Got a dozer to use for free :) What would you do?

[bbirder]

Hey Salt,
Did you catch any of them? I hear they make excellent salt water bait. LOL! :wave:

Had to do it. You're right. Those bees are serious business.

LOL...nope did not catch any. I was trying to get away from them things. I wished I had it on video though...I would win some cash for funniest video. They hit me on the dozer and I yelled for my father in the river bottom. I jumped off the dozer and was running for a deep spot in river that runs through our place. Now mind you I got bees attacking my head with a vengeance, coming in my mouth, nose, ears....penetrating every orifice they can. Then my britches fell down and tripped me up. So I am grabbing hand fulls of sand throwing in the air and grabbing my britches to get them yanked back up to protect my 2 vital parts, finally get back up and running. Now running with one hand holding my britches up and one arm flailing around to fight bee's off. Prolly looked like I was creating a new Olympic sport or something. Then my father pulls up, I jumped in and off to the ER we went. I got mucho respect for them dudes now. I got a Bee suit I wear when doing brush work by myself up there now. I do wished I had it on video now though, I would submit it to funniest video's

From that decription, I think you would have won!! :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[JSCATTLE]

Make sure you can afford to fix it when it breaks .. not if it breaks .. I've owned one for several years . The only way to learn Is get on it and go .. they love diesel .. and grease ..

 

[SoILcattle]

Final drive, transmission, pumps can easily cost 10k+ each to fix if something goes bad. So be prepared for that

We have trackhoe, dozer, dump truck, tractors, skidsteer, among many other things. Nothing gets loaned out, it never comes back the same.

 

[CCCowman]

If there are Africanized bee's in your area, have someone sit close by in a pickup if clearing trees/brush if an open cab dozer. I got into some when clearing fence lines at our place and they tore me up. There is no getting away from them. I was lucky my father was close in his truck with windows down and heard me yelling. Them bee's are serious business. Good luck and have fun on it...I would love to have one for 2 months.

Hey Salt,
Did you catch any of them? I hear they make excellent salt water bait. LOL! :wave:

Had to do it. You're right. Those bees are serious business.

LOL...nope did not catch any. I was trying to get away from them things. I wished I had it on video though...I would win some cash for funniest video. They hit me on the dozer and I yelled for my father in the river bottom. I jumped off the dozer and was running for a deep spot in river that runs through our place. Now mind you I got bees attacking my head with a vengeance, coming in my mouth, nose, ears....penetrating every orifice they can. Then my britches fell down and tripped me up. So I am grabbing hand fulls of sand throwing in the air and grabbing my britches to get them yanked back up to protect my 2 vital parts, finally get back up and running. Now running with one hand holding my britches up and one arm flailing around to fight bee's off. Prolly looked like I was creating a new Olympic sport or something. Then my father pulls up, I jumped in and off to the ER we went. I got mucho respect for them dudes now. I got a Bee suit I wear when doing brush work by myself up there now. I do wished I had it on video now though, I would submit it to funniest video's

Best money I've spent on the farm was for a bee suit to wear while clearing brush with my tractor. Of course I bought it after I accidently hit a hornets nest & 17 stings later.

 

[Dave]

Ahhhh Recreational bull dozing. Truly a great way to spend free time.

 

[jedstivers]

All y'all wanting a dozer to use. You know they rent them everyday at a pretty good price?

Never figured anyone would rent me one to learn how to operate it.

They will all day every day.

 

[pdubdo]

so update after my first full day's work:
1) Learning the basics of driving is easier than I thought--and I'm very cautious in learning anything new and dangerous.
2) Producing a clean, smooth patch of dirt where trees/brush has been is hard. Grading in general is tricky for a newbie, especially if the land is a little sloped or has small ridges/ditches
3) a d5k looks big, but it can't push over a 7-8 inch/15 ft oak without working the roots from lots of angles. I had this perception I'd be plowing through the overgrown fence line in one massive push-totally false.
4) for clearing small trees, I think I'd rather rent a forestry mulcher. I'm not good at making brush piles that aren't 50% dirt
5) I have a great respect for y'all that do this well. It takes a lot of skill to turn a bumpy/hilly, overgrown piece of land into a nicely sloping, clean landscape that's ready for building/planting.

 

[cfpinz]

For tearing out fencerows and general clean-up, I like a track loader with a 4n1 bucket. It's like having a set of hands out in front of you.

 

[skyhightree1]

so update after my first full day's work:
1) Learning the basics of driving is easier than I thought--and I'm very cautious in learning anything new and dangerous.
2) Producing a clean, smooth patch of dirt where trees/brush has been is hard. Grading in general is tricky for a newbie, especially if the land is a little sloped or has small ridges/ditches
3) a d5k looks big, but it can't push over a 7-8 inch/15 ft oak without working the roots from lots of angles. I had this perception I'd be plowing through the overgrown fence line in one massive push-totally false.
4) for clearing small trees, I think I'd rather rent a forestry mulcher. I'm not good at making brush piles that aren't 50% dirt
5) I have a great respect for y'all that do this well. It takes a lot of skill to turn a bumpy/hilly, overgrown piece of land into a nicely sloping, clean landscape that's ready for building/planting.

as for #3 I think that didn't happen cause you didn't know what you were doing. Trees that size you need to lift blade up as high as possible and run into it... Not a love tap.... One thing you should look into is since you got the dozer for free look into renting a root rake.

 

[pdubdo]

as for #3 I think that didn't happen cause you didn't know what you were doing. Trees that size you need to lift blade up as high as possible and run into it... Not a love tap.... One thing you should look into is since you got the dozer for free look into renting a root rake.

You are correct in that I don't know what I'm doing . I literally am keeping the speed below 1.5 almost the entire time (insert something about me needing to put on my big boy britches here).
At slow speed, I snapped off a couple of trunks without pulling up the root ball. Maybe that was just the tree type so I'll tighten my seatbelt and speed up a bit. And he sold his D5K within the week so now he's bringing up a D6N!!

 

[skyhightree1]

as for #3 I think that didn't happen cause you didn't know what you were doing. Trees that size you need to lift blade up as high as possible and run into it... Not a love tap.... One thing you should look into is since you got the dozer for free look into renting a root rake.

You are correct in that I don't know what I'm doing . I literally am keeping the speed below 1.5 almost the entire time (insert something about me needing to put on my big boy britches here).
At slow speed, I snapped off a couple of trunks without pulling up the root ball. Maybe that was just the tree type so I'll tighten my seatbelt and speed up a bit. And he sold his D5K within the week so now he's bringing up a D6N!!

The worst trees that I hate to see when clearing lots for houses or just clearing land are gum trees they are a ..... if they have some size to them.