Category: Forestry

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CAT306 Excavator Forestry In the Field Initial Impressions Machine Reviews

Can the CAT306 CR With Stick Steer and XTC Replace Multiple Machines? – Initial Review -Skidsteer MiniEx Hybrid

THIS IS NOT SPONSORED!

I wanted to consolidate some of my equipment because I felt a little overwhelmed with all the machine maintenance I have. So I decided to look for an all in one machine that could do what my skid steer and wheeled excavator could do.

I looked at a lot of options, including the Mecalac but decided to go with the CAT 306 with XTC for many reasons:

-It was half the price of the Mecalac

-It can handle all of my skid steer attachments that I already own

-It is an excavator so I wouldn’t need my Komatsu PW30 anymore

-I have a good CAT dealership close by

-It is basically a Skidsteer and Excavator combined

In this video I walk through everything in detail and try to focus on the CAT 306 XTC’s ability to replace my skidsteer, especially how it can handle all of the attachments I have. This review was made after about 60 hours of using the machine and shows some footage removing invasive species in my woods. Also there is some bonus footage of the “Castle Camp” overlook. Consider subscribing to see more videos on the machine and how it functions with various attachments. It has quickly become my favorite machine and is affectionately referred to as “The Swiss Army Knife”!

Thanks for watching!

driftlessinwi

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Excavator Forestry

How to Remove Trees with Excavator and Bucket – Pull Method

I needed to clear a lot of trees for a new home we are building. I was primarily pushing the trees over with my CAT 323. I found pushing to be difficult in a thick forest and it also resulted in broken trees. My experienced excavator operator friend showed me a new way of taking trees out by pulling them with the excavator instead of pushing them. It works brilliantly and is much safer.

By lining up the tree so that the arm is between the operator and the tree, it makes it highly unlikely that the tree will fall on the cab. Another benefit is the tree drops right next to the excavator so it is easy to process without having to move the machine any.

Enjoy!

driftlessinwi

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At the Mill Forestry Gehl RT210 Machine Reviews Wallenstein

Best Logging Skidsteer Attachment – Wallenstein LXG 430RP

This log grapple for my skid steer is my favorite attachment. It is made by Wallenstein and has a rotating grapple, an extendible boom, a 9000lb Warn hydraulic winch, and can open to 72″ wide while also closing down to 3″. It works great for loading and unloading trailers, winching logs out of the woods, skidding logs, stacking logs, grabbing brush, and it even does a great job placing large stones and rocks for landscaping.

In this video I do a walkaround and show how all the functions work. I also show how it works unloading a trailer full of logs and also how I use it to hold fliches that I cut up into firewood. This video has no talking, but it does have some sound. Enjoy and thanks for watching!

driftlessinwi

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At the Mill Buckthorn Wood Kiln

Simple DIY Dehumidifier Wood Kiln – Part 2 – Does it work in below 0 weather? Finished Buckthorn

Part 2 of my wood kiln tour and my adventures in woodworking with common buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica). The weather didn’t cooperate with this video, it has been below zero every day for almost two weeks now. The upside was that I got to stress test the DIY dehumidifier wood kiln I made, and I learned a lot about its capabilities.

I also finished drying the buckthorn I milled and ran it through my jointer…WOW! This stuff is very gorgeous, and it has many characteristics in its grain and structure that I have never seen before. I compared it to quartersawn Cherry and flat sawn Black Walnut. Take a look! I think I will make a separate video on the highlights of the buckthorn milling and finishing process.

Related Videos: Part 1 of DIY Wood Kiln Tour and Buckthorn Drying – https://youtu.be/lP5vhE7SXF4

Harvesting and Milling the Buckthorn – https://youtu.be/anzKsypOS-U

Thanks for watching!

driftlessinwi

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At the Mill Buckthorn Forestry Sawmilling

Can you mill buckthorn? Harvesting and Milling a Large Buckthorn Tree

You may have wondered, “can you mill buckthorn?” Or, maybe, “is buckthorn wood good for anything?” Common buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica), or European buckthorn, as it is also known is a a highly invasive plant that grows all over my woods. There are a few places in the woods where this stuff has grown to over 10 inches in diameter. I looked all over for other examples of people milling buckthorn for wood working but couldn’t find a video so I thought I would make this. Includes a few shots of doing atv logging. I made a follow up video on this to show how well buckthorn dries and finishes – Energy Efficient DIY Wood Kiln – Buckthorn Drying

Tell me if you think milling buckthorn is worth it in the comments on the YouTube video! Enjoy, and please subscribe! 🙂

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Black Walnut Fun Sawmilling Treehouse

Timber Framed Treehouse with Live Edge Black Walnut Siding

A ton of work! But this has been a fun project for the kids and I. I get to use almost all of my tools and equipment to work on it: From harvesting damage trees, to milling them on the sawmill, to planning, sanding, etc etc…

I have been able to hone many of my skills by experimenting with this treehouse. I timber framed it with both round logs and squared off timbers. If I were to do it over I would probably stick to squared off timbers because round logs add a lot of work, not just with the framing, but with the finishing touches as nothing goes together perfectly.

I wanted to practice with some elements to homebuilding like framing walls, installing windows and doors, doing spray foam insulation, roofing, decking, building concrete footers, weather proofing and siding. This was a perfect project to learn a lot of things while also building something my kids really enjoy.

But, I am not finished! So much more to do, please subscribe if you would like to follow the project. If you have any suggestions or comments or ideas, please share them in the comments below. The interior is still somewhat of a blank slate and we are coming up with ideas to make cool built ins and different ways to get into the loft.