Cleaning up 5 acres after logging in east Texas

[patricku421]

I am having 5 acres of pine timber cut within the next few weeks, in order to eventually open up some more land for pasture. I understand that the logging company is going to come through an make a mess in the process, and I am prepared to have to work to clean it all up. I am trying to get by on a very low budget to clean it up, and I know this is going to involve more work on my end. piling limbs and burning them is pretty straight forward, but my questions are about the stumps. They are cutting between 80-100 18" to 24" pine trees. I know, ideally the best way to remove the stumps is with an excavator, but that really isn't in my budget. I have access to my John Deere 5045D, a Case backhoe, and a large, self contained stump grinder. All I am looking to do is knock the stumps low enough to where they will not damage my brush hog. Any recommendations?

 

[Bigfoot62]

I am trying to get by on a very low budget to clean it up . . .

Low budget equals a HUGE amount of labor on your part. Sorry, but that's just the facts.

Sure you can grind 100 pine stumps down below the surface, pile up and burn the tops, and wait for nature to take its course. But, realize that it will be a LONG process. Here are some things to consider:
Cost of grinding. You will probably need a few sets of the carbide teeth. Pine stumps are not that hard, but you have a bunch of them. If you have sandy soil, it will eat up teeth faster. Fuel cost, for both the grinder and the tow vehicle. Plus, if you're renting the grinder, you need to include that in the cost.
The tops will not be ready to burn for weeks, maybe months. They need to dry first.
Rubber tire tractors are not made for piling tops and limbs. If you punch a hole in your radiator, or yourself, you can add that to the cost. I've seen oil filters knocked off by limbs. I know of a local man that died when backed over a small tree with his tractor and bush-hog. The blades cut it off and made it sharp. It popped up between the rear axle and the floorboard. Impaled him. Point is: be extremely careful when pushing tops and limbs. Especially, when using equipment that was NOT designed to do that job.
The stumps will eventually rot, leaving huge holes in the ground. I've been filling in stump holes for over 20 years.

I'm not trying to scare you or change your mind, just wanted to give you a realistic picture.
The flip side is to hire a large excavator and dozer with a root rake to do it for you. That could cost up to $3000 per acre to clear and grub.

 

[patricku421]

Low budget equals a HUGE amount of labor on your part. Sorry, but that's just the facts.

Sure you can grind 100 pine stumps down below the surface, pile up and burn the tops, and wait for nature to take its course. But, realize that it will be a LONG process. Here are some things to consider:
Cost of grinding. You will probably need a few sets of the carbide teeth. Pine stumps are not that hard, but you have a bunch of them. If you have sandy soil, it will eat up teeth faster. Fuel cost, for both the grinder and the tow vehicle. Plus, if you're renting the grinder, you need to include that in the cost.
The tops will not be ready to burn for weeks, maybe months. They need to dry first.
Rubber tire tractors are not made for piling tops and limbs. If you punch a hole in your radiator, or yourself, you can add that to the cost. I've seen oil filters knocked off by limbs. I know of a local man that died when backed over a small tree with his tractor and bush-hog. The blades cut it off and made it sharp. It popped up between the rear axle and the floorboard. Impaled him. Point is: be extremely careful when pushing tops and limbs. Especially, when using equipment that was NOT designed to do that job.
The stumps will eventually rot, leaving huge holes in the ground. I've been filling in stump holes for over 20 years.

I'm not trying to scare you or change your mind, just wanted to give you a realistic picture.
The flip side is to hire a large excavator and dozer with a root rake to do it for you. That could cost up to $3000 per acre to clear and grub.

I'm not worried about the labor, nor the time I will have invested in it. I knew that it was going to be work when I started this adventure. I am always very careful with my equipment, I pay too much money to risk damaging something, or even worse, someone. After buying the property, buying the equipment that I have, and paying to renovate the house and soon having to pay to have my hay baled, the funds don't allow for someone to come in with a big dozer to do the finish work. I just was looking for ideas on removing the stumps without the cost of hiring it out. I don't even need all of them gone immediately. Just enough to run the tractor through and keep the weeds under control.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I'm in the same boat! Man, what a mess! And we take such pride in keeping things nice. I had, and still have an excavator on site and got him to take a few stumps out closest to the roadway, and then loaded them up to take for burning. I quickly realized that this would put me in the poor house at $100.00/hr. Also, reducing the stumps in the fire pile takes a lot of fire!

I bought a grapple for my small wheel loader to remove the slash piles and this works good in places where I can approach them from the side, but many I can't. Trees are in the way, terrain is difficult and at times dangerous for the machine, and those stumps are a terrible hazard. Many of the slash piles are placed on top of stumps probably on purpose, and that material becomes difficult to pick up.

No easy answer to this one!

This is only a portion of the wood taken.

 

[KiotiKowboy]

Considered renting a dozer? If you take it by the week, the cost should be significantly lower than day by day.

 

[Ed of all trades]

When I was a teenager we cut about three acres of pine on the farm and did as you are talking about. We piled the brush and burnt it and the stumps were already cut as low as we could. We logged it ourselves. For about 5 yr we bush hogged it a little high to miss the stumps and it worked well. About that time I lowered the bush Hogg and knocked out the higher stumps. The big thing is THINK. Do you really have the skills and temperament to do the job without getting in a hurry and hurting yourself or breaking the equipment? I say this because it is what I would have to do on a job like that. You could do this with a chain saw and a frontend loader.

 

[patricku421]

Fortunately for me, the ground I am working with is relativity flat, and the remaining trees will spread far enough apart to where I can get in and out with equipment fairly easily. I know it wont be finished overnight, but I feel confident that with the help of a few buddies, we can get it cleaned and looking nice with the equipment I have.

 

[sd455dan]

It worked better for us to rent a 312 cat excavator and (push) the pine trees over.
Then we used the ex to carry the trees to an area next to a hole we dug with the 312 and cut off the root balls and bury them.

This left the holes from the trees to fill in with the tractor after we did the heavy work with the ex.
I think this was money well spent and saved, especially if you put the excavator to full use while it is rented.

The amount of time saved pushing over trees versus cutting and then having to dig up stumps is huge IMO.

 

[candoarms]

If you'd like to attempt this project yourself, my best recommendation is to ask the fellers to leave the stumps about 4 feet high. This will allow you to gain the needed leverage when you attempt to pull them over. I've done this work using that technique. It works very well when using the proper rigging equipment.

1. The higher the stumps, the better.

2. By using more blocks and cable, your mechanical advantage increases tremendously.

3. Safety concerns are HIGH. Cables under extreme tension are highly dangerous to be around.

4. You'll need plenty of heavy chain, several different types of hooks, etc.

Attach your working end high on the stump you're attempting to pull....about 4 feet above the ground. Attach your rigging blocks low to the ground on a nearby stump of considerable size. Pull with your tractor or with something bigger. Blocks and tackle can be used in place of a tractor.

One stump at a time......it's a slow process, but it works well.

Joel

 

[Ed of all trades]

It worked better for us to rent a 312 cat excavator and (push) the pine trees over.
Then we used the ex to carry the trees to an area next to a hole we dug with the 312 and cut off the root balls and bury them.

This left the holes from the trees to fill in with the tractor after we did the heavy work with the ex.
I think this was money well spent and saved, especially if you put the excavator to full use while it is rented.

The amount of time saved pushing over trees versus cutting and then having to dig up stumps is huge IMO.

I would NEVER burry the stumps, as they rot they leave holes big enough to stick a tractor in. I have worked around these holes. Not fun wondering if the next hole it going to open up as you drive over it.