Excavator mulching- Cat 309, Cat 310, Tak TB290??

labradorguy · September 18, 2021, 07:20:04 PM

This thread started out about tracks then moved into machine selection 2 or 3 pages in. lol

I guess the title says it all. Six one way and half a dozen the other. I do a fair amount of suburb mulching but really want to get away from idiot city people. Tired of committees of blue haired women charging out and harassing me because I cut a tree down.... Have a lot of farm work lined up thinning hardwoods with a shear (a lot of overgrown post oak that will be small firewood logs) and pushing fencerows back with the mulcher. I like the wide steel track, but it would be a PITA in the burbs and I won't totally get away from that work I'm sure. The Cat bolt on rubber pads look good and are easy to replace, but I don't want to be constantly tearing them up on small sheared stumps a couple inches off the ground and changing rubber all the time. I just don't know how they last. Any thoughts?

Riwaka · September 18, 2021, 08:37:10 PM

Depends on the size of the mulcher machine/ material being mulched etc.
Can use planks of timber and rubber tires etc, to unload a steel track machine in the burbs to get it to the dirt. Still run the risk of broken tar and concrete etc.

Clipon rubber pads over steel tracks go up to 31 inches wide over steel shoes.

Can get clipons to go over rubber tracks. (there are some tough kevlar etc tracks for compact machines)
https://www.trackgrip.com/product-range/rubber-grip/

Walnut Beast · September 19, 2021, 12:09:31 AM

What excavator and size are you talking about ?

labradorguy · September 19, 2021, 08:32:58 AM

Cat 309

Walnut Beast · September 19, 2021, 01:14:23 PM

It's a Beast. Lots of good feedback. That's the exact one I'm waiting for a quote on. I'll probably go rubber. The 309 has the separate pumps. One dedicated for the mulcher two gal more than 310 4,000psi about the same. but the other pump is the same as used on the smaller ones. The 310 has a bigger main pump, longer track no swing dual cylinder. Guys say it's pretty good. Some say tracking is better while mulching in the 309

Walnut Beast · September 19, 2021, 01:46:06 PM

They say the power tilt is really nice as pictured on the first pic of the 309. It's got the hydraulic quick coupler as well. Works awesome with mulcher and buckets that can also be turned for the shovel position. Second pic is the 310 fixed boom dual cylinder

labradorguy · September 19, 2021, 07:32:14 PM

309 is the way to go if you want to do mulching and light forest work. I'm looking at putting some kind of logging head on it. Just can't find the right one. Looking at Arbro but then saw the TMK 300 and it looks like a pretty sweet tool at 1/4 the price...

Walnut Beast · September 19, 2021, 08:00:17 PM

Good lift capacity at 15 feet. 6,000 with blade down and over the side is 4,700

labradorguy · September 19, 2021, 08:04:42 PM

It's a solid machine and much easier to move around than a 311 or 315. Just can't figure this track thing out.

labradorguy · September 19, 2021, 08:10:35 PM

Kinda of thinking about ordering it without a thumb though... I think that would get in the way with the Arbro or TMK 300 shear. I know if I do that, I'll kick myself though...

Walnut Beast · September 20, 2021, 01:54:37 PM

Shearex has some really top notch stuff. Here is a excavator tree shear tree clamp for all sizes.

https://youtu.be/zeCAf6d1bCc

labradorguy · September 20, 2021, 07:55:30 PM

Well.... I guess I'll just have to take the salesman's word for it.

labradorguy · September 21, 2021, 05:47:04 PM

Quote from: Walnut Beast on September 20, 2021, 01:54:37 PM
Shearex has some really top notch stuff. Here is a excavator tree shear tree clamp for all sizes.

https://youtu.be/zeCAf6d1bCc

If you come across any other quality shears for a 309 size machine, drop me a PM. I've been looking hard at that TMK 300. I don't know if it would shear cedar clean enough that I could sell the log as a post? I'd rather have a saw for a clean cut, but I like the TMK because it has a delimber that can also be used as a grapple. The collector looks good too. I cut a lot of Post Oak too and I don't know if that shear will be worth much for anything around 10" or more...

Walnut Beast · September 21, 2021, 09:26:40 PM

Sounds good. The one other unit to check out is the Yanmar 100 SV -2A. It specs out about the same and has a dedicated pump as well but probably not as nice as the next gen CAT cab. heamor.com makes some good guarding and ballistic window for the 309 if you are looking for other options besides CAT

Walnut Beast · September 21, 2021, 09:28:39 PM

Hearmor.com

labradorguy · September 24, 2021, 08:25:59 AM

I put their guarding on a 299. They make quality guarding.

labradorguy · September 27, 2021, 03:35:56 PM

I haven't looking at the 310. What are you gaining and losing with that one? How does the price compare?

