Dozer vs Excavator-need opinion

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It may be how you are looking at it. Will the dozer be faster? Yes , knocking everything down. As you are pushing with the dozer, basically you are leaving destruction in your wake. This then needs to be tended to and if you are not a skilled dozer operator, which is almost like playing chess in my mind as far as thinking in advance, it will be alot of back and forth. In the end, the dozer now having to "clean up" so to speak, may take just as long or longer than the excavator which is keeping things neat as you go along. Heck, if you can get hold of a dump trailer, you are plucking, loading, cleaning and carting in one shot. Plus, 20-20 raises some good points in that things very rarely go as easily as they appear. In the end, it may be six and a half dozen as far as the actual job so pick the machine that suits your personality, that may be the best indicator of all. For me, it would be the excavator even if it did take a bit longer because I hate going back to work the area again where I used to be. Now if I were just going to leave the trees to rot right there, then its the dozer because I wouldn't be going back. Nuts huh? Works for me however.

 

[tlbuser]

If it's 1-4" stuff, why not spend the rental money on a root rake/grapple for your Kubota? You'll still be able to stack, load or bury the saplings.

 

[slan]

Maybe mulching followed by a spray would be the answer?
Its going to cost you some money since you cant burn and the length of the job.

 

[jenkinsph]

Haven't heard anyone mention this yet but I would take the time to get as much of the wire pulled out and rolled up as possible, and in South Louisiana that is a chore in otself. I like the idea of running a large mulcher through there if one is available near you.

My second choice since digging in your area is so easy I would use a large excavator to bury the junk in a trench. I did this last year clearing a few acres and you would be suprized how much you can compact the small trees in the trench with an excavator. I was able to fill the trench seven times before covering with two feet of dirt. Leave a small mound of dirt to address the settling issue.

 

[rdbrumfield]

Consider renting a chipper. in the long run it might be a bit more labor intensive, but would save the haul expense and save the mess of rootballs all over.

 

[20 20]

Haven't heard anyone mention this yet but I would take the time to get as much of the wire pulled out and rolled up as possible, .

That wire has away with winding itself up into all kinds of odd places on machinery:confused2::drool:

 

[astrohip]

I don't have anything to add, other than I was debating this same question myself. So I've enjoyed listening to you 'pros' debating the cons. I've been wanting to learn how to use an excavator, and thought about renting one along with some lessons from a local I know.

 

[Ken45101]

It may be how you are looking at it. Will the dozer be faster? Yes , knocking everything down. As you are pushing with the dozer, basically you are leaving destruction in your wake. This then needs to be tended to and if you are not a skilled dozer operator, which is almost like playing chess in my mind as far as thinking in advance, it will be alot of back and forth. In the end, the dozer now having to "clean up" so to speak, may take just as long or longer than the excavator which is keeping things neat as you go along

An excavator will leave a lot of holes from the root system. There will be a lot of "destruction" with an excavator too. Those need to be backfilled and packed down, probably with a blade.

Another issue is the slope of the land, if any. A dozer is more stable on hillsides than an excavator.

Ken

 

[MarkV]

You guys that are talking excavator are right in what you say. An excavator is great clearing tool that can surgically remove trees, stack them and leave most of the top soil intact. If you have looked at the original post you will know we are talking 1-4" trees. Do you really think an excavator is called for with that size material? Not me. A small dozer could drive right through that size material, push it to the side and it would be rotted away in a year. Hours faster in my opinion.

MarkV

 

[Ken45101]

Up to 2 (maybe 3") trees, I'd take out with a bush hog.

A skid steer with either a grapple or a tooth bucket would also work, and would be cheaper. A grapple would be good for clamping down and moving/stacking/loading them.

It also depends on the tree types themselves. Some 4" trees with big, deep tap roots will be a lot more effort than 4" trees with shallow roots and no tap roots.

Ken