Clearing job with skid steer??

[JeffHK454]

In my never ending hunt for firewood I involved myself in a small clearing job , my question is will a tracked (ASV) skidder be efficient and durable at clearing small scrub trees and under brush?

The property owner has a Cat hoe and a 95hp ASV rubber tracked loader on premises that I will have access to. It's roughly 3 acres of off-camber woods with heavy Honeysuckel growth and a bunch of mature hardwoods , I'll end up with approximately 10 cords of wood that I can removed at my convenience.

Years back I helped my father clear a similar piece of land with a rubber tired Bobcat , I spent most of my time repairing punctured tires and blown beads...very :censored: aggravating!

Will rubber tracks stay put under repeated root/small stump contact ?

Thanks, Jeff

 

[jschremser]

I have an RC100 Positrac with a grapple that I have used to clear brush and small trees. Our long leaf pine has a tap root that doesn't remove easily and I have had to leave them. Other trees with surface root systems are no problem. I am careful with turning the machine. I avoid pivoting on stumps if I can since it is hard on the tracks. I have 150 hrs on the machine most of which has been brush cutting and mulching. There are some small tears and a couple of marble sized chunks missing in them but overall they are in good shape. Bottom line is if you are careful and don't expect to pull large deep root systems the positrac is will do the job.

 

[JeffHK454]

That about the info I was looking for.

I wouldn't be asking the Positrac to remove anything larger than 5" dia. surface rooted scrub , I'll have a Cat hoe for flipping stumps and save the ASV for brush removal and a bit of grading.

All the waste will be pushed into piles and left on site, so I should be fine with a toothed bucket ... a grapple would be nice but not a necessity!

Thanks, Jeff

 

[niv]

You will be amazed at what a difference the rubber track machine does over the tire machine they hook up to the ground so much better it will do nothing but impress you . Good luck and be careful.