trail clearing technique and tools

[cqaigy2]

Just on my place. Would be pretty boring to see. Loppers and leather gloves for the black berries.

 

[Fixastuff]

Has anyone else been out clearing trails???

I am slowly widening my old rake and ride trails into something wider/smoother/faster that other people can enjoy. I pulled this sidewalk from a customers job last year and took em home

I finally had time to drag them into a low spot that I didn't want to reroute. It's good all summer but is sometimes wet in the winter.

 

[JamesHW]

Came foe the trail clearing tips…stayed for pics of the trail doggo

 

[ArlyA]

I am slowly widening my old rake and ride trails into something wider/smoother/faster that other people can enjoy. I pulled this sidewalk from a customers job last year and took em homeView attachment 706745View attachment 706746View attachment 706748View attachment 706749View attachment 706750View attachment 706751View attachment 706752View attachment 706753View attachment 706754I finally had time to drag them into a low spot that I didn't want to reroute. It's good all summer but is sometimes wet in the winter.

The cement pads are whats called armor but its anything we put down to control or reduce erosion. Do you ride MB? Thanks for posting.

 

[Fixastuff]

The cement pads are whats called armor. Do you ride MB? Thanks for posting.

Yeah, no mountains here though. I also use them for dog walks and hunting.

 

[joecoin]

I finally had time to drag them into a low spot that I didn't want to reroute. It's good all summer but is sometimes wet in the winter.

Now you'll have to shovel them.

 

[jjeff]

I am slowly widening my old rake and ride trails into something wider/smoother/faster that other people can enjoy. I pulled this sidewalk from a customers job last year and took em homeView attachment 706745View attachment 706746View attachment 706748View attachment 706749View attachment 706750View attachment 706751View attachment 706752View attachment 706753View attachment 706754I finally had time to drag them into a low spot that I didn't want to reroute. It's good all summer but is sometimes wet in the winter.

Nice mini, what's the specs on it? can you run a flail or rotary cutter with it?

 

[jjeff]

My mostly one man operation trying to reclaim 5+ acres of an overgrown Christmas tree farm. Before pictures first than after,

 

[Fixastuff]

Nice mini, what's the specs on it? can you run a flail or rotary cutter with it?

TB216 - Takeuchi US

www.takeuchi-us.com

Its a tough machine with a big butt.(part of what makes it so good) I just had a Cat 302 at the house for a month demo even though the Cat weights 1500lbs more had has significant more HP it didn't out perform the 216. The boom swing and slew we're the only things better but the lighter Tak could lift more and dig better because of the counterweight of the tailswing.

From the videos I've seen and people talked to it will spin and handle the weight of the smallest Lipa flail no problem, but like most smaller machines it won't track and cut unless you install a priority valve. I've also seen it running Ghendi flail but haven't seen a source to buy that one in the USA.

As much as I liked the AC in the cat I wasn't impressed with anything else. The 216 could lift more even though the bucket on the Cat was much thinner/weaker and probably weighed half as much and the TAG bucket on the 216 + I have a quick hitch adding even more weight.

 

[ArlyA]

Thanks for posting guys. Mini excavators is what most MB trails are built with in the Midwest anyways.. I hope this thread will assist people to build or maintain there trails.

 

[ArlyA]

With moderate weather here we are heading out of town tonight and be camping at Bob Lake which is a NFS campground. There is a little trail there we care for so we'll be hitting it with .155 stings and clearing any dead-falls we fine. Easy job. I'll get photos, but the last time we camped, our cameras memory card failed. Hope everyone has as nice a weekend as we plan to have!

 

[Mudfarmer]

I use a 12 inch mulching blade on my Stihl FS91 handlebar brush cutter. It may spark if you hit a rock, but keeps on working. I use it on blackberry bushes, salmon berry and saplings up to an inch. has the advantage of chopping everything to smithereens so I don't have to pick up after myself.

 

[ning]

I use a 12 inch mulching blade on my Stihl FS91 handlebar brush cutter. It may spark if you hit a rock, but keeps on working. I use it on blackberry bushes, salmon berry and saplings up to an inch. has the advantage of chopping everything to smithereens so I don't have to pick up after myself.View attachment 707665

I could see using this maybe two or three months out of the year, mostly on oak saplings; the rest of the year it would cause a massive conflagration around here. In the wintertime, I pull blackberries out of the ground so they don't grow back.

 

[ArlyA]

We got back from a weekend of wonderful camping and clearing trails at 2 NFS campgrounds. We had coolish weather which prompted us out.

In this shot, you can see maple whips on both sides will soon be overtaking this trail. They are nearly three feet tall.

I've started to cut them. The .155 string did better on them that I expected and I did not need to change the strings out.

All done! You can see the whip debris everywhere. This is where large string machines rock!

 

[ArlyA]

More trail clearing with 155 string. In the background you can see steps already cleared. Of course the pole-saw will be used to remove this dead fall.

Here is a boardwalk covered with ferns and swamp grass. There is a creek at its middle.

Now we're clearing it.

 

[airbiscuit]

So, does the dog know when you are about to head out?

 

[Torvy]

I work like to try one of these blades to cut the shoots down as seen in the above photos. Might be better in the gravel and rocks we work in. Has anyone used these?View attachment 699901

I've used something similar with plastic blades. I prefer it to string. Swapping blades is easier than dealing with string problems.. Cheap knockoffs break too easy, so stick to known brands.

 

[ArlyA]

I've used something similar with plastic blades. I prefer it to string. Swapping blades is easier than dealing with string problems.. Cheap knockoffs break too easy, so stick to known brands.

We can replace 4 strings in less than 60 seconds. Plastic cutting blades would last us about 60 seconds.

 

[ArlyA]

So, does the dog know when you are about to head out?

No, but when dogs get tired, they'll sit by the truck.

 

[airbiscuit]

I meant, do the dogs get excited when you are heading out TO the trails?