Sizing an excavator

[Chewy63]

Hello all,

I'm kicking around the idea of buying an excavator for clearing trees in fence rows and in a woods on the farm. My question is about the size of machine needed for removing trees 2' diameter with the occasional bigger tree. I also want to have a shear attachment instead of bucket to aid in splitting up big rounds for firewood, also utalizing it as a root rake and thumb.

I'm getting mixed signals from my google searches about what would be a good size. Some say 25klb range And some say 45klb range.

Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Oh, and I would like to maybe pick up winter jobs clearing tree and such with it if possible.

Ty
Erin

 

[powerjoke]

Bigger the better, buy the biggest thing you can afford and haul you'll never wish the machine was smaller......

Pj

 

[stumpjumper83]

the 160's are a nice all around size. Can be moved without permit usually depending on specs, yet are fairly powerfull. Idealy your going to want a larger machine for that type of work, something in the 270 - 300 class but moving them can be difficult and expensive compared to a 160.

 

[Chewy63]

I was kinda thinking like an hitachi ex200, and hoping the ex120 would be enough. I'd like to stay under 20k. Possible?

 

[stumpjumper83]

not really, unless you like fixing worn out stuff... 30 -40 is more reasonable

 

[dozer12216]

I scored on a Hitachi EX270 LC for same purpose. I am working the stuffing out of it for those trees over 1.5 ft in diameter. Have popped out several 2.5 foot plus sycamores and 2.0 foot plus oaks. Be prepared to spend some time. The plot was cut recentlly and there are stumps even larger. It takes real horsepower and heavy steel to rassle out 10 foot root wad and stump package. Bigger is definitelly better.

 

[Chewy63]

What year is your ex270 lc? How many hours on it? Have you had to repair anything major? Do you like it so far?

Right now we are working in a water way over grown with trees both sides. It has mostly ash, with some hackberry, maple, and oak. I have been getting fire wood out of it with a ford 655d backhoe. The ash is fairly easy to push over. Sometimes I can even push over a 18 to 20" inch tree if the ground is wet without digging around it. But if I get into other types of trees, I have to dig around a 6" tree. The ash roots don't grow deep next to the water. The 655d has a 23 gal/per min pump, and when I run the specs on on say a hitachi 200 is around 100 gal per min. Does this only translate to speed or does it also mean more power?

One theory I have read is that you should size around the average sized trees. That way most of the time you'll be using less gas so it will be cheaper to run.

Erin

 

[Dig_Texas]

I have a Cat 311 which weighs about 26K. I bought it mainly for septic tank and storm shelter install work but have done some clearing with it. Right now I'm almost done with a 250 acre clearing project. Most of the trees were cedars, bois'd arc, ash and hackberry with the occasional pecan, oak and honey locust. The cedars, bois'd arc, ash and hackberrys came out relatively easily. Some of the hackberrys were over 2' dia. and I had a 3' bois'd arc. The pecans and oaks were a real pill. The biggest pecan was about 2' dia. and it was a real shame to have to take it out but it was right in the middle of a proposed stock tank as laid out by the NRCS.

If you don't have to move the machine very often, I'd go with the biggest you can get to take out the trees. On the larger ones, it took some work to get the rootball out of the hole and I sometimes had to dig a ramp for the dozer to get down the hole to help push out the rootball.

 

[watglen]

Bigger the better, buy the biggest thing you can afford and haul you'll never wish the machine was smaller......

Pj

:iagree

Plus, the bigger the machine, the less chance of ruining it. And for handling trees a hydraulic thumb is indispensable, which puts a lot of stress on the stick.

The bigger the better and find a way to haul it. Mine's about 57,000lbs and sometimes I'm wishing for more.

Trees in fence rows put down stronger brace roots than trees in the bush, because of their exposure to the wind I suspect. Add to that the adjacent dirt is more compact and you see what I mean.

And the type of tree makes a huge difference. Elm? Yeah good luck. Anything evergreen, poplar, birch fall over easy. Oak and Maple are in between.

 

[pp13bnos]

I saw that you where throwing around the idea of a 120. I love mine, and its extremely easy to haul, but for serious tree removal, you need something bigger. Taking trees out with a 120 is possible, but can be a little dangerous, and will take time. Awhile ago I did a video of me removing a couple acres of poplar trees. (Not a super hard tree to remove, especially with ground conditions like here in the Willamette valley.) The first tree I went to push over, somehow spun on me, coming directly back at me. Landed between the boom and the house. It didn't do any damage, but scared the @#$! out of me. I didn't capture that on film, but here is a video of me pushing a couple down.

http://youtu.be/w47L4-liL-k

 

[Chewy63]

Here is a pic of the hardest tree in this water way so far. The root ball is still in the hole. Im not sure what type of tree it is, but i think its a maple. The ash trees are way easier to remove.

Ty guys for the responses!

Awesome vid pp13bnos! are you happy with your ex120 so far? are john deere parts interchangeable?

ty Erin

 

[pp13bnos]

Thanks. Yeah I've been happy with it so far, but wouldn't of minded getting a larger machine, but this machine was in my budget. The 160s and 200s where just out of my price range for the condition that I was looking for. I haven't had a problem getting parts from the local Deere/Hithachi dealer. Overall I'm really happy with it.