOU did.
Well I myself don't have the experience that some of you have in taking out trees. But, my dad(34 years on a dozer) and my uncle(51 years on a dozer) have cleared more timber than any other operator in the area. I know dad has said many times that he cleared more timber the first 5 years he worked full time than he has ever since, and I know we have cleared a pile of it. Had a farmer that had them out for almost 7 years(bout 2 months each year), doing nothing but clearing timber out. 2 months, 2 dozers working 10 to 12 hours days and 6 days a week. When I started running equipment it was on the excavator, man that was the way to move trees. Til I got on the dozer, wow, what a difference. Not saying it can't be done with the excavator but I feel that the dozer is the best way to clear timber. I know my dad and uncle would say the same thing. But also, that is what we had for equipment and worked very well for us . Not saying you can't do it with anything else, use what you got and with a lil thinking and some skill you can do just bout anything, even taken some good size stumps out with the skid loader. One thing I really hate to see is when a guy will go out and cut a pile of trees down, just leaving the stump above the ground and say here, I got the hard part down for you, just take the stump out. Unless they are small stumps, its usually easier to tak the entire tree down as one, then cut the stump off, burn the rest and burry the stumps. Just my way of thinking. Trbo
Hey Deas- I, like yourself, have cleared many a tree with a T loader and pretty much do it the same way. I have also cleared many a tree in rolling terrain with a T loader and any "operator" knows that pushing a tree down hill is much easier than on flat ground . I will go out on a limb here and say that most of the people on this forum know what "clearing limits" are. One begins to think about the posts by a certain "memeber" and the question someone with little knowledge of the discussion would ask is - "Have you ever even operated a T loader before ? Keep posting pictures of you actually doing something with a machine , I really like to see them. On a side note, I always liked the 943's. I wonder why Cat discontinued them? BTW - You mates down under sure have some big "weeds".
Discontinued 943. Hi, CM1995. I'm glad you enjoyed the photos. You made some valid points too. Do you think we'll get any sensible answers? I'm not holding my breath. I think the reason that Cat discontinued the 943 was lack of demand for it over your way. I suspect that it sold better outside of the U.S. than it did internally. The 953 was/is a much more popular size over your way. Just have a look at Machinery Trader some time.
Hey Deas.... You ain't foolin no one :spaz Trick photography, computer enhanced immages.... I'm on to you man! :salute You can't BS a BS'r :jerry BTW, Thats the machine of choice.... But..... In the hands of an experienced operator, a dozer will work. But.... Too many times I've been called out to clean up the mess some Ace made with his super dozer. Some people have no clue as how to separate or keep the dirt out in the first place. They just hammer down and push. Next thing you know is that you have a huge pile of puke to haul off.:throwup Thats ok...In my case it's always on their dime. By the time I'm done, they realize that they should have called me in the first place. The price they pay to save a buck always costs them. rofessor BTW.... cool pics :drinkup
Enhanced Images. Hi, RollOverPete. O.K.. I 'fess up. I bin busted fair and square. I admit that I pointed the camera and pressed the button, but only in some of them. The owner of the property pointed and pressed for the rest. He took all the ones where you can see that strange unmasked man sitting behind the main ROPS pillar. Don't ask me how he did THAT in so many of them. I don't know. I've done it with track loaders, dozers, excavators, 4wd loaders on occasion and even done a little clearing of trees with a Cat 12 grader. It CAN be a little awkward trying to stack logs for burning with a grader. I have also backed into one or two small ones with the push block of a scraper when there was nothing else handy. You can't do much with 'em when you get 'em down though. That job was easy. The owner only wanted the trees moved down to the back of the property where a chipper/mulcher could get at them.
Tree removal I have over 35 years experience removing trees both with Dozers, crawler loaders and excavators. EXCAVATOR set up right is the only choice. That Cotton wood tree would be a 5 minute job for me. I have done hundreds of acres of trees larger than that. Just walk up take a bucket full on two sides and push it over. then just pick it up with the grapple/bucket and put it on the pile. If there is any small branches just pick then up with the grapple/bucket. Steep banks and mud have no effect. If I took an half hour to remove that small tree I would still be on my first job I started this year. If you have a small area to remove a tree just tear it down with the excavator and pick it up with the bucket/grapple
The 'RIGHT' Choice. Hi, RKO. What you say about using an excavator for clearing tress is largely right - - - - up to about the point where you have to carry your tree a couple of hundred feet to a fire heap, or to wherever you may have to dispose of it. With most excavators, that's a 'cut lunch and water bottle' expedition. Much of this thread has been about using the machine that you have for the job. One mark of a GOOD operator is that they ARE able to use whatever machine they have - within reason - for the job.
