Land Clearing Project

   / Land Clearing Project #41  
I took out mostly 2-4” autumn olive, Russian olive & sweet gum. Sometimes I would work around a 6-8” cherry or sweet gum, then once the brush was cleared around it, take it down.

We also dropped a few large hardwood trees and the property owners land manager would saw them up for firewood. Used my 24” Makita (Sachs Dolmar) for that.

I remember 1 or 2 were about 40’ tall and 8-9” at the base. That was the biggest with the machine.
Did you consider buying a PTO mulchers for one of your tractors, instead of the skid-steer route? I’m curious as it looks like youve got some burly M-series plus that hoss of a Massey-Ferguson that should handle a PTO mulcher well.

I have a similar project on 224 acres I just bought (obviously not looking to mulch it all lol). There are a lot of softwoods that were heavily logged (basically clear cut.. ~40-50 acres in total) that I’d like to either clean up to replant or a establish a combination of food plots and pasture.

My plan is to buy a PTO mulcher for my 7060 this spring/summer and spend the year working with that in combination with a root grapple. If it’s too frustrating/doesn’t work out my contingency is to sell the mulcher, then hire out a professional next year to get it done. I like the idea of owning and then slowly working on this over the next 3-5 years.

The cost of the PTO mulcher (I’m looking at Seppi) is $22K plus tax, while hiring it out would be $1,600/day for a skid steer unit who said he can do about an acre a day under good conditions.... so I’d be looking at at least a $15,000 bill for hiring out the bare-minimum amount of work i need done.

Theres also a rental place about 25 minutes away from me that rents high-flow Takeuchi skid steers with FAE heads. They said “we don’t rent to homeowners” ... well I’m not a ”homeowner”, I have a small scale forestry operation with skid steer experience, so i imagine I could talk them into it (but I don’t have a goose neck and a truck that can pull the 15,000-18,000 lb weight of the equipment, and I’m not sure if they’re willing to deliver it). The cost is only around $3,800 for 45 machine hours (one week) which is quite affordable IMO compared to the other options, but I just don’t like rental equipment. Renting is the least-preffered of the three options, but still something I’m keeping in the back of my mind.

I’d love to hear feedback from others who found themselves in a similar situation.
 

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   / Land Clearing Project
  • Thread Starter
#42  
After reading your post, the rate quote you recieved of $1600 per day for a skid steer with forestry mulching head is right in the ballpark. I paid $1500/day, and there maybe regional variations in cost. However looking at the pictures you provided, an experienced operator should do about 4+ acres per day. It's partially cleared, looks like good access for the skid steer, and mainly brush and soft woods.
 
   / Land Clearing Project #43  
After reading your post, the rate quote you recieved of $1600 per day for a skid steer with forestry mulching head is right in the ballpark. I paid $1500/day, and there maybe regional variations in cost. However looking at the pictures you provided, an experienced operator should do about 4+ acres per day. It's partially cleared, looks like good access for the skid steer, and mainly brush and soft woods.
Yes I'm happy with the quote and the operator I spoke to seems very knowledgeable and honest. He'd like to take a look at the land which I hope to schedule as time allows. Then perhaps he'd say he could do 2-4 acres/day. I told him I'm weighing all the different option; with hiring a dozer and renting a skid-steer/mulcher as DIY being more or less ruled out entirely.

Good point on the regional variations. While my land is (fortunately) not rocky by New England standards (Central Vermont) it's still nonetheless much rockier than much of the south or cornbelt. Unless you're in the Lake Champlain Valley virtually all of New England is rock-strewn. I imagine mulching up here will be a bit higher cost as there's more wear-and-tear on the equipment, teeth likely need more frequent replacement, etc.
 
   / Land Clearing Project #44  
Did you consider buying a PTO mulchers for one of your tractors, instead of the skid-steer route? I’m curious as it looks like youve got some burly M-series plus that hoss of a Massey-Ferguson that should handle a PTO mulcher well.

I have a similar project on 224 acres I just bought (obviously not looking to mulch it all lol). There are a lot of softwoods that were heavily logged (basically clear cut.. ~40-50 acres in total) that I’d like to either clean up to replant or a establish a combination of food plots and pasture.

My plan is to buy a PTO mulcher for my 7060 this spring/summer and spend the year working with that in combination with a root grapple. If it’s too frustrating/doesn’t work out my contingency is to sell the mulcher, then hire out a professional next year to get it done. I like the idea of owning and then slowly working on this over the next 3-5 years.

The cost of the PTO mulcher (I’m looking at Seppi) is $22K plus tax, while hiring it out would be $1,600/day for a skid steer unit who said he can do about an acre a day under good conditions.... so I’d be looking at at least a $15,000 bill for hiring out the bare-minimum amount of work i need done.

Theres also a rental place about 25 minutes away from me that rents high-flow Takeuchi skid steers with FAE heads. They said “we don’t rent to homeowners” ... well I’m not a ”homeowner”, I have a small scale forestry operation with skid steer experience, so i imagine I could talk them into it (but I don’t have a goose neck and a truck that can pull the 15,000-18,000 lb weight of the equipment, and I’m not sure if they’re willing to deliver it). The cost is only around $3,800 for 45 machine hours (one week) which is quite affordable IMO compared to the other options, but I just don’t like rental equipment. Renting is the least-preffered of the three options, but still something I’m keeping in the back of my mind.

I’d love to hear feedback from others who found themselves in a similar situation.
My farm tractors feel BIG & clumsy in the woods. Mirrors, lights, glass, tires all would get damaged. A compact, low center of gravity machine much better and far more maneuverable between trees. Better traction, too.
My rental cost was $2300 for 50 hours. I had them deliver even though I have plenty of truck and trailer for it. It was $225 for drop off and pick up. I won’t even start my truck for $225. Not worth it.
I made about $8,500 in 7 long days.
 
   / Land Clearing Project #45  
What damage would old barbed wire do to a skid steer mulcher? Does it chew up & spit out or do you get the bush hog mess?
 
   / Land Clearing Project
  • Thread Starter
#46  
What damage would old barbed wire do to a skid steer mulcher? Does it chew up & spit out or do you get the bush hog mess?
I am not an operator, but I was a customer. Regarding barb wire and its affect on the forestry mulching head, it happened twice during my land clearing. Both times, approximately 8 feet got wrapped around the mulching head, and we cut it off using wire cutters. There was no damage to the mulching head, however the operator said the wire can damage hydraulic lines. I was constantly trying to remove wire before the machine hits it. I was not totally successful. What is very serious, is hitting thick solid steel debris, like 1/2" rebar that maybe tossed out on some property as trash or even old steel rims.

Another issue according to the operator who cleared my property, is large dead trees, many often struck by lightning and standing upright. He has had some bad experiences with dead trees. He can mulch the base, and while doing so, often get rained on by large dead limbs, breaking off the tree. Worse yet, he can try to push a dead tree over, and the tree trunk often breaks into multiple pieces. Because of unpredictably, he requested all dead trees to be cut down with a chainsaw. Once the tree is down and on the ground, it's easy and quite safe to mulch.
 
   / Land Clearing Project #48  
What damage would old barbed wire do to a skid steer mulcher? Does it chew up & spit out or do you get the bush hog mess?
Ill tell you what the worst mess is....VINES.
Good grief that mulcher will latch onto a 1-2" thick vine and start rolling it up like a winch line. The vine will rip the damn branches off the tree and lookout!
I wrapped a could 50' pieces of vine around the drum and one took a while to remove. Learned to cut gingerly around them...
 

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