Pictures from a skid steer mowing contractor

[workinonit]

Do you have those 2 mulchers on the payroll?

 

[Hay Dude]

Yes sir, an operator who keeps his machine moving steady and gives you the actual time that he is billing you for can accomplish quite a bit in a 4 hour window and his price sounds very fair, here in my part of Fl a machine of that size would start at $250 per hour, most guys with the mulchers will only bid by the acre or by the job.

Mulching is definitely an upcharge from bush hogging.
I consider mulching to go much farther than bush hogging. It cuts the material down to the dirt and turns it into fertilizer. It can cut roots at the surface, too.

I rent a friends CAT 297 with mulching head and typically charge about $2,000-$2,500 day.

 

[ddbackhoe]

I rent a friends CAT 297 with mulching head and typically charge about $2,000-$2,500 day.

View attachment 808196

You guys need to be extra careful with those mulching things. One of the local guys had his arms raised, cutting down a tree and the ssqa plate broke. The head rotated forward and ate the tracks and front idlers before he got it shut down. Had to throw away his pants too.

 

[Fixastuff]

The guy near me charges $250/hr for mulching. Not sure what machine he had its always out working.

 

[Fixastuff]

The guy near me charges $250/hr for mulching. Not sure what machine he had its always out working.

I looked at renting one for a week and by the time I factored in diesel(not sure what it burns/hr but I'm betting it's thirsty) and rental I'm not sure I could do it much cheaper myself. Of course then I couldn't do other work and I'm sure it takes a little time to get proficient with it. So $250/hr seemed very fair to me.

 

[Lineman North Florida]

View attachment 808184

Do you have those 2 mulchers on the payroll?

There are 28 more of them hid out in that sudan not counting the yearlings and the bull, and actually now that calf prices are back up those girls are on the payroll.

 

[Lineman North Florida]

Mulching is definitely an upcharge from bush hogging.
I consider mulching to go much farther than bush hogging. It cuts the material down to the dirt and turns it into fertilizer. It can cut roots at the surface, too.

View attachment 808197





I rent a friends CAT 297 with mulching head and typically charge about $2,000-$2,500 day.

View attachment 808196

Is that a drum mulcher or disc mulcher that you are using? With the carbide teeth rows on the bottom of my blade carrier I can do about as good a job as a disc mulcher after I back drag over what I have cut, but I haven't seen anything that tops a drum mulcher for a finished product.

 

[Lastkidpicked]

So several people said they enjoyed my pictures from some of my forestry mowing jobs, so instead of cluttering up hay dudes thread I will post in this thread.

Thank you for posting your pics and your experiences, Lineman.

And @Hay Dude I'm glad to see you posting over here. I enjoy the back and forth on your thread, and will continue to watch both.

Your generosity with your time and information is very much appreciated. Thank you from all of us.

 

[Lineman North Florida]

Well dodged the rain yesterday morning, it rained within about 1/2 mile from the field where I have the hay cut down, so I went and did a little dirt work job for a rock driveway and came home fluffed my field and then hooked to the baler and baled a small field that my neighbor had ready and had a bearing on 1 of the belt rollers go out so to the barn to tear it apart after it cooled down, by the time I made it back my neighbor had it mostly ready to get the belt roller tube out so we did, everyone was closed so waiting here this morning to see if anyone around here has one, we will see.

 

[LD1]

Im $100-$120/hr with my MX and 8' twin.

Clearing with a SS is a whole different ballgame.

There is sorta a competitor here that uses a tracked SS and front brush cutter.

In reality....we rarely overlap on jobs. I want the big open areas and have been cut within the last year or two. Pastures, unplanted fields that have became housing lots, etc.

I shy away from anything that has alot of saplings or brush. My mower only "rated" at 1".....and a 8' mower with the tractor....not very maneuverable. And I probably would have avoided the job in the first pic.

But get on a 5-10 acre open field and a SS is not very efficient at all. Slow and a rough ride. A job that would take me an hour or two at the most is gonna take a SS half a day.

 

[Lineman North Florida]

Im $100-$120/hr with my MX and 8' twin.

Clearing with a SS is a whole different ballgame.

There is sorta a competitor here that uses a tracked SS and front brush cutter.

In reality....we rarely overlap on jobs. I want the big open areas and have been cut within the last year or two. Pastures, unplanted fields that have became housing lots, etc.

I shy away from anything that has alot of saplings or brush. My mower only "rated" at 1".....and a 8' mower with the tractor....not very maneuverable. And I probably would have avoided the job in the first pic.

But get on a 5-10 acre open field and a SS is not very efficient at all. Slow and a rough ride. A job that would take me an hour or two at the most is gonna take a SS half a day.

I understand before I bought my skidsteer there were jobs that I would turn down because they were just to rough for my liking and I am still peculiar about putting my tractors where they really don't belong, but my skidsteer is made for just such places which gives me the ability to do a variety of jobs.