clearing hey deas,just to let you know ive cleared many a tree in my day but the best machine by far is a asphalt paver ,just pave you a lane up to the tree,push it over and pave right over it..:drinkup :drinkup :cool2 .down here in south louisiana we have that big of bumps and cracks in our roads.hahaha
Clearing With A Paver????????????????? Hi, White_boyz1. Is that outfit of yours by some chance called 'Redneck Road Constructions'? LOL. I faintly suspect that we may have a contractor or two DownUnder with a similar mentality. We seem to have the odd stray rough asphalt road down here too. I would also not be too surprised to find that some of them - and some government authorities too - are using pavers fitted with hovercraft bases and paving right over swamps as well. At least, it feels like that as you drive along their 'roads'?????????. LOL.
Tree removal Deas Plant While you are wasting time trying to push a tree with a dozer I will have the tree picked up carried and on the pile and back removing another tree. Another better thing about an excavator is you can pile the tree higher and not have all the dirt that you get while pushing a tree with a dozer. I have removed, piled and burned many trees over the years and when I'm done I do not have a large pile of dirt to do something with. An excavator will carry a tree faster than a dozer pushing it. The second part of your comment, I can use whatever I have to do what needs to be done, But also a good operator knows when it would be faster and cheaper to go get another machine to get the job done faster, cheaper and safer. SAFER is also a good operator, and an excavator is 100 times safer than a dozer or crawler loader,you are a long way away from the tree and have complete control of the tree.
Photos of work done????????? Hi, D8Bob/Dozer575/D342. I'm with 72V here. I too have been reading your posts in various forums for quite a number of years now and, like 72V, I can't recollect EVER seeing you post a photo of work that YOU have done. This begs the question: Have you ever actually done any work? Or are you just an armchair operator who has read a fair bit? What prompts me to ask is that your statement about track loaders being useless for clearing because of the push angle is one of the biggest loads of 'ferty-lisa' that I have ever seen you or anybody else post on any of the forums that I haunt. The thing is that it is ONLY ONE of the biggest loads and not even good enough to take top prize. That spot still belongs to a 'gentleman' who used the name, 'Gordon', over on the old ACMOC board, who was adamant that a fire in a Komatsu PC1800 excavator in a mine in Western Australia HAD to be sabotage. I still don't know how he figured that out from HIS vantage point in England. The same 'gentleman' also takes a few more of the 'top ten'. You've got a couple in there too. Aren't you proud of that little achievement? Vaya con dios.
Blade or Bucket, make do with what ya have. I will agree with you to some extent. I've cleared acres of smaller scrub trees in loose soil and an excavator is the way to go, dig it up, shake it a bit to get the dirt off the roots and quickly carry it to a pile. Did a project 2 years ago that we used the 312 to do ALL the removing and the dozer to just push the trees to the pile, easier to burn without all the dirt in there. Also when working trees on stream banks and steep slopes, it is alot of times easier to do with a excavator, as you can dig almost 3 sides without havig to move, but as you can see in the pics, in this area a lot of trees are rooted in deep and you must go down deep to get all the roots, yes some larger ones do come out easily but mostly it takes a bit of rooting. I am sure that having a larger excavator would have aided us a bit better in tree removal, but did what we did with what we had. I've done it with both excavators and dozers and for me it all depends on where I am and type of trees etc. Heres a few pics of one tree that we took a pic of. Trbo
Tree removal That is a small tree. It would take about 5 minutes to have it down and hauled off with an excavator. Would not even need to dig around it with an excavator. I get into having to haul so many trees off job sites that I love an excavator with a bucket/grapple combination. You can get the tree down break it up and load it with the same machine. I'm going to do a large tree job in December and will post pictures of removing the trees when I do it.
Question for RKO In the first post of this thread Construct'O took down a size-able tree on a job were he was working for a farmer buy the hour. My question to you is would it have been cheaper and faster to go get the lowboy, drive to who knows where get the excavator (if it wasn't busy on another job) haul it back to take down the tree? Who pays for moving the equipment? Now there's two pieces to move in and out! How many times have you been on a job where something was added and it was not worth moving in another machine to do something where the machine that was already on the job could be used? Let's agree that none of us owns every machine we would ever need to do a certain task but we get it done with what we have.
