Dozer Work

[Seon]

When I first bought my property 8 years ago, I had a dozer come out and cut me a fire line around the house. The problem was that I spray roundup twice a year to control the weeds. However, so far this year, I've sprayed four times because of the many rainy days we've had and the weeds grow after each rainy day. Well I finally had it and decided to hire another dozer to cut a couple extra fire line so I can drive my ATV which pulls my 100 gallon tank full of roundup mix.
Here's a pic of the operator cutting into the side of the hill that had a one to one grade. Man this guy has 'balls'. I also had him scrape the hillside and build a pad for a shop. Here are a couple of pics of what he's facced with.

 

[MarkV]

Seon, I know fire breaks are important for those of you in parts of California. Have you considered spraying a soil sterilizer on the breaks to keep them clear of all vegetation? The power companies use it on their unmanaged easements here and they stay void of vegetation for several years.

A good operator on a dozer can do some crazy things on slopes. We have a second home in the Georgia mountains on very steep property. Several years ago there was a fire and the forest service had several dozers cutting breaks to fight the fire. I watched an operator drive off a 15’ near vertical drop from the mountain into my parking area. He had his fire plow dragging to keep from going side ways and used his blade, now face down in my parking area, to crab his way from vertical to horizontal again. It was something I didn’t even think possible and it was amazing to watch.

MarkV

 

[jinman]

Wow! Look at all those cobblestone sized rocks. Anyone else thinking rock wall?

...and I see a little flat spot, but it doesn't look big enough for much more than an outhouse. Your shop pad must be somewhere else.

Great lookin' area.

 

[EddieWalker]

Great pics!! Thanks for sharing.

My land isn't very steep, but I have a few areas that are almost straight up and was amazed that I could climb them with my dozer. I thought about going down what I'd just climbed, but chickened out. Going down SCARES me allot more then going up.

Good call on hiring it out.

Eddie

 

[Seon]

With the steep terrain and ROCKS, ROCKS and more ROCKS, I'm limited to spraying Roundup.
Normally, I spray roundup twice a year but with the many rain we've had this year, I'm on fourth spray plus numerous spot spraying. Behind my ATV I pull a 100 gal tank with a 6' boom and 50' of hose and spray gun. Without a license, Roundup is the best I can get.

I had the dozer regrade, backfill a ravine cut firelanes so I'll have ATV/sprayer access and tomorrow, he'll return to groom all affected area.

I'll let the backfill settle a while and then I'll have fun with my Deere 4210 and backhoe digging out the footing for a large shop.

 

[crbr]

Thanks for sharing. I enjoyed the pics.

:tiphat:

 

[ultrarunner]

I've been doing the same on my Bay Area property.

After the big Fire Storm that took out over 3,000 homes, it was just about impossible to higher a Dozer. I ended up buying a Cat D3 to make life simpler.

I find that Roundup Pro works does a good job for me. I spray mid March and again after April 15th to hit any areas that I missed.

Whats a Dozer and operator go for per day in your neck of the woods?

 

[PSDStu]

Thats a great looking place ya got there!

 

[Egon]

Dozers can do a lot of things.

Eddie: Go downhill with a blade full of material and have another dozer at the top with a winch to pull you back up. [ perhaps I should dig up some working dozer slides taken during a misspent youth many a year ago]

Jinman- that's just Texas fines isn't it!

 

[Seon]

Whats a Dozer and operator go for per day in your neck of the woods?

His normal rate is $600 @ 8-9 hrs per day plus transport fee. But for the three days he's charging me $1500.

Well worth it for peace of mind during fire season and it also makes it easier to spray Roundup with the ATV pulling a 100 gal. tank.