"Taking your gun for a walk" I like that! 👍 😆 🤣 I'm stealing that one. Thanks for the cool video. I'm dreaming of doing the same thing on our new 20 acre deer camp too.
Good morning, Morgans... i have been wanting to see how this was going to be tackled. As I write this, you're probaly out there this Saturday morning. I'm loving the scenes of back east woods. Thanks again... be safe. 😊
We just bought a few (very hilly, very wooded) acres and I was researching how to build a trail so I can walk my dogs without rolling an ankle. I was resigned to do it by hand but I can't argue with 200 ft of trail cut in an hour by a Bobcat. Can't wait to watch your other videos and see what other fun stuff we can do with our property.
I cant for the life of me figure out how i missed so many of your videos. Im glad i did though because i like to go back and watch some of the older videos and its a bonus if i run across one that I haven’t yet.
Nice Job !! Brings Back A lot of memories I used to operate a Komatsu PC 200 about a 45,000 lb Excavator for 28 years. You can get very creative with an Excavator. I have been away from Operator for over 13 years now, every now and then I think it would be fun to get back in the operators seat!! 👍👊
I just use a excavator last weekend to level out a bank by the driveway to make it easier for mowing. I also dug out for a small pole barn I have been cutting lumber from large trees on my property.
I own a 2023 e42r I bought last fall. Not to make money persay more to use on my property in Central maine.. I got 200 hrs of seat time in 3 months. I have or have own some very nice toys in my life , But when it comes to actual have fun an getting to my happy zone this bobcat it the best toy of the all with lasting results. Shout out to my wife for understanding ❤
I have been part of building many miles of timber access and main roads back when i was working. We always walked the route and flagged the center or the road. Doing this allowed us to spot potential problem areas and chance the route. Flagging helped keep the project on track. To control erosion on trails or woods roads we always used a series of waterbars on the slopes. These divert slow and reduce water volume along the pathway.
Waterbars can be built to accommodate most any vehicle. Go carts present a problem due to very little ground clearance. I suppose it could be done with a lot of slope on both the approach and the backside.
Good day Mike! I've been looking forward to this series. I have not started clearing the trails through my forest yet and this will really be helpful as I have never done it before. Should be a great series! Thanks!!
Good to explain about the top soil, and the excavator will do much more than the tractor. Of course the tractor is a day to day machine, the excavator a purpose machine. Melissa no smile today? Beautiful country there.
I wish you would've rented a mini-ex that was equipped with a 6 way blade. Very handy for cutting into the high side of the trail while simultaneously moving the material to the low side. Just food for thought in the future. Love your videos, keep them coming. Congrats on 200.
Enjoyed the project Mike... We are in the process of evaluating our trail system and adding more to enjoy our area... Thanks for sharing your knowledge and wisdom... PS Congrats on the #200 video... Chief..{NYS/ADK}
Been watching quite a few of these types of videos and learning a lot over the past few months as I've just bought 2 seperate 3.5 acre woodlands here in the UK. Thanks for uploading and sharing
Another great video, Mike. Happy #200. I don't know how feasible it would be, but it would make the videos more enjoyable to have more of a birds eye view to be able to see you actually moving the dirt instead of just the machine wiggling around (still fun to watch). Maybe you could stick one of your smaller cameras up a tree for a better vantage point? Or you could attach one to the RK55 loader bucket and lift it way up. Would be the world's most expensive tripod! 😅 As always, keep up the great work. Look forward to the next one!
Nice one Mike! Of course you had to rent an e55! So since my excavator is smaller I enjoyed watching the 55. Of course I would never say that my tractor is bigger, so you don't have to worry about that🚜🚜 looking forward to the project, nothing better than cutting a new trail, thanks!
Very enjoyable watching you handle the equipment like you do. You give very good lessons on forestry too . Always like your videos, thanks for sharing .
Must be planning on keeping the new property for a while or even passing it down or something, to invest so much time and effort on making a trail to a home that could belong to someone else some day. Either way i'm in, love the vids.
Mike, Nice video! Just a suggestion as you are grading out you may want to take advantage of the existing slopes to reduce the concentration of water on the trail once finished. That may require the trail to be sloped in one direction or another or almost flat in some areas. As always great video.