Tree removal I will agree with you that not everyone can own every piece of equipment. I'm one that does not. First no were in Construct'O post did he say that this was an "add on job" or that he was working for the farmer by the hour. Even if he was, does that give him the right to add time on to the bill because he does not want to go get the right equipment? Second I have a lowboy on the job so I do not have to go looking for one. (Haul the machine there and leave the lowboy there) Second I have an excavator on almost every job because of their versatility. I don't have a dozer on many jobs because about any other combination of equipment is better. I do not use a dozer very often I even sold my D6R because I was not using it enough. The subject that I adding to was how much better a excavator is in taking out trees. Not that he should go get a excavator to take out a tree. 25 years ago I used a dozer to remove trees and many other jobs, but then found out how much better a excavator is doing those jobs that I would never go back, That what I posted and said.
This is how I take down trees!! Click on the link to veiw the short video http://s228.photobucket.com/albums/ee145/Letsdig18/?action=view¤t=camera1291.flv
Welcome to HEF Dirtman2007!:drinkup
My question about "add ons" was a generalized question and the hourly part comes from the type of work he does. You said in post 60 that the "small tree" would have taken you 5 min. Are you running a 85 ton excavator? Did you read all of construct'o posts (8 and 39) he told you why he chose to use the dozer. After cleaning up the mess, digging out the roots, and making it all look pretty, half an hour doesn't seem out of line does it? Oh the pile was 900 feet away, that 6 will run circles around a hoe that is tracking back and forth to the pile You never answered the lowboy question who pays for the move. I also own a lowboy but it costs me every time it is started, if I move a machine for a job that is under 8 hours moving charges are applied to the bill. Now if I choose to move the exc in to take out a couple trees cause it might save 10 min then it looks like I had to pay for the move. So it looks like he didn't "add time" to the bill when in all reality the dozer was cheaper in the end. Sorry if I have offened you I'll buy you a cold one!!!:drinkup :drinkup :drinkup
Yes, Welcome to HEF Dirtman2007! :drinkup
Another D8Bob???????????? Hi, RKO. I'd love to see you take down 'that tree' in 5 minutes where I grew up on the South Coast of Western Australia, among the karri forests. One contractor in that country, while I was still going to school, had a Cat D9E dozer with a 32 foot long tree pusher bar on it. That tree pusher would reach about 23 feet up a tree and put every ounce of 320 hp up against it. I'll bet that is more force than most small contractor's excavators can put against a tree and there were a LOT of 3 foot diameter karri trees that that D9 could not push. Maybe you need to come DownUnder and play with some of our local 'weeds', as Dozer575 described them. Those karri trees are generally reckoned to have as much wood under the ground as they do above ground. They may not be as big as the Californian redwoods but they are still a respectable tree. Almost as hard to knock down are the red and the white tingles and the tuart trees. Also, I'd dearly love for you to bring your excavator down here and try to take out a good-sized Moreton Bay fig and get it ALL to a stack 100 feet away in 5 minutes. Some of those suckers have buttressed roots 3 - 4 feet from top to bottom of the root by around 12" thick and there might be 8 - 10 of them around a single tree. How does your 5 minutes look when faced by that? Unless, of course, you are carrying a Hitachi EX5500 around in your bacl pocket. LOL. Most of the content of this thread has been about doing the job with what we have at the time. On most of the jobs that I go to, all I have is that 943 track loader. Now please tell me how YOU would get on sinking a dam/pond THAT DID NOT LEAK with your excavator. And before you start, I'll tell you that just about every dam/pond that I have ever had to repair - and there's been a few - was originally put in with an excavator. I also get to level a LOT of house sites ready for building - the job above was one such - and excavators do a lousy job of compacting the excavated material into the fill areas of the house pad, not to mention the fact that they often have to handle that material 3 or 4 times just to get it to the fill area. You lay claim to having over 35 years experience in clearing trees with dozers, track loaders and excavators. I can top that by 7 years at least - and that is only counting since I started operating full-time for a living and one thing that I have learned is that there is no 'ONLY' choice for anything. An excavator may be the only machine that YOU would choose but that does NOT make it the ONLY choice by a long and winding country mile. More times than not, the operator doesn't HAVE a choice. They are simply given a machine and told to do the job. There are very few absolutes in life and this applies just as much to earthmoving and clearing and the machines used for these types of work. I freely admit that excavators are very handy pieces of gear to have around. Why, every fitter ought to have one in his tool box for lifting engines and transmissions, etc.. But they are no more the 'be all and end all' or the 'solution to end all solutions' than any other type of machine. Happy tree mangling.
