I hope this isn’t too off-topic for Breaktime, but I suspect a lot of you have experience running a Bobcat so here goes.
My wife and I would like to clear the brush out of about 1/2 acre of woods on our lot to give our 11-month old more space to run around this summer. I figured I could spend many weekends running around with the brush cutter blade on my trimmer, or… I could rent a Bobcat for a weekend or a week and maybe actually have some fun in the process. This would also allow me to do a little grading in there which will probably be necessary.
What I’d be clearing would be mostly vines, brambles, and small saplings (under 2″). There are larger trees, but they’re staying and they’re spaced out enough that I don’t think maneuvering around them will be an issue. I’m thinking I could just scrape just under the surface with the bucket to get rid of most of it.
Does this sound reasonable? If so, does anyone have any tips for doing this sort of thing with a skid-steer? Should I also see if they’ve got a blade for it, or will the bucket work well enough?
Thanks,
Mike
Replies
Sounds like work for a brush hog and after a small chain saw. If its bigger than that renting a small dozer.
The dozer would be a lot of fun.
I guess you are talking about a rubber trac bob cat. . No one does it that way here , but the thread has my attention.
Tim
I agree with Mr. Mooney: A skidsteer, with wheels, or with tracks, and a bucket, isn't the best machine for removing light brush as you describe. They're pretty light in the front end to do much good unless you can get the bucket into the ground and dig a bit, but then you end up with a lot of soil mixed in with your vegetation which makes getting rid of it a pain in the patootie.
If you can find a rental yard that has a brush rake attachment, that might do the trick, but I've never seen one in our local RSC yard....
However, if you can rent one that has a brush hog attachment or a flail, it will be the ticket.
A small dozer works well, but takes a little technique with back blading to pull the brush and vines out without tearing up a lot of top soil.
I have some bottomland which requires continual assault on Himalaya blackberries. On the gentler ground I use a brush hog on a tactor, followed by a good dose of "Crossbow" herbicide when sprouts start to emerge from those damned rhizome briar roots that, when cut up and disturbed, sprout like over-sexed potatoes.
Another suggestion (which may annoy some folks here) is to find some "South-of-the-Border Immigrants" who are masters with a "Hook and Machete" technique of brush removal: You'd be amazed at how quickly and efficiently they can cut, rake up and pile vines and brush into tidy burn piles.
Edited 4/13/2007 11:52 pm by Notchman
mowog74,
I just sold my small Bobcat. It had the standard bucket and was a small machine as bobcats go.
They aren't the best machine for the job, a small cat, or tractor set up with brush clearing add ons would be much better.
Having said that I know that Bobcat and other skid steer manufactures sell bolt on teeth that attach to the bucket, I have run machines with that set up and they aren't too bad for what you are doing. The teeth will rip the soil a lot better than the bucket will.
I have no idea of your experience with machines so I am going to lecture here a bit. Please forgive me if you are experienced.
If you have never run a skid steer and especially one with wheels not tracks you will have a sharp learning curve.. they can and will scare the shid out of you on steep ground, as well as beat your kidneys to death until you learn how to run them .
ALWAYS use the safety stuff!! seat belts, lap bars, ROP's etc. No side slope work until you get a real feel for the machine. The center of gravity on those machines changes drastically when you start raising the bucket.
I have two very good friends who damn near got killed by being stupid about what they were doing, where they were doing it and not observing the basic safety stuff. They were both very experienced operators.
One of them was ejected out the front when he drove into a ditch , the machine then tipped onto him, pinning him into the ditch for 4 hrs until some passerby noticed what had happened and came to investigate.
The other was heading up hill and slightly cross slope, raised his bucket to see something and the machine tipped over to the back and side.. rolled him and the machine a long way down into a ravine. beat him up severly enough to spend a few weeks in the hospital.
They may be fun .. but they are no toy.
I had a guy (when I was super for a large co) nice kid.....he did all our land clearing etc.One morning they found him slumped over his bobcat dead......seems a sapling slammed into his chest.If you have no experience with a bobcat and are planning on pushing saplings etc. around I would suggest you make sure your life ins. is current.
