Dr. Cornwallis's Work Thread And Stuff

southsoundtree said:
I would buy a mini over a tractor all day long, for my market. I know you are PT, and want to be versatile.

I don't know how well a tractor will load that.

For a mini, I'm considering some wooded blocks to drive the mini onto for extra loading over the sides. I've only loaded logs, mostly from the end, due to reach.

I'd check with othe tractor owners doing treework.

Only guy that I can think of who had both tractor and mini, used his mini/ BMG.
Click to expand...




southsoundtree said:
How much is a mini payment versus a tractor payment.

Strikes me as trying to do tree work out of a car instead of a truck. Different markets and weather.
How will the tractor tires do in wet weather? IDK.

How is your access?

I just took long piles of branches and 10-15' logs through a man-gate and down a narrow space between the garage and laurel hedge with my mini. No way I'd get a tractor in there.



How much weight do you think you'll get in your trailer? Do you plan to load over the side, dropping logs and brush? From the end (can you get to the front end effectively? IDK).
Click to expand...



southsoundtree said:
900 pound lift capacity minus attachment weight...ummm.... is that 100% capacity, 50% capacity.

My mini is 50% capacity at 1050 pounds, and tracks narrow to 34.5", expand to 43.5"
Click to expand...


I have to do a little more research as to how these tractors are rated. It states that the loader capacity is 1400 lbs at the pins, I'm not sure if that's 1400 lbs minus the weight of the bucket or if it's 1400 at the pins, I understand weight capacity could go down the farther out in the bucket it sticks.

Access is good, most gates around here will facilitate a 60" ZTR so they'll facilitate a 50" wide tractor. Typically there is enough room to move around as well.

I plan to load over the side, like you describe, dropping brush and logs in.

As far as payment goes, it's a pretty big difference I would imagine. I've only looked at the Bobcat minis so far, and they will only finance a mini for 36mo vs 60, 72 or even 84 on the Mahindra. A 72 month term makes the payments very manageable in a tractor that costs 10k less than a mini.

The ramps for your mini are a great idea, I would imagine that would work very well for a tractor too?



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Be carefull with Mahindra's. I know 3 people who bought new ones and had nothing but problems with them. The only none major brand I would consider would be an LS or a Kioti.
 
tc262 said:
Be carefull with Mahindra's. I know 3 people who bought new ones and had nothing but problems with them. The only none major brand I would consider would be an LS or a Kioti.
Click to expand...

Thanks, that's some good insight. Do you know of what issues in particular they had? I was under the impression they were excellent machines.

I'm also considering LS. My captain has one and has nothing but good things to say about it. It's just a sample of one but, it's better than zero, and he works his stuff pretty hard.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Lots of hydro leaks at the valves, clutch smoked with less than 50 hrs on it, hydraulic cylinders were leaking, 4 starters in one of them, and i'm sure lots more that I can't remember. They all sold them before they were out of warranty. Had almost no time on them because the lived at the dealership waiting to get fixed. Usually home for a week and at the dealership for three.
 
tc262 said:
Lots of hydro leaks at the valves, clutch smoked with less than 50 hrs on it, hydraulic cylinders were leaking, 4 starters in one of them, and i'm sure lots more that I can't remember. They all sold them before they were out of warranty. Had almost no time on them because the lived at the dealership waiting to get fixed. Usually home for a week and at the dealership for three.
Click to expand...

Wow, that's some seriously bad stuff.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
96coal449 said:
Yes you'll need a cdl with that tri axle trailer. At least in NY ya do.
Click to expand...

Interesting. I'm going to look more into it, however, at a glance it looks like in FL you don't need a CDL for a tri axle unless it's being used for commercial purposes.

In a perfect world, I'd like to get hooked up with a company that has a grapple truck and I show up with my Tacoma and gear, do the work, stack the brush by the road and the grapple truck comes and cleans up the mess, however, at a glance it looks like most of the local companies have a $500 minimum.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Dr. Cornwallis said:
Interesting. I'm going to look more into it, however, at a glance it looks like in FL you don't need a CDL for a tri axle unless it's being used for commercial purposes.

