Bales of Corn Stalks for Bedding or Nesting islands?
- Thread starter sandbur
- Start date
foggy
5 year old buck +
Just to further this post a bit........I'd be reluctant to take my tractor into the swamp.....even in winter....in order to place big bales. Maybe a Bobcat with tracks would be the right vehicle to move those bales.....after prolonged freeze-up. Anyone have some experience with tracks on a skid-steer??.....or other "right equipment" for use in a swamp?
Little story, I've told before on the "other' site. Right where you enter my land....where the road turns to a private road at my swamp.....there is a big track hoe that never made it out of the swamp. While they were building the road...the hoe got stuck in the swamp......and they could not pull it out with a small cat. They let it sit .....needing bigger equipment....but before it got there the hoe sunk until just the dipper stick was out of the water. They could not free it. My neighbor says the bucket is visible at times.....but I have never seen it. This must have happened in the 60's or 70's ??
Little story, I've told before on the "other' site. Right where you enter my land....where the road turns to a private road at my swamp.....there is a big track hoe that never made it out of the swamp. While they were building the road...the hoe got stuck in the swamp......and they could not pull it out with a small cat. They let it sit .....needing bigger equipment....but before it got there the hoe sunk until just the dipper stick was out of the water. They could not free it. My neighbor says the bucket is visible at times.....but I have never seen it. This must have happened in the 60's or 70's ??
West Branch
5 year old buck +
Possible legal issues with wetlands would make me think that someone would want to stick to small square bales since they shouldn't be as noticeable.
I believe there is a new pipeline coming through the area from NW MN down to Superior, WI. Rumor is that some people have been able to get some leftover mats for cheap once the pipeline work is done. They are best used for "temporary" access through swamp areas to avoid any legal issues. Here is an example of the mats they use:
Old pallets with some old hay spread on top may work. Some old hay bales ran through a baler buster would probably work as well, but hauling out to the swamp would take a while. Also hay is still pretty expensive, 10 years ago it would have been a fairly cheap project.
Also large equipment in the swamp would not be fun. If there is a contractor type guy that is willing to risk his equipment in a floating bog, even during the winter, I don't know if would trust him because he isn't very smart!
We have steel tracks that go over the tires on our skid steer and only go on the edges of some swamps when it is very dry in the summer and still get close to getting stuck. You can usually push out with whatever attachment you are using when it is dryer.
The weight of a large round bale with a skid steer would make you sink much quicker and give you a very good chance of breaking through during the winter when frozen. I am pretty sure most bogs do not freeze as deep. One of the skid steers with factory tracks would have a lot better flotation but I would let someone else do it first.
I did some searching to find a few pictures if have seen on the internet before.
Here are some snowmobile trail groomers:
An excavator that tried to a pull a groomer out, this was from the Merrifield area http://brainerddispatch.com/news/2011-02-18/excavator-finally-pulled-swamp:
Looking at those pictures makes me say that I would stick to square bales that you can pull in with a 4 wheeler or snowmobile during the winter.
I believe there is a new pipeline coming through the area from NW MN down to Superior, WI. Rumor is that some people have been able to get some leftover mats for cheap once the pipeline work is done. They are best used for "temporary" access through swamp areas to avoid any legal issues. Here is an example of the mats they use:
Old pallets with some old hay spread on top may work. Some old hay bales ran through a baler buster would probably work as well, but hauling out to the swamp would take a while. Also hay is still pretty expensive, 10 years ago it would have been a fairly cheap project.
Also large equipment in the swamp would not be fun. If there is a contractor type guy that is willing to risk his equipment in a floating bog, even during the winter, I don't know if would trust him because he isn't very smart!
We have steel tracks that go over the tires on our skid steer and only go on the edges of some swamps when it is very dry in the summer and still get close to getting stuck. You can usually push out with whatever attachment you are using when it is dryer.
The weight of a large round bale with a skid steer would make you sink much quicker and give you a very good chance of breaking through during the winter when frozen. I am pretty sure most bogs do not freeze as deep. One of the skid steers with factory tracks would have a lot better flotation but I would let someone else do it first.
I did some searching to find a few pictures if have seen on the internet before.
Here are some snowmobile trail groomers:
An excavator that tried to a pull a groomer out, this was from the Merrifield area http://brainerddispatch.com/news/2011-02-18/excavator-finally-pulled-swamp:
Looking at those pictures makes me say that I would stick to square bales that you can pull in with a 4 wheeler or snowmobile during the winter.
wiscwhip
5 year old buck +
I got a hold of the guys that I mentioned in my earlier post that did this in their swamp. They told me they used a larger tracked skid steer with a bale spear attachment and then they told the rest of the story. ;)Had a giant Case 9250 they kept up on the high ground and about 1000' of 12,000lb winch cable hooked up to the back of the skidder, just in case. They said they didn't have to use it, but they would have been much more leery of trying it without the big boy to back them up.