Making Trails...Which attachment?

[jay_ch28]

Hello,
I'll start by telling you a little about my equipment. I have a TC40D with a toothbar and a boxblade. I'm a decent operator with about 350 hrs on my machine.

I build a motocross track and want to expand it next year. The plan is to make trails through the woods. My woods are mostly Pine. This winter I've got a logging company coming in to "manage" the forest. Once they are done I'm going to make a trail loop through the woods and back to my track. I don't want to dig into the soil. I just want to get past all of the material on top (leaves/needles/etc...). I was wondering if a Landscaping rack would be good for this. Or will I be better off using my Box Blade? Stumps are not a problem.

 

[PBMAX]

I've been clearing paths thru the trees by the pond with the neighbor and I used my box blade and FEL to clear the leaves and stuff very quickly and then roto cut the little stuff i couldn't get up by lightly draging with the box blade. Since you will be going much longer distance this might not be fast enough for ya but it supprised me how fast I was able to push and drag stuff out to be burned or piled in a compost heap (aka ditch)

 

[8NTX]

I would think the rake would work better than the box blade if you don't want to disturb the soil. I've created several trails with just my chain saw and brush hog, then cutting out the small underground stumps with an ax. Of course, I've got mostly oaks and hickory and very few pine trees. Oh yea... and millions of grapevines and sassafras trees.

 

[Egon]

Perhaps try the toothbar and box blade to see if they can produce the results you want. I would think they will work.

Egon

 

[soarkrebel]

I have found that my boxblade is a great tool in the woods. i use mine alot keeping trails on our hunting leases in good shape. i also use it to make new trails and it is great.

 

[ACMan]

I've done the same thing. Problem is,our soil tends to turn into silty mush if it doesnt have something to hold it together. Especially this time of year when it seems to rain every 3 days from Sept to July. I used a bush hog and went around as many trees as possible. Little trees got stumped up. This allowed the ground to maintain its integrity (less rutting) and made for a funner route. After awhile the pine needles cover and kill the plants I was having to bushog. Originally I boxbladed the front part of the trail but it seemed to never recover and even needles couldnt stop the erosion.

I guess it depends on your soil , weather, and or topography.

 

[jay_ch28]

Thanks for all of your replies. I'm going to try it with the equipment I have and see how it turns out before purchasing some new toys.

 

[djradz]

You may wish to layout the trails prior to the logging operation. Otherwise, they'll make their own. If you get some form of trails in first, they'll likely use what you put down as much as practical and probably make them even wider than you might.

 

[jay_ch28]

that's what I did. I made the roughed out trail, by just draggin the teeth of the box blade and pulling out the brush and smaller trees.

For the final product I want to have only dirt on the trails, nothing else. No leaves, pine needles, brush, or anything else. However I want to remove as little dirt as possible. I didn't know how well a landscaping rake would work for this purpose having never used one. I think I will just have to wait to see what it looks like in the spring after the loggers finish up. They started cutting last tuesday, but not in the area I'm talking about. I guess they will be cutting for 4 weeks if the weather cooperates and the ground stays frozen. Although they are claiming it will be 53 degrees on thursday and above freezing for the following week, so who knows.

Has anyone had thier forest "Selective Harvested". I'm wondering what the roads will look like when they are completed. Just before the ground froze it was pretty wet back there. I've seen some logging roads that had deep ruts from the skidders and forwarders. I'm hoping this won't be the case here if it stays cold.

 

[1bush2hog]

Regarding Select Harvest methods, I have seen many different variations of this procedure. The most important questions is: What does your timber contract allow? Some contractors will tell you what you want to hear all day long, but what is in writing, is what matters at the end of the day.

The results from select harvest can be quite different than what some expect.

Any logging operation involving heavy equipment can alter the land - If it were me, I would keep the loggers out if the ground is too wet. Then again my property is mountainous, and erosion is a concern for me, and the loggers in your area may alsio be more environmentally conscious.