Worlds Largest, Privately Owned Fleet of Site Prep Equipment

The USA has seen a massive increase in the amount of equipment being used for mechanical site prep in the forest industry but no greater fleet of equipment is there than Gulf Coast Silviculture Company's ten Dresser TD25G tractors and ten mounted Savannah 410 plows.

The principals of Gulf Coast Silviculture Company, Danny Craig and Mel Gilmer from Selma, Alabama, started with just 4 units which were so successful that they expanded it to ten units. Their whole operation now runs now like a well-oiled machine, with self-contained backup service units working with the plant. Staff stay in mobile accommodation units close to the site to reduce travel time. The service trucks ensure that the equipment is serviced on a timely basis.

The principals of Gulf Coast Silviculture Company, Danny Craig and Mel Gilmer from Selma, Alabama, started with just 4 units which were so successful that they expanded it to ten units. Their whole operation now runs now like a well-oiled machine, with self‑contained backup service units working with the plant. Staff stay in mobile accommodation units close to the site to reduce travel time. The service trucks ensure that the equipment is serviced on a timely basis.

Danny and Mel chose the Savannah Model 410 plow for various reasons. Being a mounted plow it is very convenient to transport. The tractor and the plow are moved onto a lowboy as a single unit. Also, when the 410 plow is in the working position, the ripper is held very firmly to the right depth and the plow cannot rise out of the ground except when in extreme conditions, it hits a boulder and the hydraulics release. Normally  if a field has been plowed with a 410 plow you can be assured that every inch of that field has been plowed to the full depth as specified. The Savannah Model 410 has four 36" discs to thoroughly plow an 8: wide bed over the rip line.

Danny chose the Dresser Tractors for the site prep work because of their great traction and excess horsepower allowing him to cope with any site. Sites within the forest industry vary tremendously and often equipment is extended to beyond its specified capacity. With these tractors used by Gulf Coast Silviculture Company there is enough capacity to handle any site. The extra horse

power is adequate enough to allow the operator to use the V-Shear and the plow together. A one-pass site prep operation using a V-Shear on the front to shear and clear the track for the plow, mounted on the rear of the dozer, is certainly the most efficient way to prepare a site.

A problem, however, arises when there is insufficient horsepower. The tractor's forward movement stall and the operator is not sure whether the V-Shear or the plow is causing the problem. It is tiring and frustrating for an operator trying to do a one pass operation without enough horsepower. When you have a tractor with more than adequate horsepower, it stalls far less and the operator has an easier job.

Gulf Coast Silviculture operates in the Texas, Louisiana and Alabama areas and is available for jobs of all sizes. Savannah is very proud to be associated with this company. They have shown that they can do excellent job of deep sub-soiling on a consistent basis.

We love seeing the equipment because it is so well looked after. On the recent visit the equipment looked as if it was brand new after it had already done a full seasons work!