I have a little 10 acre patch of trees to take down for a customer. Mostly poplar. 8"-12" diameter trees for the most part. I tipped them all over about 10 days ago then let the ground freeze-up a little. We had some-25*F nights so I figured it would be hard as heck but I still have to be careful to not roll up dirt with the trees. We will start with a heavy disk this summer and burn the windrows as they dry. My D65 is a bit small for this type of work but It gets done. OROPS are cold. This method seems to give the cleanest finished product with the least amount of dirt in the piles. How do you other northern folk prefer to clear land? The pics are poor but we all like to look. Same spot from the other direction after windrowing.
Air conditioning at a new level!
The dozer still starts good at single digits below 0* but I don't. Actually if it's not windy, I don't mind being outside. Forecast says temps in the 30's towards the end of the week so I'd better get done before that hits. Those temps and snow raises heck with the tracks.
That looks like awful flat land? Here in Otter Tail county were at least have rolling hills! Rick
It is flat. Most of my work is ag work and they love ditches. This last year I dug or cleaned many miles of ditches. Grades were .020% to .075%. Yeah we're flat. I have a bad case of so OCD the concentration that it takes to cut a ditch to that grade keeps me satisfied.
Other than a hoe with a thumb, I think you did a good job. How much bigger of a dozer would you want?
you need to make you a poor mans heater for the dozer a plywood box about 2x2 over the radiator and a piece of 4"or 6" ADS black roll pipe back to operators seat some side and rear panels on the rops works wonders for the cold
Tree dozer? Another 20,00# would help but a guy like me is never satisfied. I can haul a 60,000# machine but I kinda like my 45,000# rig for DOT purposes. I can drag it behind a tractor so it really doesn't matter. I'll have to get a reversible fan but any accessories would get tore off in the woods. I'm going to build sweeps when it gets back in the shop. The muffler took quite a beating. BTW, I have a thumb on both of my 200 class hoes but I hate using them in the woods, especially with -0 temps. That's dozer work.
I'd like to see a picture of your tractor-drawn lowboy, please? winter work is always challenging, to say the least. I am amazed you haven't frozen out in your area yet.
I'll grab one tomorrow if I remember but I'm sure I'll get a bit of guff here. It's a bit spooky with no brakes on the trailer but they don't freeze up either. I go miles off-road for a lot of my jobs where a semi-trailer won't go and never hit a highway without a legal(ish) truck. I don't condone what I do but I get sheet done. It's a bit cold but one of the mildest winters I can remember in 30+ years. I love Winter but I needed it this year to get my legs under me. Here's one of my farm tow trucks. I'll grab a package ASAP.
I'm real surprised the fan blades don't reverse, I thought that was standard equipment. I'm very impressed.
BTW. I do have a legit ride even though it is straight out of "Maximum Overdrive".
Is that Mack a V8? There is still one of those running around back home.
If you have a reversable fan I would take the time to seal that engine nacelle somehow with plywood or sheet metal of some sort.We used to use canvas but if you can't use it so be it.It makes a big difference if the wind is not blowing too bad.I used to use polyethelyne around the rops and cut a slit in the back if I needed to see out for some reason.If you are doing repetitious work like stripping topsoil you can back up using your last pass as a guide and be pretty comfortable.Ron G
The Mack has a 400 Cummins and a 15spd. It's also a day cab so it looks stupid as heck but I love the short wheelbase and turning radius. As far as winter work, it's normally pretty limited so I can pick my days. I should be able to find a used reversible somewhere. Trees are tough on stuff. I'm guessing almost any enclosure material is going to take a licking.
This was our version of keeping the heat in & the winter out. On the old D6C we made a back panel & put glazing in it & it is real warm in most any winter weather if it is working hard. The D6 has a reversible fan on it & the D4 has a winter fan that we put on it to pull the heat back.
Nice looking Cats there. I'll hold off with the enclosures for now. If I get too spoiled, I'll end up with a generator and window A/C unit hanging off the side for summer use. 25mph winds today with gusts to 36mph. Sounds like a good day to work in the shop.....
If you're gonna hang an AC unit, go heat pump, & you're done. Just be real careful where the remote gets put! Years ago my friend who owned the local lumber yard let a builder get in way too deep. Ultimately he ended up with a meadow full of worn out construction machinery in lieu of payment. One of his employees spent his Sundays starting machines, moving them around, and filming himself, his wife, and kids in them. As I remember, the early video camera, a big, shoulder version cost over a thousand. He left it laying on the track of a crawler, and forgot. When he went looking, it was much more compact than it had been.
