Small Dozer vs Skid Steer

[JimmyCarroll]

will a 60 - 80 HP Skid Steer with or without tracks will give a better or equal pushing ability than a 40HP Dozer.

I am trying to figure out which machine will work best for me. I have 80 Acres of 4-8" Diameter trees to clean up. I also have about 1/2 miles worth of driveway to that needs major drainage work.
Any help will be appreciated

 

[Mike M]

I'm kinda leary of skid loaders for all these odd jobs,because if you lift something and want to get out you got to walk under or over it or something goes wrong or flings back it is right in your lap.
Where as if you have a conventional loader tractor or dozer you have alot more room between the front and your seat.
From what you described if you had say a JD 4020 with a loader and a heavy duty rear blade you could lift out trees of that size and do alot of grading to that lane and then use it for so many other things you can't even dream up yet. Plus alot less maintenance than tracks. We have one and it has been very usefull.

 

[glennster]

i'd be leaning more toward the dozer. 80 acres is a lot of timber to clear, and pushing the stumps out will be tough work for a skidder. for probably 10-15k you can get a good size used dozer, clear all your ground and then sell it again. i saw a d-9 for sale in arkansas with a blade and a tree bar on it for land clearing. the tree bar was about 6-8 feet off the ground and stuck out just in front of the blade. it would push the tree over higher up and the blade scraped the roots out. dozer was for sale for 10k. the d-9 would be overkill but if the price is right....who cares.

 

[Anonymous-0]

The skidsteer is probably the most versatile machine to have, lot of things you can do with them.

4"-8" trees, sounds similar to what I have here, my preference would be for a heavier track type tractor, with side push arms, not a 6 way, for the clearing work, followed by using a root rake on the same tractor, to break up and clear the roots. Clearing in general can be nasty work, I like a bigger heavier tractor. If the trees pop out without too much trouble and you don't lose too much dirt with them, stable well drained soil conditions using a larger track type tractor is one productive way to do it. Some of the more modern methods where contractors use buncher/feller machines and tub grinders,or other tree harvesting machines are real quick, just that you have the stumps to deal with and most likely has to be hired out to someone with that kind of equipment.

The road work may best be handled with a dozer and 6 way blade for grading etc., although a skidsteer may also provide good performance, I still like the dozer with a 6 way blade.

Depending on what the most common use is of what you will be doing at the place, it should be the most influental as to what you may want to own. The skidsteer may be the most useful for the money in the long run, but it may not suffice for all the work you need to do now, possibly rent or buy decent used,(use care when buying a crawler, make sure you know what you are getting) and re-sell later, think about what's the best for the long term when you buy. I like to rent newer equipment for production and fuel economy, but own older afforable ones for all around use.

 

[caterpillar guy]

To push out 4-8inch trees depending on the type of tree can take a lot of dozer to get out and a skid steer will not hold a candle to a dozer for that type of work. If your going to clear the whole 80 acres the skid steer and small dozer will be junk and broken up long before your done.
I'd go with at least a d6 or bigger for the trees it would be cheaper to rent what you want for the clearing and then buy a smaller unit for the drive afterwards.

 

[RobMD]

80 acres of trees? why do you want to take all of them down? that's just a waste of fuel!!!

 

[Anonymous-0]

This one might do the job.
Small dozer

 

[JimmyCarroll]

Thanks everyone for your prompt response:
I was considering the Skid Steer for later use, Since the availability of other attachments but only if would do the same amount of work as a slightly smaller dozer. I also have an older Ford 4000 no front end loader that can actually knock down a lot of these trees with the box blade but working in reverse takes a while & is rough on the neck.
I was kind of mis-leading on the first post. What I am planning to do is leave some of these trees spaced out about 50-100 feet apart from one another, fence the land to use as a pasture.
I also have three locations that would make good ponds

I have just stumbled up on the forum from Google but it is an extremly useful tool.

 

[RobMD]

i think a small crawler would be best suited for your needs.

 

[NTW ROSEBUD]

A MEDIUM SIZE TRACK HOE WITH A THUMB IS A REAL HONEY FOR THE CLEARING PART. YOU JUST PUSH THE TREES OVER, PULL THEM UP, SWING TO THE SIDES AND WINDROW THE TREES. THIS GOES PRETTY FAST AND YOUR TRASH IS LEFT IN WINDROWS.

 

[Anonymous-0]

A loader on that 4000 size tractor is a really handy item for general all around use, the only concern is front pivot pin wear, same sized type tractor but with an industrial front end is more preferrable, but even my old 850 ford with a wagner loader, cleared the perimeter of our overgrown fields, just took my time, nothing real big or lurking over my head some 4" trees, little extra strain on the clutch I suppose. You need heavy weight on the back end below the axle line as much as possible, really have to pay attention to snagging or breaking hyd. lines, radiator, etc. and being attentive to ones safety at all times. Just doing the perimeter was a little bit of work, I'd have used my D7, if did not have the clutch out at the time. Older utility size tractor around the 4000 size with a loader is a useful arrangement, I'd save the heavy clearing for a dozer, w/seatbelt & r.o.p.s.

 

[RodinNS]

I think what you want for that work is a 4-6 class machine with a root rake. I've got a 4 hightrack and a 6 way blade that has cleared a lot of land. 8" stuff is about all you want to push over with it if you want any measure of control. It can knock bigger stuff over, but a large hardwood can get kinda hairy with that machine if it doesn't want ot go over on the first push and you've got to get under it more..... Sometimes they don't want to wait for you to get that second lift... and they come back to the cab for a visit...
I wouldn't even consider a skid steer for the clearing aspect of what you want to do. I'd go with the dozer or an excavator for now and then buy the skid steer later on if I needed that.
Keep in mind that the 4H that I have is a 12 tonne/90 hp machine machine and that's about the bottom end for productive land clearing. A 6 or 7 is about the top end because big machines lose a lot of dexterity... and that's more useful than brute power when you're clearing land. You only need enough machine to push your biggest stump out. After that you're losing ground. The 4H is just about the right size for what you want to do... Case 1150 is also in around that area as would the Deere 550 and I believe the Komatsu D65.
The Cat's in that class are probably better machines than the Case (I think), but the Case does have split drives to the tracks so you have tremendous manuverability with that machine that the Cat doesn't have with it's ancient clutch and brake steering. If you can afford it, a newer hydrostatic machine would be the way to go...

Rod

 

[Joe in Ne]

If I were you I would probably buy a nice skidsteer and Hire a contractor to come in and take out trees and let you pile them with your skidloader. I am a contractor and see this all the time. You could probably hire the trees you want taken out for around 10000 or maybe a little more. If you buy one of these older machines you have to remember that they are worn out pretty much and it doesn"t take much of a breakdown to spend 10000.00 I have had a bad day when I have had 25000 in breakdowns on two machines. Just something to keep in mind.

 

[Anonymous-0]

You could cultivate mature corn with that thing, though I'm not sure what your row spacing would have to be?
G

 

[Tradititonal Farmer]

A few years back I bought an old Allis HD 14 with a 10' cable lift blade to clear some land and push brush similar to what you're doing.Gave $500 for it and it was slow but just about indestructable.A root rake on that machine would have really been the thing to have.

 

[ericlb]

that will do the job for sure, in addition to the 550,000 price tag i wonder how much it would cost to have a 66 ton dozer hauled to his place , then assembled so he can work, wish we had it sometimes our companies D8R isnt quite big enough

 

[Leland]

sell the trees for pulp wood then you can put a stump grinder on the bob cat to get rid of the stumps

 

[Alex-41JDb]

The construction company I worked for just cleared 20 acres. First we got a (Hydro axe aka brush hog on steroids) for our bobcat, this cleared grass to 4 in trees. The rest of the trees were sawed down or if they were piddly left for the root rake. For large trees they were sawed down with a chainsaw and logged into 10 ft chunks. Anything under 12 inches got stabbed with the bobcat forks and taken to the chipper or grabbed with the excavator w/ thumb and jammed through it. After all wood was removed took excavator (komatsu pc200) and scooped stumps out. After that the whole site was root raked (Attachment for dozer basically 4 big teeth it ground) this took care of surface roots and small stumps. At this point we are hiring a tub grinder to grind stumps and roots ( in your case you could probably just burn them). So my suggestion to you if you want a bob cat buy one, but for the trees rent an excavator with a thumb and start yanking. Then you could carry them and yank them out stump and all. Hope this helps. Alex

 

[Dairy Farmer in WI]

a dozer will do it far better. i got a JD 350 and i can push just about anything up to 2 ft dim. trees over. it's all in the tracks and the weight.my dozer weighs close to 12,000 lbs and the skid weighs roughly 5000 lbs. dozer is better by far for the heavy work.
DF in WI

 

[35A]

Trees are just giant weeds. This land was probably left to over growth & not maintained

 

[dlplost]

Had just the machine you need, sold it back in April for $4500.
55hp, 18,000#, knock them down haul them off, dig a ditch or a pond.
1956 Drott Skid Shovel

 

[big hunter]

I have a Komatsu D41S trackloader for sale. it has 3,9xx orginal hours on it, I've owned it for the last 12 years. it's 90 hp, 4in1 bucket (bucket opens up like a clam), it weighs about 12 to 13 tons I forget exactly, I've never had anything go wrong with it, the undercarriage is about 30 to 40% remaining (I had it measured 500 hours ago and it was at 50% then) it's a sweet machine. I want $20,000 for it. I live in Maryland

 

[jlmtractor]

i have always liked a skidsteer and i would say get like a t250 with a grapple, bucket and bushog and have one man on the chainsaw and another on the bobcat as the guy cuts down the trees and then cuts them to appropriate lengths for the grapple and move the trees to a safe place for later disposal but that is just my opinion but you can also rent a bobcat t300 with the forestry package that will cut hardwoods i believe six to eight inches and pines ten to twelve inches. this machine is a chipper on a bobcat that you drive up to the tree and just push into the tree with it and the teeth on the sixty inch barrel cut it to shreds then get a grapple and haul your larger trees out and boxblade the mulch into a pile but this machine is exspensive to rent just go to bobcat.com to find more info on it

 

[Anonymous-0]

I want to buy D6, D7, Or D8. I dont really mind the condition. I can fix what ever problem, better of to no the problem before purchase. thanks