Mechanical Brush Clearing Attachments for Compact Tractors

[cbturf]

DV thanks for coming to "our" defence. My daughter broke her arm and her surgeon made about $8k for three hours putting her back together. I was very glad to pay his bill since I see the value in his work. Same concept with all of my customers, I have never had a customer stop me in the middle of a job and say they were not satisfied and I should load up and go home. Most of the time they have me stay longer and do more when they see what they get for the money.

 

[perdurabo]

I guess landowners are significantly richer up there in TN. My land only cost me $3k/acre. I can't imagine paying 1/5 of the entire value of my property to just clear some brush off. I am not the sort of person who is wealthy enough to be able drop $12k in cash for a weeks work by a contractor to do anything whatsoever. If I could easily drop $12k for clearing without batting an eye, I could probably afford to buy my own used dozer for only a little more and do it all myself.

Guess I can't afford to be a landowner in TN

 

[darkviper]

now nowthere is no need to get on the defense here. We are just trying to help. Nobody said that you can aford to be a land owner. What we are merely trying to do here is explain your options as you asked for help. The bottom line here is that a 30 HP machine is not going to do what you need. You will end up either destroying it or spending a lot to fix it because it isn't the right machine for the job. Some of us on here have tried this same thing at some point and already have learned from the mistake. We would not like to see you do the same. If you were clearing brush and stuff under 2 " then yeah if you had the time to tinker. I just gave a guy 120 an hour for a dozer and a track hoe and he did a wonderful job for me.Ii guess it is the differences in experiences.. Bottom line if you could afford a guy with the mulcher I think you would be very happy with the results. Look at this site and see what the other guy and I mean
Cedar Clearing

you can also see the videos if you have a broad band connection here of how well they work.

Loftness > Tree Cutters, Mowers > Videos

hope this helps

 

[RWolf]

Perduabo, I'm somewhat in the same situation as you when it comes to finances. This will take longer and a bit more work but seeing as we don't have alot of decent days ahead of us till our so called winter and unless your in a hurry I'd start with a chainsaw and a FEL and friends and appropriate beverages and maybe a BBQ after and go to town on your land. For small cedars and such We've had good luck with a snatch strap and a pickup. Shoot one weekend we turned the young upcoming drivers loose with a snatch strap and truck and told them to have at it. Keep in mind these snatch straps are in excess of 25,000 lbs and our trucks have HD bumpers "welded" to the frame. They had a blast, we all ate good and no one got hurt (everything was done as safe as possible).

It may not work for you but the whole idea is that there is more than one way to skin a cat or in this case clear some land.

 

[john_bud]

I guess landowners are significantly richer up there in TN. My land only cost me $3k/acre. I can't imagine paying 1/5 of the entire value of my property to just clear some brush off. I am not the sort of person who is wealthy enough to be able drop $12k in cash for a weeks work by a contractor to do anything whatsoever. If I could easily drop $12k for clearing without batting an eye, I could probably afford to buy my own used dozer for only a little more and do it all myself.

Guess I can't afford to be a landowner in TN

Yeah, I know what you mean. By the way, the land that I had cleared cost under $275 an acre 10 years ago. So, I couldn't afford to be a land owner where you are, much less in TN!

Still, the money paid for dozer work was less than it would have cost to do it myself. Seriously, especially when you add in the damage done to the machine and the cost to haul it back and forth. But if you don't have the cash rolling out of your .. uh.. wallet, then it doesn't matter!

You can get a lot done with a chainsaw and a haul line. Just cut, haul out, pile up and burn when weather permits. You will get a lot cleared and will get in shape / lose weight too!

jb

 

[yankeerider]

I've been following this thread with some interest, because I'm starting to clear about 2 acres with my 20 hp tractor. I realize that the older i get, the more I start to sound like my father, father-in-law, and grandfather, but here goes anyway-

How do you think your great grandfather cleared his land? he didn't have no bleepin' tractor or chainsaw!

