What' best way to clear 5 acres of stumps, slash, and regrowth?

[JohninCT]

I think your fastest and least expensive way to clear this area is to hire someone with a skid steer mulcher head. You may need to rent a tractor or hire someone for some raking/cleanup prior to seeding but for a pasture area this should be fine. Your best try would be getting someone that could do the grinding, cleanup/seed prep, and possibly seeding all in one package deal.

You can certainly rent or hire someone with an excavator or dozer to get the stumps out but then getting rid of them fast is going to be real PITA! You would need to hire someone with a tub grinder. The general rule of thumb to keep in mind... lots of big machines, lots of $$$

 

[merrickvilleguy]

on the cheap, we cleared 30+ acres in 200 hrs with a small tractor/brush hog/chainsaw/clearing saw ...

we had mostly trees/saplings up to 3" diameter ... so we grubbed them, brush hogged the small stuff, used a moldboard plough to turn it over and pull out the stumps, then disked, rolled and seeded ... worked out well on a low budget ... but lots of labour.

 

[Carl_NH]

I think your fastest and least expensive way to clear this area is to hire someone with a skid steer mulcher head. You may need to rent a tractor or hire someone for some raking/cleanup prior to seeding but for a pasture area this should be fine. Your best try would be getting someone that could do the grinding, cleanup/seed prep, and possibly seeding all in one package deal.

You can certainly rent or hire someone with an excavator or dozer to get the stumps out but then getting rid of them fast is going to be real PITA! You would need to hire someone with a tub grinder. The general rule of thumb to keep in mind... lots of big machines, lots of $$$

+1 My vote as this is the best way to go. We have had 20+ stumps ground and 100+ removed - removal = lots more work, grinding/mulching less work and very lttile to no depressions after 10 years from grinding/mulching 6" deep.

Carl

 

[Piston]

+1 My vote as this is the best way to go. We have had 20+ stumps ground and 100+ removed - removal = lots more work, grinding/mulching less work and very lttile to no depressions after 10 years from grinding/mulching 6" deep.

Carl,
Your starting to solidify my decision on using a mulcher on my land as well, since your not seeing much depression from the stumps. Glad to hear it. :thumbsup:

 

[Carl_NH]

Piston,

We had 15 large pines and several silver maples ground down in the yard - 8" below grade (mostly) and it seems the lack of air around the roots they decompose at a very slow rate - reverting back to compost possibly in 20-30yrs.

You like me probably have pulled rotted stumps (cut 30-40 yrs ago) usually all thats left are stubs of the big roots and a very small hole to backfill.

On the other hand the area I had stumped (24-30" Dia Pines) filled and graded seemed to settle more over 10-15 years and created "pockets" in the yard 12-18" wide x 6" deep depressions in the lawn over time. I didnt create a road bed of stone/gravel but just clean fill and loam that settled into the voids left by the stumping I assume.

For your road bed though it will be hard to remove the topsoil without first removing the trees..

 

[MossflowerWoods]

We had 15 large pines and several silver maples ground down in the yard - 8" below grade (mostly) and it seems the lack of air around the roots they decompose at a very slow rate - reverting back to compost possibly in 20-30yrs.

Carl_NH,

WOW 10 years later and little or no depressions! This is a powerful testimony and I'm very interested in following this path.

PS - I don't really need to put in a roadbed. The driveway is already in and the 5 acres is immediately adjacent to the driveway.

Thanks again!

David

 

[MossflowerWoods]

I have put in a call to these folks... WeEatTrees.com

I will let you guys know how it all comes out (assuming I can afford this).

Also, can I post pictures in a thread, or only on the pictures page? Just curious...

David

 

[JohninCT]

I have put in a call to these folks... WeEatTrees.com

I will let you guys know how it all comes out (assuming I can afford this).

Also, can I post pictures in a thread, or only on the pictures page? Just curious...

David

Yes you can post pics in a thread. If you get into it, post a new thread under "projects" and include lots of pictures. They are much appreciated

 

[Carl_NH]

David,

Please understand there are pros and cons to each approach.

Mulching/Grinding

Pros
- Very low impact on soils/gound and surrounding trees/shrubs
- Very liitle clean up other than the mulch generated
- Does not create large holes and turn up unwanted rocks
- Does not alter or remove a lot of topsoil or bring a lot of subsoil to the surface
- No stumps to get rid of (costly $800/100yards) or burn
- No big truckloads of loam are needed to fill in the stumps after removal (you will need some - probably 150-200 yards at least for you 5 acres if mulched. vs 100 yards per acre if stumped unless you live in loamy area.

Cons
- You will have lots of bark / chips in the area - requiring a lot of compost & fertilizer (nitrogen) and probably some more dirt to grow grass
- In dry times the area of the big underground stumps (5' base) will dry out / brown out first
- Stump grinding (big stumps) leaves some roots an the perimeter of the due to the amount of chips generated makes it easy to miss some outlying roots ([part of the stump)
- Long term (15-20 yrs) there will be some depressions to fill in

Having done excavating of stumps and grinding I can say grinding is easier, faster to grow grass, and since it chews up and leaves the topsoil you will be able to plant grass this year.

 

[Piston]

Well Carl,
You have me convinced at least....