Like the others, I don't think a skid steer is the right machine for this job.
A tractor with a bush hog mower would take care of most of the stuff you mentioned. You might still have some stumps to deal with. But I've mowed down trees up to 3 or 4" in diameter. Makes some interesting noises if nothing else.
(-:
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You can pull a lot of trees out with a tractor and chain. But you have to be careful how you hook up, or you could flip the tractor over on yourself.
These guys are a little off base. I use a 6' Ammbusher rotary cutter to do what you describe on either of my 2 Bobcats. My clearing guy liked it so much, he bought one too.
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Bobcat sells/rents their version which is called a Brushcat. It has a safety feature that I didn't like so I bought the Ammbusher. Your local dealer should have the Brushcat available for rental and it will do what you describe. Bobcat rates it for saplings up to 3".
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John
J.R. Lazaro Builders, Inc.
Indianapolis, In.
Jlazaro, I would recommend that package, No problem at all.
Mike - we have a bobcat, and a tractor with a brush cutter. We also have a few acres of woods to clear.
The brush hog is the tool for the job, after the heavier stuff is cut by hand. We'll follow with the landscape rake, and then spray to keep the ivy down.
The bobcat is handy for hauling the heavy stuff out, but will not clear much by itself. They are great at carrying, but not so great at pushing. They also tear the ground up. We'll probably leave it at the job site.
If you do rent the bobcat, get the front mower attachment for clearing, then follow with the bucket for grading. Be careful - the mower can throw rocks and debris 100s of feet.
clear the brush out of about 1/2 acre of woods ...
for that size, forget the skid steer/bobcat - get a good pair of loppers and a small chainsaw, or even a couple of disposable pruning hand saws, http://amleo.com/ , and start working strategically enlarging your 'civilized' area - cut off saplings flush with the ground, lopper the vines/brambles - 20,000 sq feet is not an intimidating amount of area -
if there are lots of brambles, a bush hog to open up some trails would be alright, but frankly, amateur use of inapropriate powered equipment will leave you with a bigger mess than you have now, and damage trees/vegetation you want to leave -
my 2c - you asked -
regards -
Doud advised you well.
I'd add that I've done a lot of similar clearing with my considerably larger Cats. The brush piles weren't anything I wanted to deal with, left them for the landowners. Who generally left the huge unsightly piles to eventually rot. And sprout trees on the new hills...
Mount Bamboo is just down the road, 20' tall to the root mass now. Pretty much all I did there was relocate the grove. Up.
Much easier to deal with smaller piles.
I didn't have major dirt disruption, but I'm familiar with my machines and know when I only have the teeth raking the ground. Small tippy machines would be considerably more difficult. If you really have to play, rent one with a brush chopper.PAHS Designer/Builder- Bury it!
My good friend owned a bobcat and came over and in 2 days cleared one acre of my yard like yours, Worked great only thing is is that he knew how to run it it would have taken me one week, He was pulling wheelies the whole time, My advice to you would be to hire a machine and operator for a day or 2 and you burn and pick up brush and direct, I rented one and it took a few hours before i could even go straight but it is fun if you have nothing else to do and dont mind the rental fee
Find a farmer with a Bush Hog. Tell him to scalp it.
I've done similar stuff with a mini excavator, which is ok if you're pretty good at an excavator. I would side with Doud, and caution that clearing brush with a chainsaw should be left to those who are comfortable with a chainsaw- it's an easy place to get kickback, or to pull small trees into yourself.
If you're good with a chainsaw, you can take wide strokes with it close to the ground, and mow that way- I did trails and firelines like that for years. Definitely a place to be wearing kevlar chaps and a face shield.
zak
"When we build, let us think that we build forever. Let it not be for present delight nor for present use alone." --John Ruskin
"so it goes"
It looks like from what you guys are saying that a bobcat might work for this in the hands of a skilled operator, which I am not. I will look into renting a compact tractor with a bush-hog (that's what they call them here, no R) and see what I can come up with. Thanks to all for the replies!
Mike