I always enjoy watching your videos. I love to see you work the variety of equipment at your disposal. I have used some of the same equipment in my day and find it very stimulating and satisfying to see how you will do it. I also loved cutting and splitting wood when I was younger. I understand the satisfaction you get from working your property. I enjoy your wonderful family as well. It’s quite obvious that you and your family have become a big hit on TH-cam. I pray for your continued success as I look for your next project. Keep up the great work! Blessings from your friends in Texas!
Mike, As usual great video of a fun project. It's fun watching a good operator on an excavator especially with a thumb. It is like an extension of your arm and hand. My neighbor has a Kubota that they use around the farm and has helped me out many times. It's amazing how much they can do. Here in upstate NY we have more rocks and bolders and the thumb is a necessity. It might be a good video to explain and show how you operate the controls. Keep your videos coming! Thanks!
I love my tractors as you do but there is little I can't do with my mini excavator and lots of things I can't do with my tractors. If I as a farmer I would lean more to a tractor but I have lots of wooded land with trails. I just mounted a fail type mower on my excavator to mow banks and etc. There is a girl who has a channel who uses a wheeled excavator and she pulls a dump trailer with it!
I have similar trails, but with all of the rain we've had I am having an erosion problem. Tree roots are being exposed. I haven't figured out how to solve this problem short of crowning the trail and putting in ditches, which I really don't want to do. Looking forward to this series, thanks.
Dispersing the flow of water is key if you can eliminate concentrated flow of water will go a long ways to reducing erosion, in areas where this can not be accomplished provide a means of slowing the water flow, (i.e. rocks, tree limbs, etc.) Spreading water flow out over a large area will reduce the concentration and minimize the erosion. Ditches can be used but just remember this will concentrate flow and thus the flow in the ditch will need to reduced (i.e. rocks, tree limbs, etc.) and when the water is released from the ditch the flow will need to be reduced (i.e. rocks, tree limbs, etc.) to eliminate erosion at the release point.
Awesome video as usual Mike! I used to be an operator for a tree service that specialized in land clearing. Spent alot of time in equipment, especially excavators. Would love to be out there helping you! Keep the videos coming!
One thing I don't have is a mini or midi excavator. Wife says to buy one but I'm "thrifty" and haven't found a deal yet. Have 2 backhoes and get by with them but an excavator sure would be handy.
Yup.If I could only get her to stop hiding my stuff..... Our minds do not think alike and where she puts things makes no sense to me. Honey where are the coffee filters we just got? Back of the bottom cabinet furthest from the coffee maker......Honey where's the lid to my bean pot? Coat closet by the dining room...... Honey where's my caulking guns? Oh I put those in that box on the top shelf there in the garage........ Argh!
Mike, Could you please add a link with all the products you have recommended, we may want to look them over again. I have purchased many and am quite pleased. thanks, Bob SW WI
I have an idea for you Mike, if you have the time to fit it in to your schedule. A giant long sleigh riding trail down one of the hills or a turbo sleigh riding spot! Or combine the two with the turbo spot at the beginning. That is, if you have such a good location down there in your woods.
Mike, Could you add a link too all the products you have recommended? I have purchased many and I think a lot of folks would like to look them over to see if they have missed anything. Thanks, Bob SW. WI.
My son works for Leppo Rents, a BobCat dealer in northeast Ohio. He can rent equipment foe 25% of the cost to a regular customer..... I think I'd better take advantage of that deal , for my 40 acres! You sure give me inspiration! Good work! Do you hire out?...:)
Around here (Catskill Mountains of New York) most of our pre-existing trails are old logging roads. The loggers all use dozers to build their roads/trails and it seems to unbelievably quick and efficient. Is there a reason you chose the excavator over a dozer? Maybe excavator is more precise? (Kinda like comparing a Zero turn vs brush hog haha)
I know it's been awhile since this series. I had someone ask me to build a trail system on their 57 acres. How long was your trail and about how long did it take you. Great videos by the way.
