Go Bottom Go Bottom

Best implement for rolling up slash piles

View my Photos
kwschumm
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 5764 NW Oregon
TractorPoint Premium Member -- 5 Tractors = Very Frequent Poster  View my Photos  Pics

2003-05-20          55186

I'm shopping for a tractor in the JD4410/TC33D class and need to choose which implements to buy. One use for the tractor will be to pile up slash that will be created when thinning our heavily overgrown 15 acres of douglas firs. What's the best implement for doing this kind of work? I'm thinking of something like a front blade that will float just above the surface of the soil - is there anything like that made?


Reply to | Quote Post Reply to PostQuote Reply | Add PhotoAdd Photo



Best implement for rolling up slash piles

View my Photos
TomG
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 5406 Upper Ottawa Valley
TractorPoint Premium Member -- 5 Tractors = Very Frequent Poster

2003-05-21          55243

I'm not aware of anything specific. Around here it's done with the front blades on log skidders or dozers but I don't imagine there's too much concern about what happens to the ground. The slash rolls are still there 30 and more years later and still aren't doing anything for the scenery.

Off the top of my head, it sounds like putting gauge wheels on a loader bucket and using it in float might do the job. There are some hydraulic grapple attachments and pushing with the grapple open would provide a couple of vertical arms to catch slash that would go over the top of the bucket. A homegrown stone rake discussed here used in a slightly different way also might push a bunch of slash.
....

Reply to | Quote Post Reply to PostQuote Reply | Add PhotoAdd Photo



Best implement for rolling up slash piles

View my Photos
plots1
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 563 mo
TractorPoint Premium Member -- 5 Tractors = Very Frequent Poster  View my Photos  Pics

2003-05-21          55255

sounds like hiring in a dozer would be the smart thing to do beings 15 acers of douglas firs is going to make some pretty big piles. ....

Reply to | Quote Post Reply to PostQuote Reply | Add PhotoAdd Photo



Best implement for rolling up slash piles

View my Photos
Murf
Join Date: Dec 1999
Posts: 7249 Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada
TractorPoint Premium Member -- 5 Tractors = Very Frequent Poster  View my Photos  Pics

2003-05-21          55260

Want you want is called a "root rake" with a "grapple" in place of the bucket on a FEL. You will not find one just anywhere, and I doubt you would EVER find one used. It will not be cost effective so go to the next best alternative, a manure fork.

If you get a good sized one (for your loader) you will be able to scoop up an impressive amount of brush in a single pass, even more so if you put a light 'grapple' (a couple of steel fingers that close like a fist does) on the top of the manure fork. The only more cost effective way to do it would be to hire an excavator with a brush grapple instead of a bucket a have a truck or trailer to transport to where you want to deal with it. I f you need topsoil, or even just better soil, you can either compost or bring in a grinder/chipper to reduce the material before composting as a soil amendment.

Best of luck. ....

Reply to | Quote Post Reply to PostQuote Reply | Add PhotoAdd Photo



Best implement for rolling up slash piles

View my Photos
marklugo
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 281 Tifton, GA
TractorPoint Premium Member -- 5 Tractors = Very Frequent Poster  View my Photos  Pics

2003-05-21          55265

plots is right, you will need a bigger unit for this job. Otherwise expect a lot of broken parts and pieces that won't be covered under warranty. ....

Reply to | Quote Post Reply to PostQuote Reply | Add PhotoAdd Photo



Best implement for rolling up slash piles

View my Photos
kwschumm
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 5764 NW Oregon
TractorPoint Premium Member -- 5 Tractors = Very Frequent Poster  View my Photos  Pics

2003-05-21          55272

Thanks everyone for the good feedback. I'd be completely lost without the help of friendly folks like you.

TomG, around here they call those ugly slash piles habitat. I'll be burning ours once it's piled up. The bunnies and squirrels around here don't seem to know that there's no habitat for them to live in :-)

Murf, thanks for the tip on the root rake and grapple. I'll do some searching to see if I can find one somewhere. Do you know of a source?

plots1 and marklugo, I've seen the big dozers at work in clearcuts around here. They move EVERYTHING. I'm planning on cutting the trunks into firewood and slash piling only the smaller branches. Shouldn't a 30hp tractor be able to do that? Or am I missing something?
....

Reply to | Quote Post Reply to PostQuote Reply | Add PhotoAdd Photo



Best implement for rolling up slash piles

View my Photos
plots1
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 563 mo
TractorPoint Premium Member -- 5 Tractors = Very Frequent Poster  View my Photos  Pics

2003-05-21          55274

30 hp will do any thing a larger one will it will just take a bit more time. sharpen those blades sounds like you have plunty of cuttin to do. best of luck. bye the way i was thinking the price of a grapple imp could be put towards dozer fee, and if your dealing with an operator thats knows what he's doing he can push wood you want to cut accordingly. money saved on imp you might not use much afterwards plus speed of completing job.once again best of luck what ever you decide to do. ....

Reply to | Quote Post Reply to PostQuote Reply | Add PhotoAdd Photo



Best implement for rolling up slash piles

View my Photos
Captain B
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 53 West central New Hampshire
TractorPoint Premium Member -- 5 Tractors = Very Frequent Poster

2003-05-21          55310

Not sure what size materials you need to tackle. I have had great success cleaning up fairly large (3' diameter)white pine, particularly branches, using my fork attachment. I would put it up against anything else as the Swiss army knife of all implements. I haven't had the bucket on my machine in the summer in over a year. ....

Reply to | Quote Post Reply to PostQuote Reply | Add PhotoAdd Photo



Best implement for rolling up slash piles

View my Photos
TomG
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 5406 Upper Ottawa Valley
TractorPoint Premium Member -- 5 Tractors = Very Frequent Poster

2003-05-22          55320

Yes, we're surrounded by habitat here too. Habitat seems like a nice friendly city word. There's a funny thing about habitat. In the city people create 'people habitat' by landscaping their yards. They plant trees. Around here people landscape by cutting down trees. Rodents seem to do well in either place whether or not there's intentional habitat.

I'm guessing that the trees to be thinned aren't very big. There are issues for a 30-hp tractor if skidding logs of any size in rough terrain. It's pretty easy for a log to outweigh the tractor, and then the tractor goes where the log wants to go. Felling trees of any size in the bush also has its issues but you're probably more familiar with this stuff than I am.
....

Reply to | Quote Post Reply to PostQuote Reply | Add PhotoAdd Photo



Best implement for rolling up slash piles

View my Photos
kwschumm
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 5764 NW Oregon
TractorPoint Premium Member -- 5 Tractors = Very Frequent Poster  View my Photos  Pics

2003-05-22          55326

Much of our land is a Christmas tree farm run amok. Mostly these are doug firs with some nobles. I want to thin to maximize growth of the doug firs for commercial value. The biggest trees I will fall are probably no more 6" trunk diameter, and most of them are less than 4". Those that are big enough will be turned into firewood and anything smaller will be burned. The slash I want to pile up will mostly consist of small branches and skinny trees. We also have a few acres of 100+ foot doug firs, but I'll leave those for the pros when the time comes.

....

Reply to | Quote Post Reply to PostQuote Reply | Add PhotoAdd Photo



Best implement for rolling up slash piles

View my Photos
TomG
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 5406 Upper Ottawa Valley
TractorPoint Premium Member -- 5 Tractors = Very Frequent Poster

2003-05-22          55332

Yep, thinning is probably good for all sorts of reasons. Managed, or thinned bush, is generally healthier bush. It's also less of a fire hazard. We had two bush fires here this month and dodged a bullet each time thanks to our recently acquired township water tanker.

The fires were on the equivalent of state forest land and were over a KM to the nearest water source. Our volunteer fire dept. got calls for assistance. Without the tanker to calm things down while hose lines were run, the fires would have jumped to dense plantation forests, which are very tough ones to fight.
....

Reply to | Quote Post Reply to PostQuote Reply | Add PhotoAdd Photo



Best implement for rolling up slash piles

View my Photos
Murf
Join Date: Dec 1999
Posts: 7249 Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada
TractorPoint Premium Member -- 5 Tractors = Very Frequent Poster  View my Photos  Pics

2003-05-22          55345

Pallet forks on the FEL are very handy indeed, but for smaller branches they leave too much behind or drop it along the way as you move them.

Manure forks though have many long narrow tines and they are close together, you can even dig in a little if the soil is light and loose in order to sort of rake the area picking up branches but leaving soil behind.

Have a look at the different styles one of the local manufacturer (one of the biggest in N.A. for such) make.

Best of luck. ....


Link:   Nye Loader Forks

 
Reply to | Quote Post Reply to PostQuote Reply | Add PhotoAdd Photo



Best implement for rolling up slash piles

View my Photos
kwschumm
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 5764 NW Oregon
TractorPoint Premium Member -- 5 Tractors = Very Frequent Poster  View my Photos  Pics

2003-05-22          55370

This looks like a great implement for this job. It was recommended by the NH dealer here. Has anyone ever tried one of these? ....


Link:   

Click Here


 
Reply to | Quote Post Reply to PostQuote Reply | Add PhotoAdd Photo



Best implement for rolling up slash piles

View my Photos
Murf
Join Date: Dec 1999
Posts: 7249 Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada
TractorPoint Premium Member -- 5 Tractors = Very Frequent Poster  View my Photos  Pics

2003-05-22          55375

The Bo Dozer does indeed look like quite a toy, er, I mean tool. Problem is I also see from that website a 6 footer weighs 740 pounds, that's about half of the rated capacity of the loader you would have on this class of machine. The excessive weight and the relatively small opening in the grapple would make a big job even bigger, besides I'm sure the price of this device is probably MANY times that of a standard manure fork, a 6 footer around here is about $400 brand new.

