clearing and making trails on steep ground

[roermo]

I have an acre of ground dab smake in the middle of town. its old woods that have not been touched except for the area kids. I want to clean it up and get some sun in there and nice ground cover instead of weeds and thorns.
Were does a body start to find out what to clear and what to leave. and what ground cover to use.
also I have sent along two photos. Note the one with my lab in it. This is for scale. Is this hill to steep to go up and down on. I have several yards of dirt on site i am going to try to make a path with to lesson the angle.

thanks for any help

roger

 

[roermo]

Re: clearing and making trails on steep ground *DELETED*

Post deleted by roermo

 

[roermo]

the the fill to make an angle path down.

 

[roermo]

here is the shot of the steep hill dog for scale

 

[wilkesland]

Roger,

Your questions are so broad they are a bit difficult to respond to. Nevertheless, I'll give it a shot. Not sure what you are asking by what to clear and what to leave - that is going to depend on what you want to do with the property. Regarding ground covers, your local nurseries can give you some good help in what will grow well in your particular situation. As far as the slope is concerned, it certainly looks too steep for a rubber tired tractor in your photo. Any slope greater than 15% - that is 15 feet of fall in 100 horizontal feet begins to get problematic. Anything more than 20% is downright dangerous for a tractor. I've put a tiltmeter on my tractor and find it to be very valuable. However, you can easily check the slope you are dealing with - take an 8 foot long 2x4, put one end on the ground, rest a level on it and raise it till it's horizontal, measure the distance to the ground. If it's greater that 1 foot 3 inches, then your slope is greater that 15% - to be avoided.

You can use the fill to help keep your slope down, but be careful!!! When you place the fill it will be soft. As you try to compact it you may find a soft place which will cause your tractor to sink - to the point you could roll it.
Hope this helps.

Barry

 

[beenthere]

Not able to get the feeling from the pics for what you need to do. But if too steep to walk up and down, then either put 'steps' in OR meander the path along the contour and make a switch-back or two to decrease the steepness of the path. The path then would have to be dug into the hill to level it for walking.

You haven't said if you want to , or intend to, or have driven your 4410 on this slope. That would be good information to know.

For clearing out brush, then a brush saw (power head with saw blade instead of a weed whip) is what I use on slopes. Probably some brush killer (such as Roundup or similar) will be needed to stop some of the brush from growing, and until you get that ground cover growing.

Sounds like an interesting and rewarding project. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[roermo]

wikesland: thanks, I was wondering how to tell if it was more than 15% good hint. Bet it is well over that. I am wanting to improve the lot. Removing dead wood standing and on the ground plus remove scrub bursh just make it more walkable and to enjoy the wild life. I plan on leaving brush pile for birds and rabbits in the bottom of the gully. Would like to make some walking paths. but have a way to get the tractor among the trees. Hence the road cut.

Beenther: thanks for your input too. The plot is only 250x200 so Iam thinking of taking the side that the slop is the less and angling it in a stright line. I have a bob cat working in the area diging out a basement across the street so for the right to dump he will place the dirt in such a maner to make the road big enough for the tractor.

Thanks again folks

roger.

 

[RAW]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Any slope greater than 15% - that is 15 feet of fall in 100 horizontal feet begins to get problematic. Anything more than 20% is downright dangerous for a tractor. )</font>

Would someone help me out with this?

If I have a truck or ATV that will go 60% or greater slope, why can't a 4x4tractor do it?

I'm not trying to be difficult. Just truly trying to understand (as I am still trying to figure out what equipment to buy).

Thanks

 

[Egon]

Perhaps it's terminology that is getting confused.

Slope in % is quite different from slope in degrees.

Egon /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[DocHeb]

Going up and down is one thing - it's the going across that really gets tractors in trouble. The Center of Gravity for tractors is relatively high (this allows for better ground clearance.)