Looking for advice on cleaning up a clear cut pine plantation

[UncleBuck1]

I'm seriously looking at purchasing 80 acres of land in SW Mississippi for recreational purposes. The land was planted in pine and clear cut 2 years ago. I don't know how old the trees were, but the stumps are saw log size, about 10-12" in diameter. Unfortanetly the loggers didn't do much cleanup after they finished cutting and in addition to all of the stumps the property is littered with slash (limbs, tops and other cutoffs), all of which is hidden by chest high weeds.

I'm looking for some advice on how to go about cleaning all of the logging trash up and getting the land to the point that I can bushhog and lightly disc. How well sould a skid steer mulcher work well for a job like this? Or are my stumps too big? Are there any other options that anyone can recommend? Any advice would be appreciated!

 

[murphy1244]

:welcome:

 

[ShearHeadMS]

hey buck, where in MS is this and i can get you in touch with the right people here in MS, it sounds like your going to be better off getting some one to shear and rake it.

 

[JHTFarmer]

My personal fantasy for a situation like this:

1). Contract an experienced guy to run the property with a big dozer with a stump blade to prep the land. (Cat D8 size)

2). Next fall have the entire 80 acres mechanically planted with longleaf pine seedlings.

3). Manage the land after that with regular prescribed burns

 

[ShearHeadMS]

yeah Farmer thats sums it up, luckly everything on that list is what i do!

 

[UncleBuck1]

hey buck, where in MS is this and i can get you in touch with the right people here in MS, it sounds like your going to be better off getting some one to shear and rake it.

Let me show my ignorance here: what do you mean by shearing?

My personal fantasy for a situation like this:

1). Contract an experienced guy to run the property with a big dozer with a stump blade to prep the land. (Cat D8 size)

That's the standard approach, but the land is hilly and has faily thin topsoil, so I'm really worried about damaging the land- that's what got me to thinking about a mulcher. And dozer work also expensive; I haven't gotten a formal quote, but I'm hearing $500-750 per acre!

 

[ShearHeadMS]

500-700??? tell them to go on!! thats outragious!! and shearing is a large V blade with a cutting edge on it that cuts the stump off at ground level. but that priceing sounds like a mulching price to me!

 

[cat 297c]

I'm seriously looking at purchasing 80 acres of land in SW Mississippi for recreational purposes. The land was planted in pine and clear cut 2 years ago. I don't know how old the trees were, but the stumps are saw log size, about 10-12" in diameter. Unfortanetly the loggers didn't do much cleanup after they finished cutting and in addition to all of the stumps the property is littered with slash (limbs, tops and other cutoffs), all of which is hidden by chest high weeds.

I'm looking for some advice on how to go about cleaning all of the logging trash up and getting the land to the point that I can bushhog and lightly disc. How well sould a skid steer mulcher work well for a job like this? Or are my stumps too big? Are there any other options that anyone can recommend? Any advice would be appreciated!

Have the stumps and slash left behind started to rot yet?

 

[UncleBuck1]

Have the stumps and slash left behind started to rot yet?

After 2 years the slash is breaking down, but the stumps not so much. I haven't walked a lot of the clear cut yet, but it looks like the loggers must have used feller because the stumps are all close to ground level.

 

[UncleBuck1]

I still haven't pulled the trigger on buying the land but I'm starting to rethink my strategy if I do. I had a chance to walk the property this weekend and there's actually not that much slash; I'm thinking a 40-50 hp tractor with a FEL grapple would do the trick (although it will take time). But there are 12-14" pine stumps everywhere; does anyone have any idea how long until they rot down enough to grub them out with a FEL mounted stump digger?