Stumps/Grinders/Pasture

   / Stumps/Grinders/Pasture
  • Thread Starter
#21  
For the reasons Tom stated, I'm trying to stay away from dozers. The oak tops I have to clean up are perfect firewood. Much of the slash on the ground is perfect firewood as well. I know I'm going to get a 4n1 bucket for the tractor FEL to help with the slash cleanup.

I was looking at the specs on the 580 and comparing them with the most likely JD tractor 5105/5205 with backhoe and FEL. The 580 basically has twice of the HP, lifting forces, etc., compared to the JD equipment.

I have an inventory from the timber sale that shows how many of trees of a given diameter that was sold. The average pine tree was 16 inches in diameter. I figure I have 400 trees with this average size. There are other smaller stumps that sounds like a 4n1 bucket can handle.

If I do 25 stumps a day, which is on the high side with my experience and tractor based equipment, that is 16 days of work. Since I would have to do this part time, aka, weekends that means I would have to rent a backhoe for a couple of months. And that kinda says I might be better off buying a backhoe attachment since it would get paid for in comparison to renting....... Just take me longer. Time is money.

I'm still looking into the BlastingRemoval method! :cool: I think a post hole digger and some BoomBoom stuff when be fairly fast. I'm wondering if it would be less disuptive and cheaper. I did find a certification program...... :cool:

Later....
Dan
 
   / Stumps/Grinders/Pasture #22  
dan,some good advice given on this subject. the dozer method does make a heck of a mess. I would have my brother run the dozer. after he got one pushed out I would traverse the gulleys with the 2710, hook onto it with a chain and drag it to the trailer. digging a furrow as the dutchman said is the only way to go with the big ones. what happens dan is all that dirt moved goes on other stumps which we sometimes missed. plus downed sash gets burried. I learned to clean up the slash as much as possible before we worked that area with the dozer. If you can just dig a hole to push the stumps in and then burn them after they dry a bit, is easiest. I did that with a few. even then I had major problems with the neighbors. ended up hauling them out back with the trailer. theres going to be one heck of a new years bonfire this year! If you have someone do it be very specific with the degree it is to be cleaned. mine is 75% done, and I got it completely stump/slash/lrg rock free. Is planted in winter rye now. good luck! daniel
 
   / Stumps/Grinders/Pasture
  • Thread Starter
#23  
I finally got a chance to count stumps this weekend and estimate how much pasture we are going to have. I walked the cleared areas and it looks like we have 6 acres of cleared or almost cleared land. I counted stumps by numbering each stump I found with a lumber crayon. I marked every stump that was 3inches or larger. Most are 12 inchs or larger. The final count was 600 stumps. 100 per acre. The number really is higher since I'm sure I missed 20% of the stumps hidden under slash.

I noticed older large pines that had been blown down in storms that the tap root only went down 2-3 feet. So I might be able to dig these things out with a tractor mounted backhoe. I'm sure it will take time but the cost of rental will buy a backhoe attachment.

I found a website for the International Association of Explosive Engineers, http://www.isee.org/. They have some video/workbook classes as well as a manual written for ranchers and contractors. The manual is $100+ so I'm holding off purchasing for a bit. I'm not sure what the class would cost.

I'll update the thread as I learn more.....

Dan
 
   / Stumps/Grinders/Pasture #24  
Dan,

I've only removed 2-4" stumps with my loader. It was a lot of time per stump. 600-750 big stumps! I'd rent the biggest machine appropriate for the job and get it over with. I would never mess with dynamite. Even if you know what you are doing, I bet it takes a long time per stump to set it up properly.

Sounds to me that you have a subagenda, though. That you want to justify the purchase of a backhoe. Well, I think you have ample justification. But you also better have the time. I bet it will take you 500 hours. And then the clean up and disposal. Whew! I hope you are young.

Glenn
 
   / Stumps/Grinders/Pasture
  • Thread Starter
#25  
I'm at least young at heart! :cool:

The property I bought has about 1600 feet of road that had not been maintained in 10 years or so. As a result trees grew up in the road making it all but impassible.

My first chore was to take my chainsaw and weedwacker with an metal blade to clear the road. It took a few months of weekend work but I got it done. :cool: Hard work I don't really mind. I think I turn it into a challange. Or I'm just sick in the head! :cool:

Now to Blasting Stumps. My father in law, who has done this, used a metal rod to get holes around the stump. The dynamite was placed into the holes. He did this by hand. I figure with a tractor I can rig up something to use either the 3PH or a 4n1 FEL to punch holes in the ground. I think I would prefer to use diesel fuel and fertilizer to do this because of storage issues but I don't really know enough about it at this point. I gotta go buy a couple of books.

I do have a subagenda. I don't wanna spend any money! Cause I ain't got it! :cool:

The backhoe will be usefull on projects we have in the future but I really don't want to buy one however it looks like it might be the best bang for the buck. So to speak. I really have to decide on the backhoe for the tractor since it determines which machine to buy. The JD 4000 tractors have backhoe that is reasonably priced at $7,000. Reasonably compared to the 5000 series backhoe which is $10,200. For a JD tractor I think I have settled on the 4700 as the best tractor in the JD line for me. I'm still deciding on the NH and Kubota tractors. However, the JD guy seems to be the better dealer, the NH/Kubota dealer really ticked me off Saturday so JD has a lead in the dealer checkbox.

A seeming advantage of BoomBoom stuff is price. I think I can buy alot of Boom for $7,000. :cool: And I get to do the work on my schedule without taking out a loan to pay someone to clear and burn 6 acres of land.

If only I had TIME and MONEY! :cool:

Later....
Dan
 
 
 
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