Hummm... "be all and end all" or the "solution to end all solutions"...I like that saying...Of course the only machine that would fit that description is....a....Grader!! Sorry...I just couldn't help myself :stirthepot Carry on gentlemen
Very well said Dea, and Grader(I still like the one about the guy using the road paver). Just today, I took down a 50foot by about 15inch Dia. oak on a fairly steep hill side. Used the TD-15C, and didn't figure it took me long at all and wow look at the time, I was there 20 mins and didn't seem like 5(Hey I got it, all our watches are goofed up,lol). Another 10 mins to get it up the hill and pushed to where I wanted it, more time just cause of the steep slope. I did think about it and if I had tracked the excavator over(taking it away from loading haul trucks, and slowing progress), I would have had to make myself a bench to sit on, dig around it, maybe push then pull it up and drag it to where I wanted it. Figure I could have done it in about the same amount of time really(but again my watch must be goofed cause I know it said it was 20 mins from start to knock down). Anyways, could have used either, and got the job done but the dozer was there and I am commfy on both. Trbo
Footnote to last night's post - dams that leak. Hi, Folks. Not on tree clearing but a footnote to part of my post of last night. Today, I had to fill in a dam that leaked. It was about 6 feet deep on a moderately steep slope and leaked around half its depth of water in just a few days from being full. As I filled it in, I also did a 'post mortem' or 'autopsy' on it and it was plain to see that the water was leaking out through the topsoil layer. NO attempt had been made to seal this dam(?) with clay as it was being built(?). It was dug with an excavator.
i worked with alot of junk machines if you take your time and think about what your doing any machine could of taken those trees down . as long as you dont pay rental fees and did the job cheap as possiable and got it done he had the right machine everything else is nit picking:notworthy
"The Right Choice" C'mon deas you know that the excavator was the right choice. The guy who built it probably scooped up every bucket and tracked to the dam, dumped and shurly compacted it faster that you and your 943 could have. Just admit it you've been using the wrong machine all these years.
Forgot Something O"but it only took 5 minutes
WELL, IT DID!! Trbo
Conspicuous by absence. Hi, Folks. O.K., I admit it. I am TOTALLY RIGHT about excavators sinking dams/ponds. I had to repair another one this week, again almost certainly put in with an excavator - the 'giveaway', banks too steep to push up. It was one of the better ones. It only leaked in two small areas of the total bank. The cure - cut a slot along the length of the wall down to the level of the leak, leaving a wall between the water and the slot, and back-filling it in layers, rolling each layer with a sheepsfoot roller. WARNING: It does not pay to do this to any depth deeper than the seat of the machine you are using to cut the slot or do the back-filling, whichever is smaller if they happen to be different machines. Walls can collapse without much warning - if any at all - and especially with water pressure against the upstream wall. My cuts were only about 3 feet deep in this case, using a Cat 943 track loader. Now to the subject line of this post: It seems that the gentleman who claimed trees could not be pushed with a loader has become comspicuous by his absence, at least temporarily. His original proposition has been demonstrably proven to be wrong. His reponse to my photos of a track loader pushing trees was to 'belittle' the trees and start prattling on about steep slopes, slippery ground and clearing limits, none of which were in his original statement or pertinent to his claim that a loader would slide up the trunk of the tree due to the push angle. I don't count this as any sort of personal victory because I would rather that it was never necessary in the first place. However, I do count it as a victory for truth and common sense and I hope that it will help many newcomers to operating gain a better understanding of the capabilities of various machines.