Cool video Mike I just got an E20 this year and haven't operated a mini much so I like to see how others do it! I have some trails to put in at my girlfriends and my farm as well as drain tile wet areas of a field! Nice job I enjoy watching! #WorldsOkayestFarmer
Owned several Bobcat pieces of equipment and always enjoyed working with them. Really enjoyed the E55 and your ability to make it look fun. Great video as always and love your taste in music accompaniment .
Awesome video, having run track hoes around the world of every size I can tell you that my very favorite machine of them all is the bobcat E50 with the long arm and a thumb. With the E50 I could deliver twin baby's and dig buggers out of grampas noise with out even waking him.
Mike, do you put gravel or anything on your trails after you finish them? Or do you get grass growing on them? How do you maintain them after the Ranger and the tractors have rutted them up during the winter and spring?
Bruce, the soil is pretty good and will stay somewhat firm and not rut to badly. However as needed I can hit it with box blade occasionally. I'm going to try and seed it here in a week or two with creeping red fescue, that's the best dense shade I know of. Bottom line though is it will require some maintenance occasionally.
Outstanding, Mike! I’ve been waiting for a video like this!!! My daughter wants to run 🏃♀️ on our property and I didn’t know where to begin. I thought I’d have to rent a skid-Steer but looks like a mini-excavator would be a better option?
You made the statement that an excavator is more efficient than your tractors at cutting a trail. I’d be interested in your explanation as to why...more lifting power, the ability to face forward for scraping and digging, etc. Thanks.
"Taking your gun for a walk" I like that! 👍 😆 🤣 I'm stealing that one. Thanks for the cool video. I'm dreaming of doing the same thing on our new 20 acre deer camp too.
I think you could have made a decent trail with a good 60 inch zero turn mower with a couple of passes in each direction.
Good morning, Morgans... i have been wanting to see how this was going to be tackled.
As I write this, you're probaly out there this Saturday morning. I'm loving the scenes of back east woods.
Thanks again... be safe. 😊
We just bought a few (very hilly, very wooded) acres and I was researching how to build a trail so I can walk my dogs without rolling an ankle. I was resigned to do it by hand but I can't argue with 200 ft of trail cut in an hour by a Bobcat. Can't wait to watch your other videos and see what other fun stuff we can do with our property.
I cant for the life of me figure out how i missed so many of your videos. Im glad i did though because i like to go back and watch some of the older videos and its a bonus if i run across one that I haven’t yet.
Never gets old watching you folks working your property! 👍👍
Nice Job !! Brings Back A lot of memories I used to operate a Komatsu PC 200 about a 45,000 lb Excavator for 28 years. You can get very creative with an Excavator. I have been away from Operator for over 13 years now, every now and then I think it would be fun to get back in the operators seat!! 👍👊
I just use a excavator last weekend to level out a bank by the driveway to make it easier for mowing. I also dug out for a small pole barn I have been cutting lumber from large trees on my property.
I own a 2023 e42r I bought last fall. Not to make money persay more to use on my property in Central maine..
I got 200 hrs of seat time in 3 months. I have or have own some very nice toys in my life ,
But when it comes to actual have fun an getting to my happy zone this bobcat it the best toy of the all with lasting results. Shout out to my wife for understanding ❤
I have been part of building many miles of timber access and main roads back when i was working. We always walked the route and flagged the center or the road. Doing this allowed us to spot potential problem areas and chance the route. Flagging helped keep the project on track.
To control erosion on trails or woods roads we always used a series of waterbars on the slopes. These divert slow and reduce water volume along the pathway.
John, water bars are great on trail that is walked or driven slowly. What would you suggest for go cart, mini bike and ATV trails?
Waterbars can be built to accommodate most any vehicle. Go carts present a problem due to very little ground clearance. I suppose it could be done with a lot of slope on both the approach and the backside.
I just didn't want to build roads, the easy part of owning land is when you buy it, the rest is a lot of work and money. Thanks for the response.
I am going to test that idea, very wide speed bumps and valleys. :-)
Good day Mike! I've been looking forward to this series. I have not started clearing the trails through my forest yet and this will really be helpful as I have never done it before. Should be a great series! Thanks!!
Good to explain about the top soil, and the excavator will do much more than the tractor. Of course the tractor is a day to day machine, the excavator a purpose machine. Melissa no smile today? Beautiful country there.
