New to forum - need land clearing advice

   / New to forum - need land clearing advice #1  

spollan

New member
Joined
Aug 10, 2012
Messages
6
Location
Daingerfield, TX
Tractor
Kubota L3400
Hello everyone. I have been lurking for some time and have read a few hundred posts but have confused myself to the point I don't know what the best route would be. Sorry if this gets long.

I have about 200 acres of timber land and have just acquired an adjacent property which is about 250 acres. The new property has 3 overgrown pastures which have not been maintained in several years. The brush is thick and I want to return these to pasture/wildlife plots. The main trees which have sprouted up are sweet gum and willow with a few oaks and various other species. The max height of the trees is about 20 feet with a max diameter of around 5 inches. The total area I want to clear over time is 75 acres.

With the recent purchase, my funds are low for new equipment purchases. My current equipment is limited to a Kabota L3400 FEL, 5 ft brush hog, and a Ford 7710 FEL (2wd) with a 15 ft batwing mower.

I have looked at purchasing (1) a tree shear for the Ford along with a front root rake/grapple, (2) a brown tree cutter along with a root rake, (3) an older Deere 450c dozer (along with nothing else because it eats up my budget).

Of course a mulcher setup with a giant skid steer would be the ultimate, but the budget certainly doesn't allow for that. I don't want to hire it done since it is such a large job.

Does anyone have any input on the three options or have any other suggestions for a way to get this job done. My overall budget is $15,000.

Thanks for your time.
 
   / New to forum - need land clearing advice #2  
I dont want to steer you away from new equipment, but if it were mine, I'd make use of the equipment you already have.

IF you have a heavy-duty bushhog, it should easily handle 3" and smaller trees/sapplings. Go around the ones that are too big. Go back and chainsaw the off flush with the ground . The just keep up with the bushhogging and you'll be all set.
 
   / New to forum - need land clearing advice #3  
I dont want to steer you away from new equipment, but if it were mine, I'd make use of the equipment you already have.

IF you have a heavy-duty bushhog, it should easily handle 3" and smaller trees/sapplings. Go around the ones that are too big. Go back and chainsaw the off flush with the ground . The just keep up with the bushhogging and you'll be all set.
Not a bad idea at all, but if you don't like it stick to the dozer idea, or even rent one. You might even be ahead to hire the work done.
 
   / New to forum - need land clearing advice
  • Thread Starter
#4  
I do like the idea and have thought about just running the bush hog over everything I can, but I want to get to the point I can plant wildlife food plots and crops. That's why I mentioned the root rakes.

As far as hiring it done, I have a quote of $75 per hour which is fair, but 75 acres of mess might break the bank at that rate.
 
   / New to forum - need land clearing advice #5  
Your tractor is capable of pushing over whatever the bushhog won't handle pretty easily with the FEL up to the 5-6" diameter range. I do it all the time. Sometimes on stubborn root balls, I have to use the teeth on the bar to get under them and dig a little with the FEL, but it is effective. I think you already have some good tools to get started with getting it back under control. I'd probably bush hog all the 1" and smaller stuff and pop the others with the FEL to get the main roots with them. I drive up with bucket about waist high or a little higher on the bigger trees and push them over or start pushing them until they lean hard. A lot of times, the weight of the tree helps with this and you'll see the root ball start lifting from the ground and indicate where to dig on your next approach, then get under it and curl. If you don't have a tooth bar, it's about a $400 add on and is great for this stuff. The residual roots after that won't be too much to plow up later. Grapple would be nice for your clean up after all the popping is done. I do that part manually, or I use the FEL to push the debris into the woods or pile up for burning later.
 
   / New to forum - need land clearing advice #6  
Have you considered a spring time prescribed burn? We have just started implementing them here in south ga in pine plantation stands that have been overrun with varoius hardwood species. We have had excellent results with the hardwood kill. The trick to spring burns is not to get it too hot or you'll cause damage to the pine species. You should be able to call your local forestry unit to get some assistance in the burn and plow fire breaks.
 
   / New to forum - need land clearing advice #7  
We didn't do 75 acres, but we did quite a few with our L5740 and M8540 using bush hogs and rented a tracked skid loader for the bigger ones. We could have pushed them over and rooted them out with our tractors, but having done it before, we wanted to spare the heavy wear on them and spare our tires.
 
   / New to forum - need land clearing advice #8  
Instead of a dozer, I'd recommend a track loader for clearing. Theyre usually cheaper than a dozer and you'll not push all of your topsoil away plus you can easily pop trees/stumps out and carry them away. Something like a 955L cat, 175 IH, etc. would be a good size. The teeth on the bucket works great as a root rake and in the areas your describing, you could rake most of the bushes and trees into piles and burn or dig holes and bury.
I'm currently running a 955H cat clearing mature hardwood forest for pasture and it works great. I have a dozer, havent started it in months (guess I need to at least start it). I do have a 55 hp john deere 4wd with FEL, but I dont like beating on it when I have the old caterpillar to knock trees down with and clear the ground.

Good luck...........
 
   / New to forum - need land clearing advice #9  
Do you need the trees removed including the root system? This is my key question on my clearing projects. It is the difference between mowing / sawing and ground engagement with the latter clean up (filling and leveling holes left by roots) and disposal (root ball) issues. Huge difference in effort.

If you can live with a stump flush with the ground then I would saw the bigger ones flush and then just mow. It will decompose over time and go away.

If you need the stumps/roots removed it's a much larger project. I hired a dozer to clear a few acres and what a mess! However, the area where the trees were removed from was leveled quite nicely. Untangling the tree/dirt/root pile to dispose of it was a lot of work. Burn was not an option. Next time I need to remove stumps and roots I'll use an excavator to dig em out and lay em down. Then my tractor can pull them to where I can cut and sort the wood and brush and root balls.
 
   / New to forum - need land clearing advice #10  
IMG_0399.jpgIMG_0398.jpg

I like the idea of a prescribed burn. A burn is going to transition your new land toward renewed pasture at a cheap price. I live near the Lower Suwannee Wildlife Reserve in Coastal North Florida, a 60,000 acre state reserve. The administration conducts controlled burns of 10 - 200 acre as on a regular basis. Their object is to keep choking brush down to improve game habitat and growing conditions for the Long Leaf Pines, various oaks and palms, so they burn a little differently than you would but the principle is the same.

After the burn a Ratch Rake bucket attachment is a versatile, inexpensive tool. I used my yesterday to begin preparation of a new Fall deer plot along two sides of an abandoned woodland road. Tractor Supply retails the Ratchet Rake. My 52" RR was $299.

Tractor is Kubota B3300SU / 33-hp / 1,800 pounds.
 
 
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