Logging Cleanup???

[NHWOODSMAN]

Have some slash piles on the ground and some of the skid trails/ snowmoblie trails/ walking trails have small, medium and large stumps left (not alot just enough to be a p.i.t.a.). Has anyone seen these Brush grinders that are mounted to skid steers work?? http://www.fecon.com/ftx/default.asp Not sure if it is worth the $1000 a day including operator? Thanks for the replies.

 

[Highbeam]

You'll need to know what kind of area per acre that particular operator/,achine can do on your particular land. 1000$ per day is great if he can do a large area.

 

[Panache]

What about just renting a stumpgrinder for the stumps and burning the slash piles?

 

[psuedofarmer]

i have a large farm in s/w NH - believe me, i feel your pain..

a large scale logging operation left (in addition to trashing the interior trail system) HUGE slash piles; an extensive interior trail network was littered with stumps, etc.

i burned what i could push into a pile (mostly in fields, for interior trails i did my best to create large piles by hand or with the tractor); some of my burn piles burned for over a week.

the brush grinder you reference is a good machine; i've seen them in action. they are fast, and with an experienced operator, might make perfect sense for $1,000/day.

if it were me, i'd burn what i could easily pile. for my interior trails, i use my tractor (w/BH) to remove stumps that are in the way. in areas where my tractor can't go, i use a utility ATV to drag/push brush to the sides of the trails.

the critters (and the forest floor) don't mind the extra slash.. and as long as i can drive a snowmobile/atv through, i'm happy..

if you have more specific questions, send a PM and i'll be happy to help out anyway i can..

good luck.
pf

 

[NHWOODSMAN]

Panache... Stump grinder would probably work but I am talking several miles of trails to clean up. It would probably be cheaper to buy a grinder than rent one because I just don't have that kind of time to devote to it. If this skid steer does what I think it will, it will save me 10's of days to devote to other project that need to be done. From what I've heard these grinders actually mulch the material in the ground and kind of rototill it in to the soil leaving a good base after. And as far as burning I probably will end up doing that with what is left over from the grinder (if thats what i go with) Thanks for your post.
Pat

 

[NHWOODSMAN]

Psuedofarmer, Part of this whole operation was to clear cut about 10 acers for views and eventually put in some apple trees for fun. While I have a big cat excav. working on the clear cut I don't want it going down the trails. I do not own a b.h. and although it would work I would like the trails ready for the Snowmobile club for the winter. They treat me pretty well, so I guess my question is will that machine go over medium sized stumps and brush along the trail or is it just to drop the "whip it" trees. Also I am very happy with the loggers and will use them again in a sec. most of the slash is along side the trails that broke off. They chipped all the tree tops and anything they could pick up w/ the grapple. So although its a mess its not nearly what I have seen and heard about on TBN and around the State Of New Hampshire and Maine. Any ways thanks for the posts.
Pat

 

[Farwell]

I had 40 stumps ground for $400 and I think that I got a real bargain. The grinder was a very heavy duty hydraulic self propelled unit that would go about 18 inches into the ground removing all of the heavy roots near the stump. If you have a lot of stumps and you can get them ground for $1000 a day and the grinder does more than a 100 stumps in a days time I would go for it. If you don't have that many stumps and a lot of stuff to clean up, you may be better off with a dozer doing everything.
Farwell

 

[psuedofarmer]

<font color="blue">...so I guess my question is will that machine go over medium sized stumps and brush along the trail or is it just to drop the "whip it" trees. </font>

i don't think that machine will have difficulty with medium sized stumps - but having said that, i don't think the clearance is that high.. when i saw that machine in action, it was clearing trails for a snowmobile club (removing the little whip-it trees you describe).

for my purposes, i use the tractor w/BH to pop all the stumps i can reach. for those that are too difficult/dangerous to remove (or too costly with a stump grinder), i simply cut the stump to ground level.

pf

 

[Cityboyfarmer]

I'm in the process of turning a former pine forest into pasture. I just had a loader and excavator pop out all the stumps. Maybe you will find something useful in My Logging Clean-up Thread.

Lots of photos of the clean up there. Hope it is helpful.

 

[Panache]

Pat, the one shredder/mulcher I have seen on a skidsteer was on a 100hp bobcat tracked skidsteer. the operator siad it was great for up to 6" ok for 6-12". would do greater than 12". Was not good at grinding down a stump to the ground. you need more hp to do that. It seamed to use monentum of the cutting head rather than hp to grind.