I wish you would've rented a mini-ex that was equipped with a 6 way blade. Very handy for cutting into the high side of the trail while simultaneously moving the material to the low side. Just food for thought in the future. Love your videos, keep them coming. Congrats on 200.
I could tell it's a rental. Only because it's not spotless like your own equipment. Nice to see equipment well cared for!!
Damn we just have the same hobby, I just bought a forest. this video is good instruction for me to build a drive way for summer cottage site.
You need 36 inch light duty cleanup bucket with a serated edge for that work be twice as fast and better looking for sure
Enjoyed the project Mike... We are in the process of evaluating our trail system and adding more to enjoy our area... Thanks for sharing your knowledge and wisdom... PS Congrats on the #200 video... Chief..{NYS/ADK}
Been watching quite a few of these types of videos and learning a lot over the past few months as I've just bought 2 seperate 3.5 acre woodlands here in the UK.
Thanks for uploading and sharing
Happy 200th! Had 1K likes before I had time to watch. Building trails is just fun! Great to se how you do it.
Another great video, Mike. Happy #200. I don't know how feasible it would be, but it would make the videos more enjoyable to have more of a birds eye view to be able to see you actually moving the dirt instead of just the machine wiggling around (still fun to watch). Maybe you could stick one of your smaller cameras up a tree for a better vantage point? Or you could attach one to the RK55 loader bucket and lift it way up. Would be the world's most expensive tripod! 😅 As always, keep up the great work. Look forward to the next one!
Nice one Mike! Of course you had to rent an e55! So since my excavator is smaller I enjoyed watching the 55. Of course I would never say that my tractor is bigger, so you don't have to worry about that🚜🚜 looking forward to the project, nothing better than cutting a new trail, thanks!
Kapper Outdoors, that's what I did when I called for it, I said I want one bigger than Kappers. Didnt have to be a lot bigger, just bigger lol
Outdoors With The Morgans LMAO, good one!
Outdoors With The Morgans that's what I did when I got my tractor! I said as long as it's bigger than the RK! 😊😊
That's too funny, i thought the same thing!! LOL.. Great vid Mike, look forward to the trail saga :-)
Very enjoyable watching you handle the equipment like you do. You give very good lessons on forestry too . Always like your videos, thanks for sharing .
Mike, I can't wait to watch the other parts of your series while showing your skills. You make everything seem so easy.
Some of us don't care to hear music on tractor videos. Would rather hear the equipment.
Glad you know what you are doing, I’d have no idea how to start. Enjoyed the video.
Must be planning on keeping the new property for a while or even passing it down or something, to invest so much time and effort on making a trail to a home that could belong to someone else some day. Either way i'm in, love the vids.
start with a forest, walk a straight line, or there abouts, buy a million dollars worth of equiptment, and have fun
Man! You operate that boom and bucket like it’s an extension of your arm. Nice work!
Mike,
Nice video! Just a suggestion as you are grading out you may want to take advantage of the existing slopes to reduce the concentration of water on the trail once finished. That may require the trail to be sloped in one direction or another or almost flat in some areas. As always great video.
I always enjoy watching your videos. I love to see you work the variety of equipment at your disposal. I have used some of the same equipment in my day and find it very stimulating and satisfying to see how you will do it. I also loved cutting and splitting wood when I was younger. I understand the satisfaction you get from working your property. I enjoy your wonderful family as well. It’s quite obvious that you and your family have become a big hit on TH-cam. I pray for your continued success as I look for your next project. Keep up the great work! Blessings from your friends in Texas!
Mike, As usual great video of a fun project. It's fun watching a good operator on an excavator especially with a thumb. It is like an extension of your arm and hand. My neighbor has a Kubota that they use around the farm and has helped me out many times. It's amazing how much they can do. Here in upstate NY we have more rocks and bolders and the thumb is a necessity. It might be a good video to explain and show how you operate the controls.
Keep your videos coming! Thanks!
Congrats on 200. Can’t think of a better project you could do to start off your next 200. Love the channel here in Ohio.
Thats what I thought as well, Great place to do a little series on trail building
👍👍👍
I love my tractors as you do but there is little I can't do with my mini excavator and lots of things I can't do with my tractors. If I as a farmer I would lean more to a tractor but I have lots of wooded land with trails. I just mounted a fail type mower on my excavator to mow banks and etc.
There is a girl who has a channel who uses a wheeled excavator and she pulls a dump trailer with it!
Awesome. Congrats on #200!
I have similar trails, but with all of the rain we've had I am having an erosion problem. Tree roots are being exposed. I haven't figured out how to solve this problem short of crowning the trail and putting in ditches, which I really don't want to do. Looking forward to this series, thanks.
Dispersing the flow of water is key if you can eliminate concentrated flow of water will go a long ways to reducing erosion, in areas where this can not be accomplished provide a means of slowing the water flow, (i.e. rocks, tree limbs, etc.) Spreading water flow out over a large area will reduce the concentration and minimize the erosion. Ditches can be used but just remember this will concentrate flow and thus the flow in the ditch will need to reduced (i.e. rocks, tree limbs, etc.) and when the water is released from the ditch the flow will need to be reduced (i.e. rocks, tree limbs, etc.) to eliminate erosion at the release point.
thanks
Good video, will you put gravel down on your trail? How do you stabilize it in the winter and during rains? Thanks for the great videos.
Awesome video as usual Mike! I used to be an operator for a tree service that specialized in land clearing. Spent alot of time in equipment, especially excavators. Would love to be out there helping you! Keep the videos coming!
One thing I don't have is a mini or midi excavator. Wife says to buy one but I'm "thrifty" and haven't found a deal yet. Have 2 backhoes and get by with them but an excavator sure would be handy.
She's a keeper
Yup.If I could only get her to stop hiding my stuff..... Our minds do not think alike and where she puts things makes no sense to me. Honey where are the coffee filters we just got? Back of the bottom cabinet furthest from the coffee maker......Honey where's the lid to my bean pot? Coat closet by the dining room...... Honey where's my caulking guns? Oh I put those in that box on the top shelf there in the garage........ Argh!
lol
Mike,
Could you please add a link with all the products you have recommended, we may want to look them over again. I have purchased many and am quite pleased.
thanks,
Bob SW WI
amos snow they are damn expensive I’m thinking. Seems a better deal to rent, then again Mike can get max value due to his skills.
Happy 200th video
It's more fun with an excavator though. I get to run those on job sites occasionally.
I prefer Takeuchi and Yanmar most.
Great video as always keep them coming..
I have an idea for you Mike, if you have the time to fit it in to your schedule. A giant long sleigh riding trail down one of the hills or a turbo sleigh riding spot! Or combine the two with the turbo spot at the beginning. That is, if you have such a good location down there in your woods.
Mike,
Could you add a link too all the products you have recommended? I have purchased many and I think a lot of folks would like to look them over to see if they have missed anything.
Thanks,
Bob
SW. WI.
That trail is going to be pretty sweet...
My son works for Leppo Rents, a BobCat dealer in northeast Ohio. He can rent equipment foe 25% of the cost to a regular customer..... I think I'd better take advantage of that deal , for my 40 acres! You sure give me inspiration! Good work! Do you hire out?...:)
Around here (Catskill Mountains of New York) most of our pre-existing trails are old logging roads. The loggers all use dozers to build their roads/trails and it seems to unbelievably quick and efficient. Is there a reason you chose the excavator over a dozer? Maybe excavator is more precise? (Kinda like comparing a Zero turn vs brush hog haha)
ENJOY EVERYTHING THANK YOU AN THANK YOU FOR TAKING ME ALONG TELL HUNTER HELLO
Nice, excited for the whole series. Happy 200th. And just curious, what is a rough, ballpark figure on renting one of those machines?
Lol, thanks Melissa. Being about 50 miles east of Pittsburgh I would probably rent from them (Bobcat of Pittsburgh) too so cost should be same for me.
I know it's been awhile since this series. I had someone ask me to build a trail system on their 57 acres. How long was your trail and about how long did it take you. Great videos by the way.
You picked about the slowest machine possible to make trails with (any excavator).
Thanks for sharing. I'm looking forward to the rest of this project.
