Road Building with a Compact Utility Tractor

[TripleR]

Very nice work.:thumbsup:

 

[Kyle241]

Very nice. Looks like a good solid trail. I wish our soil was like yours. Up here we have tons of stone and boulders and trying to make a trail without my BH or hiring a dozer just doesn't happen. Been thinking of getting some teeth for the FEL but I still think it would be hard go with that making trails. I'm jealous of your trail and your weather! Wish our snow was gone.

 

[sixdogs]

Skillful work and a real nice job.
That's what these tractors are for.

 

[Verticaltrx]

Very nice. Looks like a good solid trail. I wish our soil was like yours. Up here we have tons of stone and boulders and trying to make a trail without my BH or hiring a dozer just doesn't happen. Been thinking of getting some teeth for the FEL but I still think it would be hard go with that making trails. I'm jealous of your trail and your weather! Wish our snow was gone.

Unfortunately not all of our soil is this good. The higher up that mountain you go the worse it gets, eventually with a lot of rock outcroppings and loose granite. Most of the trails were built with a dozer in the '60s when they logged this place. There are several places they hit solid rock and the trail has to just go up and over it.

I wish I had taken some pictures when I was building the last road I did. The terrain wasn't as steep but it goes along a hillside through dense brush for about a 1/4 mile. I'll try to get some pics of that as well.

 

[pat32rf]

My biggest problem is getting the fill needed to dump on the "downhill" side of my sidehill trails...I just finished (?) about 100yds of sidehill trail (with a 30' of elevation change) which is to replace 150yds of trail that went down (60'elevation) the valley then back uphill the other 30'. Still got some fill to go in but that will wait till next year (when I build my dump trailer).
The first year I had my JD two of us built a perimeter trail around a 400acre estate for a customer. Billed him almost 1000hrs of tractor time, which pretty well paid for the new tractor......and was the most fun I've had in years. (my buddy was the rake, shovel and chainsaw man). The trail stayed as close to the property line as we could and in one place involved a 100yd section of corderoy accross a swamp, with a whole buncha steep hills that had to be snaked up or down. When finished the owner could drive his 4x4 Suburban anywhere but mostly used his ATV's, Argo or skidoos....

 

[Verticaltrx]

Sounds like some neat projects, got any pics? What kind of JD were you using for that project?

 

[wetstuff]

I've been a bit afraid to use the FEL on my JD 1070 to "dig" with. I'll chainsaw the gums, cherry, oaks (all <8") to about 3" above grade then use the bucket as a carry-all to get the cuttings out of the woods. The stumps stay. It is only about a 400' path I need for the tractor to reach one edge of my property, so no auto traffic, etc..

We could only wish for a hill - maybe some of the bugs would stay down at the bottom. Thanks for posting the pics.

Jim

 

[irvingj]

Ditto- great thread! I've got some sidehill "roads" to make....

A year ago last summer I got up to NB, stopped by to see Richard Breau (of Bro-Tek fame); he had made a great road with his Kubota SCUT, right down to the Miramachi River... got me to thinking.

He explained to me how to do it, and the pics & comments on this thread are giving me the urge to try it. Sure would like to be able to get down into my woods to pick up some of those dead trees for more firewood!

(Maybe Richard could add to this thread and post some pics of his road?? :thumbsup

 

[Verticaltrx]

I've been a bit afraid to use the FEL on my JD 1070 to "dig" with.

Jim

This type of work isn't really what these loaders are intended for, but if you work slowly and methodically you can get a lot done. It's not really different than running a skid steer, track loader, etc, you just have to take much smaller bites and use more finesse, less force. The tooth bar is also a must for this type of work.

Ditto- great thread! I've got some sidehill "roads" to make....

A year ago last summer I got up to NB, stopped by to see Richard Breau (of Bro-Tek fame); he had made a great road with his Kubota SCUT, right down to the Miramachi River... got me to thinking.

He explained to me how to do it, and the pics & comments on this thread are giving me the urge to try it. Sure would like to be able to get down into my woods to pick up some of those dead trees for more firewood!

(Maybe Richard could add to this thread and post some pics of his road?? :thumbsup

Like I said before, anyone that has pics of their road or trail building feel free to post up.



I worked on another section of old logging road today, it was a spur road that dead ended on a moderately steep hillside. I'm working on finishing the trail up to the top of the ridge (about 100'.) Unfortunately it's also right next to the property line, so I'm having to make it go steeper up the hill than it should. Not a whole lot of cut and fill like the last trail, just a little at the top and bottom with lots of small trees and rock to doze out of the way. I took my camera up there to take some pics, but realized I forgot the memory card back at the house. :ashamed: