Using Dozers And A Chain For Clearing.

[Robban_C]

Thanks for explaining about that ball!

[Deas Plant]

Hi, Folks.
In a couple of those photos, you can see the dozers pushing trees with their tree pushers. There is a bit of a secret to that. The idea is not to push the tree right over but rather loosen it enough that the dozers can pull it over with the chain. If you push the tree right over, it leaves the root ball expaosed to get caught up in the chain, creating extra drag. If you leave the tree standing but loosened, you avoid this problem.

In the earlier photo where one D8 is bogged, the solution is simple. The other dozer would back up and come around until he had the chain stretched out behind the bogged tractor and simply pull it out backwards. Built-in bog recovery.

[colonel kaye]

absolutely wicked pictures and also wicked reading good stuff deas.keep them coming.regards jason

[IANOZ]

GUDAY DEAS PLANT, sorry for draging this post out of the dark dusty past. After reading it I remembered a couple of DVD"s I bought off an old guy up here . Have you heard of CARTER BROS from bundaberg . These DVD"S I bought WHERE the old home moives carter bros took of some of their jobs I would say dating back to the late 1950:s.The qualinty isn"t the best But what a blast from the past. Scrub pulling with D8"s .THEY used a wirerope as well as a chain . Building the cane train tracks with cable scrapers and cable blade D9 With hydraulic rippers. NEW old gear every where working .THERE is about two & a half hours of it . I seem to remember him saying he was going to do up another DVD of Film he had of the earthworks when he worked on the snowy mountains scheme. ANY one interested in me chasing him up and seeing if he he still has copys for sale????ian.

[JimInOz]

Chase it up,Ian.
Video footage of stuff like chaining & cable controlled gear is always appealing to many.
Let us know how you fare....

Jim

[Deas Plant]

Hi, IANOZ.
Gopheritt, M8. I for one would pay money to get hold of DVD's like that, or even the old movie film footage or photos.

I can't remember very many times at all when I was chaining and could see the other dozer. In conditions like that you needed to keep your wits about you, one eye on the chain, one eye on the tractor and the gauges (in case of fire, over-heating or oil loss due to a stick through somewhere it oughtn't) and BOTH eyes on the trees and scrub ahead of and around you for any snags or 'big-uns' that you would need to give a nudge on your way past or that might drop something on your pointy little head of you weren't careful. Not much time for waving a camera at the passing scenery.

We actually got to see more of each other when working heavier timber than in lighter going. We were closer together for a start, there was less scrub to block the view and more gaps between the trees that allowed us to see each other.

Please let us know how you get on.

[innes]

Hi, IANOZ.
Gopheritt, M8. I for one would pay money to get hold of DVD's like that, or even the old movie film footage or photos.

I can't remember very many times at all when I was chaining and could see the other dozer. In conditions like that you needed to keep your wits about you, one eye on the chain, one eye on the tractor and the gauges (in case of fire, over-heating or oil loss due to a stick through somewhere it oughtn't) and BOTH eyes on the trees and scrub ahead of and around you for any snags or 'big-uns' that you would need to give a nudge on your way past or that might drop something on your pointy little head of you weren't careful. Not much time for waving a camera at the passing scenery.

We actually got to see more of each other when working heavier timber than in lighter going. We were closer together for a start, there was less scrub to block the view and more gaps between the trees that allowed us to see each other.

Please let us know how you get on.

Hi Deas,
Facinating stuff, I read the comment about the steering clutch/brakes but I imagine this would cause a fair bit of side loading/wear on chains, rollers and sprockets, was this a problem? I suppose the longer the loop the less side loading.
All the best --Innes

[Deas Plant]

Hi, Innes.
All of the above, just all the more reason not to short-change yourself on chain length when setting up for this sort of work.

There were/are a good few things to think about when setting up for chaining. More or less matched tractors is a good place to start 'cos mis-matched tractors can make for a LOT of hard work for the lighter tractor. Getting the right sized tractors for the type of vegtetation that you will be chaining is also important. It is sometimes surprising just how much you CAN do with smaller tractors but it always more wearing on smaller tractors doing heavy work than on bigger tractors doing work that is more suited to them.

Matching the chain to the tractors is also pretty important. There is not a lot of sense in having 3" chain behind a couple of D4's. By all means, use a shorter length of heavier chain in the middle of the chain to help hold it down and/or to provide better crushing effect, but use chain that is more suited to the size of the tractors for the bulk of your chain length. Also have a selection of matching shackles so that you can make repairs to your chain in the event of breakages.

If you're going into heavier timber, think about whether or not at least one tractor ought to be equipped with a tree pusher bar as seen in some of the photos above. If only one tractor is fitted with a tree pusher, it is not a bad idea to run it on the outside of the cut. When working this way, if the tree pusher-less inside tractor operator finds a tree that he thinks will give them trouble trying to pull it down with the chain alone, he should cut past it, leaving it for the outside tractor with the tree pusher to push outward on the next pass.

It also pays to try to match the temperaments of your operators. Chaining is no place for a hothead. In-experienced operators can be taught but a hothead will just break gear and machines and annoy the other operator. He may also be dangerous in that he may not pay proper attention to the chain or what is happening with the other tractor and thus may get one or the other of them into trouble.

A few things to think about.

[IANOZ]

RIGHT O GUYS, I shall chase him up and let you know how I get on. HE was advertising it in the country life, I was one of his first sales and went out and picked them up ,He still owes me a poster of the ex WW2 diamond t prime mover and float. Mike macC should get to see how it was done back in the bad old days loading d8's .apart from the scrub clearing d8's not a canopy to be seen on the rest of the gear. these guys had there own plane and there is some aireal shots of the clearing work and of bundaberg sugar mill and i would say the opening of the bulk sugar loading sheds and wharf.Mate up here has an old michagan loader ,theres one on the dvd brand new loading sugar. alright stay tuned for further developments .ian.

[bear]

Great thread as always Deas, darn good info as well.