Mini Dozer Rs1000

[Strebs]

What you guys think, would something like this work for your area? Seems like you could build one fairly cheap.

 

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[IMAUDIGGER]

It would be a neat toy to play with.
However, I think the uselessness would become apparent within 10 minutes of use.
Limited surface area and weight would mean spinning tracks every time the blade met any real resistance.

 

[Underburden]

"build one fairly cheap?" Define cheap.

 

[Strebs]

yeah in the video it seems to struggle on his personal golf course lol. its curb weight is 700 pounds. I got all the parts 2 Frankenstein a beefier version an old wheel horse but id figure it still be 1500-1700 pounds. Still be better off with a mini excavator i'd think.

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

yeah in the video it seems to struggle on his personal golf course lol. its curb weight is 700 pounds. I got all the parts 2 Frankenstein a beefier version an old wheel horse but id figure it still be 1500-1700 pounds. Still be better off with a mini excavator i'd think.

There are confined spaces where these micro dozers excel.
Usually they are remote control.

 

[N-Lionberger]

I saw one on craigslist for a good price it had all the fun attachments a prospector could want but I skipped as I figured the rocky ground we have would be murder on it, it would die real fast.

 

[OreCart]

I LOVE bulldozers and have had several. I am not sure how the little ones would work as I have never had one, but you can do a lot with tracks. I prefer the bigger ones, but I can see the value of having a distant claim, and then hauling via trailer a mini-bulldozer to get to the site to dig.

I got a log-loader with a mini-backhoe on it, and I can move about 6 tons an hour with it.

The machine I got is nice because it can be hauled down the road by a truck, self-load itself, and then haul a load of gravel or concentrates back home. It has a lot of digging ability, but lacks hydraulic flow, so it is slow. The engine seen on it is 6 HP so it is completely self-contained; engine, hydraulics, etc, but only uses 2 gallons per day of gasoline.

I love it and use it everyday; everything from loading logs onto the sawmills, sawn lumber off off the sawmills, mounting a grader blade on it for road grading, installing an auger for drilling post holes, and upside-down woodsplitter so I do not have to lift wood to split wood, a feller-buncher attachment...

I have big equipment too, but as I get older, I am really seeing the value of mini-equipment.

 

[OreCart]

Just so people know, the above photo was the machine in dump body/backhoe configuration. This is what the same unit looks like as a log loader! It is VERY versatile to say the least. (Being towed by a John Deere 350D for those that care about such details) :-)

 

[mike(swWash)]

No matter what anyone says.....It beats the hell out of a shovel and pick

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

Just so people know, the above photo was the machine in dump body/backhoe configuration. This is what the same unit looks like as a log loader! It is VERY versatile to say the least. (Being towed by a John Deere 350D for those that care about such details) :-)


View attachment 1716674

I guess it's all a matter of perspective.

Brother has the smallest 4x4 diesel tractor that Kabota makes.
When it comes down to having to shovel and use wheel barrow, it sure is nice.
It's only good for certain tasks, but always better than nothing.

 

[firebird]

How much gas do they use, the cost per day from average usage? I just spent the whole day clearing off useless overburden soil from a 20 square foot section and am completely exhausted. Even a small dozer like that could do a better job than I can.

 

[DiamondDan]

A used skid loader would kick that thing's ass.

 

[OreCart]

How much gas do they use, the cost per day from average usage? I just spent the whole day clearing off useless overburden soil from a 20 square foot section and am completely exhausted. Even a small dozer like that could do a better job than I can.

You make a very valid point. When I use my log loader as an upside down woodsplitter, I admit that it is slow, but because I am running levers all day, and sitting on my fanny and not lifting a single stick of wood, I am just as fast at 8 AM as I am at 4 PM, and ready to go the next day. This is what makes it productive.

Another point with equipment is, especially mini-equipment because you can get them into so many tight spaces; you tend to use them for a ton of applications that you never thought of. Here is a case in point, I bought my log trailer for...yes...getting out wood, but I live in a 2 story house, so I have also used it for a manlift when doing some trim on my eves. Mini-excavator, mini-bulldozer, a person will undoubtedly use it for a variety of things simply because they have it.


In terms of fuel:

My 6 HP log trailer uses about 2 gallons of gas per day.

My 25 HP diesel Kubota tractor uses about 5 gallons of diesel per day

My 23 HP gasoline sawmill uses about 3 gallons per day (but there is a lot of idle time in maneuvering logs however)

My cable skidder uses about 40 gallons per day (diesel)

My Grapple skidder uses about 70 gallons per day (diesel)

My small bulldozer (350 John Deere) uses about 10 gallons per day (diesel)

My big bulldozer (850 John Deere) uses about 100 gallons per day (diesel)

My Hitachi 34,000 pound class excavator uses about 35 gallons per day (diesel)

As a side note: I make more money logging using my Kubota Tractor then anything else. It is because I can get out 6 cord of wood per day and use 5 gallons of fuel to do it, where as my cable skidder can get out 10 cords per day, but uses 40 gallons of fuel to do it. However, my Kubota cannot pull wood up steep hills, long distances, or in mud or deep snow. I can often use my small bulldozer and make trails for my Kubota so that I can make the going easier, or work in unison however. Incidentally, the least profitable method, is using feller-buncher, grapple skidders, delimber, log loader to get out wood. While I can move 45 cords per day doing so, I burn 280 gallons of diesel per day doing so.