I would say you have plenty of pull and whoa both with that steiger for a lowboy tractor!
Looks like you did a nice job! I like using a track loader with teeth on the bucket. Dump the bucket a little as you push and if you do scrap some dirt it will go between the teeth.
There's pics in this thread from NAT: http://talk.newagtalk.com/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=204898 showing pulling trailers with farm tractors. Around "here", quite a few guys will do that with lowbeds for moving excavators or dozers around the farm. Also with flat decks for hauling hay bales. Andrew
I've seen guys pull lowboy trailers with tractors here in IL, but it's not legal for multiple reasons. The laws pretty much forbids "gooseneck" type trailers as farm implements. Also, farm implements are limited to 36,000 lbs. Also, if it's over 16 feet long, it has to have working flashing lights. I don't know about brakes, but I'd sure want them.
Currently, no limitations on what constitutes a farm implement here. Some of the seeding rigs can be over 100 feet long, 20 feet wide, 20 feet high while in transport going down the road. Appropriate lights are needed of course... Andrew
What are you doing when parking it each night ? Drive up on tires, and shovel around the rollers ?
The snow hasn't been warm enough to stick so they are clean at the end of the day. I carry a large propane torch in my truck if such issues arise. Tomorrow looks warm with a high of 37*. I hope to finish in the morning before the snow starts to stick then load up and head to the next project. 10*-15*F is a nice winter dozing temp.
Cleaning tracks is a must if the snow is wet. When the snow is dry(below freezing) it does not stick to anything and the tracks stay remarkable clean. Cold snow does not stick to the cold track pads either. Only time its a problem freezing down is when you park in wet ground and then try to move it after it gets twenty below or so. We used to back up on a log when it was wet or possible to freeze down. Basically sat on a tettertoter.
my pads always get as warm as the borrow I am pushing, and that is never below freezing, hence I must always park on tires.
You Southerners and your warm weather. Fall is actually the worst time of year for tracks. Work in the mud all day then it freezes hard at night. Clean all you want, still need some heat to get things rolling.
The last small clearing job I did on our own property I pushed the debri into a few seperate piles in the middle of the new field, Aussie style, instead of into a windrow. It really worked much better, shortened the push, and burned hard and hot in the pile. It was easy pushing up the residue for re-burn. I just spread out an remaining dirt afterwards. Rows might be prefurable for some depending on immediate use.
My father was our fire warden. He was a conservationist before it was liberal to be. Pollution was a crime! Winter brush piles won't burn without accelerant. My favorite is three large old tires laid flat. Stacked, they each will hold some fluid. Gasoline in the bottom, diesel in the next, old crankcase oil in the top, pile brush on these. Pile size is limited only by proximity to valuables. Once the pile grows to appropriate size, a light splash of gasoline, and a match, you are in business. Do it at night, neighbors won't see smoke. Dad died, a few years later I needed a fire permit. I usually subscribe to the apology is better than being refused philosophy. #1 son is too legal for my taste, he made the call. "Sure" was the answer! I was surprised. I went to pick up the paperwork. The new Warden asked if I had enough tires! I didn't know how to reply! In winter you end up with a big hole up through your pile. Push it in from the perimeter. Be sure of your tracks. A friend lost a track from a worn out undercarriage. His LGP Deere 350 was converted to conventional tracks. These were badly worn. At the center of the fire he must have done the wrong thing.
twisted.. I feel your pain!
Piles are good for a small job but this was 250'-350' wide and 1400' long. The windrow is 12' high and 20'+ wide. Piles weren't an option. Not with my little dozer anyway. It will burn good next summer/fall after it dries down a bit. I've kicked around the idea of a trackloader but I don't think I could get much done in this country. It's ALWAYS wet and very flat. TBG would be worthless. I have trouble just traveling with my excavator at times so I can't imagine pushing a load at the same time. Each machine has it's purpose and I need a LGP for 75%+ of my jobs. Each to their own but that's what I've found the best to work for me. I've come in under cost compared to other contractors but that doesn't build repeat business. Doing the best and highest quality job is what brings me more business. A happy customer is a repeat customer.
I have burned the wettest willow piles scrubbed out of a waterway as soon as they make it to the pile. It seems to work better in winter for some reason, too. you just have to get a fire started on the upwind side of the pile. I used to use a 955L for this, street pads were not an issue unless I was on total ice. I was able to usually get a pile to stand up closer to 20' and then lift one end of the pile to start the hotsy, while using the fan to supercharge the fire. blowing air into the pile was what really got things going.