I have to make 50 acres of forest mowable. I also have to dig a few ponds. I have plenty of time to do this. Here is the tricky bit. 1. The job is in Belize (my own land). 2. The trees tend to be 1' in diameter up to 3'. So, I need a fairly big excavator to push over the bigger trees, but if this presents a shipping expense nightmare my money could be better spent digging out the largest stumps with a smaller machine, assuming a smaller machine can push over most of the trees up to say 18" in diameter. I want to sell the machine when my job is finished and would maybe have to ship it back to the US to have a chance of finding a buyer.
Go for a Volvo EC210B or C series! Dont go for cat there junk!
Ec210b/c what did you think of the volvo joe ,compared to the cat 320 D how much seat time did you get to come to your conclusions it would give cderekbower more info rather than "cat is junk line" that seems to be the norm lately :beatsme
john deer 200LC sounds like it would work or the cat 320 D perhaps a small dozer would be a good investment? nothing big just some thing like a D3k or D4?
IMHO, I wouldn't care what "brand" it is, as much as I would be concerned about "which brand" has the best parts support in the area. If it runs...it will break...when you need it most!
a nice guy sent me an address for Cat in Belize and I looked at their website to see how extensive their business is there. The website is not so good but I have a phone number now.
Are you looking at a new machine or used? I decided to go with something quite new (370 hrs) as I wanted to run it, not fix it all the time. I am finding that the 135 Case is small for loading trucks if you need production- I don't. It took care of a good sized pine tree easily. I have heard good things about the Isuzu engine.
I agree that a dozer would be great for the grading and moving around of the brush and unusable logs, but it won't make ponds so easily will it? And what about pushing over large trees? I have watched videos online of dozers and excavators pushing over trees and the excavators seem to do a better job since they can push from higher. I am afraid that with a D3 or D4 I would be left with 100 stumps that I'd have to hire an excavator to come and dig out. Although, I was originally thinking of using a 1 inch cable in the tree, about 15 feet off the ground to pull the big trees over. It would be time consuming to set it up 100 times with a dozer idling at Belize fuel prices, but no doubt the dozer will be able to exert the necessary pull. So, if you had to do this with one machine, you would choose the dozer. I would really appreciate it if you could tell me what limitations the excavator would put on me. I am extremely ignorant about heavy equipment.
Do a search on Youtube for excavator clearing trees. I typed "Excavator trees" and got lots of hits. Good way to do research on what you might need to do the job. Clearing large trees is dangerous work. Your excavator should have full forestry guarding.
I would check into an excavator/dozer like the Bladerunner ED195. Try to find out what kind of root system the bigger trees have and what kind of ground is there. If they are rooted into soft, moist topsoil it should be no problem. Just use the tree as your stump puller by knocking it over with the excavator and uprooting it. If a 3' diameter tree has a tap root and is embeded in rock you will be suprised how hard they are to get out.
I am thinking along the same lines as you. I want to get something that will be reliable. Down time won't cost me much as preparing this land will be a full time job for me, but it could be very frustrating waiting for a part to arrive from another country, fighting over the correct duty to pay on it, etc. I don't need to load trucks. I need to push over thousands of trees and dig several ponds. The pushing over of trees is the thing upon which the decision lies, I believe. All excavavators will dig and there is nothing fancy about my digging jobs. If it was easy to ship I would just go for a huge excavator to be certain I wouldn't have to mess around with digging around the roots of lots of trees. A number of folks are recommending a cat 320D. A popular machine like that would be great for my resale potential. I am also a fan of Isuzu engines, but I want something others will also believe in for my resale.
Grouser, You are on the money! That is exactly what I need. I see lots of dozer blades on mini excavators but your photo is the first I have seen on a large excavator. These trees have shallow root systems. Tropical forests tend to be shallow with lots of nutrient exchange happening in the top 2 inches. Fairly abundant rainfall also keeps the roots shallow where I will be working. In a hurricane a few years ago every single tree large tree blew over for several square miles. Sounds like you know what you are talking about. I have been unable to hand-pull weeds with a pencil thick diameter when they have the right root system. Maybe no machine could uproot a 3' tree taprooted in rocky soil.
Excavator and a Chainsaw Getting the Trees Down is the Easy part sometimes, Moving them after getting them down can be a problem. If you can't afford a Dozer buy a Chainsaw. If you have a big tree you can Block it up to move it. I have some pictures on my Website of Clearing Timber BTW.
