Land Clearing Florida advice

[DirtyDigger12]

Im really looking for advice on starting a Florida land clearing business in general, diversifying my services, how to workout a deal with the recycling plant etc. But specifically: I own and operate a small tree company in Florida, but for several reasons I am considering moving into owner operator land clearing. I'm looking for advice on equipment set up. I am currently looking at a 30yd roll-off truck(66k GVRW) to tow a 35,000ish LB excavator with hydraulic thumb, blade, and rubber pads. As i'd like to keep it asphalt safe for hurricane cleanup. Specifically Deere 135P, Volvo ECR145E, or Komatsu PC138USLC11. all of these have a compact design, it occurred to me, that may not be what im looking for as it may be beneficial to have the counter weight further out for leverage when ripping on these big slash stumps. I actually partnered up with a guy with an 18,000 LB Tak working for a couple local builders and im running saws and disposal with gooseneck dumps. We're making good money, but our main hang-up is the big slash pine stumps. My Question is, is that weight class is adequate for what im trying to do? because that's the biggest machine i can tow without needing two trucks. I can get a Deere 200(obviously no blade or pads) for the same price as a 135P but then whats my truck and trailer set-up? disposal? we are also running a Tak TL12V2 Skid with a mulcher and grapple. thankyou in advance. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Acoals]

A 200 class machine is really pushing the limits for what you want on a tag trailer.
A PC138 will deal with stumps well. As it is, a PC138-11 dressed up with a blade, hydro thumb and roadliners will be over 38k. A 200 will deal with stumps better, but the bigger machine gets to be a pain to move around.

 

[DirtyDigger12]

A 200 class machine is really pushing the limits for what you want on a tag trailer.
A PC138 will deal with stumps well. As it is, a PC138-11 dressed up with a blade, hydro thumb and roadliners will be over 38k. A 200 will deal with stumps better, but the bigger machine gets to be a pain to move around.

Thankyou Gary, I was definitely concerned about that much weight on a pintle. for the stumps I was considering a Dipper Fox attachment. have you had any experience with these? On youtube I don't see them going very deep. I'm guessing you want to keep the blades out of the sand and dirt like a saw chain? i figure if i can chew the bigger stumps apart from the middle, the rest would be cake to dig out. my main concern obviously are the stumps that will be positioned under homes and concrete pads in general.

 

[Acoals]

Well, I am not Gary, but anyway . . .

You don't need a fancy attachment to dig stumps out, I have dug hundreds out with the bucket that is pinned onto my machine. I don't watch YouTube to learn how to do much, because most of the guys on there don't actually know much about what they are bloviating about, just how to make a good video.
You don't chew stumps out from the middle, you start around the edges and rip the roots out, then get the corner of the bucket under a root nub and twist the stump out of there

 

[KSSS]

I think your over thinking it, you don't need a stump pulling attachment. You also don't need a 200 size machine to pull stumps, especially in typical Florida soil. I think you are on the right track with a 145 sized machine. I would add Case/Linkbelt to the options. I think these Sumitomo machines are very stable. I would consider adding a disc mulcher or something similar to the excavator. If you can mulch as much of the trees as possible during disaster projects, that is less hauling of material and much faster. While mulching isn't an answer for every situation, you will get more work if you have that as an option over guys that can only make a pile of trees. If you buy into that, I would make your decision partially based on who can give you the most flow and handle a mulcher the best, of course bucket breakout is an important number on pulling stumps. I would add a prolink thumb and a hyd coupler. So by the time you add, the add ons, I think you will want a 145 sized machine that can give you the most lift capacity at full extension. You may want to consider not going with the long stick version just to help with stability at full extension with a mulcher or doing thumb work at max extension. Having done an extensive amount of with a Deere 135 on tornado damage in Al, I dont think that machine is as stable as other zero swing machines with add on weight of coupler and thumb. I really think that machine could you some additional counterweight.

 

[CM1995]

Welcome to the Forums DD12! Glad to have you.

IMO a 200 sized machine is too big on a tag behind a dump/roll off. Put a 321DLCR with thumb on a tag ONCE and will never do it again.

As 135/315 sized machine is perfect for what you want to do. We only run reduced swing machines - currently have a 321DL and 325 NG. Having no or little tail swing is fantastic on small jobsites and I don't miss nor need the extended counterweight. The geometry of the boom is different on reduced swing machines to counterbalance the machine. We've cleared many an acre with 321's/325's.

Get a hydro QC and thumb. There are some nice root rakes out there that will mesh with a hydro thumb for efficient brush cleanup.

Ditto on the YT "sensations" - I find them quite boring to watch. Most are decent at best operators that think they reinvented heavy equipment. Now dash cam accidents should be standard viewing in drivers ed class..

 

[rbrown225]

This is the ripper that I built up for my Tak TB175. Does a good job ripping out stumps as you can cut the roots with the saw teeth then grab the stump and rip it out.

 

[ianjoub]

I am an hour north of Tampa. I have ripped out a couple of hundred stumps from long leaf pines up here. A 30" diameter one can easily have a 15' tall/deep tap root in the sand hills.

 

[DirtyDigger12]

I am an hour north of Tampa. I have ripped out a couple of hundred stumps from long leaf pines up here. A 30" diameter one can easily have a 15' tall/deep tap root in the sand hills.

correct, and you get that tap root involved in some cap rock, makes for a long day.

This is the ripper that I built up for my Tak TB175. Does a good job ripping out stumps as you can cut the roots with the saw teeth then grab the stump and rip it out.
View attachment 310722

 

[DirtyDigger12]

This is the ripper that I built up for my Tak TB175. Does a good job ripping out stumps as you can cut the roots with the saw teeth then grab the stump and rip it out.
View attachment 310722

can you share a video of this thing in action?

 

[rbrown225]

Sorry - I don't have any videos as I am a one man show. Will try to get a couple of pics when I next have it on. Right now doing alot of mulching before everything dries up and I get shut down