Advise on removing sage brush

[Dave Z]

I've got a NH TC 30 with FEL and 5' bush hog. Wife & I are moving back west (northern NM) and would like to remove/clear an acre at a time of tough sage brush to plant some native grasses for 2-3 horses. Not in a big hurry to get it done quick.

The tractor's got pretty good power but I'm not sure about the best attachment to use. Appreciate any advise.

 

[IslandTractor]

I've never seen sage brush but I do a lot of clearing of small trees and narly vines, briar and general junk overgrowth. My tools of choice (on a Kioti CK20) are the bush hog and a Millonzi light duty 48" grapple. I use the grapple to either clear a path for the bush hog through vines/thorns or to just grab small bushes or trees and rip them out of the ground. For larger (3-4 inch) trees I use the FEL/grapple to push the tree over to expose the roots which I then attack with the grapple until I can rip it out. Anything bigger I chain saw then haul away with the grapple. I think your tractor is a bit bigger than mine but I think the grapple size would still be appropriate.

The grapple is available either from dealers or the factory (Millonzi International Group in Ohio). It uses a universal Quick Attach system and weighs about 280lbs. Other companies make heavier grapples usually over 400-500lbs which are a bit much for CUTs under 40hp. WR Long does make a nice lightweight grapple but it is much more expensive than the Millonzi.

 

[Dave Z]

That looks like a possibility. Here's a look at some of the sage brush.http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=62050&stc=1&d=1159741523

 

[IslandTractor]

Looks like you could just run over that with a bush hog. How thick are the trunks. Anything less than 2 inches should be easily managable by a 5ft hog. A grapple (or grapple bucket) would be able to snare the rest of them.

 

[schmism]

theres a premade thing called a root bucket (with grapple) looks like

 

[chadincolo]

I've got a NH TC 30 with FEL and 5' bush hog. Wife & I are moving back west (northern NM) and would like to remove/clear an acre at a time of tough sage brush to plant some native grasses for 2-3 horses. Not in a big hurry to get it done quick.

The tractor's got pretty good power but I'm not sure about the best attachment to use. Appreciate any advise.

One quick question, you say "native grasses", what native grasses are you thinking about planting? I grew up in sagebrush country, the thing that grows best where sage brush is, is sage brush... Realize too that cows (and I'm sure horses to an extent) do use sage as forage. Make sure you can get something to grow if you do get rid of the sage.

That being said, most effective way to clear it will be to spray. Sage brush is a tough plant, mow it and it will be back in a couple years, spraying will at least knock it back for 5-10 years. To "clear" it we used a flail mower (ours was 12 feet wide behind a 120hp tractor, you should be able to find a 4-5 foot model for your TC, but a rotary mower would work too.

 

[kwm]

I live at about 6000' in NE Nevada and have 5 acres of what was mostly sage. Some of it was in the 3' tall range (2-4" trunks). People around here regularly mow their brush mostly because of fire danger. I mowed my brush with a tractor much smaller than yours and had no problem with it. The trunks shred up easily with a brushhog and if left on the ground will decompose. Looking at your photo it looks like you already have an understory of native grasses. When you mow the sagebrush it will kill it and not harm the grasses. The grasses will do much better with the brush gone.I would beware of disturbing the ground or spraying as it becomes prime ground for weeds. Your undisturbed understory will keep the weeds away. Plants of the Southwest has a lot of helpful info on planting natives.

 

[bill6]

The past few days I've been removing lots of sagebrush. My machine is a Mahindra 3215 gear. I find a very good way to get medium to large sagebrush is to just dig it out with a tooth-barred loader bucket. It is fast, and works fantastic!

 

[Highbeam]

The past few days I've been removing lots of sagebrush. My machine is a Mahindra 3215 gear. I find a very good way to get medium to large sagebrush is to just dig it out with a tooth-barred loader bucket. It is fast, and works fantastic!

But then you have a huge pile of slash to get rid of right? The little bushes in the photo will easily be sliced into sawdust by a brushhog. No pile to dispose of, no ground disturbance, existing grasses will flourish, etc. I would just mow it. It the trunk of the bush is smaller than your forearm then it will chop it up. Repeated mowings may be necessary over the years if the sagebrush grows back up.

 

[higgy]

We use a large sweep here for sage brush. It is a v shaped three point attachment that glides 3-5" below the soil and cuts the roots off. The sage can then be collected and burned.

Dane