Now folks you know Deas is really having a lend of you all now.......There aint no water in any dams in Queensland...only dust, flies and dead cows...:lmao :lmao
I don't think you are Right "O.K., I admit it. I am TOTALLY RIGHT about excavators sinking dams/ponds" A dam only 3 to 4 feet deep are you are saying is not a dam, it is a mud hole. When I clean dams/lagoons The mud is at least 10 to 20 feet deep and are lucky if the floor would support a machine. You would be working years cleaning a dam like that with a little 943. Also I clean a lot of lagoons that you CAN NOT be on the floors running around, so how would you clean a 15 foot deep lagoon that you can not be on the floor, with a little 943??? I have had to go in and fish more jobs that guys tried to start with loaders. They have tore up the floor spinning around being stuck, I have had to level up the floors and reseal the floor.
Not Totally right, Huh? Hi, RKO. May I suggest that you go back and RE-read my post without your blinders on? I said that my "CUTS' were only about 3 feet deep to REPAIR this dam, NOT to clean it out. Nor did I say anywhere that the dam itself was only 3 feet deep. This dam had already been cleaned out with an excavator, a task that I freely admit they are well suited for. All I had to do was repair the leaks in the dam wall, the result of it being ORIGINALLY sunk with an excavator around 10 years earlier and not properly sealed and compacted. You might also like to read my recent post on the, 'Benefits Of Excavator Over Track Loader' thread. I hope that it will prompt you to start thinking that maybe there are some jobs where machines other than excavators DO have a valid application, just as I admit that excavators have their own particular uses.
I don't have binders on. You are the one that says a "track loader is better for cleaning/sealing a dam, and if some one cleans a dam with an excavator it will leak because it was not property sealed "I asked you and you did not answer me, "How would you clean a Dam/ lagoon of any size that will not support a machine or you can not be on the floor???" Add in walls of the dam/lagoon that are on a 2 to 1 or if lucky 3 to 1 slope that you would need to climb up to get out??? sealing of the dam has nothing to do with what machine was used to clean the dam, that has to do with the poor operator. That is not the fault of the machine. I clean and seal Dams/Lagoons with excavators all the time and never had one leak, (most of my work is inspected and tested by many state and federal agencies and never failed a inspection) I, along with a lot of other contractors clean Dams/lagoons the same way.
I'm confused. I'm not familiar with the term "sinking" a dam that Deas has used, but I'm thinking that he simply means "the process of constructing" a dam. Is that correct? I'm also not seeing where Deas has said that using a track loader is the proper way to "clean" out the body of water that's held behind the dam, which I think is what RKO is referring to when he speaks of "cleaning a dam". Somehow, I think everybody isn't on the same page here...
Big Picture!!!! Where do we start????? Back to same job and more tree,stumps amd weed removal!This work is for the same guy i started for and is a half mile away across his farm.
Paul Harvey The rest of the story.Here's a few more picture,have more will post later.As you will see i have plum thickets,stumps, and small trees removed and to be removed.I windrow then in line so when i took them to the pile i could take them in sections. Plus where i had to push them,to the other end of the field which because of the hill it is had to tell how far ,but was over a 1/8 mile from start to finish of the fencerow in the pictures, i was taking out. Please note the size(small in comparsion to the big trees,but still on the same job) and distance.Thank you and hope you injoy.This is what posting in really about not what machine to use ,but working with what you have to do the job. As stated i do exclusively land improvement and the dozer is just one of the tools i use .The trenching in the background is also part of the big picture.Not everyone on here is hugh contractors,just trying to show hopfully a new person getting in the business the verstility of the dozer.:usa
Pictures Just so you can see the comparsion far as the point of the size of the job from large trees to to small brush(weeds as some suggest,but true in this case). Here even a D6R ,to some people would be over kill as to using a smaller dozer or other machine. Again is why i have a medium size machine,can't have one for every item in the " BIG PICTURE" as i'm trying to paint for you here. Please at all time keep an open mind:drinkup Thank you.:usa
I agree with you fully on the size machine. We ran TD-15's for years, somtimes could have used bigger, somtimes smaller, but they were well balanced for the type of work we did, and it is amazing when you get two good operators(dad and uncle) working together with both 15's. I've seen those two work all day near each other, never talking or pointing or anything and all of the sudden they would be pushing dirt or trees or anything else together. I could never figure it out until I started running the dozer around my uncle, and we did the same thing. As far as those "weeds", i took down some of them on friday(12 to 15 inch dia. and bout 50 feet high, would have just used the weed eater but I didn't have it with me, so I made due with what I had(I know a dozer for some weeds was overkill but I got it done) lol Trbo
What size tile are you trenching in, looks like a 5 or 6 inch. Do you plow any in or just trench? We only trench in the bigger tile, 10" or more. Anything smaller gets plowed in with a Steiger.