 

[EddieWalker]

My neighbor has hired a guy to clear areas of his land, next to he creek, three times in the last five years. They do a great job of opening it all up and making it look great, but then he never keeps it mowed and in a few months, it's all overgrown again. In my opinion, it comes back thicker every time it's been mowed. I have the same stuff growing on my place, next to the creek, but I dug it all out with my backhoe, and hauled it to my burn pile. There are no more roots in the ground after I dig it out, so it's super easy to maintain once it's opened up. I'm about 80% done clearing my area, and he's worse now then when he started.

 

[Lineman North Florida]

Well me and my neighbor got the bearings changed out on the roller tube that the belts ride on and I went straight to the field and got it rolled without a hiccup, ready to start loading it and hauling to the barn in the morning, except for 15 rolls that are sold right in the field.

 

[Lineman North Florida]

My neighbor has hired a guy to clear areas of his land, next to he creek, three times in the last five years. They do a great job of opening it all up and making it look great, but then he never keeps it mowed and in a few months, it's all overgrown again. In my opinion, it comes back thicker every time it's been mowed. I have the same stuff growing on my place, next to the creek, but I dug it all out with my backhoe, and hauled it to my burn pile. There are no more roots in the ground after I dig it out, so it's super easy to maintain once it's opened up. I'm about 80% done clearing my area, and he's worse now then when he started.

About anything you do requires a little continued maintenance be it mowing, or selective herbicide or whatever, I tell all my customers to not let their property get overgrown or they will need me or someone else to come back and do it again.

 

[cathy liebchen]

Yes sir, an operator who keeps his machine moving steady and gives you the actual time that he is billing you for can accomplish quite a bit in a 4 hour window and his price sounds very fair, here in my part of Fl a machine of that size would start at $250 per hour, most guys with the mulchers will only bid by the acre or by the job.

We hired a contractor with a 75 hp bobcat and a Cimaf 150d mulcher for 5 days (40 hours) at $200 an hour, for a variety of trails, fields and glens on an old pasture parcel. Best money we ever spent

 

[two_bit_score]

I looked at renting one for a week and by the time I factored in diesel(not sure what it burns/hr but I'm betting it's thirsty) and rental I'm not sure I could do it much cheaper myself. Of course then I couldn't do other work and I'm sure it takes a little time to get proficient with it. So $250/hr seemed very fair to me.

I looked in to renting a Cat CTL with a bush hog type cutter. For a month with delivery/pick up, insurance it was going to be about $4,000. That was close to a year ago.

 

[Lineman North Florida]

I looked in to renting a Cat CTL with a bush hog type cutter. For a month with delivery/pick up, insurance it was going to be about $4,000. That was close to a year ago.

You can do an abundance of work with a rig like that in a month, and that is a good price, the most important thing to make sure of if renting a bush hog type cutter for a CTL IMO is to make sure that it has carbide teeth on the bottom of the blade carrier to process/shred the material that you cut down when you back drag over it, there is no comparison to the finished product.

 

[ptsg]

Can't quite wrap my head around the thousands of dollars people pay for a skidsteer and brush cutter.

Over here, a 100HP tractor with a chain brush cutter will cost about $100 to $120/hour and will run circles around the skidsteer while leaving the same, if not a better finish most of the times.

About the only thing that would beat it in finish would be a mulcher, but even that is ran off the tractor.

 

[Hay Dude]

Well me and my neighbor got the bearings changed out on the roller tube that the belts ride on and I went straight to the field and got it rolled without a hiccup, ready to start loading it and hauling to the barn in the morning, except for 15 rolls that are sold right in the field.View attachment 808494View attachment 808496View attachment 808497

What’s your round bale weight? Mine were 800-900lbs. Ever since I switched to the large square baler, I have been able to start making “cubes” that weigh about the same as my 4x5 round bales (most weigh 850-900lbs with 12-15% moisture).
Then my round baler became useless and I sold it.

I sort of had to switch as most of my larger buyers want big bales. Round bales are still great for my small buyers. Most have been happy with my new “cube” configuration.

With your flat land you have there, round bales are very sensible. On my hilly fields, the large square baler is perfect.

They also double stack nicely in tight barns or run in sheds.

 

[ddbackhoe]

Can't quite wrap my head around the thousands of dollars people pay for a skidsteer and brush cutter.

Over here, a 100HP tractor with a chain brush cutter will cost about $100 to $120/hour and will run circles around the skidsteer while leaving the same, if not a better finish most of the times.

About the only thing that would beat it in finish would be a mulcher, but even that is ran off the tractor.

In my experience, its more about maneuverability. A SS is great for smaller properties or ones with obstacles like trees that are staying. A tractor is far better on large open areas. Not everyone owns both so typically they will always say what they have is best. Reality, not one machine that can do everything.

You’ve mentioned chain blade cutters before, could you explain or show some more pictures? Grade of/type of chain?