Low HP flail mower

[leonz]

Leonz,

Could you tell me what grouser tracks are? I have never heard of them. I a curious, what exactly would you imagine a dozer doing in my woods? I don't really use the blade so much as I want to shred the dense vegetation and leave the few remaining trees. If you look at the pictures I sent, that is basically what I want to do.

Also, could you explain to me how I am potentially at risk when I am clearing brush the way I am. I thought I was going pretty safe with the LX4 leading the way and only taking 2-3 foot "bites" at a time. even those bite were slow as I either lowered the LX4 onto brush and then moved forward through cleared ground, or I slowly backed in with the LX4, sort of "probing" in and careful to move slow enough that I would not strike a log hard. basically if I felt the nudge I stopped, moved forward, checked for obstructions, then moved back again. Overall, it was a very slow process, but faster than doing it by hand. In an afternoon I had cleared some nice patches and exposed logs preventing further movement. Thats where the chainsaw would come in and I would cut only those logs that I could tell were safe--not spring poles or the like.

I am wary of the underside, but that is why I was going backwards--to clear before material could even come into contact with the machine and especially its underside. Trust me when I say that I did not mow/clear unless I could see what I was clearing.

I thought I was being safe, but maybe you have better alternatives.

Thank you very much for you knowledge and insights

SI2305

There are two types of dozer tracks either finish tracks
or grouser tracks.

The finish tracks are for landscaping and near flat finishing
of an excavation prior to seeding.

A "Grouser Track" is a track with a pair of extended
vertical teeth on each pad that aids in providing
traction for the dozer when digging and moving piles
of dirt and in land clearing.


About your woods:

A small dozer or crawler excavator wih a long boom and
a thumb will solve 99 percent of your issues with this property.

The dozer will be able to dig up the logs that have dropped and
begun to sink into the ground and either push them out or chain
them and drag them with a helper setting a choker chain or cable.

The crawler excavator can be very advantageous for land clearing and selective thinning where it can drag the downed logs out of the mess
or bury them if they are beyond use for firewood.

The term is referred to as shovel logging where the boom and thumb
pull the logs out and set them a side if they are useable for firewood.


It would be worth looking at an aerial photo of the property if you
can have an aerial photo taken if none exist that are in great detail.

The reason I suggest this is that you are essentially flying blind into
your woods doing this and that-

All your doing is gaining experience in land clearing BUT you do not
have a road map to gio by or a topographic survey for the property
(I am assuming you do not have a topo map)

Your property does not look so dense that a dozer with winch or crawler excavator with a thumb would be wasted money-if it was so badly damaged by winds The shovel logging method for land clearing(total removal) is the normal state of affairs.


The othert issue is drainage you do not appear to have any and thats a big no no!

SO anyway I hope I have given you some things to think about, and you have to realise you cannot or will not be able to save a lot of timber as the damage has already been done from the overgrowth and reduced sunlight.

 

[SI2305]

Leonz

thanks for the info on grouser tracks, I can see how these would be useful on one of the smaller dozers in this kind of condition.

I think I see where your concerns originate--the flying blind aspect. Believe it or not, I actually purchased a USGS map shortly after we moved in. That, along with a website called "terraserver" allowed me to get a fairly good picture before I even purchased the property. As I have been told, the irony on "terraserver" is that the photos are actually old Russian images that were being used to ferret out US nuke silos and that after 1989 as the Cold War cooled off, these military picts were purchased by Microsoft so they could show off some fancy feature. At any rate, they gave me a really good look at the property from above.

Yeah, I can see from the pictures I posted how you would get the idea that there is no drainage, but actually there is a small creek that runs through the property. On the 3rd image, in order to show the brush, we were actually looking slightly uphill as the stream flows. Though it was not visible, the vane I cut stopped just shy of it.

I guess that I just can't get my mind over the thought of total removal and I want to save at least some that is left. I know it is a long-term project, but I feel committed to preserving some of what is left. I know that I can never have the same woods again, but I am hoping to save some but strategically leave some of the smaller trees that are popping up. The pictures to not show it well, but there are sapling sized trees in the weeds that are growing--some very rapidly. This is especially true with some hickory, oak, and especially sycamore trees. The sycamore seems to be fairly fast growing, especially as it is copiced. There are also a good number of large trees not visible in the images that are still in good shape and I certainly would not want to loose those as well. So I guess my plan of attack is to soldier on, using my knowledge of the pre-storm conditions, my maps, Google Earth, but mostly skill, technique, patience and determination.

Thanks for your thoughts and concerns. Your replies have been considerable food for thought and give reason to pause and consider.

SI2305

 

[leonz]

Leonz

thanks for the info on grouser tracks, I can see how these would be useful on one of the smaller dozers in this kind of condition.

I think I see where your concerns originate--the flying blind aspect. Believe it or not, I actually purchased a USGS map shortly after we moved in. That, along with a website called "terraserver" allowed me to get a fairly good picture before I even purchased the property. As I have been told, the irony on "terraserver" is that the photos are actually old Russian images that were being used to ferret out US nuke silos and that after 1989 as the Cold War cooled off, these military picts were purchased by Microsoft so they could show off some fancy feature. At any rate, they gave me a really good look at the property from above.

Yeah, I can see from the pictures I posted how you would get the idea that there is no drainage, but actually there is a small creek that runs through the property. On the 3rd image, in order to show the brush, we were actually looking slightly uphill as the stream flows. Though it was not visible, the vane I cut stopped just shy of it.

