Letter from the Owner

Our first project was clearing out Lady Bug Acres in Toney Alabama.  We acquired the property in spring of 2016 and ended up purchasing two tractors and two bush hogs.  The battle against overgrown pastures and privet was overwhelming.  It had been over ten years since the pastures were used.  We damage the tractors, one was brand new, with sticks and limbs catching various holes. The grill and the hood now has several holes. The front tie rod was severely bent and had to be replaced. 

As we made slow progress, the year went by and soon it was spring of 2017.  Now, what little was accomplished the previous year had to be recut.  The big problem was that the bush hog left several stubs sticking up.  This led to replacing our four-wheeler tires due to holes caused by the stubs.

I started talking to neighbors and other cattle farmers and was introduced into the world of Forestry Mulching.  I had not heard of it before.  After months of researching, I decided this is what needed to be done.  I knew I did not want a dozer based on my years of previous experience.  Dozers remove a layer of top soil and you end up with a large pile of trees, stumps and dirt.  This has to sit for months to dry out enough to burn, with the first attempts never working.  Soon you are left with large stumps, trunks, and a pile of dirt that needs to be cleaned up and leveled.

I started looking into Bobcat and their set up.  It was a rotary disk, that resembled an extra heavy duty bush hog.  While it did a fast job, in my opinion, it was very dangerous.  Debris was thrown forward over 400 feet, and some of the chunks were very large.  I continued to shop around with Kubota, John Deere and Caterpillar.  Based on the info available to me, I chose go with a 299D2 XHP Caterpillar and a rotor drum instead of a disk.

The HM418C rotary drum uses carbide teeth that can be used to incorporate the mulch into the ground.  It is a massive 84” wide, with a working width of 67” in one swipe.  Caterpillar has specifically designed the 299D2 XHP to work the Forestry Mulcher.  It is the largest most powerful compact track loader for sale.  With the extra hydraulic power, it is not a unit that someone would purchase if only one attachment were to be used.

Since our Lady Bug project, we have been able to cut some deer trails in other areas.

Seeing how much fun it is to clean out overgrown underbrush to allow woods and forestry to be enjoyed, we have developed a passion to help others in this area.

Our experience includes years of growing up on a farm, raising cattle, cutting and baling hay, building several houses and cutting lots of firewood.  This translates to lots of hard work, understanding, and dedication to get the job done.

-Ron Curtis, owner