Land Clearing ~ 30 acres

[ShearHeadMS]

The crew I work with runs two D9Hs with v blades followed by a D8R, D7G and D6s. Shearing wise we can do about 20-30 acres a day depending on terrain and how sharp the edge is in the blades. Don't be fooled a D9H can shear a 20 inch stump without any loss of power. Raking wise I alone can do anywhere from 8- 12 acres a day. Best be is to have someone shear it and run a new earth plow over it and re seed it. The break down of the stumps can take from a year to 2 years. Just depends in what you want to do. And those prices sound off the wall, if you pay 1200 an acre you better bug the crap out of them and make sure you get it done the way you want it!!

 

[Egon]

I assume that you have done this in the red clay of the south????? I think I know just a little about what I'm talking about.

Never seen the southern red clay but there are northern clay's, and rock and muskeg and lots of other soil types and lots steep slopes. And lots of acres that were cleared for farming. Not unusual to see a section at a time cleared.:thumbsup:

Unlike yourself there is a lot I don't know and what little I do is all many years in the past and yes I did not operate the equipment but did get to watch a lot of Top Tier Operators.

There are also different methods/equipment used to clear land for farming. Some even used axes, saws, horses etc.

ShearHeadMS has it down!!:thumbsup::thumbsup:

 

[tjkadar]

Shearhead sounds like he could handle the project expediently, efficiently, and cost-effectively.

We live on top of a hill. Soils here are mostly sand of a couple feet thick on top of the dreaded red clay. Most of the time you can pop a stump without having to dig into the clay.

The clay is tough. I've had it stop our Geoprobe a time or two!

 

[tjkadar]

Some pictures of the project:

 

[reggiejr]

Nice looking property
It will look great all cleaned up

 

[Wakey]

Informative thread.

We've got 8 acres next to us that I feel like eventually, we'll get a deal done.

We would be doing the same thing, pastures.

Plenty of old growth trees would need to go. I like the idea of preserving the soil but it would kill me to wait a couple of years before using the land.

How did it turn out?

 

[tjkadar]

Informative thread.

We've got 8 acres next to us that I feel like eventually, we'll get a deal done.

We would be doing the same thing, pastures.

Plenty of old growth trees would need to go. I like the idea of preserving the soil but it would kill me to wait a couple of years before using the land.

How did it turn out?

Its been about 14 months since the land was cleared. I've been over it once with a skid steer and forestry grade rotary mower. Then we planted the steepest slopes in pine. This week, we will have everything sprayed to control competitive hardwood growth. On the flatter areas, we have some grass coming up through volunteer growth. But the majority of the growth is weeds and hardwoods. Spraying will take care of that and the plant matter will add some good material back to the soil. Stumps are starting to rot. I've had a couple smaller ones break up and pop out of the ground going over areas with a drag and the rotary mower. Bigger stumps will take longer, but they are already starting to deteriorate.

This year, in the flatter areas, I've been able to bush hog with tractor. I'll break some shear pins, but that is why they are there. I'm not looking forward to fencing all that extra acreage, but its getting time to start.