The food in the area is scarce during the winter. The first year we had two corn feeders and the cameras show the deer flocking to the area, but we had the feed interval low to stretch out the corn. The second year one feeder was destroyed by the pigs and the other motor failed. The corn feeders brought the deer to our land, but there wasn't enough to hold them there. We need to make the food plot bigger and expand it to at least an acre or more. We also wanted to put in a second plot on the other side of the property, but it was late in the season so we settle on making lanes from the plot deeper into the forest.
With four people we managed to clear two lanes about 20 feet long and 6 feet wide in 4 days. The weather was hot and humid which made the work miserable and exhausting. The heat index was over 105 every day. We were so hot we spent the majority of the time drinking water. It took a long time to fall trees and cut them into pieces the size of firewood so we could move to piles. This wouldn't work in the future since most of the work would be done by just the two of us. We realized that some kind of machine would be needed.
Hauling Ass
The trucks we used as our daily driver were just not suited for hard work. Our 1/4 ton trucks (5.7L RAM 1500) have served us well and able to pull the Jeep up the mountain to our land even where the slope reaches 20% in some places. The problem is the trucks struggled on the slopes and the gas mileage was 50% lower than normal. I was also concerned about the wear on the trucks.
We bought a used 3/4 ton long bed truck (6.7L RAM 2500) with a diesel engine. We were lucky the truck came with a tool box and 93 gallon transfer tank. This truck is able to pull the Jeep up the mountain easily and does it while getting 15 MPG. We only use the truck for trips to the property or long drives. Diesel trucks are expensive to operate.
Now we have to bring the smaller truck to tow the Jeep when we need the trailer for heavy loads or the tractor. We feel like we should bring the Jeep at least until the roads are fixed.
More Toys
We started looking at equipment to assist our work. At first, I planned to use the Jeep to do most of the work. I thought the wench and chains would be enough to move logs around and we could buy implements designed for UTVs. Pulling logs around with the Jeep and chain proved difficult because the logs would dig into the ground and were limited where they could be put. The implements didn't work well either. Perhaps they would work in a home garden, but it wasn't practical on undeveloped land with rocky soil. The UTV implements rely on leverage instead of weight to push the chisel down into the ground which means the chisels lift the rear of the Jeep up and just scraps the top of the ground most of the time.
We decided on a Kubota LX2610 with a grapple, box blade, and seedbed roller. We bought new because of the warranty and financing available at the time. The tractor we picked is a midsize machine in their compact line running 25 HP. The draw back of this model is that the PTO runs at 19HP which is not enough to drive many attachments. The next model L3310 would have been a better choice with more attachments available and the ability to drive them. The next model jumps in price and cost an additional $100 per month. The L3310 also has a cab option which is really necessary when working in hot/cold weather. We considered a skid steer but they are double the price. It's hard to justify extra expense for something that has limited use.
The tractor has been worth the price. If you buy a tractor then go for the biggest one you can afford. What the tractor can do is only limited by its horsepower and weight. Too much is always better. If you are not able to buy a tractor then at least rent one for the land work. A grease gun and extra grease is also needed. Even when renting you are expected to lubricate the joints per the manufacturer's recommendation. They do check.
Vacation Home
Everyone dreams of a weekend get away at a cabin secluded in the woods. Until this point we had only been there hunting a few weeks of the year. We tried to make some repairs and improvements to the camper but the years of neglect made it impossible, and the small size makes it uncomfortable even for two people. The lack of showers and air conditioning makes summer stays impossible.
Building a permanent cabin would be the best option. There are many options for foundations but a concrete slab was the best option. Pier systems will settle and lead to structural issues. The isolation of the area makes any repairs difficult. The first problem is getting concrete out to the site no matter what type of foundation is used. Being able bring bags of concrete are limited by what we can carry out there. We would need to transport over a ton of cargo in concrete and water just to make a 10X10 3in slab. The hunting cabins out there are usually utility sheds on cinder blocks.
We met with a concrete company and they said they can deliver to the well pad near us but warned the truck weighs 50,000 lbs when loaded and if the ground is soft the truck would sink. We would be responsible for the cost of getting the truck out. There's no way for us to guarantee the ground could support that weight. It wouldn't be possible to pump the concrete because of the distance from the well pad to the build site. Most pumps can only go up to a few hundred feet and it creates additional concrete waste and cost. I think the best option would be to use a dump trailer to transport the concrete the last quarter mile. We will be charged by the minute over 45min so the trailer has to carry at least 2 yards so we can make less than 3 trips. The plan is to fill the trailer from the truck, drive to site, dump, work it, and return in the 45 minutes. The big truck would be needed to pull the trailer which means there must be enough extra space to maneuver. First, we will need to clear an area for the cabin and improve the roads.
Search and Destroy
The camper is located is the center of our property which disrupts the entire area when we travel. We cleared 3,600 squared feet at a new site near the north border. Cutting down the trees left many stumps around the new cabin site which would prevent building.
The only experience I had for removing tree stumps was a grinder. They do make grinders for tractors but the low horse power at our PTO means that the attachment can't be used. We found a company near by that rents self propelled stump grinders.
Unfortunately, grinding a stump is a slow process. You can only grid a few inches per pass. The speed and depth of each pass depends on the size and type of tree. The big oak trees took forever to grid down. The grinder also had trouble because the ground is filled with rocks of all shapes and sizes. If you hit any rocks with the grinder teeth they are instantly dull or broken which means you must dig out the rocks out between passes. The grinding leaves a lot of the tree in the ground. The grinder was only able to remove the top 8 inches of the root system. The left overs may attempt to regrow but I'm concerned it's rotting corpse will make the ground unstable. I only rented the machine for a day and I was only able to grid 5 trees out of the 20 or so we cut down. The progress was too slow and incomplete for the cost of the rent.
Dig it
A field of buried, rotting trees would not work for a place where we need a stable foundation. The next step was to rent an excavator to dig out the remaining stumps. We rented an excavator and dug out the stumps over two days. The small stumps could be pulled out in one motion. I had to dig around the large stumps before pulling them up. The trees that gave the most issue we pines. Most trees have a small root ball 1-2 feet deep. It seems for every 10 feet of height a pine adds a foot of root that is as wide as the trunk. Pines are natures fence post. They don't seem to develop this large root until around 30 years. This means any pine over 18 inches would have to be dug out.
We were able to dig out all the remaining trees in two days. We also removed the stumps we grinded. We used the tractor to move the stumps to the sides and smooth out areas after the stump was removed.
The excavator was easy to learn to operate. The main challenge is to synchronize your joystick motions so the arm smoothly scoops then deposits it to the side. We also started digging a foundation where the cabin would be built. The area was at a slope so the foundation had to be deep on one side. This created another problem because the dirt is deposited at some point within the arm's reach. The alternative is to drive to another spot to dump the load but that would cost extra time. This will mean you have a pile of dirt that you will have to move again. Our tractor had difficulty moving these piles due to the clay and rocks.
We aren't making progress like we had hoped.
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