New (toy) tool - Excavator

[mike69440]

I agree with you 100% when working the dirt, but I'm thinking that for tree removal, it would be ideal. Not getting them to the burn pile, or doing anything with them, but for getting them on the ground and ready to move when the ground dries up, I think the excavator with tracks would be very useful.

I'm off today. It was 24 degrees outside when I got up this morning. We had 2 1/4 inches of rain on Wednesday, then snow fluries on Thursday. Yesterday was dry, but it never got out of the 30's. Today is supposed to get into the 40's. With temps like that, and more rain predicted for Tuesday, I have a feeling it's going to be awhile until I can do anything with my wheeled tractors. I went and sat in my deer stand for a few hours, and I have stuff to do around the house, but when the holidays are over, and I'm off, I'd sure like to be doing something productive on the land. The only thing that I can think of that would do this is a tracked excavator.

Eddie

Eddie

Balmy weather your having, Nice to know our warmest days about match your coldest. Merry Christmas.

My 18,000 Lb excavator struggles wirh tree removal. Depending on type of tree and soil conditions, a 5" tree can be tough. Other times an 16- 18" tree comes out fairly easy.

My advice is stay with a 12-16 ton machine, ideally 14-16 ton.

Actually you need a +30 tonne machine just to pull them like weeds, but even a 12 tonne machine won't work that hard, just it gets slow digging out trees, breaking roots and all.

An excavator is the best thing for stumps. puts a dozer to shame.

 

[tlbuser]

but for getting them on the ground and ready to move when the ground dries up, I think the excavator with tracks would be very useful.

The only thing that I can think of that would do this is a tracked excavator.

Eddie

Yep,that is one thing an excavator is good for. My favorite now is having an ex on-site for burning. It took me awhile to realize how much quicker your burn depletes when you can stack and re-stack logs and stumps on the top. So you're thinking you'll only have to regrade the track and stump marks? Leaving high stumps with a chainsaw would give you something to do and no track or tire rutting

 

[tlbuser]

Eddie

Balmy weather your having, Nice to know our warmest days about match your coldest. Merry Christmas.

My 18,000 Lb excavator struggles wirh tree removal. Depending on type of tree and soil conditions, a 5" tree can be tough. Other times an 16- 18" tree comes out fairly easy.

An excavator is the best thing for stumps. puts a dozer to shame.

Are you grubbing the tree or just a clean and jerk type thing? Gums and beeches are a bear no matter what around here.

 

[EddieWalker]

... for burning. It took me awhile to realize how much quicker your burn depletes when you can stack and re-stack logs and stumps on the top.

Something that I noticed quite a bit is that there are allot of excavators that catch on fire. I didn't understand this, so I asked about it over at Heavy Equipment Forums - Powered by vBulletin I was told that because the cab is air conditioned, the operator will lose track of just how hot it is outside the cab. After awhile, a hose will rupture, or just some oil or grease on the side of the excavator will catch on fire. Once the fire gets going, it's just about impossible to put out.

I've seen where Komatsu has a special fire supression system that you can add to their excavators. I don't know if all the companies off this or not, but when you see two giant, red cylenders behind the cab on an excavator, that's what it's there for.

They said that it's a good idea to leave the door open when feeding a fire so you know how hot it is. If it's too hot for you, then it's too hot for the machine.


This is all second hand information. I don't know this for a fact, or have any experience with it. Just wanted to pass it on just in case....

Eddie

 

[scoutcub]

Man, what a great toy!! I spent around 10 hours pulling stumps over the last few days, definitely a great machine to have.

As Mike said, some stumps would pop right out, others I'd spend nearly .5 hour on em. Course they're frozen in, and I'm still on the upswing learning curve.....probably different species and root systems.

I was thinking it would be nice to have a larger machine to pop them with one scoop.....but then you'd lose all the seat/stick time??!! And as I said before, that size machine would be hard to get thru the woods.

I also "experimented" with knocking trees over.....man is it easier than the dozer!

Some great spinoff discussions here. The weather yesterday was 40 degrees (onsite in Ohio) and sunny, beautiful for working. However, Friday was raining all day long, so the jobsite was a mudfest! Having worked in the mud before, I don't particularly care to do it, but wanted to test Eddie's theory. The dozer definitely filled up with mud quickly, took awhile to clear it out when I was done. The excavator however, wasn't filled up nearly as much, because you're not tracking around/turning nearly as much as the dozer. I had a bunch of stumps close together, so minimal turning & moving, plus you can switch direction on the turntable.

On the stump issue; I will end up with several dozen stumps. My plan is to roll them down a steep incline located next to the homesite, hopefully knocking off most of the dirt. Once down on the flat, I can gather them together, and 1 of three options......burn em, bury em, or keep the pile of brush/stumps for game habitat. Or parhaps a combination of the three?? Any thoughts on these options would be welcome. I'm still debating.

