Equipment Advice for Clearing Land for Pasture

   / Equipment Advice for Clearing Land for Pasture #1  

Todd_Kihnley

New member
Joined
Jan 30, 2004
Messages
10
Location
Spotsylvania and Culpeper County Virginia
Tractor
Kubota 16 HP Yard Tractor
Hey everyone!

I'm new to the forum and hope some of you will take the time to give me some advice.

I just recently purchased 45 acres that was timbered a couple of years ago and pine was planted. The pine is very, very small but the land does have a lot of briar on it and stumps from mid-sized (6"-8"?) hardwoods. The land has a moderate amount of brush as well as large logs with branches piled together in a few various locations.

I am considering buying a tractor to clear the land of all of that and prepare it for seeding for horse pastures, installing fencing, and clearing for a road. The land has some slope to it down to the creek and up but not too severe.

Any suggestions on the tractor and the necessary implements would be greatly appreciated. I'm not even sure if a tractor can accomplish what I need and maybe I might need to rent the correct equipment and buy a tractor to handle the everyday horse farm tasks. I thought I could get a tractor to handle the initial clearing and then I would be able to transition into the daily tasks with the same tractor. I'm beginning to think this is not the right approach.

Thanks in advance!

Todd
 
   / Equipment Advice for Clearing Land for Pasture #2  
For the initial clearing and root removal a caterpillar type machine with a dozer that has " brush teeth " on it would make life much easier.

Egon
 
   / Equipment Advice for Clearing Land for Pasture #3  
I agree, hire it done. Clearing 45 acres is a major undertaking with a small tractor. Have them come in with a trackhoe and a dozer and it will be done in no time flat. You can have them stack the trees, stumps and brush for burning. Have the trackhoe dig a hole before they leave so you can bury the stumps and logs that don't burn all the way down. It's a lot easier to fill a hole with a tractor and front end loader than it is to dig one. That way you can size your tractor for your planned horse operation and maintaining your 45 acres which will be a much easier proposition.
 
   / Equipment Advice for Clearing Land for Pasture #4  
Hi, Todd, welcome to TBN!

To answer your questions better, may I suggest filling out your bio section so we can see where you are located and the types of equipment that you do have.....

Slopes in the Rockies and Appalachains are usually larger than slopes in LA, FL, etc. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

For starters, 45 acres is a lot of land. It might be cheaper to hire out the initial clearing; that way you don't have to invest in one-time equipment.
For maintenance of 45 acres, you'll need at least a mid-size 4wd or a fairly large 2wd tractor with an FEL.

That's out of my 21 hp 4wd Iseki league, so I'll let others go into better detail.

Again, welcome aboard. And may I suggest a TBN t-shirt? /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
   / Equipment Advice for Clearing Land for Pasture #5  
I'm with Egon. Get a cat to come in and clear the ground for you. In the long run you will save money. To rent that kind of equipment is going to be very expensive and then by the time you learn to run it you will never be as good as an experienced operator. He will get it done for less money in the end.

If you are set on doing it yourself with a tractor you are going to need to buy a tractor with a backhoe. A 4 in 1 bucket will also be an absolute necessity. I would look at the JD 110 tractor, loader, backhoe. This unit would do everything you are wanting to do. If you want to do this with a regular tractor look at a utility tractor. I'm not sure of the models with other brands but in JD I would be looking at the 5420 or 5520. You can get a backhoe with this as well. You will need the backhoe to dig all the stumps out. After that you should be able to get a good box blade and then start clearing the land and shaping it. It will take a long time to clear this way but you can do it. In the end with either one of these machines you will have a machine that will also be great for your horse operation.
 
   / Equipment Advice for Clearing Land for Pasture #6  
Step 1:
For the initial clear-cut phase, a tractor, chainsaw and rented hydraulic feed chipper. First, drive around with the tractor and chipper and cut and chip (blow the chips on the ground) all the small stuff.

Step 2:
Then fell the trees, skid them past an area where you limb them (you may designate multiple areas for logistics) and continue dragging the logs to a pile for processing to firewood later. Set the chipper up at the limbing station and have someone chip the limbs while you go get the next tree.

Step 3:
Then hire someone with a dozer to root and stump it.
 
   / Equipment Advice for Clearing Land for Pasture #7  
It’s interesting that you bring this up now. I was just at a dealership asking some questions about getting my pasture right for haying. They had a used ripper/subsoiler on the lot so I asked them about using that to loosen the ground so that it could be rock picked. He said that it probably wouldn’t work. He had originally got that for a guy who wanted to convert a Christmas tree farm to regular pasture. The guy thought that it would rip the roots and small stumps out for him but instead they just sheared off the shear pins. He recommended getting a dozer with a ripper to do the job. It may be the expensive route but you will probably be the most satisfied with the results. If you don’t like the idea of someone else taking your money then buy a dozer, do the work, and sell it or trade it in for a nice farm tractor later.
 
   / Equipment Advice for Clearing Land for Pasture #8  
You have another option if any of the trees are timber or cordwood quality. Make a horse-trade with a timber or cordwood company. Offer them the wood in exchange for clearing. You'd still need to hire a dozer to have it rooted and stumped.
 
   / Equipment Advice for Clearing Land for Pasture
  • Thread Starter
#9  
Thanks to everyone who has replied. I updated my bio so that you know where I live and what equipment I have (don't have). I got a rough ball park estimate from a local company for clearing and he wants between 1500-2500 an acre! I figured I could get a tractor for that money. But as I suspected, if a tractor really isn't the right tool, then maybe the idea of getting a dozer and then trading it is the way to go...
 
   / Equipment Advice for Clearing Land for Pasture #10  
1500-2500/acre is ridiculous. I got 25 acres cleared a few years ago that was solid trees and brush for $2500 total! See what their charges are per hour. Around here you can find operators for under a $100/hour. A good operator should easily be able to clear an acre in a couple hours even if it is really bad. If all you're doing is clearing and piling brush and doing a little reshaping as you go that project should take 60-80 hours at the most to do.
 
 
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