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Forestry mower for rent or service to hire?

Started by DeerMeadowFarm, April 28, 2015, 10:48:32 AM

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DeerMeadowFarm

Hi Guys,

Not sure if this was the best place to post this or not...? I have been approved for some money through my state's NRCS program to get rid of some invasive species. The plan calls for some type of mechanical removal with a Fecon-type mower followed up with a chemical treatment. My forester can do the chemical treatment but we are at a loss for finding someone with this type of equipment. The job size is rather small, just under 6 acres to be mowed and treated, but the area is somewhat wet. We both agree that a tracked unit, skid-steer type machine with a forestry mower would be perfect. So I am looking for two scenarios:

1. Renting such a unit

2. Hiring the job out

I have no issues in running the equipment myself, I run farm equipment all the time.

I am in central Massachusetts, in Warren. Any leads or info would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

Rich

Raider Bill

The First 70 years of childhood is always the hardest.

submarinesailor

I'm second in line after Raider Bill. :D :D :D :D :D

DeerMeadowFarm

That's helpful guys....  ::) ;)

I'd love to buy one!

beenthere

My neighbor hired a Fecon-type mower business to come in and mechanically remove 5-6 acres of buckthorn. There were numerous breakdowns and the process took quite a few days. Think they worked for a certain cost per acre tho, so it was on the business owner to cover that cost. That removal was fed funds too, and mechanical followed by chemical treatment.
Used to have some available to rent, but the local equipment dealers have quit renting. Only have them for sale.

4-5 years later, the buckthorn is as healthy as it was before the funded project. Not sure if more treatment will be done or not.
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

DeerMeadowFarm

Well, my forester said that while the funding is helpful, two years of treatment is usually not enough. His rule of thumb is if the infestation has been there for 10 years, it'll take 10 years of treatment to truly erradicate it. My/our plan is to use the funds to get the mechanical and first treatment done at which point I can hopefully get in there a few times of year with my brush hog, clearing saw (which I hope to buy soon) and sprayer and continue the treatments under his guidance. His suggestion is to pick a weekend in June each year and commit myself to re-spraying everything myself. Right now though, the multiflora rose is cab roof high on my tractor!

logman81

Their is a place in Lynn mass that rents exactly what your looking for. I rented it from them a year ago and worked very well. They also rent a shear head for it as well.
Precision Firewood & Logging

logman81

Landry rental center is the name of the place.
Precision Firewood & Logging

DeerMeadowFarm


woodmills1

send me a pm I have a friend who has one here in southern NH.
James Mills,Lovely wife,collect old tools,vacuuming fool,36 bdft/hr,oak paper cutter,ebonic yooper rapper nauga seller, Blue Ox? its not fast, 2 cat family, LT70,edger, 375 bd ft/hr, we like Bob,free heat,no oil 12 years,big splitter, baked stuffed lobster, still cuttin the logs dere IAM

pine

Congratulations!  The NRCS grants for those purposes can be quite helpful.

I had/have one for some forestry property that was the subject of storm damage. 
I looked into hiring a company that I had used a couple of years ago and they were so booked that I gave up.  Looked around for others and rentals like you.  There are different construction companies that have them but have no idea how to do a NRCS prescription.

I live in a completely different part of the US (so different that sometime it is hard to believe we are in the same country) so things might not be comparable.  If the Landry rental center lead does not pan out try the local CAT rental center.  Here they are named NC CAT Rental Store.  On line search shows you have them near Wareham and Milford.  http://www.catrentalstore.com/
Very reasonable (depending upon your definition of reasonable) rates.  Rented a 299D-XHP and a Cat 315 mulcher.  I have a really rough area with lots of debris and was quite surprised at how effective it did the job.

We were so pleased that after a week of use we have made the decision to purchase a unit (they are not cheap).  Between the mastication capability for forestry prescriptions and the addition lift capability for timbers and work around the mill that my tractor can't handle we justified it.  The local NRCS forester and the county forester when they found out we were getting one immediately said they had folks that were looking for the service just like you because the big guys did not want to bid on projects of your size.

Not knowing your situation, but if you can't find the resource there are most likely others in the same bucket.  Depending upon your work status and finances, if you purchased you might be able to do what you want for your property and then slowly amortize off the equipment doing work for others that need your services. 

Probably not for you but is at least worth considering/thinking about before discarding as not viable. 
The rental is quite viable however and I would encourage you to do it.

Ed_K

 When you finish that one, I can get you another one in Heath Ma. 5 ac with 3 loads of cordwood 1 load of saw logs.
Ed K

Holmes

 I believe FF member @Piston has a neighbor that has the fecon unit in  Upton? Ma.
Think like a farmer.

WV Sawmiller

Deer,

   I know others will sic Poston on me and such but in all seriousness if the invasive species is multiflora rose I'd get some goats and put in there. I moved into my current home 25 years ago and the old fields and surrounding woods, my creek banks such were completely overgrown. I fought them for years but once I finally got a fence up and got some goats they took care of it. They love roses. In winter they would gnaw the bark and girdle the stumps killing everything above. They will clean everything they can reach standing on their hind legs, bend over or on a leaning tree they can climb. I had a mixed herd of mostly alpine sized goats and cleaned all understory up to a height of 6'-7' and let the sunlight in and I now have grass growing in what was roses and brush. I no longer have goats but my horse and mule and the wildlife keep the new growth browsed down and I can trim down the young plants that keep growing outside the pasture. Birds continue to re-plant the place from neighboring roses.

