Extreme Cutting

hunting4deere · Feb 10, 2011

I have been following this forum a while. I have wanted a Brown Tree Cutter since the first time I saw one. I bought a lightly used 6' 145 in November. Now I'm looking a used tractor to run it.

Anyway...I work for the State of NC (NCDA) we have been mowing property boundries on a tract in the southeastern part of the state this past week with a Cat 287c low ground pressure tracks and a Fecon head that we own. This week was my first experence with a skid steer type mower and I have been very surprised at the terrian this machine has been through. Most of our cuuting is around the edge of Carolina Bays and we have made several passes through the bays. Most of the bushes are so thick that you can't see no farther than the Fecon head and are 12+ feet tall. We have been stuck several times and have to get the Forest Service to pull us out with their Deere 750 LGP dozer.

hunting4deere · Feb 10, 2011

BTW, that is not me in either picture. I was operating the camera.

Heavyduty · Feb 10, 2011

hunting4deere said:
BTW, that is not me in either picture. I was operating the camera.

Wow, close call.

I have a couple of brown tree cutters and one brown shredder. They are built to last.

hunting4deere · Feb 10, 2011

Heavyduty said:
Wow, close call.

I have a couple of brown tree cutters and one brown shredder. The are built to last.

yea, when I saw one for the first time I knew I had to have one. I'm all about Heavy Duty. I'm not in the mowing business, I wanted it more for me. I have some woodlands and do some some food plot management for some local people so maybe I can do some shooting lane cutting for them. Would like to find a cheap Ford/NH 7600,7610,6610

Heavyduty · Feb 10, 2011

Looks like your working in pender county or close to it. I work in NC, SC, and VA.

hunting4deere · Feb 11, 2011

HD,
We are working in Brunswick County...Boiling Spring Lakes Area.

Stuck it again today.

Heavyduty · Feb 11, 2011

hunting4deere said:
HD,
We are working in Brunswick County...Boiling Spring Lakes Area.

Stuck it again today.

Man, yaw don't give it no slack. :thumbsup: Be nice if you could come back in the summer-fall when the water table drops. I guess your on a strict time schedule.

Heavyduty · Feb 11, 2011

hunting4deere said:
HD,
We are working in Brunswick County...Boiling Spring Lakes Area.

Stuck it again today.

I had to find the map, I won't off much. Those pines and scrub brush tracts are only in a few places along the that coast. :thumbsup:

Robbie Hegwood · Feb 12, 2011

Hey hunting, I have one word for you, EXCAVATOR!! Better weight distribution, much better visibility, you will be able to see trouble area before you sink in them. And you can get yourself unstuck more often. The one thing that troubles me about the pictures is how far the machine sank and that the boom us up blocking your exit, been there, have the pics to show. Food for thought.

Heavyduty · Feb 12, 2011

Robbie Hegwood said:
Hey hunting, I have one word for you, EXCAVATOR!! Better weight distribution, much better visibility, you will be able to see trouble area before you sink in them. And you can get yourself unstuck more often. The one thing that troubles me about the pictures is how far the machine sank and that the boom us up blocking your exit, been there, have the pics to show. Food for thought.

Yeah, Robbie makes a good point. Make sure the operator knows where all the ditchs and canals are too. One minute you could be working in 6 inchs of water and then drive into a 6 foot deep ditch. I don't think that cat will float for 20 seconds like a car would.

fishfactor · Feb 12, 2011

You need a winch on the back if you're going to be in that stuff much longer. We were working in a swamp/wetlands last year for a few months. The brush was so thick if you threw a rock it wouldn't hit the ground. Turns our that was a good thing because the mulch mat was about the only thing keeping the mulcher from sinking to the roof. I was wishing I had a winch the entire time.

fishfactor · Feb 12, 2011

Robbie Hegwood said:
Hey hunting, I have one word for you, EXCAVATOR!! Better weight distribution, much better visibility, you will be able to see trouble area before you sink in them. And you can get yourself unstuck more often. The one thing that troubles me about the pictures is how far the machine sank and that the boom us up blocking your exit, been there, have the pics to show. Food for thought.

Robbie - do you have a head that would work on a Bobcat E80 excavator? I don't think they are quite 20K lbs, maybe 18K off the top of my head.

Robbie Hegwood · Feb 12, 2011

Yes I do. Call me Monday and well talk about it.

tonyoz · Feb 13, 2011

Maybe it' time to start a new thread were members can post pic's of their Best Stuck,just for fun

Beagleman · Feb 13, 2011

You may want to talk to the guys at Fecon, they make a head for your excavator as well.

fishfactor · Feb 14, 2011

Beagleman said:
You may want to talk to the guys at Fecon, they make a head for your excavator as well.

Yeah, I know. But, we have a fecon head and a gyro (cimaf) head now. Any future heads will be cimaf. Everyone needs a fecon type head for the rocky terrain, but you can't beat the production of the knives on a cimaf.

Beagleman · Feb 14, 2011

Did you know Fecon now offers a knife tool, so you can easily switch from carbides to knives or mix and match tools on the rotor. Gives you the performance of Cimaf and the durabiliy of Fecon. Plus they have some other options as well.

Robbie Hegwood · Feb 14, 2011

Gee Beagleman, if I didn't know better I would say your a Fecon dealer.

And if you are you should know adding chipper knives to a Fecon will NOT equal the cut of a Cimaf. Be happy to show you at a demo.

Heavyduty · Feb 14, 2011

Robbie Hegwood said:
Gee Beagleman, if I didn't know better I would say your a Fecon dealer. And if you are you should know adding chipper knives to a Fecon will NOT equal the cut of a Cimaf. Be happy to show you at a demo.

Which was it? Only 2 post or FECON, FECON, FECON :laughing:

Just messin with ya Beagleman:thumbsup:

hunting4deere · Feb 15, 2011

We finished cutting the lines Friday. We stuck the Cat 6 times and had to get the NCFS to pull it out 5 times. We had a rental Bobcat 190 w/a brushcat mover and used it to pull the Cat out 1 time. We stuck the Bobcat 4 times and used the Cat to pull it out 3 times and the FS to pull it out 1 time. That was when we had both stuck at the same time.

I have told the guy who is the progam manager for which the Cat belongs, he needs a winch.