Wood Chip Tree farming question

[bjr]

How do the farmers remove the old stumps to prepare the ground for the new planting? bjr

 

[beenthere]

Dig them out with whatever means they have available to them including the extra money to hire it done, or with the equipment they might have, or last resort, with the hand tools they have.

With a pick and a shovel and an axe, the stumps can be taken out.

Also, with a D-10 dozer or a large backhoe, they can more easily (also more costly) be taken out.

Somewhere in that range, is where you would like to be. So what do you have available, and what can you 'afford' to spend per acre to get the stumps out? Are these small tree stumps or 'large' tree stumps? If they are 2-3" diam stumps, or 3-4' diameter stumps, it makes a huge difference.

How do you plan to get them out? /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[inveresk]

bjr, you might want to try to post your question on one of the forestry forums such as www.forestryforum.com. They're likely to have members who are pretty routinely conversant with those types of questions.

 

[DrRod]

Christmas tree farmers will often do a 3-foot phase shift of the field for replanting. The original rows are 6 feet apart so they just plant the new rows in between. By cutting the stumps low it doesn't interfere with the mowing and a quick painting with diesel fuel helps them rot.

I've also seen a PTO mounted grinding drum demo at a tree conference. Its a metal drum about a foot across with sharp bumps on it and you just roll through the field grinding away -- you don't stop like with a regular stup grinder, it just leaves a consistent trail of torn up grass and stump chips.

 

[beenthere]

<font color="blue"> ...and a quick painting with diesel fuel helps them rot. </font>

Not that it makes any difference but I know a bit about wood, and cannot imagine what diesel fuel could do to wood to help it rot. If anything, diesel fuel would hinder the growth of the bacteria and fungi that feed on the wood, with moisture and temperature to do their job best. Its one step that could be saved, if the Christmas tree farmers are looking for one. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[psuedofarmer]

ditto what beenthere suggests.

i plant ~1000 trees/year. use a combo of a dozer and BH to clear. also use the offset planting method (using 6ft rows) when planting christmas trees.

pf

 

[DrRod]

Oddly enough, I have always thought what beenthere says. I would think that any petroleum product would repell water, insects, fungus, bacteria, etc. and actually preserve the stumps. But I've heard several guys in the Christmas Tree association say they do this. Maybe its to supress the growth of bugs and diseases in the field -- but I thought they said it helped them to break down.

 

[drmiller100]

let them dry and burn them down.

bbq briquettes will get them 8-10 inches a burn. doesn't get rid of the roots tho.

 

[John_Mc]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Not that it makes any difference but I know a bit about wood, and cannot imagine what diesel fuel could do to wood to help it rot. If anything, diesel fuel would hinder the growth of the bacteria and fungi that feed on the wood, with moisture and temperature to do their job best. Its one step that could be saved, if the Christmas tree farmers are looking for one. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif )</font>

Not to mention that diesel fuel is something nasty to be getting in your soil or water. It doesn't take much at all to ruin a LOT of water.

John Mc

 

[beenthere]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( It doesn't take much at all to ruin a LOT of water.
)</font>
How do you figure that? /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif