Help! How to clear a black berry thicket covered in thorny vines?

[hslogger]

first choice, hire a flail to knock it down and you will be surprised who doggone fast it is down. Let it mulch down. When it comes back up, spray the shoots. Quite likely there only a FEW plants that are making the monster pile.

If you can't afford or find a flail, backing into it with the brush hog is slow and will work. You might have to walk through it foward at first to knock it down some. Don't get picky about keeping your tractor purty.

 

[pmhowe]

" I have cleared quite a bit of it by backing into it with my bush hog. Gone back over it twice a year now that it a field and haven't seen it come back. "

I'll second this approach. Years ago, I lived in Maryland and had to clear about a half acre of blackberries and honeysuckle. The darn stuff was like a jungle; far too thick to walk through. At the time, I had an old Allis Chalmers WD 40 and a brush hog. I had to go slowly, but was able to chomp up the briars and honeysuckle, even though they were four or five feet high. I found that keeping the field mowed for several years solved the problem. Just go very slowly, maybe nowhere near as fast as your tractor/brush hog will allow. More often than not, there will be an old car, a stump, or piled trash, or some other nasty thing you would not wish to drive over, but can't see. Good luck!

 

[Sid Post]

Suprised pushing with a loader didnt work.. I just did some int he woods that way.. About 20' thick and taller than me.

I was using a friends 45HP Kioti (Korean) with R4 tires and no ballast. That tractor is pretty helpless on grass. If we still had our big John Deere (150HP) I would have been done with this task in one weekend.

 

[Sid Post]

I had some cab high, just lowered the loader to a few feet off the ground and drove off in it with the bush hog. Tractor road it down, and mower did its job. No problem, unless you are afraid to scratch a tractor. Sometimes old equipment has its advantage I guess.

I'm not sure I have access to a tractor heavy enough to do that. You're right, an old beater tractor has its uses.

I wish my father hadn't sold ours. There are times you really need a HEAVY tractor.

 

[Sid Post]

pallet forks and start ripping, lift high enough to get a chain saw in and start hacking away.

Thanks for that suggestion! That's something that I had not considered. :thumbsup:

I did consider putting a saw blade on my Stihl weed eater but, with those thorny vines I decided I didn't want to wade that deep into the brush.

 

[ChristianHF]

" I have cleared quite a bit of it by backing into it with my bush hog. Gone back over it twice a year now that it a field and haven't seen it come back. "

I'll second this approach. Years ago, I lived in Maryland and had to clear about a half acre of blackberries and honeysuckle. The darn stuff was like a jungle; far too thick to walk through. At the time, I had an old Allis Chalmers WD 40 and a brush hog. I had to go slowly, but was able to chomp up the briars and honeysuckle, even though they were four or five feet high. I found that keeping the field mowed for several years solved the problem. Just go very slowly, maybe nowhere near as fast as your tractor/brush hog will allow. More often than not, there will be an old car, a stump, or piled trash, or some other nasty thing you would not wish to drive over, but can't see. Good luck!

I too have used this technique, sometimes just driving in will not work, those **** vines are strong when there are a lot of them! When we purchased our current home (on 5 acres) the front 2 acres were pretty much one blackberry thicket 12 to 15 feet high. I used a Bobcat CUT with a brush hog and found that using the bucket to smash down the vines and then drive forward over them was necessary. It was very slow going but once they were chopped up and the emergent vines (very few re-emerged) post chopping were hit with blackberry killer and I am getting ready to seed pasture a year and 1/2 later. Good luck.

Chris.

 

[Sid Post]

In dealing with blackberry and thistle, I can tell you ... there is no substitute for perseverance.

That's one of the reasons I'm looking at buying a tractor and heavy duty "bush hog" and roto-tiller.

If I go to the effort to knock the big stuff down, I want to have the right tools available to attack the problem everytime I go 'home' in a time efficient way. I'm already in a good battle with 'Vinca' that is growing around the house. That stuff is tenacious too. Then there are the trees mom planted close to the house that killed the septic system and the other ones that pushed the house foundation ... :hissyfit: That one taught me how to use a backhoe and, someday I'll fix the sidewalk when the other chores get caught up.

 

[Sid Post]

"Just go very slowly, maybe nowhere near as fast as your tractor/brush hog will allow. More often than not, there will be an old car, a stump, or piled trash, or some other nasty thing you would not wish to drive over, but can't see. Good luck!

:thumbsup:

I know there is an early 80's Delta 88 and mid-90's VW Jetta in there so, yes I will be going very slowly, especially since I expect dad put some other hidden 'gems' in there for me to find.

 

[lostcreekranch]

When we bought present ranch in 2006, the pastures were loaded with wild blackberry. We keep mowing them down and fertilizing. Slowly the Coastal Bermuda and native grasses are talking over. Same with the goat weed. If we cut them before the seed pods emerge we are getting ahead of them. We have had to use very little herbicide on pastures. Our pastures were mostly weeds 7 years ago.

Rick

 

[bcp]

I'm not sure I have access to a tractor heavy enough to do that. You're right, an old beater tractor has its uses.

I wish my father hadn't sold ours. There are times you really need a HEAVY tractor.

And that tractor NEEDS a cab!



Bruce