Ground compaction

[KennyG]

Don't confuse compaction with turf damage. Tracks have low compaction but will rip op the turf everytime they turn. That's why you don't see tracked lawnmowers. Tires will have more compaction but compaction is really only an issue for lawns and row crops. I'm not sure why it would be a concern with either option in the woods.

 

[Diggin It]

Deflated tires can de-rim.

Much less fun than a little turf disruption.

 

[deezler]

^ I'd wager that more people have issues with tracks coming off, than they do with tires coming off the rim. Pretty easy to notice a low tire inflation and correct the issue before it comes off the wheel.

 

[Rustyiron]

I wouldn't be all knotted up over particular psi as I would with your repetitive travel in and out of your woods. If you worry more about the number of times you pass across any single point to avoid root damage. You'll be doing a net positive for the woods with your cleaning/clearing and being aware of this. Compaction in general (in the woods) is less important than root damage to your surviving trees.
I'd recommend a wheeled tractor with enough weight and hp to not spin the tires when doing the work you need.

 

[deezler]

^ agreed. No one wants to be cutting big ugly ruts into the ground, but as long as you dont do much of that, the forest floor will recover. Organisms and natural root growth will break it all up again over a few years.

 

[ruffdog]

Sure, the CTL has very low lbs per sq in when driving across FLAT GROUND. Most woods around here are not flat ground. It is uneven and there are rocks, stumps, and logs to climb over. Now you don't have even pressure over the entire track like you did on the level parking lot...... and guess what, you leave ruts.

 

[bdog]

I own four things on rubber tracks. The one that gets the most use weighs over 20,000lb but has tracks 2’ wide and approximately 10’ long. That is approximately 40 square feet of ground contact vs a wheeled vehicle which may have 5-10 sq feet? There are days I run this machine over 15 miles across all types of terrain. I haven‘t seen it sink yet. I have been in muddy fields where a person on foot will sink to the top of their boots and I don’t make deep ruts. A couple weeks ago I made several trips across a center pivot of Bermuda grass that was mowed super short and is cut for sod. You could barely tell where I went.

Turning yes you can do a lot of damage if you turn sharp. If you are careful you can minimize damage. My machine has 8 rollers on each side - four sets of two. I can see how the load could be concentrated at the rollers but there are a lot of them and they are spread out. I haven’t noticed any severe compaction even in rough terrain. The biggest downside is travel speed. Tracks are slow. This particular machine goes 9 mph which is pretty darned fast for tracks but still a snails pace if you have a long way to go. Tracks are amazing if you need them due to the terrain but if you don‘t need them there are quite a few downsides like the speed and maintenance costs.

 

[bdog]

Sure, the CTL has very low lbs per sq in when driving across FLAT GROUND. Most woods around here are not flat ground. It is uneven and there are rocks, stumps, and logs to climb over. Now you don't have even pressure over the entire track like you did on the level parking lot...... and guess what, you leave ruts.

Not really. The tracks have a fair amount of articulation in them. If you are climbing over a rock, log, stump, etc yeah you will put a lot of weight on it as you go over but that doesn’t equal ruts. CTLs do have quite a bit higher ground pressure than other tracked machines though. I have seen one get absolutely buried and in my bigger crawler I drove right over where it got stuck and didn’t sink a bit.

 

[4570Man]

A skid steer will tear the crap out of the ground tracks or no tracks. I can do a lot less destruction with my mini x mostly because I can drive straight in and straight out and work with the boom vs having to move the tracks a lot. Also the mini can lift the tracks to help with turns. Why would you need to replace your tractor with another one vs just putting a grapple on it?

 

[mikester]

If you turn hard and fast it doesn't matter which machine you have it will make a mess by churning the soil. Wheeled skid steers can make a big mess. Same with tractors in 4WD.

With tracks you can drive on the soft stuff and float where the wheels dig in. Start turning hard with the tracks and you start to dig right in and you can get stuck.

Small wheels are bad.