Putting in new trails. Best way to clear saplings

[danceswithdirt]

In my opinion an excavator is a better machine for clearing or most pond building for that matter. Whether using compact or full size equip. Even on larger clearing I bring in 80K-100K lb ex first. With the ability to push higher up or dig down around roots a smaller ex will out perform a smaller dozer. Able to pull itself in boggy spots and minis have a blade. Add on grapple and its even better. Use the tractor to carry brush and dirt. I have dug up stumps with my cat 304 that it wont lift and carry. Also if you dont have a lot of experience on equip an ex is usually easier to learn.

 

[KentT]

In my opinion an excavator is a better machine for clearing or most pond building for that matter. Whether using compact or full size equip. Even on larger clearing I bring in 80K-100K lb ex first. With the ability to push higher up or dig down around roots a smaller ex will out perform a smaller dozer. Able to pull itself in boggy spots and minis have a blade. Add on grapple and its even better. Use the tractor to carry brush and dirt. I have dug up stumps with my cat 304 that it wont lift and carry. Also if you dont have a lot of experience on equip an ex is usually easier to learn.

Agree, a couple swipes to break any large surface roots on your side of the tree, then put the bucket up high and push it down away from you. Then, grab it and move it aside... then repeat...

 

[EddieWalker]

When I bought my land I had the use of a Deere 450G dozer to clear trails and open things up. It was fine in some areas, but way too small in other areas. It really came down to how much room it had and how may saplings had to be pushed over. Where it really failed was in cleaning up what was down, or in the way.

When I decided to buy a dozer, I went up to a medium sized dozer. I have a Case 1550 that has 170 hp. It does a good job of pushing stuff over and it has enough power and weight to push some good sized brush piles, but it also creates quite a mess. Getting things cleaned up after it's done it's thing is where all the work is.

Now I just use my backhoe. The hoe stick is faster and cleaner at taking out saplings and small trees. The grapple is the best thing ever at cleaning everything up. And of course, driving around on wheels instead of tracks is also faster and less painful.

In a perfect world, I'd have an excavator to take out the trees and a grapple to clean them up.

Since you already have a good size tractor, do you have a gapple for it? I'd rent an excavator or buy one before a dozer to clear land.

TRUST ME, dozers are not the best thing at clearing land!!!

Eddie

 

[beppington]

Hey everyone. I've got spring fever and am already planning out my spring and summer projects. I am planning to put in some new trails on my hunting property to ride my four wheeler on. My property is all wooded and the areas I want to put trails in consists of saplings ranging from 2 to 8 inches in diameter. Since I plan on putting in quite a few trails hand cutting these bigger saplings is outta the question. I have a kioti dk35 and a kioti dk55. Would I be able to take out these bigger saplings with the dk55? Or am I better off renting a dozer? I have thought of buying a dozer and I'm thinking this may be a good excuse for a new toy. I was looking at a komatsu d21. Would this push down this size brush and saplings? Thanks!

Saplings that bend, I wrap a chain around them & pull them out. Double wrap the chain so it tightens on the tree.

Saplings that don't bend, I push over (or try to anyway). Uproot them & then push them out of the way. This past weekend I pushed over about a 9" diameter oak - Now this tree was not a nice, strong specimen. It was stubby in poor condition, but alive. But I got it. Pushing trees over is hit & miss, though - Sometimes trees I think are too big to push over, do go over, & other times I can't push over trees I thought sure I'd get.

Here's my method for pushing a tree over - Others may want to weigh in for corrections, additions, warnings, etc.:

1) No ramming! You'll damage your tractor (immediately or eventually) & maybe kill yourself
2) Make sure the tree doesn't have dead branches or trunk section(s) that might snap off & kill you. If it does, or even might, you should fell it another way.
3) Raise your bucket to 6' - 7' & gently put it against the tree.
4) Push hard. If it goes over, good. If it doesn't:
5) Push down on your FEL lever until your front wheels come off the ground a little bit. You'll use the tractor's forward force & add in some of its weigh (gravity) to push the tree even harder.
6) Push forward hard with the tractor again. If it goes over, good. If it doesn't:
7) While pushing with the tractor & with your front wheels still a little off the ground, raise the loader & continue pushing with the tractor. If it goes over, good. If it doesn't ... trying lowering & raising the loader again a little bit with your front wheels off the ground a little the while time & while continuously pushing on the tree. You may eventually find the right combination of forward tractor push & gravity-assisted loader push to push the tree over. Of course, some trees just won't go over this way with a CUT, but you may be able to get a lot of them.

Also, be aware at all times that when the tree starts falling, the roots under the front of your tractor will probably come up out of the ground & can damage the bottom of your tractor if you're not careful to get back out of the way. The best scenario is for the tree to start leaning over slowly, under control, to where you can back up a little & push more from a lower height on the tree, giving yourself more space for the roots to come up without contacting the tractor.

I've successfully pushed over quite a few trees this way, & it's always been a slow, very controlled maneuver. No high speed activity. You can do this very slowly, so take your time. No need to hurry. If your nervous with the front wheels off the ground, jut go even slower until you get the feel for it. Again no ramming; just firm, powerful force pushing on the tree. Of course, you also need to make sure there's a clearing for the tree to fall.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

beppington a great post on pushing over trees with a FEL. :thumbsup:

When the ground was so soft that it was hard to get around with the BH I was able to push over some really tall stuff even when spinning and now the same tree would be hard to push over.

 

[radioman]

well - without pics it hard to make assumptions on how to best approach this.

Since I am dirt cheap - and got plenty of time, I would much rather tackle it myself with a tractor. It would be a work in progress. You can't be possibly clear trails completely now. I am thinking that once you get started, you will change your path as you go and it will make it an interesting trail instead of plowing everything down and make it a boring trail.

I would either use a ratchet rake or pirahana bar attached to your tractor bucket to make it easier to clear trails. with a ratchet rake you can make trail smoother for riding and ripping out small saplings and grass and move aside. This would result in a much smaller mess then a dozer would make. If there are any larger sapling you need to attack - chainsaw is the best option IMHO. cutting it flat,flush to ground is just fine for ATV tires, but not for tractors. IF needed since already have a tractor, just cover up the stumps with dirt .

 

[foreman Etexas]

Thanks. I just couldnt figure it out. Cab certainly helps on long days but you gotta work with the sun behind you early a.m and late p.m. Dust on windows make working when the sun is low hard to do. But with that being said my next one will have a cab also. Haha.

I just got done cleaning up around an acre,took 2days,again I hate youpons trees. But spend the time to roll pushes to keep dirt out of pile and dressed it all up. Dust on windows alot better than dust in mouth:laughing:

 

[RTII]

....,again I hate youpons trees. ... Dust on windows alot better than dust in mouth:laughing:View attachment 255838

I agree. Yaopons are a headache. Last time I cleared some land hired a mulcher for the underbrush which mainly consisted of yaopon too thick to walk through. Nothing to burn afterward though and if you use a shredder over them 3-4 times a year to keep them from coming back they will eventually die out.

 

[pjbci]

We have yaupon and privet hedge down here. Privet seems to take over faster but it tends to thin itself as it ages. Yaupon just gets thicker. They are both the devil too work in.

 

[country350]

Well I've given up on the dozer idea. I made the mistake of stopping by my local dealer and he had a nice Bobcat 331 mini excavator. It got me thinking whether this would be a option. I did some research and found several flail type mulcher heads for mini excavators. Does anyone have any experience with these on the smaller excavators? This would've ideal in that I could use to to trim over hanging branches on my trails as well as ditch and pond mowing. Any thoughts?