The problem I had when using the rake on blackberry briars is that on every pass I had to get off the tractor and clear them from the rake manually. It does get some of them to the roots, but you still have to go in with another attachment to get the rest. Personally, the loader and toothbar was the quickest and most efficient for me.
Implement of Choice vs. Blackberry Bushes
- Thread starter silez
- Start date
Highbeam
Super Member
Would a combination work, drive forward while pushing and flattening the patch with the loader all the time running the brush hog so that as you go forwards the new path behind you is clear. This also lets you find stumps and rocks before they find your cutter.
Whenever we have big blackberry patches cleared at work we always chase out bums who take residence within the patch. Seems they make little tunnels and find refuge in there.
I won't tell you how easy it is to destroy blackberries with a bulldozer except to say that all you do is set the blade so it just touches the ground and then go forward. The pile you get at the end is very small compared to the size of the live patch. Very satisfying and immediate. Good thing I didn't tell you.
Keep the berries mowed and grass will take over.
Whenever we have big blackberry patches cleared at work we always chase out bums who take residence within the patch. Seems they make little tunnels and find refuge in there.
I won't tell you how easy it is to destroy blackberries with a bulldozer except to say that all you do is set the blade so it just touches the ground and then go forward. The pile you get at the end is very small compared to the size of the live patch. Very satisfying and immediate. Good thing I didn't tell you.
Keep the berries mowed and grass will take over.
KubotaSteve
Platinum Member
- Joined
- Dec 4, 2003
- Messages
- 819
- Location
- eastern panhandle of WV
- Tractor
- Kubota B7800 with loaded R-4s
I agree with the landscape rake. I used this when helping a friend of mine. We knocked them out in very little time. Of course it made things a lot easier when he was there to clean the landscape rake off before the next pass.
I preferred to back up to them and pull them out, doing more each time. I also set the rake to be pretty agressive.
Good luck
I preferred to back up to them and pull them out, doing more each time. I also set the rake to be pretty agressive.
Good luck
Mow them, mow them and mow them again. If you keep mowing them to about 2 inches they will die and grass shhots up. I cleared 1 1/2 acres of 6-7 foot high brambles this way. It is not a grassy meadow /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
PS, I recomend building a FOPS/brush guard before undertaking this. Build a frame around the whole of your tractor and cover with mesh. Otherwise you will have no paint left and probably lose alot of blood. Also a belly pan will help, people have reported ripping bits off their tractor. Dont be discourages, you have more tractor than I did! /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
PS, I recomend building a FOPS/brush guard before undertaking this. Build a frame around the whole of your tractor and cover with mesh. Otherwise you will have no paint left and probably lose alot of blood. Also a belly pan will help, people have reported ripping bits off their tractor. Dont be discourages, you have more tractor than I did! /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
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btolle
Platinum Member
Don't know if it will help, but if you look at Grille Guard picture you will see what I did to keep branches, etc. out of the grille on my B7510. Sounds like you might want some protection from the blackberries.
Personally, I like to back the bushhog into stuff like that so it gets chopped up before it takes all my paint off. Then when I pull forward it chops it up some more.
Bill Tolle
Personally, I like to back the bushhog into stuff like that so it gets chopped up before it takes all my paint off. Then when I pull forward it chops it up some more.
Bill Tolle
Tom_H
Veteran Member
I just did a similar project. The vines were all gnarled up in a patch of poplar trees. I used the loader with toothbar to rip the vines out and the brush cutter to finish them off.