New tractor equipment and plan

[lpigott]

I stopped reading after a couple post. Being in the business I can tell you what you will be asking of that tractor is brutal and in no way practical.

If this is normal planted timber, with a decent survival rate, and growth (which I'm sure is by you saying it's old field) then you will be looking at roughly 85 tons/ acre +/- of merchantable wood. A log truck hauls 26-30 tons according to the trailer. So that in it self is three semi loads per acre. To even get 5-10 tons on a trailer for your truck your trailer will be illegal for road use unless designed to fit regulations by law, not to mention your truck and trailer weight being within legal weight limits. DOT will sit at the gates of various mills at any given time checking trucks and that's not when you want to be there. Also, you will possibly need to be insured to be on the mills property.

Why not sale the timber, if it is $7 per ton that will be roughly $600/acre, over quickly, no risk of injury or damaging new equipment. Use the money towards paying someone to clean up the land for you.

Maybe you should have read the entire thread. Local loggers won't touch small tracts like mine, not worth their while. I already answered the weight and distance to mill and also that I am in no hurry whatsoever. I want to do it at my pace and I want a new tractor and I will enjoy doing this. No I will not hurt my tractor. I have also done larger tasks with less and in a shorter time frame. I also have other uses for the tractor. Glad you subscribed to the thread.

 

[BMan2005]

I did read it after I posted just to be sure I didn't put the cart ahead of the horse. I still stand by everything I said, call enough dealers one will cut it, just on there time when passing by and don't matter how far the mill is, that won't have any bearing on the legal side of things and being insured to haul into the mill. Now past that, it's your decision and I don't have a problem with it man. Good luck and stay safe

 

[lpigott]

I did read it after I posted just to be sure I didn't put the cart ahead of the horse. I still stand by everything I said, call enough dealers one will cut it, just on there time when passing by and don't matter how far the mill is, that won't have any bearing on the legal side of things and being insured to haul into the mill. Now past that, it's your decision and I don't have a problem with it man. Good luck and stay safe

You said you were in the business. Did you mean logging business or land clearing? Bottom line is I want to do this myself and am not in a hurry and do not want my land wrecked by loggers. About half of what I have is a grown up mess from the last time is was logged and there is no marketable timber on that. I just bought this land last year. It is adjacent to my house and large yard also so it would be especially nasty with loggers wrecking it. I will work from my existing nice property into this at a reasonable pace and make it nice as I go. The nice property (15 acres) that have owned for 30 years was once wooded and I cleared it all and made it what it is today, all by myself and with only a small tractor and BB and a very small 40 HP dozer. I am not hauling to a mill, just a local yard that buys wood like mine that is only 5 miles away. I won't be doing anything illegal.

 

[BMan2005]

You said you were in the business. Did you mean logging business or land clearing? Bottom line is I want to do this myself and am not in a hurry and do not want my land wrecked by loggers. About half of what I have is a grown up mess from the last time is was logged and there is no marketable timber on that.

because the previous owner kept the money and didn't reinvest it into the property, nothing to do with timber being merchandised

I just bought this land last year. It is adjacent to my house and large yard also so it would be especially nasty with loggers wrecking it.

Not if it was cleared back up after the fact

I will work from my existing nice property into this at a reasonable pace and make it nice as I go. The nice property (15 acres) that have owned for 30 years was once wooded and I cleared it all and made it what it is today, all by myself and with only a small tractor and BB and a very small 40 HP dozer. I am not hauling to a mill, just a local yard that buys wood like mine that is only 5 miles away. I won't be doing anything illegal.

As long as you know that ahead of time and have a outlet for it your good. Your post didn't say that so I wanted to just let you be aware of the possibilities

I'm a dealer myself, we run 14 loggers in our company and have a land clearing business with it to site prep some of the logging operation to be reforested or just cleared into good useable ground again.

I'm not saying you can't do what you are wanting, like the saying goes you can do anything you set your mind to. I tip my hat to you for doing what you are saying but I just know what you are up against.

I just purchased a bigger tractor for some similar needs and to go along with everything else going on here. We just purchased more land that was cut and having it reforested except where we are building which we'll have that property stumped, piled, and burned. I'll then go behind it to finish clearing. Land clearing can range from $400-$1200/ acre according to the job and how much you wanted done. We just had a few acres of 25 yr old planted timber never been thinned cut (yes it left alot of debris), then had the minimum done, stumped & piled. I then used our tractor to finish reclaiming the land for pasture. This cost me $550 an acre for the land clearing we had done.

Here is a thread it's about our tractor, but shows what we did and on the last page shows a before and after.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/buying-pricing-comparisons/384687-deal-has-been-made-bought.html

Like I said, not trying to come off as a butt or anything, just explaining what you'll be up against and a better alternative since you asked for opinions & this is something we do every day. Good luck man!

 

[lpigott]

Thanks for the replies and insight. No offense taken at all. I guess the biggest differance I have compared to many is that I have lots of time to do this myself due to the way I work and I am also in no hurry. I also thoroughly enjoy operating my own equipment and I want to do this fairly low impact and refine my means and methods as I go. I also hope to exploit what I think is a niche market in my area by the end of the project and then provide similar services to others on a smaller scale.

 

[lpigott]

Well I will get home from overseas this week and by weeks end I hope to have a deal finalized on the tractor. I have been talking back and forth with the dealer and have confirmed with them that they will be able to upgrade the tires from what is normally available from Kubota in the USA to Radials and wider fronts and it will look like this one below. I also than to have cast rear wheels with weight added and load rears and maybe the fronts too. I will have the weights on front also which I thing will help.

 

[lpigott]

With the FEL she should look similar to this except it will have the cast rear wheels and front weights.

 

[lpigott]

Terra Force Grapple I am looking at. Looks very simpler to the EA Wicked grapple but 1/3 the price and my local dealer stocks these.

 

[lpigott]

Rotating tree shear

 

[lpigott]

Sounds like if your careful operating your machinery your good to go. Per your information hiring it done will gain you little if anything. By doing it yourself if you break even or even loose a tiny bit of money your still way ahead due to tax write offs.

No mention of plans for the pecan trees removed and sale of the wood ? BBQ and wood workers bound to provide a bit of market.

Thanks for the reply, I missed this one hidden among all the negative ones, lol. The large pecan trees will be addressed later on and I will research available markets. Kinda of a shame since some are 80/90 years old and other in the 50 year range that my dad planted. They look good but no matter how they are cared for produce good craps very randomly, like once year 5 years. Pecan trees were big in my area years back but proved uneconomical and the hurricanes we suffer every 10-20 years wrecks them. They basically just cover ground, drop lots of limbs and are in the way now.