What would be the best way to accomplish this?

[RAW]

Here's the deal:

I've got a few miles of trails through mountainous terrain. The trails are leftover from logging/skidding.
Some of these trails now have saplings growing up on them, along with lots of briars. The saplings are of the "devil's walking stick" variety and are all probably 3" diameter or smaller.

I'd like to keep these trails open. What would be the best combination of tractor and implements for the job?

I've thought of a rotary or flail type brushcutter for the rear of the tractor. Along with a FEL for the front-end. I could use a wide bucket to push the saplings down long enough to drive over them and then let the cutter chop it all up. Then I could come back through with a combination of a root rake grapple and a chipper and chip the downed material right back onto the trails.

I'd obviously need aggressive tread tires that were foam-filled. My concern here is the damage to my undercarriage and the fact that the trail might then be full of sharpened "stakes" aka stumps. And while the stakes might not give me a flat, they'll tear the tire rubber to shreds. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

In a perfect world (where I had unending amounts of money), one of those ASV skidsteers would be more all-terrain friendly and I could use a tree-cutter attachment like a Tushogg. Then I could cut and mulch all in one pass.

Thoughts? (please tell me you have some /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif )

 

[RAW]

Here are some links to pics of the trails and terrain:

Trail
Buddy's Jeep on another trail
More friends on another trail section
Same trail
Friends on another trail
Wife walking up another trail
more friends on another trail
Oops on the trail
still more trails

 

[Egon]

Think the loader bucket with a tooth bar and rear blade/box blade would work well for getting the trails in nice shape. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Egon

 

[tjkadar]

From what I saw, I would just brush hog the trails with a heavy duty to medium duty brush hog. Should chop everything up rather nicely. Then maybe a good box blade and perhaps a root grapple if you are so inclined.

 

[RAW]

Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of the more choked areas. Those areas have the 2-3" diameter thorn-trees growing up in the middle of the trail.
Would a FEL bucket cut these trees?

 

[IslandTractor]

How about a Powertrac 425 or 422 with brush hog and grapple attachments. The hilly nature of the terrain argues in favor of an articulated tractor and as you are not doing any "pulling" of Ag equipment, there is really no downside to the Powertrac. Ask the same question on the Powertrac forum and I am quite sure the owners there will point out just how effective that machine is for the type of work you are proposing.

 

[frank_f15]

JUST wondering if , hiring someone with a small dozer to do the initial clearing, and use your tractor, to finish off and maintain the trail, might not be a better way to go?

 

[tjkadar]

With a Bush-Whacker rotary mower, you'll be able to handle stuff up to 4" in diameter without a problem. Of course, that is if your tractor can handle it. If you get a good root grapple, you can also dig ('root out') 4" sized stuff without too much work.

If you have the room in the budget, I would seriously look at Antonio Carraro Tractors for working on slopes and/or steep hills. They are amazing tractors that pack a lot of horsepower and features into a small, stable package.

There is also an option of renting equipment to get the initial work done and then keeping things clear with something a little less rugged. There is a company that mounts a big, wheeled drum with grinding teeth on the front of a tracked vehicle. The machine mulches all your brush and trees (it can take down some BIG tree too) leaving you with little or no cleanup. The mulch helps prevent erosion and you don't tear up your soil.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words... so click on the link and it will explain better what I'm trying to say. There are a lot of ways to spend your money. We just need to find the one that makes the most sense.

 

[BB_TX]

I have cut a lot of brush and small saplings with my rotary cutter, and as you guessed, it does sometimes leave sharp "stakes" sticking up. I try to avoid these areas with my ATV so as to not ruin a tire.
You might try something like the attached picture. I don't have one and did not make this one. There have been several similar posted in the past and I don't remember who to posted this one. It just yanks the saplings out of the ground. Some fit on the 3ph, some made to mount on the front. But for "miles of trails" it may be prohibitively slow. As someone else mentioned, it may be a good investment to have a dozer make a pass on it first.

 

[RAW]

The Antonio Carraro tractors look fantastic. I agree totally. But there aren't any dealers nearby and it's impossible to find pricing info for them online. And since dealerships aren't close by, I'd be concerned about service and parts.

As for the big drum mulcher you're talking about: That's where I actually STARTED looking! /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif From what I hear, skidsteers are terrible on uneven/steep terrain. And the wheel-loaders that can handle some of those mulchers are VERY expensive. There are great units out there from Loftness, Tushogg, FAE, etc.

I've also seriously considered a compact excavator (like Kubota's KX-121) paired with a flail-head mower (capable of 4"). But then I couldn't run a PTO chipper or anything like that. And I'm concerned about extra maintenance costs on tracked vehicles.

If only there was one perfect machine . . . .

As for rental services or companies that do land clearing: Does anyone have a recommendation for a place in Western North Carolina? I haven't had much luck finding anyone in that area who does more than bulldozing.

I'm meeting with a land management firm next week. I'm hoping that they will have some good suggestions for clearing and working the property. Cuz ultimately it would be much easier for me to own a smaller piece of equipment for maintaining the trails.