Help! How to clear a black berry thicket covered in thorny vines?

[TomSeller]

If you see a big pile of blackberries, 90% chance there is something in there.

You are 100% correct on that, working on these brambles is like pioneering. On abandoned property there eventually will be a berry sprout under wherever there is a place for a bird to sit and poop. Coyotes loves berries as well I notice. Sometime even my cows will come away from the brambles with purple noses. In all cases this spreads the seed pre fertilized as has been mentioned previously.

The canes tip root generally so you can lose 10 to 20 feet of field in each direction each year. The unknown of what is under the canes is why I push into them with a grapple rake and pile them up and burn afterwards. But if you are careful, mowing is very good as well.

 

[bcp]

Not similar at all, and frankly, the three bladed jobs are a joke in brambles.

The Shredder blades are turned down at the ends, and chop up the horizontal canes, while the straight edge of the blade cuts the vertical canes.
Literally, they leave cane bits 2-6" long, instead of simply snipping the canes for you to get tangled up in, and fight with the brush saw.

They are available in the U.S. through either a Husqvarna dealer, or online from several vendors.
I'll root around and find the retailer for ya.

Here are some photos of 2 and 3 blade cutters with turned down tips. Are these something like you mention?

Scroll down for more photos
STIHL brush cutter blades 65mn (China Manufacturer) - Products

Bruce

 

[longrangelarry]

I have the "flat" round Stihl blade. Look sorta like a sabre saw blade. I have yet to use it but I only need to do a bit of cutting back on the encroachment a few feet this winter. I assume this blade just cuts stems and won't chop much? If I use these stronger herbicides, is the residue important- does affect seed or emergence of grass, for example? I have no experience with anything other than generic Roundup.

What an interesting an relevant topic this has turned out to be. I love blackberries, but there's a limit to all love!

 

[Midniteoyl]

Here are some photos of 2 and 3 blade cutters with turned down tips. Are these something like you mention?

Scroll down for more photos
STIHL brush cutter blades 65mn (China Manufacturer) - Products

Bruce

Saw those too, but didnt wanna waste time replying..

 

[Dingeryote]

Here are some photos of 2 and 3 blade cutters with turned down tips. Are these something like you mention?

Scroll down for more photos
STIHL brush cutter blades 65mn (China Manufacturer) - Products


Bruce

Yep!, the first one is a shredder blade, that is a direct copy of the Blade Oregon/Windsor used to sell.
2mm for the lighter brush cutters, 3mm for the heavier ones.

Husqvarna and Stihl both offer similar blades(Oregon/Windsor made) for the Canuck and overseas market, but for some reason they don't come up with Husqvarna USA yet, and Stihl is wishy washy about answering E-mails concerning Thiers.

 

[Dingeryote]

I have the "flat" round Stihl blade. Look sorta like a sabre saw blade. I have yet to use it but I only need to do a bit of cutting back on the encroachment a few feet this winter. I assume this blade just cuts stems and won't chop much? If I use these stronger herbicides, is the residue important- does affect seed or emergence of grass, for example? I have no experience with anything other than generic Roundup.

What an interesting an relevant topic this has turned out to be. I love blackberries, but there's a limit to all love!

Larry,
Crossbow applied at label rates wont affect grass at all. The primary component is 2-4-D, and the stuff has been used for 50 some years in weed-N-Feed.
Give it 3-4 weeks after applying before doing any seeding though, as it will delay seed from sprouting.
You can literally spray the lawn and only kill broadleaves and woody brush.

Trees, and other desirables you don't want to kill will be fine, as long as you keep the Crossbow off the green tissues.
Spritzing Poison Ivy on a tree isn't a problem unless the tree has a gouge that gets sprayed, and then, it will knock trees back a bit.

 

[California]

As many others have said, I found what worked to knock down blackberries was to drive in with the loader low (to explore for obstacles) until I was pushing so many vines that I couldn't maintain traction. Then raise the loader clear up to rip as many canes as possible out of the ground, while still pushing forward. Then lower the bucket to crush the mat of vines down to where I could drive over them and shred the mat with the mower. This ripping upward with the bucket was more effective than trying to bulldoze the canes out of the ground with a light tractor. Usually I could drive over the mess and mow forward; sometimes it was necessary to back the mower in. The main point is that the loader was used to pack down the canes to a low mat before shredding them. (photo - re-opening an abandoned terrace down in the back of the orchard).

I've also used the backhoe to rip out canes and reveal a long-abandoned row of apple trees. Photo - note the strange limb shapes. These trees were entirely concealed in the blackberry jungle when I started. I'm not digging out the bb roots because I need erosion protection on these terraces, rather, I use the backhoe swinging like a baseball bat to yank the long canes out of the trees. Then tug on the resulting ball with the backhoe to set the mess up on the lane where I can later carry it to the burn pile. These apple trees are now back in production.

And below is a picture of a blackberry root showing how deep they go. I've seen even larger, up to baseball bat size. Note the size of the rhizome just under the surface - it is hard to spray enough to kill that reservoir of nastyness. In some cases I have used the backhoe then a slender trenching shovel to dig out roots like this that are so close to orchard tree trunks that discing can't control them.

I've come to the conclusion that discing and spray can't eradicate blackberries that have roots like this, only physically digging out the rhizomes can get the upper hand against them. Also a rototiller is useless, it winds up the canes without slicing them. I made a special tool, a curved linoleum knife on a long handle, to unsnarl the tiller when I do occasionally attack bb's with it. Surprisingly a rotary mower doesn't load up like that, it just makes pencil-size fragments (which each can root a new bush).

 

[TomSeller]

I am amazed at and appreciate the various different methods of removing blackberries, all effective and well thought out. I am fascinated while reading each.

 

[longrangelarry]

Tom - me too! I have learned so much. Just FYI I clean out my tiller shaft with a lopping shear. If it's just grass I use pruners. If anyone knows something better, I am all ears on this subject. Spend way too much time on this chore.

 

[Dingeryote]

Hey California!!

Go get a case of Velpar, and apply at 2qts an Acre, or whatever the label rate is for your state.
Next spring the canes will start to break leaf buds, and then croak, roots & Rhyzomes deader than Sushi.
Once dead, THEN get in and chop everything up.

If you have to pack canes with a Back Hoe, you might want to just go and snag a flail mower and be done with it.

The old timers here used to weld a 1" bolt on the end of brush mower blades, with the tip angling downward.
The bolt snags on the canes and flings them around under the deck so they are chopped up, rather than just passed over.
Works pretty good for Grape and Blueberry prunings as well, but nowhere like a flail chopper.