Mike watching you run equipment is very relaxing - Enjoy the weather this weekend - Cheers
Great video, looking forward to the rest of the trail build.
I would have thought a skid steer would have been quicker?
Sitting here waiting for the next video...... :)
Dang, you are the boss with that mini-excavator.
just what i was waiting for!!!!
love this kind of video, also great music track. Thanks for the video as always Mike.
Great soil!
Mr. Morgan
How many acres are you on and what would the price be for that amount of land? Thank you 👍👍👍
Cool video Mike I just got an E20 this year and haven't operated a mini much so I like to see how others do it! I have some trails to put in at my girlfriends and my farm as well as drain tile wet areas of a field! Nice job I enjoy watching! #WorldsOkayestFarmer
Owned several Bobcat pieces of equipment and always enjoyed working with them. Really enjoyed the E55 and your ability to make it look fun. Great video as always and love your taste in music accompaniment .
I love your videos. 💛 Keep em coming 🏆👍✌
Dr. Mark in Texas hook em
Hum? I half expected to tune in and hear that you have a new gig with Bobcat of Pittsburg?
In the works?
Like the video Mike , can't wait for the others have great Week end .
Thanks Leo
to me excavator in the woods are your bests
Looking good.👍👍👍
Awesome video, having run track hoes around the world of every size I can tell you that my very favorite machine of them all is the bobcat E50 with the long arm and a thumb. With the E50 I could deliver twin baby's and dig buggers out of grampas noise with out even waking him.
Mike, do you put gravel or anything on your trails after you finish them? Or do you get grass growing on them? How do you maintain them after the Ranger and the tractors have rutted them up during the winter and spring?
Bruce, the soil is pretty good and will stay somewhat firm and not rut to badly. However as needed I can hit it with box blade occasionally. I'm going to try and seed it here in a week or two with creeping red fescue, that's the best dense shade I know of. Bottom line though is it will require some maintenance occasionally.
Outstanding, Mike! I’ve been waiting for a video like this!!! My daughter wants to run 🏃♀️ on our property and I didn’t know where to begin. I thought I’d have to rent a skid-Steer but looks like a mini-excavator would be a better option?
That's a nice start to it mike. The soil looks realy nice in there as well. Should make a nice trail through 👍
Love you videos
Love it, I need one of those
Congratz on big # 200!
Cheers!!!!!
And here’s to 200 more :D
❤❤❤❤😊😊😊😊
Great video. Thanks! What’s your day job Mike?
Oil and Gas Industry
Single mom, with 6 kids it's hard to do that with 402 acres
How old are your kids?
I'd be cracking the whip and getting them on it lol
@Lennox Hendrix why would you want to hack your girlfriends phone?
Why would you want to hack anyones phone?
Each kid gets a rake? 😂
You made the statement that an excavator is more efficient than your tractors at cutting a trail. I’d be interested in your explanation as to why...more lifting power, the ability to face forward for scraping and digging, etc. Thanks.
I will cover that in detail in Part 3
Outdoors With The Morgans Thanks!
Do you Have Many 🐍 Venomous Snakes 🐍 ?? 👈🏼
...in your area of Pennsylvania
How do you keep deer out of your vegetable garden. Deer keep eating everything even my hops
The only problem is that the only way I can get something like this even if I was shopping at harbor freight is by selling my soul
Can I run it?? 🤠👍🙃
Bobcat E55 excavator new model how many price
Ok so would renting a dozer not be even faster? In the firy 2 min of u moving dirt w bucket a dozer would already have 50 feet pushed and graded?
Yes, faster BUT, All along the trail would be piles of dirt with trees and brush buried in it. With the excavator its a little less messy
How long would 5 miles take ? +/-
That has to be rental equipment, it's way to dirty for something you would own.
Truth
What’s the rental cost on something like that for the weekend?
Its different all over it seems, here is a little over 400 for the weekend. Be best to check with rental yards and equipment dealers in your area
Outdoors With The Morgans that seems damn reasonable, especially for someone with your skills. I was thinking per hour on the hour meter.
do you get any poison ivy in those woods?
What is ur job Mike
Frazer Stewart, Oil and Gas Industry, Supervision
Woodglut comes with very useful plans with all the details you need.