Making trails steep terrain 300 acres brush & trees

[jimbabwe]

Greetings everyone.

I have about 300 acres of pretty hilly terrain, covered with small-diameter trees and brush.

I want to make ATV trails throughout the property. I've done a little with a CAT D4 but it makes a mess.

Would you recommend a smaller dozer or a compact track loader?

Thank you.

 

[jim-in-so-ore]

Go to www.sutterequipment.com and you will find the finest purpose built trail building machine ever made. It is made in Moundhouse, Nevada, a suburb of Carson City. Our Dirt bike club has one and it is one hell of a machine. Read the specs and watch all of the videos that you can find, not just the Sutter videos. It builds 48 inch wide tails in all sorts of terrain. It is powerful and heavy enough to do the job.
Jim

 

[Jonas302]

Can your hills be climbed or do you need to cut them down? a skidsteer with mulcher will take care of your trees or maybe theres a lot of rock that needs to be dealt with That trail dozer looks pretty neat maybe can rent one?

 

[hetkind]

A D4 should be a good piece of equipment for this job...exactly what type of issues are you having again? That size dozer is VERY popular with the loggers around here to build pioneer roads and skid out logs.

Building roads with a dozer is NEVER a low environmental impact task. Clearing trail with chainsaw, pick, shovel and mattock can be excellent exercise and I have been maintaining all my trails by hand for the last 8 years, and now finally getting a JD 450 loader with hoe. Installing culverts by hand is getting old.

Howard

 

[jimbabwe]

Jim, Jonas and hetkind,
Thank you for your advice.
Jim, I've seen the Sutter and do think it's a great machine. However, it is pretty expensive and I haven't been able to find a used one in my vicinity.
Jonas, the land is very hilly, however I don't think there would be lots of rock I'd have to move. I've thought of a compact track loader which would be very beneficial in many other ways, namely cleaning up the brush and small trees I'd be pushing. A mulcher head is pretty expensive. I was thinking of a bucket with a thumb and a chipper.
hetkind, yes, a D4 would be great. I used a D4 to clear already. The only drawback is the mess it leaves behind as well as the excessive width of the trails. I was also thinking of a JD 450J. I've cleared with that, as well, and it's very nimble.

I think I might rent a compact track loader with a 6-way-blade and something with which I can pick up and move the piles of brush and small trees. Now, the question is, which brand? I've read good things about the Takeuchi...

Hmm...

 

[Delmer]

How about a mini excavator? You could get the narrow width and it could do everything you need as long as there's no big rocks to move.

 

[jimbabwe]

Delmer, I've thought a lot about that, too. However, with 340 acres, I might be dead before I could finish the amount of trails I require. Everyone to whom I've spoken about a mini-excavator has said it's real slow going...

Thanks for your advice, though!

 

[Twisted]

Why not just toss a brush mower on the front of the CTL? Mow your trails then use them. I have flat ground here and use a small tractor and 5' 3pt mower for ATV and dirt bike trails. I haven't had a flat tire on a quad yet but I run my blades on the dull side so it smashes the brush rather than slicing it off sharp like a spear. Do you need to clean these trails to the bare dirt? My experience is that they will stay clean if used or regrow quickly is left unused.

 

[Former Wrench]

Can you attach a photo of a typical section?

 

[jimbabwe]

Former Wrench, I hadn't seen your reply yet, and had come here to attach a photo. What a coincidence.

Twisted, have a look at the photo. I won't be doing mowing. I need to make trails through 15 foot high manzanita, other brush and oaks of 4"-6" diameter and 30' in height.

Very little of my land is flat. Most of it is slopes of 15-25 degrees. I need to be able to make trails for my ATV to at least get around on the property. This means cutting into the hillside to make a bench.

Maybe I need a dozer AND a CTL with a bucket with a thumb to clean up after the dozer...

 

[Twisted]

Well if you weren't so far away.....
I have an older 55hp tractor and anything I can run over, I mow. Those look a little on the big side for my little tractor. I still say push off what you can't mow and just let to rot. It happens faster than you would imagine. Move as little dirt as possible to keep the spoils to a minimum. Leave the little saplings for a mower. That's how I've done trails in bigger timber and it works well. The piles look big at first but if they aren't in the way, let them rot down. It'll look better than you can imagine in two or less years.

 

[hetkind]

Or in my case, a track loader with a 4 in 1 bucket. And I suspect being in California, you are under a burn ban, and bringing in a chipper is expensive.

I maintain about 3 miles of roads and trails adjacent to the Cherokee National Forest. One day of hand clearing of underbrush and downfall requires a second day just to burn. I feel your pain. The real issue is not clearing trail, it is dealing with the brush that has been generated.

Howard

View attachment 150262

Former Wrench, I hadn't seen your reply yet, and had come here to attach a photo. What a coincidence.

Twisted, have a look at the photo. I won't be doing mowing. I need to make trails through 15 foot high manzanita, other brush and oaks of 4"-6" diameter and 30' in height.

Very little of my land is flat. Most of it is slopes of 15-25 degrees. I need to be able to make trails for my ATV to at least get around on the property. This means cutting into the hillside to make a bench.

Maybe I need a dozer AND a CTL with a bucket with a thumb to clean up after the dozer...

 

[jimbabwe]

Twisted, where I live, things take a very long time to rot. It's mostly dry here. Someone cleared some of this land about 10 years ago and the stuff is still there, not rotten, just dry.

hetkind, we only have burn bans during the dry summer and when the air is stagnant. I COULD burn all this brush but I'd like to buy a quality chipper, like the tree companies have, chip it all and use it to cover the trails. However, I will be burning some of it.

 

[Former Wrench]

I think a brush rake might be a good investment.

 

[jimbabwe]

I agree. First I gotta find something to which I can attach it!

 

[hetkind]

A quality chipper is very high in cost. Let me tell you what I would do in this situation or what I have done before on larger jobs.

I would RENT a small dozer like a JD 450 you were using earlier, cut your trails, and make interim brush piles. Now bring in a bowl grinder with self loader, that is trailer mounted and either haul your brush to a central location for grinding OR move the bowl grinder from massive pile to massive pile. The larger the piles, the cheaper the grinding, but the more moving cost. This is going to need some planning on your roads. Keep the dozer handy for when the chipper needs help!

And the chips are saleable to your local mulch maker...

Howard

 

[jimbabwe]

Howard, I searched Google and could not find a bowl grinder. What's that?

I'm going to be making trails on this 300 acres for a very, very long time. I think buying a JD 450 would be more cost-effective than renting. The company that used to rent JD 450s doesn't rent them any more. The best I can do is a Cat D4K2 at $2300 or so for a week, not including fuel.

I like the idea of a portable grinder. Maybe a Vermeer BC600XL.

Jim

 

[hetkind]

Tub grinder...http://www.morbark.com/equipment/1100-tub-grinder/

And there are no cheap crawlers...I will probably have 25k into my 450b with 4 in 1 bucket and 9300 hoe, but that includes a new undercarriage and steering clutches.

Howard

 

[jimbabwe]

Thanks, Howard. Had never heard of such a thing. Probably because they cost a quarter of a million dollars! I'm going to have to stick with a Vermeer BC600XL.

True. No cheap crawlers, either. But, a used JD 450J would probably hold its value well, if I ever DID run out of things to do with it!

Jim

 

[hetkind]

Bringing a grinder in with a crew is more reasonable...