This type of implement is commonly called a 'root rake' and is best used on something with a little more muscle than a 35hp CUT. We use them regularly in golf course construction for clearing land, they are normally used on one of three classes of machine, 1) 20+ ton bulldozers, 2) 20+ ton excavators, or 3) full size TLB's which are 10+ ton machines. I have a 10 ton TLB myself and it is challenged to pop a stump bigger than about 6" diameter without a little pre-digging.

All you want to do here is pickup branches & debris lying on the ground, not tear out stumps.

Best of luck. ....

Reply to | Quote Post Reply to PostQuote Reply | Add PhotoAdd Photo



Best implement for rolling up slash piles

View my Photos
Peters
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 3034 Northern AL
TractorPoint Premium Member -- 5 Tractors = Very Frequent Poster  View my Photos  Pics

2003-05-22          55380

I would think the best compromise would be a 4 in one bucket. I have seen them used quite effectively on a larger backhoe/loader. I would think with the size branches it would work quite well. You need a brush bar for the rad. ....

Reply to | Quote Post Reply to PostQuote Reply | Add PhotoAdd Photo



Best implement for rolling up slash piles

View my Photos
TomG
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 5406 Upper Ottawa Valley
TractorPoint Premium Member -- 5 Tractors = Very Frequent Poster

2003-05-23          55401

You may know this stuff but I go through it a bit anyway. It's good to keep in mind that tractors really aren't designed to be ATV's. Operating them in the bush does require some considerations. Tippyness on rough ground is it's own subject but the simple summary is that a tractor isn't an ATV.

In addition to rad guards, guards for tire valve-stems and hydraulic hoses are sometimes used. A few tractors have hydraulic lines that run along the under-carriage. We discussed one here that was broken on a high centre. Professional bush equipment has steel operator cages. It doesn't sound like there's much in that bush that's heavy and high up but accidents happen when vehicles bump trees. Heavy dead branches or part of the trunk up high breaks off and falls on the vehicle. Around here in white pine country, it's the dead branches up high rather than the 'leaners' that get hung up that are called widow-makers. You can see the leaners.

Pro equipment also may require spark-arresters but generally it's good to avoid working during times of high fire hazard. I probably thought of this subject because tomorrow I have to go for my annual volunteer fire fighter qualification.
....

Reply to | Quote Post Reply to PostQuote Reply | Add PhotoAdd Photo



Best implement for rolling up slash piles

View my Photos
kwschumm
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 5764 NW Oregon
TractorPoint Premium Member -- 5 Tractors = Very Frequent Poster  View my Photos  Pics

2003-05-23          55426

Thanks, TomG, these are all good points that I hadn't thought much about.

The land is generally gently rolling so tippiness isn't a big issue. There is one area that has a ~20% grade but it is already cleared so I won't be working there.

Most of the fir trees are all fairly small with no heavy material high-up, but yours is a good safety reminder. It just takes one.

I didn't think diesels required spark arrestors? At least that's what one dealer told me. Was he wrong?
....

Reply to | Quote Post Reply to PostQuote Reply | Add PhotoAdd Photo



Best implement for rolling up slash piles

View my Photos
TomG
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 5406 Upper Ottawa Valley
TractorPoint Premium Member -- 5 Tractors = Very Frequent Poster

2003-05-23          55448

Good question and I don't know if spark arresters are required here or not. I do know that a diesel that's gets carboned up from poor maintenance or lugging around a lot can emit burning carbon when it's worked hard. I guess it'd be an issue and the answer probably depends on the location. Areas in California can be simply closed to all public access.

I believe that logging on public land around here is simply stopped during extreme hazards. Logging companies and other companies working in the forest also have to have their own forestry fire equipment. ....

Reply to | Quote Post Reply to PostQuote Reply | Add PhotoAdd Photo



Best implement for rolling up slash piles

View my Photos
kwschumm
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 5764 NW Oregon
TractorPoint Premium Member -- 5 Tractors = Very Frequent Poster  View my Photos  Pics

2003-05-23          55449

I am answering my own question here, at least in Oregon. I forgot that I have an Oregon publication of forest protection laws. It says that during fire season
"All engines must be equipped with a spark arrestor. Exceptions are allowed for fully turbo-charged engines, for engines of 50 cubic inch displacement or smaller, for certain trucks and for pumps used exlusively to fight fire."
....

Reply to | Quote Post Reply to PostQuote Reply | Add PhotoAdd Photo


  Go Top Go Top

Share This
Share This







Member Login