Contractor J&J Crisafulli has seeded tens of thousands of acres in Montana, where most of the terrain is quite the opposite from the lake country of New York. Many of the sites are along railroads, in cuttings where the slopes are as steep as mountains (because that’s what they are). “Before placing the seed and mulch on slopes, we make sure those slopes are in the right condition to accept them,” states Joey Crisafulli. “We have found tracked dozers good for going up and down slopes, but some of these new machines that can automatically adjust their balance seem to work well by going along the slopes. They seem to eliminate that fear of toppling over. Stability is essential for any work on slopes from the standpoint of the operator’s safety and the efficiency of the work.”
“Ride control” is what Case calls its antipitching system on the XT Series skid-steer loaders. It reduces the pitching caused by the motions of the machine when loading material and when driving on irregular surfaces. “We have several Case XT skid-steers,” says Marv Wyatt, whose Key West Retaining Walls cover the western side of the country. He has skid-steers based in his Seattle, Portland, and Los Angeles offices. “We use them to get into small spots where our other machines cannot access. They have lots of power and can load our pallets, which usually weigh 3,500 pounds, with no problem.” Wyatt comments that he has been impressed by the really low maintenance of the XTs. Key West’s most frequently used attachments are pallet forks and buckets, but they mount a backhoe occasionally if the site requires it. “One of the most useful attachments for our skid-steers is the Grouser tracks. It is simple for our crews to put them over the wheels, and it gives not only better flotation but a greater load capacity. The tracks are safer on some of the terrain where we work too. Rain and mud are not uncommon in Seattle, for example.”Owners of Kubota tractors and compact construction equipment give us a good idea of what they expect from their machines by the comments they make about the ones they own. “It turns easily and doesn’t scar the turf like others,” observes John Lake, whose operations are in Lexington, KY. “What I like about Kubota is it makes the right-size machines for the job,” comments Mike Rudinsky, also in Lexington. Note that he did not say the “biggest” machines but ones of the “right” size. Harold Austin in Yakima, WA, likes the fact that the Kubotas are operator-friendly and it is easy for him to train new operators. Regarding the actual operation of compact tractors, Pat Werdin in Hayesville, NC, praises his Kubotas as “extremely easy to operate,” and in North Branch, MN, Milo Behrendt adds that his are “cheaper and quieter to operate.” The features that users single out about any piece of equipment reinforces the fact that some of your best resources for knowledge about equipment suitable for erosion control, drainage, and soil stabilization are others who have good experience in this type of work.Bigger and Bigger?As contractors consider the merits of undertaking projects in erosion control (which might involve landscaping, roadbank stabilization, and wetland and riverside projects), they are wondering which machines are best for the work. Do I need a new large excavator, backhoe, or dozer, or can some of today’s compact and less expensive machines handle the work efficiently and cost-effectively? We have learned from talking to professionals all over the country that there is no perfect machine that is the best for all jobs and that local conditions usually determine the way to proceed. Changing patterns of growth in a community can alter a contractor’s thinking about the best machinery to use for a particular job. Slopes, wetlands, gullies, and ditches that were considered remote and rural a few years ago might now be at the very center of a residential development, and the equipment used must not damage property or endanger the ecology of the site. For John Perkins, a landscape contractor based in Minneapolis, MN, environmental concerns within a large city might seem pedestrian compared to working in pristine natural areas. He discovered that for his customers, though, they are every bit as important. “Whether I’m working for a city or a private homeowner, environmental concerns are just about always there,” he notes. “Whether a city needs us to work in environmentally sensitive marshes or a homeowner is concerned about turf damage, we have a Posi-Track that allows us to work and not worry about causing damage.” This crawler-tractor-loader is manufactured by ASV in Grand Rapids, MN, an affiliate company of Caterpillar. It offers very low ground pressure, which is a welcome benefit for many projects on slopes and riverbanks or along ditches.The Nearer the Water, the Greater the CarePeople who are involved daily in erosion and sediment control, landscaping, and soil stabilization understand the dangers of the reckless use of construction equipment, especially near the shorelines of lakes and the banks of streams. In Hamilton County, NY, where there are many lakes, the Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) distributes leaflets describing good and bad practices for homeowners and landowners. The leaflet “Save That Lake!” is worth reading; your local SWCD might offer one too. For inexperienced contractors, the explanations will make it clear why certain machines are preferable to others. The water from roads can contain sediment, phosphorus, and pollutants from traffic, so excavators and loaders that leave channels behind them creating easy runoff from roads to streams and lakes are not recommended. Ground pressure is important, especially when the weather is unhelpful and the ground is less firm. If smaller machines, such as skid-steer loaders, small backhoes, and compact excavators, can achieve the specified digging and ground preparation results, they will probably do so without the deep damage and disruption caused by bigger equipment. Contractors (and logging companies) use temporary access roads in the wetlands in the Adirondack Mountains and other places nationwide, and there are strict and sensible regulations for their construction and use. “Most of the contractors are savvy people,” comments Ken Kogut with New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) in Lake Placid. “They build their access roads and know which equipment will not harm the wetlands. We require a mat of some kind – and there are various types available – for temporary crossings of wetlands.” Geotextile fabrics have been popular; you regularly see sources for them in Erosion Control. “The contractors come in and unroll the mats for access roads from their trucks or loaders,” adds Kogut. “When they have finished that project, they roll up the mats again and take them away for the next job. The size and weight of the equipment is important, so compact machines will work well as long as they have the power to do the specified work. Our regulations try to prevent these access roadways from becoming big mud holes, so we also recommend that the machines used have floating tracks.”Local Conditions Dictate the Rules