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Mulching - "The Daily Grind"
- Thread starter treemuncher
- Start date
mowingman
Senior Member
That bare earth hillside looks like a land slip waiting to happen. Great work though. It looks fantastic.
treemuncher
Senior Member
I finished up a job this week. I had sense enough not to push the limits with the rubber tires in the wet areas, even though the new tires kept me from getting "temporarily immobilized" in some really soft situations. Apparently, some dam critters have flooded the creek and put the old field that they wanted reclaimed very close to the water table. That, coupled with spring time hillside springs, made for a few wet sections that still needed to be cut. I must have been fishing on this job being that it was so wet. Crawfishing, that is. Plenty of their mounds out there on this terrain.
This was the largest tree that I encountered on the job. It was a storm damaged blow over that landed into the field. I was a bit over 36" dbh, white oak and as heavy as could be. This was just field reclamation for wildlife so it was fast work, not clean work. "Just get it chopped up enough to bush hog in the Fall" was what I was told. Chop up what I need to and push the heavy stuff off to the edge. The Barko loves these big trees! Maybe 6-7 minutes worth of work here, if that.
This was the largest tree that I encountered on the job. It was a storm damaged blow over that landed into the field. I was a bit over 36" dbh, white oak and as heavy as could be. This was just field reclamation for wildlife so it was fast work, not clean work. "Just get it chopped up enough to bush hog in the Fall" was what I was told. Chop up what I need to and push the heavy stuff off to the edge. The Barko loves these big trees! Maybe 6-7 minutes worth of work here, if that.
treemuncher
Senior Member
A little subdivision job I finished up early this week. Just a good thinning and wiping out hundreds of hardwood stumps left over from last years logging operations on the property. Medium quality finish work on this one.
treemuncher
Senior Member
And a couple from a 1000 acre tract I worked on for another subdivision last month. This was a last minute rush job so nothing fancy on finish work and go, go, go as fast as I could all day long. No time for good before & after photos. Worked with the rubber tire machine on this one.
The welcoming reptile at the gate when I started!
Everything was surveyed prior to my arrival so I had to attempt to dodge all lot stakes and roadway pins. Mostly cutting in paths to home sites and roadside clearing work.
The welcoming reptile at the gate when I started!
Everything was surveyed prior to my arrival so I had to attempt to dodge all lot stakes and roadway pins. Mostly cutting in paths to home sites and roadside clearing work.
Reuben Frazier
Well-Known Member
Looks good, I sure wish we had smaller soft woods to grind on for a while. Grinding Bois D’ Arcs suck
treemuncher
Senior Member
I chew up plenty of those Osage Orange trees. Taste just like a wire brush! I find them to be fairly brittle and easy as long as there is enough hp. They really suck with a low hp machine. I'll take Hedge Apples any day over Elms, especially dead Red Elms!
skyking1
Senior Member
I could sure use one of these machines for a hot minute on my place. Doing it super hard way Jones with chainsaw and weed eater.
treemuncher
Senior Member
I should have taken before pics but my nose was already on the grindstone. This swamp holds water much of the year and the customer waited until it was dry enough to work without fear of sinking my machine. It was as thick as hair on a dog's back with sweet gum trees. It was pouring rain for the last 2 hours of this job but I had enough chips down not to mire up. 4 acres cleared in this pic.
lea
This job was not without its painful & expensive moments..... Right track 3/4" 6 wire hose from right track pump to the track motor blew an end off and dumped the tank contents where it stopped. No way to move it and the hurricane remnants were on the way. Tried to keep everything in the dry as I finished winching the new hose into its contorted position. My custom pulling fitting broke with 8"-12" of pull left to go. Fortunately, I was able to loop a rope around the fitting by then and finish winching in to finish up the install. A great way to lose another 8-9 hours of life to repairs and laying out in a huge puddle of hydraulic oil but I got back to work just before the heavy rains hit.
The RZR has been a great investment for these repairs way out in the field far from the service truck and in places the ST can not get to. It also made a great anchor for my giant umbrella!
lea
This job was not without its painful & expensive moments..... Right track 3/4" 6 wire hose from right track pump to the track motor blew an end off and dumped the tank contents where it stopped. No way to move it and the hurricane remnants were on the way. Tried to keep everything in the dry as I finished winching the new hose into its contorted position. My custom pulling fitting broke with 8"-12" of pull left to go. Fortunately, I was able to loop a rope around the fitting by then and finish winching in to finish up the install. A great way to lose another 8-9 hours of life to repairs and laying out in a huge puddle of hydraulic oil but I got back to work just before the heavy rains hit.
The RZR has been a great investment for these repairs way out in the field far from the service truck and in places the ST can not get to. It also made a great anchor for my giant umbrella!
cfherrman
Senior Member
Why do you charge so much?
Yeah
Yeah
treemuncher
Senior Member
All day long, Metallica's "Seek & Destroy" playing in my head as I hunt for stumps in this regrowth mess 3 years after it was logged. Most of the time, I can't see 2 feet in front of the cutterhead, sometimes not 2 inches. Numerous burn piles within, pushed up stumps, huge embedded stumps, logs, critters and whatever else in an unknown, mostly invisible, hidden terrain. Customer said to leave it rough but good enough for a bush hog. He is super happy with the results and ready to spread seed this week. NOTHING better for business than happy customers!
He and his family will have a beautiful homesite overlooking some of their farm fields.
He and his family will have a beautiful homesite overlooking some of their farm fields.