Lastly, interesting thoughts on the excavator feeding the fire. I've read a PTO mounted fan aimed at the base of the fire will keep it HOT and burning, as well. Don't care for the idea of the excavator catching on fire, that would not be a good thing. Saw that on the axmen or american logger, but it was a electrical fire.
I fly helicopters out to oil rigs overseas, and fly by the flares all the time. I can feel the heat from several hundred yards, and while much stronger than a burn pile, I have a strong respect for heat/fire.
The first thing I will do upon return to the jobsite will be getting two good fire extinguishers for both machines, neither one has them onboard now.

Great info guys, appreciate it!

 

[timswi]

Congrats on that machine..They are very nice. My neighbor has one similar to that. It was bought new by a contractor who was building a strip mall. Once the building was done, he sold it to the neighbor ... The stuff he does with that thing is amazing..Ultimate muti-purpose tool. As you get used to it, you'll see what I mean.

 

[mike69440]

Are you grubbing the tree or just a clean and jerk type thing? Gums and beeches are a bear no matter what around here.

Depends,

Anything that does not want to come easy out I grub. Ocasionally i find a 12-14 pine I can just yank out. Then I drop it a few times to shake the dirt out. Makes you feel like superman.

Then there is this big old oak stump on the edge of the field not doing any harm. Every time I go by it with the excavator I poke at it and it does not budge. Best just leave it rot.

 

[tlbuser]

Something that I noticed quite a bit is that there are allot of excavators that catch on fire. I didn't understand this, so I asked about it over at Heavy Equipment Forums - Powered by vBulletin I was told that because the cab is air conditioned, the operator will lose track of just how hot it is outside the cab. After awhile, a hose will rupture, or just some oil or grease on the side of the excavator will catch on fire. Once the fire gets going, it's just about impossible to put out.

I've seen where Komatsu has a special fire supression system that you can add to their excavators. I don't know if all the companies off this or not, but when you see two giant, red cylenders behind the cab on an excavator, that's what it's there for.

They said that it's a good idea to leave the door open when feeding a fire so you know how hot it is. If it's too hot for you, then it's too hot for the machine.


This is all second hand information. I don't know this for a fact, or have any experience with it. Just wanted to pass it on just in case....

Eddie

Yep, lots of machines get burned up workng a fire, no matter the type. Anyting running subpar probably shouldn't be used to tend a fire. Problem is, the bigger the equipment onsite, the bigger the fire can get.
I used to think I did a decent job building a fire with a backhoe and skidsteer Then we got hooked up with a guy that owns a Cat 953 loader and 325 ex. What a pair that makes. The loader does most of the clearing pushing up to the ex, then use the ex to pile and burn.

 

[tlbuser]

Man, what a great toy!! I spent around 10 hours pulling stumps over the last few days, definitely a great machine to have.

I also "experimented" with knocking trees over.....man is it easier than the dozer!

On the stump issue; I will end up with several dozen stumps. My plan is to roll them down a steep incline located next to the homesite, hopefully knocking off most of the dirt. Once down on the flat, I can gather them together, and 1 of three options......burn em, bury em, or keep the pile of brush/stumps for game habitat. Or parhaps a combination of the three?? Any thoughts on these options would be welcome. I'm still debating.

Looks like your getting the hang of it pretty quick. That's a nice saw log in the pics. Are you separating those and keeping or selling? They're not worth a small fortune or anything close, but it is kind of a "green thing" and just a shame in general to outright waste them.
Right now, the guy that hauls pulp wood pays $15/ton. The amish guys will pay a little better but they're more selective on what they want and we have to haul to them. And the commercial firewood guys are running rampant too. I would really worry about letting any "home owner types" out to gather their own firewood. Too many lawsuit crazies out there.
IMO, If you have an out of the way spot, pile the stumps and leave to rot. They are not the easiest to burn. A stump pit always ends up being a PIA. When things dry out, I have a neighbor that needs an old stump pit removed. Whoever did the clearing for the horse pasture used part of it for stumps and logs. The horses have found 3 different spots thankfully without harming themselves.

 

[EddieWalker]

Stumps really are a pain to burn, but if you keep at it, they disapear with the rest of the pile. I take the whole tree out and burn it in one piece if I can. With the bigger pines, I've found that quartering them really helps in getting the fire started, but once it's going, I can put just about anything on it, and it will burn.

I have my burn pile, which will burn for months at a time. Then the ash gets to be too much, and I have to move the burn pile over. I then haul the ash to an area behind my dam and dump it there. I also dump my topsoil and dirt that's mixed with branches or plants there. I'm slowly building up that area to make it a picnic area at the same height of my dam.

Getting rid of all that ash is a challenge, but finding a good place for it was the biggest part of that. After finding a good place, it's just a matter of spending the time to do it.

Eddie