Big Multi Year Project About to Begin...help!

[groundcover]

Big construction auction the 10th, you never know, might a deal !
Heavy Equipment Manufacturer Search - Locate New & Used Construction Equipment for Sale by Manufacturer

 

[Sulla]

What are you going to cut with chainsaws? Standing trees or trees you've pushed over with the excavator?

Obed

The good ones we'll take with chain saws to preserve their value as board or firewood. I want to cut as much lumber as I can for later use building the house. The property was harvest 20 or 30 years ago so I'm lucky if I have enough good straight stuff for one building.

 

[Sulla]

Big construction auction the 10th, you never know, might a deal !
Heavy Equipment Manufacturer Search - Locate New & Used Construction Equipment for Sale by Manufacturer

Great site, I'm on it all the time. May even have found something through them. We'll see.

 

[scoutcub]

Another very good auction company is ritchie bros....all around the country/world, ALL kinds of equipment, and you can bid on-line. They have auctions in June in Columbus, OH, Pittsburg, and Detroit. Seems like they carry some pretty nice equipment.

You can check it out @ rbauction.com.
I haven't bought anything from them.......yet.

good luck!

 

[Obed]

The good ones we'll take with chain saws to preserve their value as board or firewood. I want to cut as much lumber as I can for later use building the house. The property was harvest 20 or 30 years ago so I'm lucky if I have enough good straight stuff for one building.

On parts of the land you want to clear for farm land, make sure you don't cut down trees and leave stumps because the stumps will then be difficult to remove. The easiest way to get a stump out of the ground is to never make a stump. Just push the tree over with your excavator and the weight of the tree will pull the stump out of the ground when the tree falls over.

Obed

 

[Sulla]

Tomorrow it begins.

We ( I hired a guy to be foreman on the farm) start on the road tomorrow. I have a Pole Barn materials kit coming the week of July 15th and the road has to accommodate a semi by then. The weight of this and other delivery trucks ruled out the Forest service road. There are two bridges that shake when my one ton goes over them. Though the USFS was nice enough to open the gate so we can get back and forth while under construction. Thanks Folks!

Our equipment for this job will be a 40,000 pound 1994 Hitachi Excavator (pics to come) with hydraulic thumb and only 4000 hrs on it. A DK45 with loader, Woods 6' HD Brush Hog, Land Pride 8' hydraulic HD Blade and a post hole digger. In addition we have a one ton diesel dually pick up truck, three chain saws and two strong backs. I hope that's enough cause I'm running out of money.

Step one cut back some trees that are hanging over the road.
Step two clean up trenches and water breaks.
Step three install culverts.
Step four grade existing road.
Step five place road fabric where needed.
Step six place, grade and roll gravel.

What do you think a couple days should be enough?

Right! I figure about a week and a half.

That leaves two and half weeks to clear and level the land for the barn.

Now if I can just get my tractor back from the dealer,

Pics to come.

Thanks for reading.

 

[DAY]

Don't forget the stepchild of "Murphy's Law"- the "Farmer's Time Frame": Double the estimate and move to the next level. One hour= two days, two days = four weeks.
Also, the more vital the part, the more likely it will be "temporarily out of stock."

Hey, where's them pitchurs at?

 

[dave1949]

Sounds like you are getting serious about this project :laughing: Don't it hurt to write those checks. Oh well, no luggage racks on a hearse, as they say.

I think your excavator decision is a good one. The hyd. thumb will be worth it.

Good luck on the road building.
Dave.

 

[scoutcub]

Congrats on the excavator purchase! You didn't screw around, a 20 ton machine is a serious unit!

Will you be operating it or the foreman? Either experienced? A couple of things I found out QUICK......if you've got a heavy load (like a log/stump) in the bucket, don't reach all the way out with it.......the tipping moment comes up verryyy quick on you. Don't ask me how I know.
The other thing.....your machine is a beast. If you get down the road and trees are all around, beware. Anywhere you move you'll bump into something. The boom sets so high it will be knocking branches down, don't want one coming to join you in the cab. Just have to work slow and increase your situational awareness.
Got an off-road diesel tank/stand yet? Think about fueling that beast up.....jerry cans will get old quick.
And yes.....double your estimate for the job!
Good luck, have fun, and post some pics!

Frank

 

[Sulla]

I have been remiss in updating this thread, forgive me. I haven't been loafing however.

We began working on the road about a week ago and found that we needed to clear trees along both sides, pushing back about two feet along the entire distance (1 mile) of the road.

I did not anticipate this extra week or so in my schedule. The materials for the poll barn will begin arriving the week of July 15th and there is no way a semi can get up the road as is. The result is a modification to the plan.

Instead of cutting the wood and saving it for firewood as we move along we are chipping the large majority of everything we cut. Straight, high quality hard wood is being cut into 8' lengths and set to the side for latter skidding out.

I have included some pictures below (finally) to illustrate the job. The open area in the pictures we cleared as base camp. It is the highest point on the land and thanks to the Forest Service we've been able to bring all of equipment, except the excavator, up a fire road that they maintain in the summer.

We are currently using a cargo trailer as a shed, though we just got a shed at an auction that will take its place.

Looking down the road you can see the equipment we are using. I bought a Hitachi (John Deere) 20 ton excavator with low hours (4000) and a thumb. So far so good. My Kioti DK45 is getting one **** of a work out. I've just added a heavy duty Land Pride Brush Hog and a Wallenstein 9000lb skidding winch.

Add in two Husky chainsaws, my Dodge 1 ton and a flat bed trailer and that's my stuff.

The chipper is a 12 inch hydraulic feed that I've rented. We really need an 18 inch but I couldn't find one. I rather buy it if anyone has one they want to sell.

I couldn't resist putting in a picture of myself in my logging safety helmet.

If you look at the Kioti tractor you can see where a tree caught me as she was dropping of a path I had cut in a hill. But for that tree, I'd have rolled down the hill. As it was, seat belt and a little luck saved me a trip to the hospital. Now I need to fix the tractor.

I am also looking for a bigger tractor, 75 hp plus. This time I'm going to get a tractor with less goodies, more engine and gears. The downside of hydro-static is that if you blow a line and lose all of your hydraulic fluid the tractor won't move. At least a geared tractor could limp home. How do I know? See damage.

This is without question the hardest work I have ever done. I love it!