MarcusZ1967
Senior Member
Good song!!! Looks great in the after shot!
cfherrman
Senior Member
Under promise and over deliver
treemuncher
Senior Member
Always! Being fair and honest in business will make you successful.
My last customer ran a box blade over the stumpin' job that I did. This is what it looked like when I picked up my machine on Monday AM. He was then able to run a seed drill over it. I thought it looked fantastic. He is well pleased.
Moved onto the next little job and got a fair sized chunk of elm into the tracks. I broke off 3 track pads on that one hit. Not enough track bolts on the machine or semi so 2 hr round trip to the shop for parts and service truck. This is the first time that I've knocked off 3 pads in a single hit. Usually, it's just 1 or sometimes 2 pads when it happens.
Customers were ecstatic with the job that I completed today. I should have taken before pics but I did not. This was as I was finishing up. After the job, they told me they were quoted $15k to do a portion of the work I completed. That bid was with a trackhoe doing a clear and bury job. I had them finished up for under $6K for about 4x the area. Happy customers always get me more work and I made good money! I don't know where all of those 6"-16" diameter gum trees disappeared to?
treemuncher
Senior Member
Recut some portions of a farm that I did clearing work on back in 2019. The farmer that leased it did not keep it 100% cut back for the property owner, who is now unable to care for it. I am working for his son who is trying to get it back into shape for planting. The result of the overgrowth is wetter ground and the beavers have moved back into the ditches and the creek, adding additional damages. He already got his tractor stuck due to the wet conditions that my machine breezes through. This is another "farm finish" quality job where it's good enough to drag a bush hog over - not clean & neat to look at.
Nothing like cutting swamp areas with thick growth. ALL DAY, I can't see ****. Feeling my way along for those 10' sheer drops into the creeks and unseen ditches along the way. The first passes are always the worst, especially on jobs that are 1st timers. I've been fortunate over the years, missing some of the 3'-20'+ drops that are hidden by vegetation. This short video is of some short, thick growth to get a feeling of what conditions are like. I can't see anything other than leaves & stems, except for what's left behind on the rear monitor.
https://photos.google.com/album/AF1.../AF1QipPRd2dhd7qPj5efZAbowBGTJ_1wYDkCQ-RRvYx8
Nothing like cutting swamp areas with thick growth. ALL DAY, I can't see ****. Feeling my way along for those 10' sheer drops into the creeks and unseen ditches along the way. The first passes are always the worst, especially on jobs that are 1st timers. I've been fortunate over the years, missing some of the 3'-20'+ drops that are hidden by vegetation. This short video is of some short, thick growth to get a feeling of what conditions are like. I can't see anything other than leaves & stems, except for what's left behind on the rear monitor.
https://photos.google.com/album/AF1.../AF1QipPRd2dhd7qPj5efZAbowBGTJ_1wYDkCQ-RRvYx8
treemuncher
Senior Member
Same farm in another part that was a bit drier.
cfherrman
Senior Member
Always looks like usable ground after, what would happen if someone ran a til through the ground after you, there gotta be tons of roots in the ground still right?
treemuncher
Senior Member
Certainly. If the ground is to be used for pasture, just cast seed and keep it mowed. If the chips are thick, the grass may not take off good until the 3rd year without chemical help. Stump sprouts are best treated chemically as that will dry out the remaining stump/roots for faster degradation. Some customers will try to disk the ground as soon as I'm done. If there has been any heavy growth, I recommend avoiding any ground penetration tools unless you plan to dozer or hoe rake the ground first. Row cropping operations will need the stumps and roots removed.
Once a stump is planed down flush to grade, they break up with ease into smaller pieces and shed the dirt easily. Stumps rarely have much more that 8"-12" thickness below grade. I prefer a Tiger Tooth at the corner of a hoe bucket if I have to destump anything. You can punch the tooth down in and pull sections apart. Larger stumps can be split easily if you punch a "fault line" across the stump face with the tooth. A dozer blade with a stump splitter or an angled 6 way blade will also split them quickly.
Every job is different. I was really surprised that a recent customer was able to run a seed drill over his heavily stumped ground after I did my thing. He ran a box blade over it first and then the drill. He claimed he did not have any issues and it worked out really well. His job was nothing more that 3 years post logging growth and the remaining hardwood stumps so not a heavy load of mulch to contend with.
aighead
Senior Member
This may be a common or easy question or whatever but do you working guys have something in your contract for when your machine dumps oil? Like a "Hey, this thing may barf up a bunch of fluids at any time." clause? What's that look like? Do people expect it to be cleaned up?
Your work is incredible treemuncher.
Your work is incredible treemuncher.
treemuncher
Senior Member
The only place I ever worked that had a "spill policy" was at a TVA powerplant. If I was not over a few gallons, it really was not a worry. I have yet to see a hydraulic spill cause barren ground or issues with vegetation. Best thing to do is "don't ask & don't tell".
I do use Panolin biodegradable oil in the Menzi Muck. From what I've been told, you can have a direct spill into a water body and it will not be an issue. Not even with the EPA or the Coast Guard. That stuff is pricey, though, at about $350 per 5 gallon bucket. Hydraulic leaks on that machine bring many tears to my wallet!
Aighead, thanks for the compliment.
I do use Panolin biodegradable oil in the Menzi Muck. From what I've been told, you can have a direct spill into a water body and it will not be an issue. Not even with the EPA or the Coast Guard. That stuff is pricey, though, at about $350 per 5 gallon bucket. Hydraulic leaks on that machine bring many tears to my wallet!
Aighead, thanks for the compliment.