My first post!!!

[JeepJeep]

I have been lurking for about 2 weeks now and catching up on all the great information in the various forums. Being VERY new to owning any property and never having driven a tractor I’ve come to the conclusion that you are all nuts!!! Well, no more nutty than I am about Jeeps /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

All I can say is WOW, what a great source of information!!! And what great people!!! Of all the posts I’ve read there is a substantial lack of arrogance and sarcasm. This is truly refreshing!!! /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

So at the risk of sounding like a complete noob /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif I’ve got some questions I thought I would throw out, as well as some additional information perhaps not found in my bio:

3.3 Acres in Hamilton, VA (Northern VA) all rolling, not much is flat about an acre of woods, the rest I need to mow.
200 foot gravel driveway
Currently very little landscaping
Kubota BX2200 on it’s way with Turf Tires, FEL, 60” Muching Deck, and a Rear blade.

The questions:
On the edge of the woods are a tremendous amount of vines growing into the trees, these go way way up and are very tangled, some are small others are 2” thick. Is there a good way to get rid of these?

Also on the edge of the woods is quite a bit of brush, most of it prickers and thorns. Is there a good method of either dragging this out or mulching it? Can I drive through it with my 60” mulching deck and still maintain tire pressure? Will this ruin the deck?

Finally, the house on the property is very new, the grass that does exist is very sparse and there are a lot of small rocks strewn about (Golf Ball sized). Is there an implement that can pick these up or do I just need to put my 4 year old to work?

Thanks, Jim

 

[RobS]

Welcome to the forum Jim. You're sure to get all sorts of answers and opinions to your first post, I'll just throw out a couple of things that came to mind quickly...

The vines: Around here they could be grapevines, poison ivy or virginia creeper. All are harmful to the trees but one can be especially difficult to deal with (poison ivy). Mature grapevines can get quite large at the base and have thin, rough bark that runs along the length (much easier to picture than describe). Grapevines don't cling to the tree, they usually hang free. Poison Ivy and Virgina Creeper both have smoother bark and hairy-like features that cling them to the tree. I'm not good enough to tell them apart unless they have leaves. Poison Ivy has three leaves, creeper has five. For all three you'll need to sever the plant at the base to kill it. The vines can then be pulled down with mixed results. Grape vines pull down pretty well but the others will be more difficult. If you're like me, you'll want to stay well away from the poison ivy /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

On the prickers and thorns... they might be wild blackberries which are quite tasty. Remove what you have to but consider leaving some for yourself and the birds.

Welcome again, others will have many additional ideas for you /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

BTW, nice Jeeps on your web-site /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[normde2001]

As far as the vines in the trees, I would just cut off near ground level with axe or chainsaw, then deal with the stumps with weed killer, or I just found out, spray with salt water. The dying vine in the tree will disappear. If what you are calling a mulching deck is a rotary cutter/bushhog just back it into the thorns, depending on the size of the bush, and the thorns. The thornbush, (blackberry, etc), will eat you up on the tractor, however the thorns shouldn't hurt your tires. I have seen some 1-3" thorns that I wouldn't get near with my tractor. If you have a boxblade and are willing to start over with grass seeding, I would run over the rocky yard with that and pile them up......Now, try not to bother us anymore, we're very busy. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif Almost forgot, I got a small 3 prong boat anchor, (grappling hook), that I tied to a small cable and threw into the middle of my thorn bushes and drug them down to a more manageable size.

 

[WCarlson]

Welcome. On the vines, I have been successful cutting them off at the base, letting them hang in the trees for a few months then putting a line on them and pulling them out of the trees with my tractor. However, in order to avoid nasty surprises, I strongly suggest that the line you use be longer than the tree is high. Sometimes those heavy vines will damage a tree and it will come at you with the vine. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif
Bill

 

[herbenus]

Often when I'm out with fel and see a vine, I'll catch it with fel and keep on going. This cuts it but doesn't take out base which is what you'll have to do. I do this more for fun till I'm finally able to deal with properly. I have the poison ivy and grapevines. Actually I leave grapevines since they don't damage tree that much and we like grapes as do wildlife.

We have another vine that I call saw briar. It gets vines up to 1/2" diameter and maybe a little bit more and is aptly named. Thorns all over up to 1/2" long and will definitely cut you up if you get tangled up in. Leaves that look like a pretty ivy. Gloves help some. When properly dealt with, a large number of tubers that look like mutant potatoes are found in roots. These need to be burned but be very careful not to breath smoke (same with burning poison ivy - don't breath smoke! Just imagine poison ivy rash on your insides).

And welcome to the tractor forum. I agree with you about the lack of arrogance here. But not sure about sarcasm. I pride myself in my abilities as a smartas# and think there are at least a few others here as well. But it's all in good fun.

 

[rockyridgefarm]

welcome Aboard!

OlllllO

/forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[njrqs]

Welcome JJ

Nice to see a lurker convert.

Cheers

 

[chrisjbell]

I've used my FEL with some success when tearing out vines. When have to do that unpleasant stuff I usually try to back on top of them with my brush hog. It sounds like you have a mid-mounted finish mower, though, and I wouldn't recommend trying to use that with thick vines. It isn't designed to chop up 2" stuff - at the very least, you'll be sharpening the blades (and they might break).

A rear blade sometimes works, too. Give it a shot - if it works you're a happy camper. It'll just basically chop 'em off / pull 'em out. You'll still have to come back and kill the vines or they'll be baaaccckkk /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif....

As far as your tires are concerned... Don't know how the turfs will hold up. I've got ags on my tractor and there are some thorns that'll put a nice hole in those. I went through a period where it seemed like I was getting those things patched more than I was using my tractor (wound up putting tubes in all around and that seemed to help). But the good news is that if you do get a puncture they aren't expensive to have fixed. I think my tire guy charges $10 to unmount, repair, and remount the tire.

No easy way to get rid of rocks that I know of. A landscape rake might do it, but you probably would be best off improving your soil and starting over. If the grass is scraggly and has been there for long (say, a year) then you've got less than ideal soil. You'll thank yourself for improving it rather than trying to grow a decent lawn in bad soil.

Welcome to TBN, and enjoy your tractor. You'll get the hang of it before you know it. (Hopefully without discovering that the FEL really does swing wide, especially when you're close to your garage siding /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif - don't ask me how I know about that /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif)...Chris

 

[Bird]

Jim, as the others have said, there are lots of different kinds of vines. I had lots of the briars myself across the back of my property. I've pulled some down with the just the front end loader, but the best success I had (and by no means perfect) was when I made a long choker cable; i.e. a cable with a slip hook on one end. I would run it around a bunch of vines, then pull with the tractor. The harder you pull the tighter the cable would get around the vines.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Congratulations on the new bx!
Have the vine problems up here too. All of 'em. Generally hack the stem at ground level w/an axe or chain saw, let them die and they will pull off. Once decided to spray poison ivy on a poplar with roundup. Didn't see the branch in the middle of the poison and sprayed it too. Had a half yellow/half green poplar tree for a year or 2. It was a large tree and survived but I wouldn't try it again.
Never tried salt to kill the roots but sounds like a good idea.
The choker idea is another good one. Everytime I get on TBN I learn something new.
Thanks folks,
DaveL