I have a dumb question and if has already been answered then disregard. The drain tile/pipe you guys are installing - is it for drainage or irrigation? If it's for drainage in the field, then how does it work? Since it is sometimes trenched and sometimes plowed, there obiviously is no aggregate surrounding it like a foundation or "french drain". Just curious.
Very well said, bout working with what you have. I had a buddy of mine, whos favorite quote was "Doing what I can, with what I got". I feel this rings very true to construction, and smaller contractors more so than the larger ones. We had two dozers, a self loading scraper, a excavator, skid loader, and access to some other pieces and did all manners of different projects over the years. For the tile laying, we have had guys come in and trench it in and we have also dug it in with the excavator and backfilled(least around the tile itself) with clear stone. Either way works and it all depend on the job requirements. Trbo
I was putting in tile for field drainage and also for eroison control.That was 4" tile i was installing for sidehill seeps we call them here.Water runs out the side hills and drowns the crops out. To cut off the seep you have to trench above them in the finer dirt,just above the hardpan(clay that doesn't let the water seep down into).Basicly like when they do leach fields and the soil has to pass the perk test.It is usely in the finer soil,at least in my area. The ground i was working on has quite a bit of slope ,so the tile isn't installed like if your down on a bottom where it is flat and the water stands.You do more of a pattern system there.Check out Dirt Doggs picture of his trencher on an earlier post. I will also post a few more picture of the terraces that i installed for eroison control.That is where the bigger tile comes in use.Sure others can add to what i said!:usa
Where are you located, you just have USA????? There is only one guy here in my county that has a plow.I just have trenchers. Because of old tile and having to connect into them ,the trencher works better for me.I do more of the trenching,mostly for the terraces i install for eroison control(dozerwork). A lot of the time we are connecting into existing old tile lines.Most people don't know where the lines are located exactly,they are sometime close and other times a long ways off.No maps,just from memory which is hard to remember with age. I usually start trenching(open trench) and watching for the old trench and probe to find it and connect into them at the location where we cross.Not all our tile jobs are new construction,so not as simple as when your start off with virgin ground.......:usa
Gotcha! Thanks Constructo.:drinkup I have done similiar type systems just not the same application. I was having a hard time understanding the physics of what you guys were doing. It's pretty cool learing new stuff. I built a 185LF (15FT tall at the highest point) retaining wall against a natural slope with some fill behind the wall to level the building pads out. We installed a "chimney drain" between the natural slope and the fill area behind the wall. Basically it was a layer of filter fabric, #57 stone and another layer of filter fabric. We just layed it a couple of feet at the time as the fill and the wall progressed vertically. This "chimney drain" was intended to catch all the ground water coming out of the slope, direct it towards the foundation drain we installed at the base course of the wall and keep it from saturating the fill we placed behind the wall. Hydrostatic pressure behind a retaining wall is the leading killer of retaining walls - that and poor construction.
Those Blinders again. Hi, RKO. If you don't have blinders on, you must have dyslexia. I have never - repeat N-E-V-E-R - said that track loaders or dozers are better for cleaning out dams. I have also never said that excavators cause dams to leak when they are used to CLEAN them. What I have said, and I will stick to it, is that far and away the great majority of dams that I have had to repair - repeat, R-E-P-A-I-R, NOT clean - have been sunk/constructed with excavators. I also did not claim that the excavator cleaning the dam caused it to leak. If you read that post without your blinders or your dyslexia, you may just see that I said that the leaks were the result of the dam ORIGINALLY being sunk (read 'constructed') with an excavator around 10 years before and not being properly sealed and compacted. IF a dam was properly constructed and sealed in the first place, cleaning it with ANYTHING ought not to cause it to leak, unless the dam has been severely damaged by livestock (Read cows or pigs.) using it or unless the operator(s) doing the cleaning cut too deep while cleaning it out and break through the sealing clay. I didn't bother to reply to your query regarding how I would clean out a dam that I could not drive around in while using a 'little 943' simply 'cos I wouldn't be stupid enough to get into that situation. The company where I work has 3 excavators, which I sometimes get to operate, and we use them for CLEANING but NOT for sinking/constructing dams. I HAVE cleaned dams in the past with dozers, track loaders, a pair of farm tractors with a drawn silt scoop and even one that I did with a Kawasaki KSS60Z 4wd articulated loader, 'cos there was nothing else available, and 'cos I could. I agree that cleaning dams is far easier if you don't have to get down into the mud to do it. Personally, I'm a bit partial to draglines for this work, followed by long reach excavators. I note that you pointed out that I didn't respond to your query but you don't mention choosing not to respond to my query in the other thread, "Benefits of excavator ---", about how you would get on sinking a dam 140 feet long by 110 feet wide, etc., etc., with an excavator. You are right. I do have my mind made up. I will never choose an excavator over a dozer or track loader for sinking/constructing a dam. If I have the choice of a dozer, track loader or an excavator to CLEAN a dam, I will take the excavator every time. Horses for courses. Similarly, I prefer a dozer with good tree pusher bar, ripper and timber canopy for taking down trees and disposing of them. After that, IF I had the choice, I would select from a track loader or an excavator, depending on size of machine, size of trees, distance to be moved to disposal, prevailing terrain, etc.. Again,IF I have the choice, I will take an excavator ahead of a loader, track or 4wd, for bulk loading of trucks, especially when having to 'win' your material straight out of the bank.
