Need Advice on Thinning New Acreage Purchase (6 acres)

[boggen]

lots and lots of tree root balls to deal with.

have you actually called up local tree companies, and gotten a bid from them?
have you contacted local machinery companies (open up the old paper phone book), and look up various digging basement, forest work, landscaping comapnies. (folks that are more likely to have larger equipment).

get actual bids, so you have something to work with. and then look at DIY options. a good crew with correct equipment can knock things out rather fast, and get things cleaned up nicely.

the bigger job's that are one time only, can be cheaper and easier long run to pay it out. and then do some clean up work after them.
if you can do some prep work... say getting some yellow / red caution tape. and putting it around trees you want or some such. do some initial passes to undergrowth. to get a better idea of what the ground is like...

am going to say a dozer, excavator, bachkoe, boom truck might be wanted or some combo of them. getting a couple companies with feet on the ground there, and walking through the area, and giving you a bid. can be very beneficial!

 

[Twotter]

Hello RacerX10,
Curious as to why you want to do the work, is it just to keep costs down as you stated? Or do you enjoy the work also? In the past I have done tasks that I could have paid someone else to do for less, but I liked the work and wanted the experience.

If it is just a cost issue, definitely get some quotes, they could very well be in the same neighborhood without tying you up, and delivering a better result.
If you are interested in doing some or all of the work, start by mowing what you can easily and see just how much is left. I agree with Gary, for the health of the trees, they need to be thinned to give you the best long term results. When landscaping with trees, you should be thinking on a decade/s long timeframe.

Since you already have a bush hog, I would start with that just to see what you really need first, then get some quotes to get a better idea of how good a deal that rental is. And fishfactor makes an excellent point, find out the small print of the rental, the devil is in the details.

Good luck, looking forward to some "finished" pics!
Rob

 

[Silvic]

I was quoted $2,100.00 to rent a Cat 279 and MH 315 for a week, with 40 hours of run time allotted for that $$. Is it reasonable to think I can get 6 acres of underbrush and saplings thinned out in 40 hours of run time on the CAT? I have driven a skid loader before but have zero experience with a mulcher.

Well I finally got back to providing the answer that I said I would in my earlier post. I rented a CAT 299XHP with HM315 for 7 days/40 hours. Had a couple of issues that slowed work down. Found part of a 1 inch diameter logging cable about 15 feet long, well the 315 found it, and wrapped it around the rotor. Had to cut it out in pieces; after I drove 30 miles round trip to get the equipment to cut it out. Started to shed a track, not fully but started to, thus that slowed things down while the track was put back on. The electrical connection from the 299 to the mulcher was "grabbed" by limbs and "removed" from the canon plug connector. Had to figure out the pin out to replace the wire pins.
Oh did I say it rained for all 7 days and the light level was low.

End result was, in uneven terrain with lots of CWD up to 6-8 inches diameter, I finish a little over 5 acres in 34 hours on the machine. Could have done more if I had not had the mechanical issues but stuff happens, especially in the environment I was working in. Very glad the glass was shatterproof on the cab.

I don't know about the 279. Think it is underpowered for the 315 based on my 299 experience for the week.

 

[lumberjack1986]

How much was the rent?

 

[Silvic]

How much was the rent?

$1422 for the 299D XHP
$648 for the HM315
$20.70 Environmental (don't you love the nanny state)
Sales Tax $219.34 (yes we have VERY high sales tax)

 

[lumberjack1986]

That rental rate seems pretty cheap to me. Where are you located?

 

[STx]

I had a guy come out with a large hydromulcher and clear some roads on my place last year and it's well worth it to hire that job out. While I'd love to run one, the reality is that he got far more done in much less time than I could have for about the same money.

Knowing what I do now, I would see what I could accomplish with the tractor and brush hog before having it mulched, I've found that the brush hog is capable of more than I think it will be. Obviously larger diameter trees are going to be an issue but you're fortunate in that you've got pine, which is much softer than the mesquite and hickory I have to deal with.

Once you've determined what you can't do with the brush hog, I'd hire someone to take care of that part. An experience operator could probably do the entire job in a day. I had my guy for 6 hours and he cleared about 1.5 miles of roads, 15' wide.

 

[Silvic]

That rental rate seems pretty cheap to me. Where are you located?

West side of mountains in Washington state

 

[square1]

Think about hiring a company to do the driveway, home site, work shop area, or some combination there of that will take about a day. The quote should be for the job, not an hourly rate to do the work. Be there for a portion of the day (the longer the better) the work is being done to observe methods and equipment used. Me thinks an operator focused on maximizing his profit is going to bring in more than one type of equipment to get the job done in the fewest hours possible. From those observations you can decide what you're able to do with what you have, what you might want to rent equipment to take on yourself, and what you will be better off hiring out based on the timeline and budget you have for the project.

 

[Silvic]

There is a real difference between a construction contractor and a forestry management professional in what you want done.
I would agree that the construction guy with his equipment is the correct choice for driveway, home site, work shop area but if you are doing a forestry improvement prescription then the construction guy may not be/probably is not the correct professional. Not saying that there is no interface between but there is a difference in knowledge and techniques that should be thought through carefully before the work is contracted out or accomplished. True whether it is mechanized mechanical or hand mechanical work that is being done.