Mulching/clearing opinions

[finspop]

Hey Eric,

yup, that waz me. Thanks again for your time and insight. I found a local operator with a feller buncher; I've known the guy for a while and never knew he had the equipment, so I feel good about working with him. He's coming to look at the project and agrees that we might be able to offset a significant chunk of his fee with pulp logs. He charges $125/hour, and says he can do at least 2-acres/day. This seems quite reasonable, particularly if we get a portion of that back.

One question for you (or anyone else): I suspect he'll leave quite a mess of limbs and whatnot. Would it then make sense for you to come in and mulch this stuff? Or would he not make as much of a mess as I suspect?

Thanks again.

 

[john_bud]

. He charges $125/hour, and says he can do at least 2-acres/day. This seems quite reasonable, particularly if we get a portion of that back.

One question for you (or anyone else): I suspect he'll leave quite a mess of limbs and whatnot. Would it then make sense for you to come in and mulch this stuff? Or would he not make as much of a mess as I suspect?

Thanks again.

Why do you want to pay the same as a mulcher (give or take) and then have to work your buns off cleaning up, stumping, burning, etc afterwards? Just pay a mulcher to leave it pristine for the same money.

 

[finspop]

Mostly b/c it seems like I might get some $ for the logs.

And also b/c there are some pretty sizable trees in there; it might be fairly slow going with a mulcher.

but my mind's not made up yet.

 

[Robbie Hegwood]

Yes a mulcher would cleanup behind harvesting trees well. And yes the hearvester will make a mess. Given the size of the mulching tractor it might even be good to have the mulcher come in first and clear out some of the smaller stuff to make way for the harvester. Then he could either work with the harvester or after to cleanup. It would be good to have the harvester cut the trunks as low as possible to speed the final planing by the mulcher. A few inches on every stump will save big at the end ofthe day.

 

[TMTS]

Finspop-

A good feller-buncher operator will not leave as much of a mess as you might suspect. Could also come in before the FB operator- but let me know what the local logging contractor says he can get out of the poplar pulp. Robbie's advice about leaving as low a stump as possible is a key one...if the logging operator does leave a mess then give me a call and I can see if mulching after to grind up slash and grind stumps at the same time might make sense. Poplar stumps are pretty easy to grind up...even ones that are 10" +/-. would be an alterantive to excavator-based stumping. you can then overseed and get some pasture grass going in no time...

cheers-

Eric

 

[john_bud]

Mostly b/c it seems like I might get some $ for the logs.

And also b/c there are some pretty sizable trees in there; it might be fairly slow going with a mulcher.

but my mind's not made up yet.

Well, that's always a good thought. But, 5 acres isn't going to have many board feet. It may be best to mulch first, then log. You may be able to dictate that the logger pile the tops so you can easily burn them? Also, your tractor may be able to clean up the tops by pushing or dragging to a pile fairly easily if the rest of the ground is clear.

 

[ScottOkla]

Finally got some pictures of my place yesterday. These are fairly typical, at least the parts I can get to. It gets a bit thicker the deeper in you go. There are more tall skinny trees in the 6"-8" range than I got in these pictures.

Some of this stuff can be cleared just fine with the stuff I have, but some of it is really time-consuming. It would take me a few years at least to get to all 60 acres, or even the 20 or 30 that is the most useful to me.

 

[Terra Firma Scott]

Ahhh Thats sooooo MULCHABLE......

 

[HeyUvaVT]

Ahhh Thats sooooo MULCHABLE......

i have to agree..thats the kinda stuff I file under "jobs I would LOVE to get my hands on"

 

[cbturf]

Yes they are both right that is a prime candidate for mulching but I would like to add something. When you clear small material like this with a dozer you end up with as much dirt in your piles as you do brush (see john-buds clearing pictures). As you know dirt will not burn and you will have these piles laying around for years until the brush decomposes or you have time to sift through them and get the dirt out. Just another reason why mulchers are better than dozers right boys.