tree clearing advice needed

[s219]

Thanks for the input. looks like my best bet is to cut the trees down then go after the stumps with an excavator. what would be the best height to leave the stumps?

I'd only recommend that if you want the timber to remain in pristine condition or there is some other reason to pull out the timber before the ground work (ie, productivity, time constraints, etc). Otherwise, push the tree over first then either dispose of it, or cut off the stump and deal with the butt log at that point. The longer the tree, the easier the task, except in cases where you may not have room to push it over without doing damage.

In my case, the crew running the track hoe moved fast and was focused on harvesting pines for the paper mill. For any valuable hardwood or firewood/lumber trees, I had to go in weeks in advance and cut and skid logs myself. That's why I left high stumps.

 

[arrow]

Depends on what you are doing with the trees afterward. If there is any money to be made at the local mill, cut them down and stack the stems. Clean out the stumps with an excavator. I've been to many a sight where trees were in the way and had to be cleared. If you can rent a decent size excavator for the same money as the crawler, its the most cost effective way. Now, if you do not care or are unable to take advantage of the money in the wood and plan to bury or burn everything, rent the crawler . It is a good machine for this work. As i have cut many a root ball from its trunk, I think it a pain in the butt to free up a stem in that fashion for larger trees. I'd much rather just drop the tree. A stump that is left 3 ft high is a cake walk for a 20 ton excavator.

 

[horses2]

I agree with corl, it is amazing to think that the settlers had an axe and maybe an oxen or cow. talk about manual labor.

My intention is to buck the red oaks into 16 ft lengths to have them sawm into fence boards. As for a large excavator, I am not good enough to operate one of those. I can easily see myself wiping out a bunch of stuff other than the trees. Also, the price on the crawler is quite reasonable, so I will most likely spend the extra time in digging out the stumps.

Thanks again to all for the advice.

 

[arrow]

I agree with corl, it is amazing to think that the settlers had an axe and maybe an oxen or cow. talk about manual labor.

My intention is to buck the red oaks into 16 ft lengths to have them sawm into fence boards. As for a large excavator, I am not good enough to operate one of those. I can easily see myself wiping out a bunch of stuff other than the trees. Also, the price on the crawler is quite reasonable, so I will most likely spend the extra time in digging out the stumps.

Thanks again to all for the advice.

Well if there is a price difference in the two i can see a decision based on that but an excavator is one of the most funnest things you'll learn to operate. It will probably be 3 to 4 times faster stump yanking than the crawler as you'll probably take out 5 to 8 stumps (or more depending on density) before you have to move it. You'd get the hang of it in a half hour. This is a job where both machines have their place. This sounds like a fun project and if I lived closer to you, i'd pitch in and be in my old glory days. When a clear cutting job came up, we'd play the game of who could take the most trees down with one felling cut. It was like playing chess or pool and if you did it right, dominoes. You'd see where a tree was going to fall then make a notch and a slight back cut on the trees in succession of initial fall direction. Taking two out was common place. 3 was quite the trick. Anything more than that was luck.

 

[crowbar032]

I actually have a 953 that I bought it to clean up honey locust trees and drive fence posts on 80 acres. As others have said, trees the size you listed will pose no issue pushing them over root and all. I've pushed over much larger trees. You have to be careful on larger trees though as the root ball will pop out under the belly in between the tracks leaving you high pointed and stuck. Also, a problem you will probably have is that you'll break or cut the trunk, then you'll have to dig out the stumps. My bucket actually has sharpened plates between the teeth that will shear/cut roots and trunks. Any trees that you would attempt to cut with a bushhog (3-4 in.) will not be easily grubbed out as they just bend over. I wasn't concerned about lumber or firewood, so I just pushed everything into a pile and burned it later. I also have better luck with the ground slightly damp as it gives more letting the roots pop out. Dry hard ground usually breaks the trunk right at the top of the ground.

 

[MotorSeven]

Also, use the excavator to buck them up by slightly lifting the tree off the ground reliving the pinch pressure between root ball and tree top. Root ball first, then top the tree down to the trunk & buck it up while it is also off the ground. This is ten times easier than trying to buck it while the whole tree just lays on the ground.

If you plan on having a fireplace of wood stove, buck into proper lengths then split/stack someplace off the ground(I used cross ties to stack on...keeps the buggs away)