boatskipper
Member
Hey all,
So I have 30 acres of land to clear. It is mostly overgrown brush and lots of cedar trees and saplings. I'd like to clear the brush and the cedars and pile everything for burning. The land is mostly flat with half having a small grade.
I know a dozer is the best option, but I'm inexperienced at using heavy equipment and feel a little intimidated at using a dozer. The other options are a track steer, excavator (which is out of my price range) or hiring it done which I don't want to do.
Mainly I'll use the machine to clear the brush as best I can with a root bucket and brush hog. I'll also be removing all of the cedar (which there are hundreds). Most are less than 12" in diameter but some are thirty foot tall. I will not be cutting down any of the large hardwoods, I only want cedars removed.
I plan on cutting down the cedars with a saw then moving them to a burn pile with a grapple bucket.
So is a track steer an effective machine for this type of work? Any thing you'd recommend other than a track steer?
What HP should I be looking at? I've been seeing used machines in the 50 hp range for $20K, 60-70 hp $25K, and 80+ hp for around $30K, which is the top end of my budget.
I really like the idea of the track steer because of the versatility. The auger, grapple bucket, pallet forks, brush hog, stump grinder, etc... seems like a machine you can do almost anything with.
So what are your thoughts?
So I have 30 acres of land to clear. It is mostly overgrown brush and lots of cedar trees and saplings. I'd like to clear the brush and the cedars and pile everything for burning. The land is mostly flat with half having a small grade.
I know a dozer is the best option, but I'm inexperienced at using heavy equipment and feel a little intimidated at using a dozer. The other options are a track steer, excavator (which is out of my price range) or hiring it done which I don't want to do.
Mainly I'll use the machine to clear the brush as best I can with a root bucket and brush hog. I'll also be removing all of the cedar (which there are hundreds). Most are less than 12" in diameter but some are thirty foot tall. I will not be cutting down any of the large hardwoods, I only want cedars removed.
I plan on cutting down the cedars with a saw then moving them to a burn pile with a grapple bucket.
So is a track steer an effective machine for this type of work? Any thing you'd recommend other than a track steer?
What HP should I be looking at? I've been seeing used machines in the 50 hp range for $20K, 60-70 hp $25K, and 80+ hp for around $30K, which is the top end of my budget.
I really like the idea of the track steer because of the versatility. The auger, grapple bucket, pallet forks, brush hog, stump grinder, etc... seems like a machine you can do almost anything with.
So what are your thoughts?