[AT] Clearing scrub brush

Sat Jan 23 21:09:21 PST 2016

That is some nice equipment.   That excavator is equipped with more 
hydraulics that anything here in Oklahoma.
   I have a 1960 944 Cat loader that is probably one of the first 4wd 
articulated loaders Cat built.  In fact in the parts manual it is called 
a traxcavator..  Along with a 1965 613 CAt scraper, an old worn out 1952 
D6 8U, my E110B, in addition to the 2 old 1150 Case dozers.     I bought 
an old 2470  4WD Case that was overhauled the year before I bought it.  
I have a 6 yd pan type scraper that I intend to pull with the Case.  If 
this works out, I may sell the 613.

  I can definitely understand the hauling problems on the scraper. I 
have a farm about 60 miles from the one I live on.   I have a folding 
gooseneck semi trailer and a LTL9000 Ford that pull it just fine, it 
only gets 3.75 mpg since it is geared so low. However, it is such a pain 
to get the gooseneck  back up on the truck, and the insurance on the 
truck goes up every 6 months at renewal that it is just not worth the 
money to keep it around to haul the 613 Cat scraper.   I bought a 25ton 
pintle hitch lowboy and pull it with my L9000 Ford that gets about 7mpg 
and has handled the gooseneck semi also.  When I move the 613, I will 
just drive it. In 2.5 hours I can be at the other farm and by the time I 
load, tie down, and unload, I have spent just about the same amount of 
time.  The fuel consumption is about the same also.... Not to mention 
the effort of climbing all over everything since I don't have any help.

Cecil in OKla

On 1/23/2016 10:14 PM, Brian VanDragt wrote:
> Here is a link to most of my dad's current arsenal:
> https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ibkghvzkkrpu3ja/AAA6fZ7eR-WHB18v4IfmzaK7a?dl=0
> Dad is a one man show and is almost 70 years old.  He has been in business
> for himself since about 1971.  In the pictures you will see a Cat 225D LC
> excavator, a Cat 950B loader, a Cat D4H LGP dozer, a Cat 55 Challenger
> tractor with Ashland scraper or John Deere MX10 mower, a Cat 257B mini track
> loader, a 1979 Kenworth with an even older Rogers lowboy trailer, and a GMC
> 5500 truck.  In one of the pictures the Challenger 55 is pulling the scraper
> and the GMC down the road.  He put a RV style tow bar on the back of the
> scraper so when he drives the tractor and scraper to a job, he can take the
> truck with him to get home.  It is faster and easier to drive the
> tractor/scraper combo than to haul it in two loads on the semi.
> He has been downsizing a little, the D4 has been sold, the Kenworth and
> trailer are for sale and the 257 mini loader has been traded for a new 259.
> He has no plans to retire though.
> There are a few more pictures of the brush puller in there as well as some
> other homemade brush rakes made out of chisel plow parts.  The brush puller
> comb was burned out of steel plate by a local fabrication shop.  The teeth
> are obviously tapered to pinch the brush as you pull it towards you but when
> it was cut out, the torch was angled to make the teeth narrower on the
> bottom and wider on the top to get a grip on the brush without it just
> slipping through.  You can see this if you zoom in on the pictures.  There
> are no special serrations, just the slightly jagged torch cut.  These are
> the pictures I had on hand, the brush puller is probably buried in snow
> somewhere right now so more pictures could be hard to get.  The bucket that
> it is mounted to has a factory ripper shank mount welded to the back of it.
> When he is digging stumps out, he puts a single ripper shank in it so he can
> rip through the roots on each side of the stump before digging under it with
> the bucket and thumb.  I don't know if that bucket is at his house or out on
> a job but I will try to get a picture of it if I can.  There are also
> pictures of his hydraulic brush cutter on the excavator.  It is called a
> "Slashbuster" and was factory made in Washington.
> http://www.slashbuster.com/
>
> Brian
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com
> [mailto:at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com] On Behalf Of Cecil R Bearden
> Sent: Saturday, January 23, 2016 9:50 PM
> To: Antique tractor email discussion group
> Subject: Re: [AT] Clearing scrub brush
>
> Any way I could get some front pictures of that?.  I am sure it tapers
> inward, but I cannot tell if he serrated the edges of the horizontal parts,
> or it is just the pixels of the camera.... I also like the way it hooks to
> the back underneath of the bucket as it would make it easier to clean the
> trees off.  That is a great invention....!!
>
> Cecil in OKla
>
>
> On 1/23/2016 2:01 PM, Brian VanDragt wrote:
>> My dad is a land clearing and excavating contractor and he made this
>> tool that fastens to his excavator bucket for pulling out fine brush.
>> Using the regular bucket and thumb would make a mess of the ground
>> taking this small stuff out.  If you have a tractor with a loader,
>> maybe you could make something like this that clamps to the bucket or
>> even a three point hitch version.
>> Brian
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com
>> [mailto:at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com] On Behalf Of Mike M
>> Sent: Saturday, January 23, 2016 12:45 AM
>> To: Antique tractor email discussion group
>> Subject: [AT] Spam> Clearing scrub brush
>>
>> I have about 2-1/2 acres of land to clear for pasture, that is over
>> grown with scrub brush; here in Michigan that consists of  1"-2" "trees"
>> about 10-12' tall, that have taken over, and it's _thick_. I see ads
>> for grubbers to pull this brush out by the roots (Northern Tool), but
>> they run about $75 and it looks like it's a one by one process, which
>> would take forever.  I would be interested in learning any old school
>> tricks for pulling this stuff out.  Any thoughts would be appreciated.
>>
>> Regards,
>> Mike M
>>
>>
>>
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