Dougherty Forestry Manufacturing Tree Saws

[Reuben Frazier]

Does anyone have any knowledge about the Dougherty Tree Saws for skid steers with the dual action boom? I’m in the market for another tree saw and I like the option on these to grind a few stumps with as well with but I’m curious how well they actually work. I know thr not going to work as well as a dedicated stump grinder but it would be nice to be able to grind 10” cedar stumps without having to swap out attachments on occasion. If anyone has any insight on them I’d certainly appreciate some info.

 

[John C.]

That's a scary looking set up there. That screen needs to be a lot finer and there is so much radius of exposed cutters on that head.

 

[mowingman]

A landowner that I work for now and then, bought one of those for us to use back in about 2008. I used it quite a bit while clearing over 1000 acres. Have not used it in several years, now, but here is what I remember. It was great for cutting off Mesquite trees, as long as you did not run the blade down into the dirt. If you got into the dirt too much, the teeth would get dull and/or come loose. This required shutting down and replacing teeth. I replaced a lot of teeth on the thing. I did not try using it for stump grinding, as I had a big track mounted stump grinder to follow behind this cutter. It was really fast at cutting trees, but as I said, working it in the dirt would kill the teeth in a hurry. It also worked well for reaching up and cutting overhanging limbs that were in the way. The landowner decided the really did not want to use it anymore, as it did not get out any of the roots, and the trees would just grow back in a couple of years.
Jeff

 

[Reuben Frazier]

A landowner that I work for now and then, bought one of those for us to use back in about 2008. I used it quite a bit while clearing over 1000 acres. Have not used it in several years, now, but here is what I remember. It was great for cutting off Mesquite trees, as long as you did not run the blade down into the dirt. If you got into the dirt too much, the teeth would get dull and/or come loose. This required shutting down and replacing teeth. I replaced a lot of teeth on the thing. I did not try using it for stump grinding, as I had a big track mounted stump grinder to follow behind this cutter. It was really fast at cutting trees, but as I said, working it in the dirt would kill the teeth in a hurry. It also worked well for reaching up and cutting overhanging limbs that were in the way. The landowner decided the really did not want to use it anymore, as it did not get out any of the roots, and the trees would just grow back in a couple of years.
Jeff

I have one if thr tree saws but just not the dual boom so I was curious how it worked but I understand your point. All we use them for are cedars but these newer ones supposedly have blades and teeth made for the dirt but I’m not willing to gamble 20k without knowing for sure it will work lol I have a couple big stump grinders and one for the skiddy but just looking to save some time.

 

[mowingman]

I understand the $$$ factor. Anyplace you can rent one to try?

 

[treemuncher]

So the attachment cuts the tree and leaves :1 A stump to be avoided and 2 A tree laying on the ground with no means to move it out of the way or further process it. Any guess why I don't own one of these attachments?

At least with a bunching shear or hot saw, you can cut and piles the trees to a central location for further processing later. Stumpage is cut as low as possible. With a mulcher, I drop and process immediately and leave the stump flush to grade.

If you need to do a lot of limbimg, going one at a time will be slow. There are better options available. It's all about time study and efficiency.

 

[Reuben Frazier]

I have a buncher but you can’t use them on 25’ diameter cedar trees without ramming the machine into limbs tearing stuff up, trust me we’ve tried and a tree saw can trim limbs before cutting them off and we then use a second machine with a tree grapple to drag them to an open field. I was simply looking for a way to trim the stumps down without having to stop and put a stump grinder on at some point speeding up the operation. We’ve been using a tree saw and it’s a fast operation but if this one could whack the stump down at the same time it would save a lot of time. I know you have a lot of experience in this field but so do I and I completely know what your saying. We cut a crap ton of cedars and pile them for burning on a daily basis and I’m just trying to streamline the process if it works halfway decent. Short of a dozer which we’ve used many many times this method is the cleanest and fastest with the least amount of clean up afterwards.

 

[treemuncher]

Cedars are the worst for scratching up those lexan windows and a decent paint job. I've built extra guards to combat this but it's a one way pass or I'll really mess up the side glass. The guarding will actually capture the branches and make things worse. I can see where that saw can make a difference on that species with a SS. I guess the only easy approach with cedars is when I use the mulcher on the hoe - no chance for those limbs to bite me then.

Currently dealing with some 12"-16" cedars on a job. The approach is what matters and the hydraulic push bar keeps a lot of the branches from contact but not without a careful approach.