312C 315B? it depends also in your budget! regards
I would suggest you talk to someone like this mob http://www.southwestconstruction.bz/default.asp they may well be able to help you in your project, from advise on purchasing a machine, selling you a machine, hiring you a machine, providing on the job training and selling the machine after the job is done. As advised in your other thread on machine operations, you will need help to get this done. There may be other construction companies in Belize (which BTW looks like a nice place). Far as my recommendation for an ex goes, get the biggest machine you can afford (even if it is a bit older), preferably with a thumb. I would say that Cat would be best because if it breaks down you will find it easier to get back up and running than a more exotic brand. Have you considered a dozer? They can push over trees and dig ponds (well push out dirt to make a pond). Maybe get 2 with a scrub chain between them
I've been in contact with Peter from SWC. He has estimated US $22 500 to clear 50 acres. It seems like a lot when I have read that 2 bull dozers with a chain can pull over 100 acres in one day. Guys who chop by hand and are very clever at getting big trees to fall on smaller ones will clear 50 acres for US$7500. They will cause no compaction but will leave 90 % of the stumps in the ground. I have a lot of excavator work to do after the land is cleared, however, so I like the idea of getting an excavator. With the hassle of getting an excavator to Belize and the high cost of fuel, I may end up spending more than 22 500 if i do it with my own labour and my own machine. I know that I can pull over every tree with an 8000 lb lift grip hoist for free, but I am looking at a lot of trees. It takes me one year to save 22K at my job. If it only takes me 6 months to pull over 50 acres of trees with a grip hoist then I ought to do it like that. I need to do a calculation.
ok, I did the calculation... about 8 yrs to uproot the trees on 50 acres with a griphoist. That option is out.
:falldownlaugh:lmao By the time you finished it would be time to start again at the other end.
go for a cat 315 they are big enough to dig ponds
The 315 cl that I used the other week was nice, it had 4.5 k hours on it and was holding up good. No anyoing rattles or anything. Power was great, fuel use was lower than expected, but i wasn't working it that hard either. Cab was comfortable and the reach was handy. I think that for one machine, the blade runner kobelco's are an excelent compromise to having an excavator and a dozer.
After reading all this, I'm a little scared for you. As been said before, land clearing can be fairly dangerous and tricky work for the inexperienced. I think you might be "biting off more than you can chew". If you don't have a need for a machine after your clearing/pond digging is complete. Why don't you just pay to have the work done. You'll have a lot less headache and might even save some money it sounds. Plus the danger you might cause yourself....:beatsme This work might sound fun and pretty easy as you read about it on here or watch clips on you tube, but it's hard, dangerous, expensive and time consuming work. You might get a few days into the job and say to yourself "what have I got myself into"... I would say, if you're dead set on getting a machine to do some work on your land. Then rent a small/mid size excavator and do the pond digging. But even that can get pretty technical as far as soil composition, proper overflow and dam construction/compaction... Just my 2 cents... Good luck with whatever you do. You've gotten some good advise on here.
My experience of this type of excavator is that the blade is detrimental to the tracks if used as a dozer.
I think there is a thread on the bladerunner in this forum somewhere and the consensus is that it is not as good an ex as others in it's class (there is a comparison tool on the Kobelco USA website and it beats the Hitachi but the Komatsu is ahead in every area except a big backfill blade) and is nowhere near a Dozer of the same weight. However we won't really know until a few ED series have a pile of hours on them and at least there is innovation. Far as I know the bladerunner is not available in Oz and may never show up here except as grey units, if it fails to gain acceptance in other parts of the world. BTW I love the blade on my little Kobelco and would be lost without it
The excavator i spoke of was a hyundai 13t and the tracks and sprockets were gone after 2k hours .When the u/c was redone the blade was sent for recycling . Even with the mini any hire company will tell you that if a machine was available with out a blade they would buy it ,and only consider the blade as a stabiliser for occasional use as a dozer blade . Stock
Have you considered renting a machine? I'm not sure if one is available in Belize, but it can't hurt to check. The transportation cost of moving a machine to and from your land would go a long way toward renting a local excavator or dozer. If you rent something first you might find out if you're really capable of taking this on. The picture doesn't look as flat as Illinois so I wouldn't want anything to do with it. Good luck but be careful.
Well it's a Hyundai, not saying Hyundai is junk but.......... A mini without a blade is half a machine, put the blade out the back and you'll increase digging power, unless you like rodeo riding all day. Put it out the front and stop yourself sliding in the hole and increase bucket pulling power. Obviously if you do a lot of dozering with an ex it's gonna wear out the u/c quicker just like keeping loads of mud and stuff in there. Which is always a problem with minis because the machine is so much closer to the work.
cat is scrape compared to komatsu or hitachi.
why bother quality post with plenty of info to help a prospective buyer must have taken some thought
i run a cat 315cl every day and it does a good job with the size trees you described and it has good power and is pretty fast, but my personal favorite hoe is a JD 225CLC...big size and no tailswing
i had ment that by using the dozer WITH the excavator.. the 315 is an execlent machine, not to big, not to small, just right. how ever it might not have enough power for large tree removal, the volvo 210 is a good machine
How bout a cat 311?
I would say a Track Loader would take care of most of you chore list. If you look around, you an find an older one with a hoe attachment.
Cat 320 DL
Here's a Daewoo excavator removing some hefty trees. The shipping on this unit would definitely cost some bucks. This operator is pretty smooth with the controls. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgxu...ne-would-you-buy.html&feature=player_embedded
I think the operator is a member of this forum? You can see how dangerous it is to remove trees and I think the trees in question in this thread are up to 3 foot in diameter, a bit thicker than these ones.
since your not an operator maybe the question is which machine is a little easier to run so no one gets hurt. and still can get the job done, becareful
This is a tall order, so i have to ask, what are the soil conditions like there. Last time i was in that area, there was hardly any topsoil, and the limestone strata basically ran on the surface. From what i saw, it was all rock. Hopefully you have something better to deal with?