Thanks, Construct'O. Hi, Construct'O Thanks for the photos and the description of the work. Great stuff. I usually find it interesting hearing about and seeing how other people do their particular jobs and what machines they use to do them. Thanks again. You may remember that I promised some photos of the completed house pad on the site where I cleared the trees shown in my earlier photos. I apologise for the lack of 'finished' photos. My camera chose that day to die and is now in the 'recovery ward', being repaired under warranty - 11 1/2 months - you've got to be lucky sometimes or you could get disgusted and frustrated. Another stroke of luck was that I could at least still access those photos of clearing the trees.
nice pics guys as for what is best i dont really care as long as the trees get down safe and we all make some money isnt that the point
Care too guess !!!! Anyone care to guess what good or purpose these are???:beatsme There more to them the meets the eye! just piles of dirt Just give it a try and i'll show you the rest of the story tomorrow. Good luck:usa
They look like narrow-base terraces but I don't see any intakes. Maybe silent intakes? Or just water diversions?
Thinking the same as pushcat, narrow terraces. For water run-off and erorsion control. We have built a number of them here in SW Wisconsin. So now, surprise us and tell us its a totally different deal, lol. Trbo
You buried a whole row of politicians??:beatsme
Right on ! You guys got it right off,just thought i might get a few more of the the guys to bite. The narrow base terraces are about all we build anymore.Squizzy you missed,sorry They are sometimes called A frame because of their shape. We use to build braod based and grass back terraces.They are also build reverse sided terraces.Steep on the front side and farm the down hill sloped off side. Will install intakes now!!!!!!!:usa
I thought that Squizzy had it right. Lol
Ex-wife and boyfriend maybe!!!!!!!!!!!:drinkup
Dont think I have ever saw one of those around these parts on farms Construct'O
Heres a few pic of another terrace that i built.It was across into another field.It was muddy because of drainage tile lines draining into area where i was working from across other side of a road. It is more of a broadbase terrace.The landowner mainly wanted it to stop the water from running down below the terrace where he was going to be farming.Since it is only about 50ft to the road, he didn't plan on farming above the terrace,so didn't care about the water running down into the terrace on the top side. If he had been i would have backhoed in another riser up closer to the road to just to stop the seepwater.
Few more It was a little muddy Normal for around here,but more so because of the tile draining water in from across the road above where i was working.
Finished Project This is the last few and the finished terrace.It even came with running water:drinkup ,as you can see by the last pic.:usa
Cool, looks like it turned out very well Construct'O. It can be hard working in mud I know.
Remember to core out above the tile or you may have a bridge instead of a dam
The tile lines had been in for a while! We had several rains and they had settled,but i cored them anyway.Unless it rains 6 inches or more like it did this weekend and more on the way. Just when things was working so good !!!!!!!:usa
lookin good great pics.
wasnt going to post because you gentlemen make me look bad. the last week my buddy and i cleared 5 acres in 10 hours of run time with a d75s and a 555 ford back hoe. most was pine up to about 8 inches in diameter. 2 acres in hard wood max of 10 ins. in swamp. loader was almost half track in mud. that part wasnt easy . left it burning last nite. now all it had to do was be able to bush hog with a 3000 ford tractor. the swamp wont ever be bush hogged. wheeled vehicle would sink first pass. actually had mud clogged 8 in. up radiator guard on loader.no i dont have pics dont own a camera wouldnt know how to post them if i did. oh all trees were about six feet apart.
not gonna argue but I've been on a Trackloader for a year and now own a couple dozers.. for me, only thing i can do better with a trackloader is loading a truck
clearing land in Central America We use an anchor chain with 2 D8K's.. get down 70 acres on a good day.