Fuel Consumption is everything in profitability.

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

Just so people know, the above photo was the machine in dump body/backhoe configuration. This is what the same unit looks like as a log loader! It is VERY versatile to say the least. (Being towed by a John Deere 350D for those that care about such details) :-)


View attachment 1716674

I'd like to see a video of that little grapple loading those logs on that trailer.
Is that something you had built?

 

[OreCart]

Is that something you had built?

Yes and no...

I bought the main trailer with log loader and backhoe, but built the grader blade, feller-buncher, and upside down wood splitter to bolt onto it to make it more versatile.

 

[et1955]

Meanwhile on the other side of the country where the gold is, not usable, sadly

 

[OreCart]

Meanwhile on the other side of the country where the gold is, not usable, sadly

I think you are right!

I have seen some videos where you had to hike into their claims, and while an ATV might be able to pull my trailer there, I am not sure if using mechanization would be allowed. I kind of doubt it.

I thought about building a washplant on board and self-loading it with my backhoe or font end loader in my gravel pit, but sadly found out the gold we have here is not conducive to sluices. I read a rather lengthy report from Alaska on them, and right in the text it mentioned sandy gravel, and small, flaky gold needed other methods of extraction. That was a real bummer.

I might be able to use it for hard rock mining though. They make a hydraulic hammer that has a bucket that pins on to the hammer so you can break rock, then dig your resulting debris without unhooking the hammer. That would work well.

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

Yes and no...

I bought the main trailer with log loader and backhoe, but built the grader blade, feller-buncher, and upside down wood splitter to bolt onto it to make it more versatile.

If you ever got bored, you should put together a short video showing it performing each task. That would be interesting to watch. That log loader doesn't look like it could neatly stack some of those bigger sections, much less grip them.

Per your Alaskan mining report...I wouldn't place too much weight on the paper.
Alaskan placer mining is it's own animal. It's apples to oranges to smaller operations.
Sure you may have losses over other methods, but your still filling the jar. Best way to find out is to try.
It's easy to get carried away when reading those studies because they seem so scientific.
Tell river dredgers they can't find flake gold in a sluice.

 

[OreCart]

If you ever got bored, you should put together a short video showing it performing each task. That would be interesting to watch.

Being a Tree Farm, I did a demonstration for other tree farmers in the area, and laid out all my attachments so they could see what it can do, but it would be hard to do a video because I am just not set up for it like some guys. And here is where the trailer's versatility can get in the way. Most switch-outs, like say going from Grapple to Backhoe, takes twenty minutes, and it seems whenever I have the backhoe on, I suddenly need the grapple, or if I have the woodsplitter on, I need the grapple, so planning really helps, but it can be a pain.

That log loader doesn't look like it could neatly stack some of those bigger sections, much less grip them.

It actually does really well at that. One of its best assets for me is being able to drive out in the woods, grab logs, and then haul it back to the sawmill. There I can set the logs onto the mill carriage, then after sawing the lumber up, grab the sawn boards off the mill and load them onto the trailer to haul to wherever they are going. It all happens really fast. In three or four hours, I can go from having a blow-down in the woods, to 50-60 2x4's, without a lot of struggling. There is also no dirt on my logs since they are not being pulled through the dirt, making it easier on my sawmill blades too. And at $3.50 a 2x4 now, for a couple of bucks in fuel, I can take a log that was destined to rot into oblivion, and have $210 worth of lumber. That really holds a lot of value for me.

I admit that it took me 6 hours to go from logs to this bridge, but I can drive over it with my tractor or pick-up, and the bridge only cost me $16.50 (for spikes).

But that is why I am a huge fan now of small equipment, it gets a lot done, fast. Most of the time, I can get jobs done here faster with this machine then I could getting a lowbed, grabbing my bigger equipment, and hauling it back to my farm to get work done. They do a lot more when they are here, but it can be a pain getting them back here sometimes.

 

[OreCart]

Per your Alaskan mining report...I wouldn't place too much weight on the paper.
Alaskan placer mining is it's own animal. It's apples to oranges to smaller operations.
Sure you may have losses over other methods, but your still filling the jar. Best way to find out is to try.
It's easy to get carried away when reading those studies because they seem so scientific.
Tell river dredgers they can't find flake gold in a sluice.

There is a lot of encouragement and truth to this statement, so perhaps there is hope. You are indeed right, I read the reports and get caught up in their scientific aspects.

I saw a few small washplants by JB Farmer or something like that on youtube that looked like a backhoe like mine could self-load and produce some gold.

For my gravel pit it all depends on where the gold lies. Last week I was digging on top of the clay layer, and set a few buckets aside to test pan, but I have not got there yet. If gold is located throughout the gravel bed, it will not be too bad, but if it is only sitting on the bedrock, which is the only places I have test panned yet, them I am in for a lot of digging.