The way I see, and it wasn't stated in the original question, was how much time are you willing to spend and how quickly do you want the land cleared? Speed costs money- that's the value of the mulchers.

In my case, the tractor is used to move material and remove the <3" stuff it can easily do. The bigger stumps will either wait until i get an excavator in or they rot.

Eventually the property will be the way i want it. This is how I enjoy spending the time I'n not earning money to pay the bills and the government. Doing it any other way would require money I'd rather have available for something else.

 

[thunderworks]

I started clearing 5 or 6 acres of hedge, locust, and cedar trees around one of my ponds last Fall. Here's a link to a thread I started last year to document the process. I hired a guy to cut the trees with a hydraulic saw mounted on the front of his skidster. He made the tool himself. Pictures of the tool are posted within the tread. My memory is that the acres were completely cut in around 18 hours at a charge of $65/hour. Of course I have lots of additional time of my own cleaning up the spoils, burning etc., but I couldn't afford to pay someone to do the job to completion. I use an Bodozer grapple on my L5030 Kubota.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/projects/109282-grapple-project-tree-clearing.html

I've been moving the brush residue with my tractor and grapple, cutting and salvaging fence posts and firewood, burning the brush tops etc. Project should be done this winter.

 

[kossetx]

I have the same brush you have also in centtex. I'll tell you what I do and you can go from there.

1. mesquite-never ever shread. Go to brushbusters and follow the guidlines or look up killing mesquite here.

2. ceder/winged elm-basil stem spray of 5% remedy and diesel per gallon. Has worked well for me.

3. youpon- mine come out very easily with the fel. I can take a clumps of 2"ers out easily. They are very shallow rooted. A chain works on most to close the the trees to use a fel.

Take it slow and don't try to do it all at once. Hope it helps.

 

[kthompson]

Boy being able to afford being a land owner...that is a true statement. It cost every where you turn.

One thing I think might be missed in the cost per acre of mulching and I could be way wrong is how dense the growth is, I suspect it is much thicker in Tenn than what you have. As the saying goes until you price it you just don't know. A friend of mine told me his dad did a lot of clearing with peanuts. Back to the time issue. He would plant peanuts all around the roots and let his hogs root them up.

You may find renting the equipment yourself to be an option. If like here be sure to ask the rate for a week and not per day. I think 3 days is a week but be sure on hours allowed. A excavator with thumb of sufficient size to pull the tree is a quick work.

I realize it was said do not mulch certain brush you have but boy on the right trees and shrubs mulchers do pretty work.

As to profit of surgeon, do you mean tree surgeon?


CBtruf, if you don't mind my asking what kind of mulcher do you use? I have seen them on such as Bobcat Skidders. Those have large oil coolers and enclosed cabs to due debris. I still like the large cutters on the logger style skidders. But those may be rotary cutters. kt

 

[cbturf]

I guess landowners are significantly richer up there in TN. My land only cost me $3k/acre. I can't imagine paying 1/5 of the entire value of my property to just clear some brush off. I am not the sort of person who is wealthy enough to be able drop $12k in cash for a weeks work by a contractor to do anything whatsoever. If I could easily drop $12k for clearing without batting an eye, I could probably afford to buy my own used dozer for only a little more and do it all myself.

Guess I can't afford to be a landowner in TN

I work for landowners all over the south from Arizona to Florida and everywhere in between. You did not ask how many acres I can clear in a day, progress greatly affects the per unit price. On my current job in New Mexico I thinned and cleared 26 acres in two 10 hour days and in some cases in the large hardwoods I have only gotten 2 acres is a full day. I very rarely set up in one spot and clear for a week straight unless it is a commercial clearing job. If I am working for an individual I usually get there at first light and work all day then I am on the trailer and at a diferent spot the next day. Many local land owners just have me out for my three hour minimum and I get to two or three jobs a day. Your economic status is of no concern to me, I always work hard to provide as good a value as possible for every customer. Like I said earlier, I have NEVER had a customer stop me early and ask me to leave due to lack of value.