D8H/K Fleco root rake experience?

[D8HCattle]

Hello all,

Just swapped the blade and mounted this root rake I have had for a while. The mount went fine and it seems to be a nice tight fit. Ive been clearing 20-40 acres in various spots on our farm. A big chunk is about a 30 acre section of woods that im turning to pasture. All the wood has been hauled off and now im working with stumps only.

Id like to eventually fabricate a tree spear for this rig, along with some risers.

Im posting because when I clear with the blade I remove a ton of dirt with the tree stumps. Im either windrowing the stumps or putting them into piles. Im really hoping that with this Ill leave more dirt behind and remove more stumps only then before. My blade with fresh cutting edges was 13’6”. This is much narrower so visibility is much greater. So far I can do about an acre in 60 minute, on level ground. My plot however has a ton of elevatio.

Anyone run one of these for a length of time? Experience? Love em/hate em?

 

[chidog]

I've done lots of clearing with a rake, but the teeth were not that closely spaced. But then I've also done some clearing with a U and or straight blade, and still kept the sticks and stumps clean. Its a lot of work and technique to get it done. Tree spear? Sounds like something to get in the way and make the job more difficult. How big are the trees? Here we did everything from small 8" diameter trees to 3 foot plus and also larger old growth fir stumps, in the 8 foot up range. Always used a splitter or one of the rake teeth to split. Most always the job was logged first.
An acre in 60 min, must be small stuff and just rough clearing, cleaning it all will take much more time.

 

[D8HCattle]

I've done lots of clearing with a rake, but the teeth were not that closely spaced. But then I've also done some clearing with a U and or straight blade, and still kept the sticks and stumps clean. Its a lot of work and technique to get it done. Tree spear? Sounds like something to get in the way and make the job more difficult. How big are the trees? Here we did everything from small 8" diameter trees to 3 foot plus and also larger old growth fir stumps, in the 8 foot up range. Always used a splitter or one of the rake teeth to split. Most always the job was logged first.
An acre in 60 min, must be small stuff and just rough clearing, cleaning it all will take much more time.

I may be a little picky with how much dirt I was taking with the blade, and also eager to try this out more. The big plot Im clearing was cleared in 1993 and grew back with lots of soft wood… pine cedar and fir. I cleared it again 4 years ago and the biggest stuff im seeing may be 2 feet dried stumps. It goes fast. Yes its rough clearing, I go over it with a big heavy disk after and this is for pasture. The cows will eventually do the rest over time. What machines to you use? I actually thought these teeth were spaced farther apart then most the modern rigs I see now.

 

[chidog]

My go to was D8H's most time, but spent time on D7F's, D6D, D5, D3's, D7,D5,D4 Highdrives, and D65, D375 Komatsu's, even Case 450. Did disking with D6D clearing scrub alder and brush.
We had to clean the all dirt etc. from the debris, in the beginning everything was burned then that was regulated out, then things had to be almost surgically clean for the various chippers, especially the blade type morbarks of the day, the grinders were more forgiving, but even then if the chips were to go to burners still needed no or very little dirt. Dozers precleaned then excavator cleaned and chipped, but dozer could not deliver dirty stuff. Ah the good old days. This time of year I'm glad I don't have to be in the weather doing what I did.

 

[Tones]

When pushing timber or stumps into a heap roll the blade full before getting to the heap 3-4 times with a series of short pushes. Depending on the heap sizes with a D8 you may be able to roll the entire heap, again just short pushes, no more that half the length of the track frame. Patience and perseverance is also a requirement until you notice the difference.

 

[D8HCattle]

My go to was D8H's most time, but spent time on D7F's, D6D, D5, D3's, D7,D5,D4 Highdrives, and D65, D375 Komatsu's, even Case 450. Did disking with D6D clearing scrub alder and brush.
We had to clean the all dirt etc. from the debris, in the beginning everything was burned then that was regulated out, then things had to be almost surgically clean for the various chippers, especially the blade type morbarks of the day, the grinders were more forgiving, but even then if the chips were to go to burners still needed no or very little dirt. Dozers precleaned then excavator cleaned and chipped, but dozer could not deliver dirty stuff. Ah the good old days. This time of year I'm glad I don't have to be in the weather doing what I did.

Im burning too, id like to do more burning the days im clearing but that is not always possible where i work alone often. Plus i can always burn after its fenced in and cattle are in a different pasture. A chipper would be nice and would add to regenerative pasture building as well like burning.
I definitely appreciate you opinion on tree spears, there was a fellow in Florida who swore by them and based a lot of his techniques on them.. he had some videos on you tube… good stuff. I guess I figure I could fabricate one cheaply albeit heavy duty and mount it and see how it goes when in the woods.
Did you find that risers are a must? Should I focus on fabricating those? As of now clearing stumps nothing comes close to needing risers. Thank you!

 

[sled dog]

Bust those stumps in pieces with a splitter, then rake and burn. Way, way less dirt and everything burns up.