Grading and Excavation Contractor

Tree Service Gets Boost From Skid-Steers

By Jim Wahl

Trees Unlimited in suburban Chicago employs a diverse array of skid-steers and attachments to achieve a common land-clearing goal. Whether they are performing selective thinning and beautification for a private landowner, trail development and maintenance for park projects, or clear-cutting for a commercial endeavor, the skid-steers work in tandem to get the project done quickly, efficiently, and with minimal disruption of the surface.

The compact size and consequent maneuverability of skid-steers enhance land-cleaning efficiency, whether the project for selective or for all of the vegetation to be removed.

Owner Curt Pfaffinger initially purchased the Bull Hog mulching head, a shear, and a grapple so that he could do more work for park and conservation districts. Selective thinning is the name of the game here, so the highly maneuverable skid-steers are a perfect fit. “They want to make trails without taking much down—everyone wants to save a tree,” says Pfaffinger. “With the Bull Hog we can do that work efficiently. We get around the big oak trees but not destroy anything that you do not want to.”

The low ground pressure imparted by the skid-steers, especially by the rubber-tracked Cat 287s and John Deere 280s, was another big selling point for the municipal work. “There is no compaction,” continues Pfaffinger. “We do not hurt the root structure, so the keeper trees continue to grow and develop.”

As counter-intuitive as it may seem, the maneuverability of the skid-steers also enhances efficiency with commercial projects where all of the vegetation is removed. Pfaffinger sends in a skid-steer with a Bull Hog mulcher head to clear away the undergrowth before bringing in skid-steers with shears, grapples, saws, and other equipment to clear away larger-diameter materials. “We’ll go in with a Fecon head first and get rid of all of the minus-4-inch material—that gives us room to maneuver around without brambles and thorns grabbing at the operators,” Pfaffinger says. “The Fecon head goes in the day beforehand, mows it all off, and gives the other guys room to work.”

The “other guys” use grapples, tree saws, and bunching shears to fell larger-diameter trees before hauling them to a central chipping location. “We’ve got a 2000 Vermeer with autofeed, which we feed with a Bobcat. One guy just feeds the grinder and two guys bring the material to them. He doesn’t have to waste time schlepping logs.”

Sticking to their specialized roles has helped increase productivity individually and for the crews as a whole. But that’s not to say that operators never switch attachments. “We’re using all implements on any given job—we flip-flop all the time, because the time to change from one to another is minimal,” concludes Pfaffinger.

Depending on the terrain and site conditions, operators may start using the tree saw to fell large-diameter trees and then switch to the bunching shear for more control. “Both will handle the same-diameter materials—about 16 inches—but the shear gives us more control, since we’re still holding onto the tree after it has been sheared,” comments Pfaffinger. That is especially important in tight working areas, especially residential or where there are other Trees Unlimited crew members working in the vicinity.

He also believes in bringing more equipment than will be used so that in case of a breakdown the project can continue. If the project calls for removal of the mulched material, then Trees Unlimited blows the chips into one of its fleet of chip trucks. “We’ve got six-wheelers with a box on the back and a box inverted on top,” continues Pfaffinger, “so we can handle 20 yards of chips at a time.”

He takes the chips to his gravel pit and runs them through a tub grinder to produce mulch, which he then sells or uses on the company’s internal projects. As the land clearing business expands, so does the mulch production. Pfaffinger produced 20,000 yards of mulch last year—up from the 12,000 yards of the prior year.

But not everything that his crews touch turns into the “black gold.” Sometimes they’ll mulch the materials with a Bull Hog mulcher head and then leave the mulch onsite, which helps control erosion. As the mulched materials decompose, they return nutrients to the soil. Mulching and leaving the material onsite is operationally easier and eliminates the hauling of chips and further processing at the gravel pit.

Whether they are removing the materials or leaving them to Mother Nature, Pfaffinger wants his crews to get in, complete the project, and move on to the next one—or, as he says, “get in, get done, and get on.” His variety of attachments and capabilities allows Trees Unlimited to do just that. Pfaffinger estimates that the company has completed projects as small as a single tree removal and as large as 15 acres. “It is nothing for us to clear 2 or 3 acres a day,” concludes Pfaffinger. That is a testament to the hard-working crews and the productivity of their attachments.

Based in Cincinnati, OH, contributing writer Jim Wahl is the owner of Wahl Marketing Communications Inc.

GEC - May 2007

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