Mulching - "The Daily Grind"

The guys at work make fun of me for saving old parts and stuff, but it sure comes in handy when you can go to your own junk pile for hard to get parts.

crane operator said:

The guys at work make fun of me for saving old parts and stuff, but it sure comes in handy when you can go to your own junk pile for hard to get parts.

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That's not a junk pile. That's an open air parts room with a proprietary location system.
After all, if no one else knows about that part under the left center of the pile, it'll be there when you're ready for it.

I got a final drive stripped off and prepped, yesterday, from my "donor" machine. No evidence of damage to the hydraulic motor or the planetary drive from the fire that consumed the machine. Lots of good parts here for me.


This machine basically has/had a new undercarriage on it with nearly new final drives. Thankfully, the speed sensor on the drive motor was unscathed. I ruined the one on the final that spun out. If I remember correctly, those were about $800+ 8 or 9 years ago.


Poor little "pack mule" RZR 900 was carrying quite the load into the swamp, today. The front end felt really light when the final drive was in the back! It will be carrying a lot of oil tomorrow. This buggy sure has saved me a lot of steps and time on some remote breakdowns that I've had over the years.



I don't know what I would have done without the Menzi. What you don't see is the barbed wire fence right up against the front tires and the ditch right behind the right side tires - on the edge of no working room. This whole repair was worked in a tight spot. Picked my way right between the trees and placed the drive right into position. Winched it in sideways with another strap then adjusted the height to drop it into place for bolt in procedure. Tomorrow, hydraulic motor, new brake line and lots of hydraulic oil.

The brake line to the final drive was the only "side" casualty of the drive stripping off of the frame and twisting about. I made up a quick pulling tool to speed up install and make the process of hose replacement easier. In fact, I only replaced the hammered end fitting and reused the same hose. The hose still had to be R&R'ed and taken to the hydraulic hose builder. It had enough slack to lose a couple of inches without issue and save some money by just replacing the mangled fitting. These pulling tools really speed up the process and make life a lot easier to pull a hose in place when it runs through a bunch of framing with lots of bends in the routing, not to mention the accumulation of dirt & debris within the routing space.



My poor little pack mule was really put to the test on this repair job. I filled up the passenger seat with tooling and then strapped a full 55 gal drum into the back. The 55 just barely fit in the back. I did not want to make multiple trips with 5 gallon pails and keep refilling them from the 55. Too much potential for dirt addition that way even though everything is run through a filter on the way into the tank. I can no longer even think of these repairs without the RZR and the Menzi, especially in the sandy conditions this job was in. Both machines saved my back, time and labor. I did miss out on a lot of miles of walking and lots of fence crossings.



Thankfully, my buddy that oversees this farm and got me the job was available to help a lot on this repair job. Due to the obstacles (mostly fencing & trees) of this repair location, I was working blind a lot of the time when trying to place materials such as positioning the 55 into place within reach of the pump intake tube. Once positioned, the drum was strapped into place and the thrill of the pump commenced. I did not count, nor did I wish to, the number of pumps it took to move 45-50 gallons of oil into the tank. It seemed to take forever. Back at the shop I usually refill with the hydraulic filtration cart in a matter of 5 minutes, not an hour of pumping by hand.


Even after everything was together, primed and running, the left track was still binding. EVERY mud hole had to be cleaned out from the top and sides AND the machine would only travel in reverse until all of the packing was cleaned out. Most all of the problem was attributed to the cedar from the previous job and the consistency of the sand on this job. It was a perfect storm. Mulch, gravel and sand making a near impervious concretion within the rails to the point of tight tracks and little sprocket engagement. The battery powered hammer was the key to getting this stuff cleaned out quickly. That was well worth the $100 for that tool. It will be getting used quite a bit in the future.

Wow, impressive work! Nice job on that puller. I have had snow and ice cause a 'ice rind' build up on each chain bushing but nothing as severe as what you had on your bushings/rails.

An atv is a really indispensable support tool as you have clearly shown!

Impressive field repair.

