Class specs, not a serial number list. A tracked mulcher, a Ventrac slope tractor, a chainsaw crew, a stump grinder, a chipper with a grapple truck, and a skid steer for driveway work. No dozer and no excavator at launch. A grading contractor cuts the pad after we clear the ground.
Wheeled machines look cheaper until they cut ruts you will still see in October. These are the classes that stay on the grade. Every number below comes from the manufacturer page it cites.
Tracked forestry mulcher
A 30 percent face in Fairview with 6-inch saplings is mulcher ground. The tracked carrier stays on the surface, the drum or rotary head turns the stems to chips, and the chips stay on the slope as the first erosion cover. The root mat holds. Reference spec for the class: the Fecon FTX150-2 tracked carrier with a Bull Hog head. A manufacturer slope rating is a rating and not a promise for your lot. Wet clay and rock set the real limit on the day.
Spec
Class range
Carrier
Tracked, purpose-built forestry carrier or compact track loader
Reference horsepower
155 hp (Fecon FTX150-2)
Reference weight
20,900 lb with Bull Hog head (Fecon FTX150-2)
Reference ground pressure
4.8 psi with head, SAE J1309 (Fecon FTX150-2)
Reference slope rating
40 degrees, all directions, manufacturer rating (Fecon FTX150-2)
Head
Drum or rotary. Fecon Bull Hog standard flow: 50 or 60 in cut, trees to 5 in
The Ventrac cuts quickly where conventional machines will not go, and it does not carry enough weight to destroy existing slope turf. Pasture edges, fence lines, orchard rows, the bank behind the house. It carries a Tough Cut brush mower or a brush cutter, not a flail. A flail hangs the weight on the nose on steep ground. The 4520P holds 30 degrees continuous with dual wheels. That is a manufacturer rating. A wet clay bench is a different surface and the operator decides on the day.
Spec
Class range
Reference model
Ventrac 4520P (Kawasaki DFI)
Reference horsepower
31 hp (4520P)
Reference weight
1,620 lb with standard hitch (4520P)
Configured weight
Operator estimate about 2,200 lb with duals and a working head
Overall width
About 72 in with Turf duals. About 48.5 in without duals
Articulation
Up to 15 degrees
Slope rating
30 degrees continuous with duals on 4520P. 25 degrees with wheel extensions. N-class intermittent: up to 10 minutes at 20 to 30 degrees, then return toward level. Manufacturer rating
Heads
Tough Cut brush mower, brush cutter
Turf
Duals and wide turf tires spread the load. Ventrac calls this a light footprint. No manufacturer PSI published
Where it wins
Cuts quickly where conventional machines will not go, without enough weight to destroy existing slope turf
The head does not eat a 24-inch oak. The crew does. Sawyers take the big hardwood, the leaners, and any stem that can reach a roof, a line, or a road. Keep-trees carry ribbon before a saw starts. Rigging goes on near structures. Logs with sawtimber value stack at the landing before a chipper touches them. This page carries no numbers for the crew because no manufacturer page describes one.
Spec
Class range
Work
Big stems, leaners, hazard trees, storm timber
Ground
Anything a person can stand on, including ground no machine reaches
Near structures
Rigging and directional felling
Timber
Sawlogs stacked at the landing, not chipped
Stump grinder
Hardwood stumps on rocky ground eat teeth fast. If the field is oak and granite, budget for teeth and hours and not for a cheap pass. Grind below grade for a lawn, a path, or a planting bed. A pad that cannot have a root crown in it needs a pull, and a pull is excavator work that goes to the grading contractor. This page carries no grinder numbers because no manufacturer page was verified for this class.
Spec
Class range
Work
Stumps ground below grade after a fell or a mulch pass
Cost driver
Hardwood plus rock wears teeth fast
Not this machine
Stump pulls for a pad go to the grading contractor
Chipper and grapple haul
What the head did not process gets chipped or hauled. The grapple truck loads storm wood and the big stems the crew felled. The chipper turns tops and limbs into cover or into a load. Burning is a permit path and not the default. Any open burn needs an NC Forest Service permit, and land-clearing debris on more than 5 contiguous acres needs the special permit. Chip and haul and you skip that permit. This page carries no chipper numbers because no manufacturer page was verified for this class.
Spec
Class range
Work
Chip tops and limbs, grapple and haul what stays whole
Ticket
Landfill or transfer station ticket in your name
Burn alternative
Chip and haul, or mulch in place
Permit note
Special burn permit above 5 contiguous acres
Skid steer for driveway work
Driveway work runs on a skid steer. The bucket spreads base and surface stone and pulls a high shoulder back into the road. A grading attachment shapes the crown and the ditch line. The machine is short enough to turn on a switchback and light enough to work a drive you still have to use that evening. A refresh starts the same way: scarify the worn surface, then spread recycled material or new quarry stone over it and pack it. This page carries no skid steer numbers because no manufacturer page was verified for the machine we run.
Spec
Class range
Work
Build, maintain, and refresh gravel drives
Bucket
Spread base and surface stone, pull shoulders back to the crown
Grading attachment
Shape the crown, cut the ditch line, relay potholes and washboard
Refresh
Scarify the worn surface, then recycled material or new quarry stone
Compaction
Base and surface stone packed before traffic
Not this machine
Heavy cut-and-fill or rock on a steep face goes to the grading contractor
Slope, stem size, rock and access decide the class. We walk the property first. A satellite quote can't see the granite. If the job needs a pad or a wall, we say so on the walk and name the grading contractor's scope.