In a perfect world, I'd like to get hooked up with a company that has a grapple truck and I show up with my Tacoma and gear, do the work, stack the brush by the road and the grapple truck comes and cleans up the mess, however, at a glance it looks like most of the local companies have a $500 minimum.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
As far as I know you need a cdl in any state when over 26k lbs combined if the trailer is over 10k. Only exceptions are for RV's. And since your doing work for profit it's also considered commercial.
 
Dr. Cornwallis said:
Interesting. I'm going to look more into it, however, at a glance it looks like in FL you don't need a CDL for a tri axle unless it's being used for commercial purposes.

In a perfect world, I'd like to get hooked up with a company that has a grapple truck and I show up with my Tacoma and gear, do the work, stack the brush by the road and the grapple truck comes and cleans up the mess, however, at a glance it looks like most of the local companies have a $500 minimum.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
It's not the Tri axle it's the gross weight rating that counts.
 
tc262 said:
It's not the Tri axle it's the gross weight rating that counts.
Click to expand...

I read something about combined GVCW or GVWR... I think combine its not supposed to meet or exceed a certain weight. I know it's 26k for trucks, not sure about truck/trailer combo.

Not to deviate, however, what would be fair pay contracted as needed ground guy? For reference, I'm located in Florida. I refuse to hire anyone sketchy and I'm having trouble finding anyone not a crack head that's willing to work for even $15 an hour. Kids these days are a bunch of lazy couch potatoes. When I was in high school (04-07) I was stoked to be making $10/Hr to drag brush and stack logs my own body weight.
 
From what I've researched, the Mahindra Max 26XL is pretty much best in class as far as specs go. With a loader capacity of 1400lbs, plus the Everything Attachments 54" Root Grapple leaves me a useful working load of 1,003 lbs. That seems pretty fair.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Combined weight - GVCW. I believe any trailer over 10k lbs becomes a class A requirement Your Tacoma's or any trucks trailer hitch has to be rated for that weight also ..... no Tacoma.
 
96coal449 said:
Combined weight - GVCW. I believe any trailer over 10k lbs becomes a class A requirement Your Tacoma's or any trucks trailer hitch has to be rated for that weight also ..... no Tacoma.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't dream of pulling 10k with that truck, not only for safety reasons but I'm not sure how long it would hold up like that.

I'm kind of eyeballing some used Ram Cummins in the 94-02 range as a work only truck. I'd feel a lot better about a second work only vehicle if I could afford to pay cash for it, and I also really like the older Ram Cummins.


96coal449 said:
Give your ground guy a daily salary. 1 rate for up to 8hrs and one for 10.
This should keep most people working hard to get the job done. Just stay safe.
Click to expand...

I had wondered about offering a daily rate to encourage productivity. Perhaps 150 for an 8 hour day and 180 for a 10? Then if we finish in five hours they're making thirty an hour. Also, safety is my number one priority. I don't just say that because it's what you should say, I say it because no tree and no pay check is worth someone getting seriously injured or dead over. Dangerous work can be made a lot less dangerous by just being methodical, thinking ahead and not rushing. I also take breaks as needed, as it's usually when you're fatigued that you start to get stupid. In this summer Florida heat, id say my productivity drops by about 60% between noon and five o'clock because of the heat.

This time of the year, working hard in the sun you literally can't replace fluids fast enough. We had some really hot days last week and I ended up working my self into heat exhaustion twice (two separate days) from dragging brush/stacking/unloading. I didn't realize how hot it was until I got home and saw on the news the heat index was around 110. No breeze and humidity at about eleventy thousand. You literally can't replace fluids fast enough, even though I went through about three gallons of water and a gallon of Gatorade, I hardly pissed all day. I was going to stick my self when I got home but I didn't have an IV.