Skeans1 · September 27, 2021, 04:00:21 PM

Quote from: labradorguy on September 21, 2021, 05:47:04 PM
Quote from: Walnut Beast on September 20, 2021, 01:54:37 PM
Shearex has some really top notch stuff. Here is a excavator tree shear tree clamp for all sizes.

https://youtu.be/zeCAf6d1bCc
If you come across any other quality shears for a 309 size machine, drop me a PM. I've been looking hard at that TMK 300. I don't know if it would shear cedar clean enough that I could sell the log as a post? I'd rather have a saw for a clean cut, but I like the TMK because it has a delimber that can also be used as a grapple. The collector looks good too. I cut a lot of Post Oak too and I don't know if that shear will be worth much for anything around 10" or more...

I'd be willing to bet most of those smaller excavators will have a lot of cooling problems well running a head no matter what it is. When we ran shear heads you'd figure on at least losing 4+ ft from the cracks.

Walnut Beast · September 28, 2021, 12:34:39 AM

No complaints of cooling problems on the CAT 309 and 310 with guys mulching with them all day everyday

Walnut Beast · September 28, 2021, 01:13:54 AM

Quote from: labradorguy on September 27, 2021, 03:35:56 PM
I haven't looking at the 310. What are you gaining and losing with that one? How does the price compare?

310 is fixed boom with two lower cylinders vs 309 swing boom. The 310 is 22,500 so just a little heavier. Tracks are a little longer I think also. The Auxiliary hydraulic on the 309 is a couple more gallons a min. About the same psi. And the 309 has the dedicated pump that the 310 doesn't but the pump is a bigger pump on the 310. I know guys that have the bigger excavators in there stable went with the 309. The only negative I heard about the 309 is a guy mulching in the mountains was on some steep grades and had trouble crawling out of some steep situations. A guy that couldn't get a 309 because of availability got a 310 and loves it for mulching. I'm still waiting on quote from my CAT guy. I bet there might not be much difference. 309 might be a little more. Let me know what your getting quoted. I know one guy that got one with two buckets around 140ish

labradorguy · September 28, 2021, 11:24:56 AM

I'm in the same boat.... 309 availability is mid-December. Could get a 310 in a couple weeks. I even looked at a Takeuchi TB290 if the Cats don't work out. Landed two great gigs 60-70k but my bigger machine is not going to work there and there is a completion date that is throwing a wrench into everything. I like buying stuff and other people paying for it, so I'm going to have to figure this out sooner than later.

@Skeans That sucks losing 4'... The hardwoods I am cutting are firewood logs so it doesn't matter, but I have buyers for all the cedar logs and 4' is a lot to lose and still make a nice post off of a small tree. I'd like to find a saw or rotating disc with a grapple on it that would work on these little machines but just can't find anything except the Arbro, Farmi stuff and have already been told that they will fall on their faces with post oak limbs... Know of anything that might work? Thanks.

Skeans1 · September 28, 2021, 01:17:22 PM

@labradorguy
There's the little logmax head but the flow of that machine is the very minimum to run that head and like I said earlier I'd be concerned about the hydraulic cooling of that machine running a head. A stroker head might work for the what you're doing but it will be slow and I'm not sure how the measuring would be.

labradorguy · September 28, 2021, 04:03:15 PM

I'm not too worried about the cooling on these. Cat designed the 309 specifically to run a mulching head at full throttle all day in all but 100 degree weather. In that climate there is an auxiliary cooler available. The high flow pump is dedicated to just the mulching head, Everything else is ran off of a different circuit.

I'll look that logmax up. Thanks!

Skeans1 · September 28, 2021, 05:19:48 PM

@labradorguy
The problem is the standard pump won't have enough flow to run that head you'd need to have it plumbed into the high flow circuit like the mulcher heads. When I talk about heat you're running two large motors at once for the feed wheels let alone the saw a harvester head will tax a machine far quicker then a mulcher. When looking at harvesters you'll see they have extra cooling packages even compared to something that's running a mulching head for that exact reason mulching is easy work on the hydraulics vs a harvester head.

labradorguy · September 28, 2021, 09:33:32 PM

I'm new to these harvester heads. I appreciate the info. Sounds like it's going to be a shear or nothing. If guess if all else fails, a person could use the TMK 300 shear on the top of the tree, run the delimber bladed up and down it to clean it up, mulch the junk, and then come through with a chain saw and take out the butt logs... idk. Ever look at that TMK 300. I can't get much info on them. Tried logmax today but it kept kicking my emails back with addresses. Doesn't look like dealer support is going to happen with that one. Sounds like it isn't an option anyway. Thanks again for the info.