   Not sure if your funding would pay for fencing and a goat herd. At a minimum you would have to have a good woven fence. Forget barb wire or electric unless you are a better man than I am as I never could keep them in with it. A good old nanny or two will cause the others to stay with her. They are very social like that. Any opening over 6"-8" will not hold young kids who will feed on both sides of the fence but won't stray too far from the old ones. They are bad to get horns stuck in the fence sticking their heads through to feed. My son duct taped sections of PVC pipe on which worked but sure resulted in strange looking animals for a while. Butt-headed goats are preferred for this reason if available.

    Good luck.
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

redprospector

I wish we were closer, I've got 2 of them. I would do your job, or try to sell you one of them.  :D



 



 
1996 Timber King B-20 with 14' extension, Morgan Mini Scragg Mill, Fastline Band Scragg Mill (project), 1973 JD 440-b skidder, 2008 Bobcat T-320 with buckets, grapple, auger, Tushogg mulching head, etc., 2006 Fecon FTX-90L with Bull Hog 74SS head, 1994 Vermeer 1250 BC Chipper. A bunch of chainsaws.

thecfarm

I've had goats,they all should be dehorned. It's really for thier own safety,so they don't get thier horns stuck in a fence. I just had a slab fence,about 5 feet tall.
That DanG snow might get a little deep at DeerMeadowFarm place for the goats too.  ;D
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

DeerMeadowFarm

Update so far. Landy called me back. Rental price was $825/day but the delivery and pick up was going to cost $850. That's the killer. I need to find one closer. I did find one a few towns over and I could go there and pick it up myself which would save some money, but their site states that the machine (Kubota SLV90) requires a hoisting license to rent which I don't have (I am exempt from using that type of equipment because of my farm status but I'm not sure how that would play out with a rental unit). The forestry mulcher and the skid steer both require a commercial insurance policy which I don't have either. I got another lead today that Northern Tree may do that type of work so I can check them out as well.
I'm sure renting, assuming all went well, would be the cheaper route. I'd also like to mulch up a couple of other areas that aren't on my conservation plan but really need it as well, so doing it myself is appealing to me. The portion the plan calls for is roughly 6 acres of stuff like this:

  

 

Any ideas on how long it would take to mulch that stuff up? I want to leave as many of the trees as possible.

Redbark

I just signed a contract with my NRCS to kill 30 acres of buckthorn over the next 5 years. I ordered the largest brush saw I could find and will cut and spray herbicide on stumps. I've used this method in past and it seems to work very well.
I'll let you know how my Stihl 560 works.
Red

WV Sawmiller

Another technique I used to get rid of M. rose before I got the goats was to take a long cable and basically lasso a bunch with a shackle on the noose end and a loop on a ball hitch on the other end on a small tractor. My wife or son would drive and I'd walk around the circle cutting rose clumps off at the base with a chain saw as they drew the loop tighter and tighter. Every time I'd cut a clump the noose would tighten and get easier the tighter it got. When I cut the last clump we'd drag them to a burn pile and burn them up. That worked pretty well. You could string/gerrymander the cable around/between trees you want to save. Takes 2 people to do and you do have to get down and wade/cut paths through the brush but it worked and was a cheap alternative.

I'll admit mowing is much easier but this way I cut/cleared steep hillsides I could not reach with a mower.
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

Holmes

Can you mow it with a heavy duty bush hog , then spray?   I cleaned up a few small fields that way and it is a mechanical device.  Or spray it when the leaves sprout then mow it in the fall when its all dead.
Think like a farmer.

DeerMeadowFarm

The pictures I had don't show the worst. A lot of the multi flora rose is cab high on my 52 HP tractor! The "trnucks" are 4 or 5 inches across and they are big around, intertwined with each other, a real PITA to remove. The barbary and other stuff could be cut down with a good clearing saw but you couldn't get to the middle of some areas.

No one noticed the deer?  ;)

pine

Quote from: DeerMeadowFarm on May 01, 2015, 11:08:06 AM
Update so far. Landy called me back. Rental price was $825/day but the delivery and pick up was going to cost $850. That's the killer. I need to find one closer. I did find one a few towns over and I could go there and pick it up myself which would save some money, but their site states that the machine (Kubota SLV90) requires a hoisting license to rent which I don't have (I am exempt from using that type of equipment because of my farm status but I'm not sure how that would play out with a rental unit). The forestry mulcher and the skid steer both require a commercial insurance policy which I don't have either. I got another lead today that Northern Tree may do that type of work so I can check them out as well.


Do you know what mulching head they have on the Kubota SVL 90? 

SwampDonkey

Quote from: DeerMeadowFarm on May 01, 2015, 01:17:55 PM
The barbary and other stuff could be cut down with a good clearing saw but you couldn't get to the middle of some areas.

What's there that you can't cut your way through? An FS560 will take down stuff 6" on the stump.
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

beenthere

SD
"What's there?" you ask.

You have any experience getting into the center of a multiflora rose clump ??  I'm thinking not..   ;D

And if you do, I apologize. But would really like to see a video of you attacking one with the FS560.
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

SwampDonkey

I think someone else was dealing with the rose issue, but if there is rose or hawthorn or armed wild plum, all bets are off. :D

No, our woods here outright kills that stuff out when trees take over, but abandoned pastures still in succession, who knows what lurks. :D
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

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