As a firefighter in my day job, I get to see all the creative ways people find to seriously injure and kill them selves, and with jobs like tree work, there's literally an infinite number of easy and readily available ways to kill your self in a split second. I'm very slow and methodical in the tree, especially on spikes when cutting and chunking, as it makes me pucker pretty good that the only thing between me and likely death is a lanyard, and I'm cutting with a chainsaw only inches away. When I climb on spikes I always also climb with a back up line as well, taking up slack as I go, and when I descend I move it down with me as I chunk down wood. It adds an element of safety.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
You're going to need commercial insurance. If you are clearly doing tree work, and there is a significant accident, your personal insurance is going to investigate. If you kill someone, suppose, and there is a 3 million law suit, the insurance going to be all over you.

I had a $150,000 homeowner's insurance claim at one job from a massive windstorm that knocked down healthy trees all over. The insurance company was looking to me to confirm or deny root disease in the tree. I made a point of taking the insurance adjuster out to show him the healthy roots, gave him latin names, etc.

I still got a follow-up call. My return voicemail repeated my observations and told of my tour with the inspector. Didn't hear back from them.

NO INJURIES. Only $150,000 or so.

The grapple truck would be a great way to go. $500 for hauling and disposal. Maybe a little bit of final clean-up in your Tacoma with a lightweight trailer. Only use as needed.

Push for no-offsite-disposal. Cherry pick your jobs.
 
Dr. Cornwallis said:
From what I've researched, the Mahindra Max 26XL is pretty much best in class as far as specs go. With a loader capacity of 1400lbs, plus the Everything Attachments 54" Root Grapple leaves me a useful working load of 1,003 lbs. That seems pretty fair.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Lots of manufactures use misleading or fudged specs. Do a little reading on tractor forums about Mahindra's and stay clear of those piles.
 
tc262 said:
Lots of manufactures use misleading or fudged specs. Do a little reading on tractor forums about Mahindra's and stay clear of those piles.
Click to expand...

I'm going to do a lot more research, I've been a little shocked by how great they seem for the money, and they really like to push that "98% customer satisfaction/ loyalty" line. LS is a big contender too, I'm going to get quotes from several dealers, including Kubota, Deer, and LS.

I like Deer a lot as my local Deer dealer is absolutely top notch and where I buy my saws as well.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
southsoundtree said:
You're going to need commercial insurance. If you are clearly doing tree work, and there is a significant accident, your personal insurance is going to investigate. If you kill someone, suppose, and there is a 3 million law suit, the insurance going to be all over you.

I had a $150,000 homeowner's insurance claim at one job from a massive windstorm that knocked down healthy trees all over. The insurance company was looking to me to confirm or deny root disease in the tree. I made a point of taking the insurance adjuster out to show him the healthy roots, gave him latin names, etc.

I still got a follow-up call. My return voicemail repeated my observations and told of my tour with the inspector. Didn't hear back from them.

NO INJURIES. Only $150,000 or so.

The grapple truck would be a great way to go. $500 for hauling and disposal. Maybe a little bit of final clean-up in your Tacoma with a lightweight trailer. Only use as needed.

Push for no-offsite-disposal. Cherry pick your jobs.
Click to expand...

So far I have been cherry picking, I either take jobs small enough to dispose of with my truck 5x8 trailer or I pick jobs in rural areas where I can just stack everything into a burn pile.

Commercial vehicle insurance is something I've looked in to. I was debating weather or not it was worth it as it would only be me driving the truck (no employee) and as a part time job I may do five or six jobs in a month, maybe one really big job, or maybe zero jobs, and commercial insurance is about three times as much.

By no offsite disposal do you mean the grapple truck service disposes of and process the debris them self in order to avoid dumping fees at the municipal dump?

I know around here depending on where you are, it ranges from free to very expensive to dump. In Pinellas county its free, in Hillsborough it's $38/ton. With Live Oak being as heavy as it is, that can add up quickly when disposing of an entire tree.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

New threads New posts

Back
Top Bottom