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Post by ljdude on Nov 18, 2012 17:10:32 GMT -8
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Post by 7m4x4dude on Nov 19, 2012 19:59:22 GMT -8
We hope soo!
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Post by ljdude on Jan 7, 2014 11:41:24 GMT -8
From the "Save the Riders Dunes" Facebook page www.facebook.com/pages/Save-the-Riders-Dunes/294886641722?hc_location=timeline"The initial Restoration event is finished. Thanks to Mike Northrop of the USFS here is his message to us!!! The restoration work using heavy equipment at Bull Run ended on December 20. We had some year-end money that we dumped into the contract and got nearly twice the amount of equipment time than we had originally planned for. The end result is that the “3-5 year project” was almost completed this year – probably around 40 of the 44 acres is done. We still need to burn the piles (I counted 73 of them) and, because they contain so much sand, this means getting some equipment out there during the burning process. Some lessons learned (maybe): • The D7 Cat with brush blade makes quick work shore pine but does scoop some sand into the piles. The operator said a large excavator with thumb would be a bit slower but the piles would be cleaner and easier to burn. He also said an excavator would leave fewer roots and branches behind. • The D7 Cat with brush blade makes fast work of Scot’s broom too, but the piles are very dirty. This is especially true on steep hillsides where the cat must push the Scot’s broom downhill. It is unlikely that some of these piles can be burned without restacking. An excavator would make cleaner piles for easier burning but would take longer than a cat. Also, I’m not sure how much small Scot’s broom would be left behind when using a large excavator. • The D7 Cat with brush blade was slow at removing the beachgrass. The grass cannot be separated from the sand and must be buried. The teeth on the brush blade slow this process considerably because they reduce the amount of sand that can be pushed around by the Cat and because the teeth snag the beachgrass as the Cat tries to push sand over it. A Cat with a straight-blade or U-blade would work better for burying. • We switched to using a large excavator for last week of the contract when we got into an area with extensive beachgrass and very little woody material. The excavator was as fast or faster than the Cat with the brush blade when burying beachgrass and appeared to leave the area cleaner (more grass free) than the Cat. We will need to monitor a bit to see if this perception is true. The operator said that using a combination of Cat and excavator would be most efficient. When using two pieces of equipment the excavator would dig trenches (because it is more efficient at digging than the Cat) and a Cat with a normal blade would then push the beachgrass into the pit (Cats are designed to push). Either the excavator or the Cat would then cover the pit. We still need to burn the piles and also need to figure out how to pay for equipment to help with the burning. The Forest owns a small wheeled backhoe with a front scoop and the county owns a good-sized tracked loader also with a front scoop. Both pieces of equipment are good at pushing piles together as they burn but are not necessarily good at separating the woody material from the sand. I’m going to have our fuels specialist take a look at the piles and come up with some suggestions. In the meantime check out the work! Michael Northrop Siuslaw National Forest ODNRA Office 855 Highway 101 Reedsport, Oregon 97467-1620 541-271-6045 (desk) 542-271-6034 (fax)"
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