Hey guys newbie here.
We have just bout 240 acres with 90 clear but wanting to clear more around the creek and flat land. Only the small trees.
Bush fires went through in 2012 so most is new growth and under a 600ml coke bottle in diameter. The trees bigger and old growth we are leaving.
For these trees would it be best to get a dozer, excavator, or skid steer keeping in mind we are in Australia and dont want to spend more than 35-40kAUD on one of the mentioned.
I have attached images to show the growth we are wanting to clear.
PS: I think I attached images but im new to this, if not i have added them in my gallery.
If anyone still cant view them please tell me so i can try again.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47157/IMG_20171002_170611.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1506936834)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47157/IMG_20171002_170412.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1506936922)
(Added a couple for you. Admin)
Sorry, no images in this post
I'd be looking at a forest mulching tool. Do you have any equipment? Such as a small skid steer or tractor? Just a personal suggestion but I'd look at an FAE or Fecon mulching head. They have good dealer networks down under I think ( i see used ones for sale down there). The advantage would be that they keep the organic matter on site but it is chipped, it is a nice clean look, fast, good stuff.
I have a mini excavator with a thumb & it works great for clearing small trees & brush. The 6' blade is great for dressing up uneven ground. Good luck,
Jim
What tonne is your mini?
Anyone got ideas on pricing of the fecon pto Mulcher or similar? And would these get the roots to as they push over whilst mulching the root ball would come out on small stuff I assume?
How much do you want to spend?
Is any if it real rocky.. A few boulders dont matter but lots of exposed rock would influence me.
What other land projects are there to do in the future? Roads, ponds, pads, excavation, farming etc?
Will you need to transport any of this equipment yourself during ownership, and if so, on what haul rig?
what will you do with the equipment after this job is done?
$30k AUD
none of it is rocket at all, no plans on other uses currently but depending on what we get it would be used in other ways, ie: if a dozer is best for clearing the trees we will probably end up making new paths also but there is not a need for it to do this as we have cleared roads and paths, aswell as ponds ect already.
No need to transport it during owner ship whole property is accessible and has storage on it.
Something like the dozer we might sell if we don't have any other uses after, something like the fecon Mulcher mentioned above we would keep to clear bracken and other stuff in the future. So no need to decide based on this.
Look forward to your help
Hands down, I'd buy a mini excavator with a blade. I've owned several large and a couple small excavators over the years. My current favorite is a Kubota KX-161 that I bought used for $5500 with a blown motor. I put in a new motor, added a thumb and a 24" bucket and it's a great machine. It digs as well as a full sized machine down to around 8' or so. Lifts a lot over the blade especially, and moves a surprising amount of brush when pushed with the blade and lifted with the thumb/bucket combo.
I prefer it for grading way more than a skid steer. In fact it works so well that I sold my skid steer grader attachment.
They do make mulcher heads like a fecon for excavators too. I think that's the way I'd go. But, you probably want a decent size machine. The boss had a mulcher head (can't remember the brand....) for his volvo 160. That was a heavy head, definitely need the weight and power but it would handle anything you would need it to. Excavator is a very handy machine.
buxomfarmer,
You can only post pictures here from the Forestry Forum Gallery that you create. Off-site pictures are not allowed.
Quote from: buxtonfarmer on October 02, 2017, 08:44:26 AM
What tonne is your mini?
Anyone got ideas on pricing of the fecon pto Mulcher or similar? And would these get the roots to as they push over whilst mulching the root ball would come out on small stuff I assume?
Lots of youtubes of folks mulching, and even mulching down under. They generally go a few inches into the soil. The FAEs do better with rock than other heads. The less you touch dirt the better the chipping. The really big ones are out of your budget but a smaller head and skid steer should be in your budget. Magic in cleaning up a property, but they are not disturbing the soil much (that's the good thing). So there are no rootballs to manage. The stem is cut off an inch or two into the ground. The roots rot in place, well it might take a year or two to kill off the sprouts if Eucs stump sprout (and given the fire you guys have i am guessing something sprouts from the stumps).
I personally find that dozers are becoming a bygone machine.. Having lost favor in general.. They tend to offer the most bang for the buck. Theres nothing big there so no need for a huge outside arm machine. A 6way blade isnt as durable but will do fine there and is very precise. With a root rake, a 450 dozer would make short work of that job for probably less money than a good mini-ex and certainly less that a mulcher head plus suitable carrier.
But, a dozer cant do the other jobs that SS or mini-ex can. Tradeoffs.
We already have a Kioti fx751, came with property, so would only need the Mulcher head.
In saying that a small fecon pto head 1500 wide is $36k rrp in AUS to give you guys an idea.
Being we have the fx751 already there isn't much we couldn't do with that compared to a skid steer or dozer would there?
It seems a mini exc or Mulcher head seems to be the go?
The Mulcher seems good because it leaves no piles to burn, turn the soil also and leave it fertile to plant a rye and clover for cattle and to bring in some deer to hunt.
Am I off track on that thinking.
No one knows your situation, market or future plans better than you. If a mulcher will do the job you want, at a price you can stomach and still be put to use or sold afterward for the exit strategy phase of this operation, then it seems pretty reasonable to me.