I guess that I just can't get my mind over the thought of total removal and I want to save at least some that is left. I know it is a long-term project, but I feel committed to preserving some of what is left. I know that I can never have the same woods again, but I am hoping to save some but strategically leave some of the smaller trees that are popping up. The pictures to not show it well, but there are sapling sized trees in the weeds that are growing--some very rapidly. This is especially true with some hickory, oak, and especially sycamore trees. The sycamore seems to be fairly fast growing, especially as it is copiced. There are also a good number of large trees not visible in the images that are still in good shape and I certainly would not want to loose those as well. So I guess my plan of attack is to soldier on, using my knowledge of the pre-storm conditions, my maps, Google Earth, but mostly skill, technique, patience and determination.

Thanks for your thoughts and concerns. Your replies have been considerable food for thought and give reason to pause and consider.

SI2305

Your going to find that it will be a running battle as the more opening up you do the greater growth of trees you leave are going to have and as a result the tree and saplings will be more exposed to wind loading and stresses from ice, and snow loading. The more crowding you have the less able the trees will be to witrhstand windloading as the roots will not be able to penetrate deeply as they are competing with other trees.


Most states have foresters that come out and mark the trees they know are bad for lot owners and these folks are fully trained in this work and I would call and ask to arrange to have a forester come by to walk and mark your bad trees so YOU know which ones have to come out.



What ever you do, DO NOT leave any willow, basswood, or box elder standing as they area death trap type of soft wood and will snap and break with little warning and avoid leaving any branches/limbs extending over the pathways.

ANY soft wood tree no matteer where it stands that is not a conifer should be dropped and removed for safeties sake.

 

[SI2305]

Leonz,

I will keep in mind the softwoods and I agree that their rapid growth does impair the more desirable trees. At present, my focus is on cutting vanes or paths as they move down the ridges. I am largely staying out of the gullies except for the bottom which is a quite large, flat area. I was at bottom in pict #3. There is plenty more area in the bottom going the opposite direction, but this is not clearly visible in any of the other pictures I posted.

Another thought I had was a controlled burn. There is a forestry group here near a large university that specializes in controlled burns. I have thought about this as it tends to burn off scrub, weeds, invasives but leaves hardwoods and other desireables. I could be wrong but I have also been told that the ground is more fertile for the remaining trees after the burn than before.

With this burn in mind, one goal is to cut firebreaks so that fire will be easier to to control. I hate the idea of having a fire started that cant get stopped.

I will have to call the group to see if they think a burn is possible at some time

SI2305

 

[greg_g]

What ever you do, DO NOT leave any willow, basswood, or box elder standing as they area death trap type of soft wood and will snap and break with little warning and avoid leaving any branches/limbs extending over the pathways..

Given that the OP lives in southern IL, add beech to that list. When gravity decides it's time for those big mothers to topple, they can do serious damage to valuable hardwoods on the way down. State forester here recommends chainsawing just bark deep around the entire circumference - just enough to stop the sap from flowing. That way they quit growing, and no longer shade the undergrowth. But the standing hollow trunks and limbs still provide habitat for wildlife. Since they've stopped growing, limbs drop off over time. When the trunk eventually falls over, there's far less damage to adjacent money trees

PS: recently saw video of a "controlled burn" out west cause millions of damage to private property - when the state foresters lost control of their controlled burn.

//greg//

 

[SI2305]

greg, good to hear from you again,

I will keep a lookout for beach. There are controlled burns around here all the time, and given the geometry of my woods and its relationship to others, a burn, once started, should be fully containable. As I stated, they are frequently done in the area by foresters. I actually live in woods that is contiguous with some national wildlife refuge land which itself is bordered by national forest. As the wildlife refuge land gets frequent controlled burns, the forest itself is quite healthier than the land that is not burned. The invasives get really knocked back. But I don't think that it will get out of control, these guys are pretty good and they only burn on a highly selective set of conditions. It is not like the burns out west which are huge to begin with and generally have a much lower humidity than around here.

well talk later,

SI2305

 

[quicksandfarmer]

Your pictures don't look like the kind of stuff I would use a flail for.

You've got a few things going on. You've got fallen branches. They just need to come out before you can drive anything through there. Lots of methods for that: chain, grapple, forks.

You've got brush that is too big to be mowed. If you can't run it over you can't mow it. For that your choices are to pull it out (chain, grapple, toothbar) or cut it off (chainsaw, tree shear, mulcher).

Once that stuff is out of the way you can drive through with a rotary mower and knock everything else down .

After doing that a few times you'll be ready for the flail mower.

 

[SI2305]

Quicksandfarmer,

This thread has deviated from flail mowers, but I agree with most of what of what you said. Most of the clearing was done with the LX4 since most of it was raspberries and other weeds. The other two weapons in this attack are a heavy duty weed eater decked out with a square blade that is great for getting into tight areas I can't get with the LX4 (like around a fallen tree with multiple branches where I need to clear the raspberries before cutting). The other obvious tool is the chainsaw. Both the weed eater (really more of a brush cutter--bought it specifically with this in mind) and chainsaw were purchased from the Deere dealer that services all 3 machines.

I use these two smaller tools to cut access across barriers so I can get on the other side. The most common example is a fallen log that I dare not cross with the 2305. I can cut a good 6-8 foot section out of the log, move that section, maybe another section (often with the bucket) then, if terrain permits, move over onto the other side. Slow but steady is the name of the game here. I will be here a long time and I will put plenty of commitment to this project.

As far as the aftermath, most of the stuff simply disappears to the blades of the LX4. The logs I am using for my garden beds. Anything else I usually push aside and move on.

Thanks for your interest, I appreciate your thoughts.

SI2305

 

[knotweed]

Here are the pictures of my 60" Befco and the work it does on a Yanmar 1610D. I love the way it doesn't throw rocks.
It doesn't pull the engine down, just go slower than normal.

 

[knotweed]

Forgot the pictures. First time try.