How much for a dozer?

[RobJ]

As some have said a dozer is not the best thing for trees unless it's pretty big. And if you don't know what you are doing you can make a bigger mess with a bigger dozer...it does take some knowhow after all.

If it's a long project I like the idea of buying, then reselling. You can get a decent small dozer for say 15k (this is not brand new), maybe more. Use it for a year and resell for near what you have in it.

Someone else here at TBN that has a place around Huntsville did this and loves it. They were using the 6-way blade to cut around the tree then pop it out. Takes some time but it will do it.

Good Luck,
Rob

 

[TxTom]

Hey Rob, thanks for the mention. I'd have to say it all depends on your soil type. If your in clay or rock then Eddie is right with the bigger is better theory. I'm in sandy loam with a rock layer 2-3 feet down.

I had never even sat on a dozer but picked up clearing (without too much dirt) in a couple of hours. The tree in the pictures was live but was hollowed. From start to finish, including instructing the wife/photographer, was maybe 15-20 minutes.

Thomas

 

[stumpfield]

I got this little dozer (Nortrac NB3500 30HP 6600lbs.) When I bought it, everyone laughs at me that it's a toy and it won't do any real work. I proved them wrong. It the best tool I ever got for my road maintanence and building ATV trails. I didn't have to take down any big tree yet... For small under 4" trees, this little dozer can push it down with plenty of power to spare. For larger trees, I use my chain saw. With the 6-way blade in the front and dragging a 6' boxblade in the rear, I can almost build a trail in a single pass.

I paid more than double the price of this dozer to hire out my initial road building project. The problem with hiring out the work is you must have a good plan and know exactly what you want done. At $125 per hour and $500 per move-in fee, before I realized it, I got a $15,000 bill and my road was no where near completion. With plenty of time and patience, I could have done it myself. So, if you want something done right in a hurry, you will need to hire the pros and pay big buck$. If you have more time than money and willing to accept un-productive and frustrating days while you learning how to operate the equipment, you will enjoy owning the dozer.

 

[teg]

My friend bought a Nortrac to cut some roads, then he planned to turn around and sell it. He never got to the second part of that plan... I've used it to cut a road in (see photos). Slow is fine, I had the time and I'm a beginner, that's all I wanted. I'm never in a hurry up at the farm...

He's dug out 12" stumps, took awhile, and I think he said that's about as big as he will try again. He's put in a lot of roads but clearly it's taken much longer with this small dozer. He paid $12k but I looked and they are $15k, now.

He had problems with it, covered under warranty, now he just lives with some of the problems, just don't expect too much from a $15k dozer and don't think nothing will stop it.

 

[RobJ]

Hey Rob, thanks for the mention. I'd have to say it all depends on your soil type. If your in clay or rock then Eddie is right with the bigger is better theory. I'm in sandy loam with a rock layer 2-3 feet down.

Thomas

There you are!! Nice pics, but I may have to differ on the rock being 2-3 feet down. The limestone layer around here is thousands of feet down. It shows itself near Austin and gets shallower as you go north. What you are seeing is that highly compressed clay (probably red?). It is hard as a rock because when we are digging fence posts and hit it thats as far as we dig!! Around elkhart we have that iron ore rocks in the soil, but it's still far from bedrock.

I ain't saying so, a geologist here at our oil company.

Did you say your place is off Hwy 19? We pass by that on the way to our place.

Rob

 

[cp1969]

Don't mess around...get a real dozer.

VanNatta Bulldozers, Crawler Dozers

There are even bigger ones than that.

 

[newcountry]

Thanks for the replies! Wow, I'm gone for three days and look at all the advice I got, that's why I love TBN!

Barry - I've had a couple different sections of our land looked at for lumber. Unfortunately it is so overgrown and thick all the trees are tall and thin, good for knocking down but not so much when trying to sell them.

Our trees are mostly smaller than those shown in TxTom's pix - great pix BTW. There are a couple bigger than that. And our dirt is pretty good, low lying flood plains, more clay but that's up on the hills. Gives us an idea on what size we can look at. When we do buy it will be used, we just can't afford a new one. And it sounds like more money than I was expecting, but this is a totally new area for me (kind of like when I was shopping for a tractor )

We've got all the time in the world to get these projects done, we're in no rush. This will be one of those "I've got a few hours to burn, I think I'll knock down some trees" jobs. That's why renting is not high on our list, and hiring out isn't either. Unless I get a lot who disagree I don't see how we don't come out ahead on the money side by buying, using, then reselling later. And a relative time-saver from chainsaw and dealing with all the stumps.

 

[newcountry]

Don't mess around...get a real dozer.

VanNatta Bulldozers, Crawler Dozers

There are even bigger ones than that.

CP, you think I can borrow that one? I could clear my land in an hour, which is good since it burns through 20 gallons of diesel/hr!!

 

[EddieWalker]

Sounds like you have the same attitude that I do. Hope you have a good sense of humor!!!! hahahahaha

Three things you need to think of when buying a dozer. How much do you have, how much power can you buy and how worn out is it. This sounds simple, but the reality is that newer and smaller is still very expensive. Older and bigger is gonna be cheaper, but much more painful to fix and keep running.

You'll find lots of opinions of machines here, so the fist step is to decide how much you can afford. What's the budget? Can you add any more to it?

Then we can through out some suggestions. When you find a machine that you like, tell us about it and we'll tell you some things to look for. An undercairage coule easily run $5,000 to replace. An engine can cost you $4,000 to $20,000. Transmissions and hydraulics can run you from $10,000 to $30,000 real easy.

Eddie

 

[txdon]

I hired out all my dozing. Looking at what you need I would say about a week of work or $4000.00. I watched the experienced D6 operators work and they are fast and accurate. There is no risk, no breaking your dozer or blowing your hydraulic lines, no learning curve, no diesel, no repairs to cause anxiety. I would get an estimate from a local dozer operator and then clearly mark what you want to keep or push away then sit back and enjoy.