Hello db4570: I own 17 acres of property in Northern California. Most of the terrain is too steep to walk and too heavily forested to walk through even if you could navigate the steep terrain. 3.5 years ago I purchased a Kubota U55-4 excavator after renting it for two days to cut fire breaks near the house. Since then I have cut horse/ATV trails on the property from 740' elevation to the tip of my orange pen at 1370' (see photo). The top of the ridge is just over 1/4 mile away. Most of the hills are 40+ percent in steepness with many near 75%. Many areas I cut through are not walkable. Too steep; too wooded. So, as you can see from the attached photos I've learned to follow the contour of the hills to cut just over 1/2 mile of 8' foot wide ATV trails on the property. I've learned a great deal from the pros on this site. That said, unless I don't under what you're up to then I have a bit of a different take on how to use an excavator cutting trails on a hill. First, going directly up hill in steep terrain is not an option. It's too steep for the machine and certainly too steep to walk after the cut. My 12.4k lb machine is kinda' the right size for what I'm doing. Not too light and not too heavy so that I can use it elsewhere on the property for smaller tasks. I study the hill and choose a cutting path that avoids large trees (over 2' in diameter). I have 12 varieties of Oaks (these are tough!), manzanitas, and various brush. I start the machine on level ground then clear the top soil and vegetation first in front of me, dig on the downhill side to find the virgin soil and then work my way back up hill in order to make the notch. I'm using a 2' bucket (450 lbs) which is not tippy with my machine (as long as I keep the machine level). I'm always careful to keep my downhill track on virgin soil (working across the slope). To do this, sometimes I need to cut the uphill side down as much as 12' to 14' given the slope--which might exceed 60 degrees. That is, looking on the downhill side it's almost straight down. I always cut over the blade! Why? 1) stability--I have thousands of pounds of weight in front with the boom, arm, bucket and material, 2) I need the dozer to push the cuttings toward the downhill edge using my angle blade, 3) I need the blade for additional bracing if I'm taking out tough brush or trees. And as a note, gravity is a b***h. Don't tackle trees that are above you or that have the gravity and weight advantage. Several times I move the excavator back, hit the tree with my chain saw, and then finish it with the excavator. My machine has the power to cut through 4" to 6" oak tap roots. These are on 12" to 2' oaks that might be 30 to 50' in height. I won't tackle anything larger while cutting in the mountains. Also, make sure your initial cut is about 6"to 8" lower on the uphill side. That way you will be making a natural culvert for rain water. If you don't do this any major rain storm will certainly tear up your road surface. The excavator is also a great compactor. So, back dragging multiple times with the blade as you progress helps compact the cut and clean up the road surface. I also have a tractor with a box scraper I use to groom my roads over time. It's been an interesting learning experience. As noted above, always wear your seatbelt! If something does go wrong staying inside the machine is your best chance. If dialog on this would be helpful I'm happy to share all of my mistakes I've made too. Best in your adventure. A
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