2 D8's will pull down just about anything
Belize You've got pretty thick jungle/rainforest in Belize. Seventy acres is pretty good for a days work. Can you burn the trees once you push them over? How do you get rid of the debris?
Yes we let them dry for a month or so, burn them, push them up in windrows and burn them again till they're gone
Welcome to Heavy Equipment Forums Dozerboy2! :drinkup
tree removal nice pics there ever dug around a big tree then build a dirt ramp on one side so you could get a little higher up to push it over? just got to becareful not to let the tree fall over and the stump come up under the dozer to get hung up under you!! works best to get tree started then remove ramp and get under stump again!!!!
nice job i love the excavator:drinkup
we used this same thing on top of a landfill..... water ran to the tile, dirt holds water back,tile runs through dirt dam then tile runs to bottom of slop controls errosion
dozerboy2 Dude! Are you kiling rainforest!
Yeah, but they are building some nice stuff in Belize. And he says that with his D8K he can clear 70 acres in a day. That is amazing. No wonder they say that the rain forest is disappearing fast. So fast that the tree huggers don't even know what is hitting them. LOL.
70 Acres A Day???????????? Hi, Dozerboy2. Welcome to the forum and thanks for the photos. 70 acres a day? With 2 x D8K's? What length and size of chain are you using? Back when I was a 'young feller', we used 2 x D8H's and 600 feet of 2 1/2" chain cutting around 400 feet wide and pulling down about 1,200 acres of medium scrub in about a 12-13 hour day. Those days are long gone around here. About the only legal thing you can use a chain for these days is to tie up your dog or tie down a load on a truck - - - - or to anchor a boat. Another contractor in the South-west of Western Australia in the late 1950's - early '60's was running 2 x D9E's with between 300 and 400 feet of 3" chain pulling heavy timber, often with a chaser dozer, a D7 or D8 fitted with a tree pusher bar to take down any trees that stopped the 2 x D9's and chain. There were plenty that would do that. Running a chaser dozer for a chain has to one of the rougher jobs in dozer-dom. You're expected to be where the offending tree is even before the chain stops, if possible, which it usually isn't. You're fighting your way through all the trees that the chain has already pulled and often have to cross from one side of the cut to the other just to get to a tree that has stopped the chain. I think they call it hard work.
Dozerboy2 would you happen to know William Kent from Georgia. he is into building a lot of stuff down there.
Hard learners Some people are just naturally hard learners!!! If you don't know what you are talking about why not shut up and listen!! Maybe then you would learn something from someone that dose!!! I have a 953, 963, 973, and a 983 and I will move one to where you are and tip over your dozer and take out your tree pile it up to burn all in less than 30 minutes!! For not much more compensation than a just a dare at this point!!!! I will remove standing timber faster than you can with a dozer on any grade, inside any clearing limits, with less damage to the residual stand of timber any time!!!!!!Now how much you want to bet!!!!!..... BTW, Deas Plant is right you know nothing about a tract loader or removing standing timber!! Jim Duffy!!..
my son works for him. think he ran into problems with the gov. he is not there anymore. the one i know owns eagle power mite not be the same guy
Do yourself and your dozer a big favour,make up a tree spear,you could have gone donw half that depth with one fitted,and easy to remove.
Just use a power saw already! lol
I pushed this oak out with my D3C took some work but I got it!
I know exactly what you mean taking down cottonwood trees, I had three of them that were approximate diameter on tree ridge that I took down. I ended up getting a local guy with an excavator come dig around them for45 minutes each,push them over, then buried them. I left them till the very end of the project, now they've buried nothing left very good feeling!!
Construct'o, couple questions on the berms. Where do you get the fill. Steal it from downstream, or haul it in? How do you handle the 1000 year storm? Do you spend a lot of time rebuilding berms? or create spillways?