Speaking of the munchies, this beast was working next door on a clearing project. Had to go take some pictures.

I like the concept of those subsoiler heads but they are pricey, take a lot more maintenance and all of those that I know that have purchased them only kept them for a little while. Customers don't want to pay what it costs to run those things from what I understand. What I have works for me and that is what I'm sticking with.

I think that the install of the track drive motor on Thursday put my back over the edge. I worked the mulcher for a few hours on Friday and had to quit earlier than I normally would have. I was barely able to walk and the ride was getting excruciating at the end of the session. So, I took the weekend off to heal up. Today, Monday, I was back at it with the Husqvarna 385xp notching & prepping the big leaners (some 26"-30" diameter trees) that were headed towards the fenceline and dropping those that the wind and gravity would help ease over. I mulched up everything to finish up the job and then ran the Menzi for a few hours building new water crossings and repairing damaged crossings. Everything is now prepped for access to accomodate new fencing install. My customer and her representative are impressed and thrilled with the work.

During work pic. You can see the Menzi and the mulcher ahead in the distance where I blew the final drive on the mulcher.


Same location as above picture after the rest of the leaners were cut down & mulched up. I did rework this water crossing before taking the Menzi out of the swamp but I did not take a pic after working the crossing.


Down past where the Menzi was parked looking back at it. You can see the existing fence line on the right.


180 degree view from previous pic. Note the tire. I lost count of how many tires that I "processed" on this little job. You would not think that it was possible for so many tires to get caught up in floods over the years. I did not notice any getting "de-rimmed" but I did see some that had rims about.

The munching game is relatively new up here. I think the local guys are trying to figure it out.

For those following this thread and reading about my rails getting packed with debris, resulting in the destroyed planetary drive, here is the easy solution for cleaning out these chip and soil packed rails.

This $100 tool may be my new best friend in maintenance and repairs. $100 for the bare tool, about $80 worth of assorted bits to try plus batteries and charger that I already had. This is a combination rotary hammer drill with free float & fixed hammering, drilling, hammer drilling options via the rotary switch on the left side. 5 year no questions warranty. Harbor Freight has really stepped up their game with the Hercules branded tooling. These put my Porter Cable 20v tools to shame.

Removing a broken exhaust collar yesterday. It does not hit as hard as my long barrel air hammer but it does hit probably 4x faster. Less damage and more control for the win.



I purchased a ground rod driver fitting and welded a washer onto it for cleaning out the mud holes in the tracks. The smaller diameter punches through first and then cleans out wider with the washer diameter. I will likely add a smaller diameter starter punch at some time to see if that improves performance. I've tried the pointed and the flat bits. This rod driver is fastest for cleaning out the mud holes so far.



Ground rod driver with welded on washer shown loaded in the hammer. Works great! I did have a couple of holes plugged tough with wood. Using the rotary hammer function with the hole cutter, shown installed on the long shaft, quickly tore through the wood that was plugging the rail. Not shown is a carbide tipped pilot drill that works with the carbide hole cutters to keep your holes centered if needed.


This sure beats the 2 lb drilling hammer and mushroom punch that I had been using to clean these holes after the break down.

video of hammer in action

Started a new job yesterday. I'm sure glad I have the buggy and the tow bar. It would have been a 3.5+ mile walk back to the truck on this parcel! So far, it's just cut over pine for the most part that was likely done about 2 years ago. Soft, fast, easy cutting that should save my customer a lot of money compared to the dozer work that they did have going on. Most of the grass root base remains intact so first next rain should shoot the grasses back up to green over the land and make it look great.



It's a jungle out there! No one wants to bushwhack this crap with the number of ticks in this area and this county's reputation for snakes.


Thankfully, I can just feel my way along and leave it cleaner than I found it.


I was able to cover over 5 acres the first day even though there was a lot of steep and technical cutting included in what was worked.


As long as my customer is happy and satisfied, I should be on this job for a fair bit. Maybe another job with them to follow if all goes well. Fingers crossed and working my butt off to be productive and profitable for the customer. I never milk a job but I do fly through it as fast as I can. There is always another job around the corner. Take good care of your customers and you will always have work available. At least that's my take on business and what I live by.

Flat out smokin' this part of the job. 8 acres cleared in 10 hours today. This included a lot of steep perimeter and numerous ditch work. I am always impressed by the speed of this machine. I make great money and I save my customers a lot of money when this machine is used on the right jobs.

Nice easy work done well.

I got into some really dense regrowth on section 2. Much slower progress but lots of elms, oaks and other resiliant hardwoods that require at least 2 passes to look decent. Finished this up and moved to section 3, again with the help of the buggy as that was about 2-2.5 miles away from section 2. Section 3 will be interesting as it is a recent burned area. I don't think that there is enough ash to be of concern and the lack of green leaves will make stumps more visible and easier for me to deal with.

I was a little nervous about laying out so much $ in work with a new customer (based out of state) but we are off to a great start in this business relationship. I have provided GPS tracking reports and progress pics at least every other day. I turned in an invoice and requested a prompt payment as per our contract. I was more than pleased to have a direct deposit received later that day. There is nothing better in business than a great working relationship where a customer can trust a contractor and the contractor can trust his/her customer. This makes life a whole lot less stressful for all parties involved!

#2 north view before



#2 north view after


#2 SE view before


#2 SE view after

treemuncher said:

I got into some really dense regrowth on section 2. Much slower progress but lots of elms, oaks and other resiliant hardwoods that require at least 2 passes to look decent. Finished this up and moved to section 3, again with the help of the buggy as that was about 2-2.5 miles away from section 2. Section 3 will be interesting as it is a recent burned area. I don't think that there is enough ash to be of concern and the lack of green leaves will make stumps more visible and easier for me to deal with.

I was a little nervous about laying out so much $ in work with a new customer (based out of state) but we are off to a great start in this business relationship. I have provided GPS tracking reports and progress pics at least every other day. I turned in an invoice and requested a prompt payment as per our contract. I was more than pleased to have a direct deposit received later that day. There is nothing better in business than a great working relationship where a customer can trust a contractor and the contractor can trust his/her customer. This makes life a whole lot less stressful for all parties involved!

#2 north view before
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#2 north view after
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#2 SE view before
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#2 SE view after
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It is amazing what that thing can do.
A permit for this job where I am at would cost about $5,000 to be allowed to do that job.

doug dirt said:

It is amazing what that thing can do.
A permit for this job where I am at would cost about $5,000 to be allowed to do that job.

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As long as I do not physically pull the stump out of the ground, I can go anywhere that I please without the need for permits or other tyranical obstructions. This includes wet areas. Flat dry ground is where the wheeled machine shines but for steep or swampy, tracks get the job done.

I've had some tree-huggers tell me that I am "wasting all of that wood!" My response is generally, "Why don't you pick up a chain saw and go out there and process it into firewood or something usefull if you don't like what I do? Compete against me and make something of the wood." Yeah, right, like they have more energy to get something done other than bitch about something that is not their business. They never realize how much good a layer of mulch does to stabilize the ground, nourish and prevent erosion. I even leave the grass root structure intact on most jobs.

A permit to pull stumps?

doug dirt said:

A permit for this job where I am at would cost about $5,000 to be allowed to do that job.

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That's ridiculous.

Some years ago, before retirement, I was clearing land in our city, for a large landowner/investment company. After mulching everything and cutting down a few bigger trees, I started stump grinding the remains of the bigger trees. This was on a 30 acre tract. The local Parks Dept tree expert and an accompanying police officer shut me down. Said my stump grinding was part of illegally cutting the trees down. I got 60 citations, for $1,000/tree. The customer told me to just give the citations to them, and they would make it go away. They did make it go away, as the land was zoned "Agricultural", so they could do anything they wanted with it as long as it was ag related. We were "improving the pasture". Of course, within a couple of years, that nice cleared land was sold by the Sq. Ft. for development.