Looking for advice on cleaning up a clear cut pine plantation

[UncleBuck1]

I'm seriously looking at purchasing 80 acres of land in SW Mississippi for recreational purposes. The land was planted in pine and clear cut 2 years ago. I don't know how old the trees were, but the stumps are saw log size, about 10-12" in diameter. Unfortanetly the loggers didn't do much cleanup after they finished cutting and in addition to all of the stumps the property is littered with slash (limbs, tops and other cutoffs), all of which is hidden by chest high weeds.

I'm looking for some advice on how to go about cleaning all of the logging trash up and getting the land to the point that I can bushhog and lightly disc. How well sould a skid steer mulcher work well for a job like this? Or are my stumps too big? Are there any other options that anyone can recommend? Any advice would be appreciated!

 

[murphy1244]

:welcome:

 

[ShearHeadMS]

hey buck, where in MS is this and i can get you in touch with the right people here in MS, it sounds like your going to be better off getting some one to shear and rake it.

 

[JHTFarmer]

My personal fantasy for a situation like this:

1). Contract an experienced guy to run the property with a big dozer with a stump blade to prep the land. (Cat D8 size)

2). Next fall have the entire 80 acres mechanically planted with longleaf pine seedlings.

3). Manage the land after that with regular prescribed burns

 

[ShearHeadMS]

yeah Farmer thats sums it up, luckly everything on that list is what i do!

 

[UncleBuck1]

hey buck, where in MS is this and i can get you in touch with the right people here in MS, it sounds like your going to be better off getting some one to shear and rake it.

Let me show my ignorance here: what do you mean by shearing?

My personal fantasy for a situation like this:

1). Contract an experienced guy to run the property with a big dozer with a stump blade to prep the land. (Cat D8 size)

That's the standard approach, but the land is hilly and has faily thin topsoil, so I'm really worried about damaging the land- that's what got me to thinking about a mulcher. And dozer work also expensive; I haven't gotten a formal quote, but I'm hearing $500-750 per acre!

 

[ShearHeadMS]

500-700??? tell them to go on!! thats outragious!! and shearing is a large V blade with a cutting edge on it that cuts the stump off at ground level. but that priceing sounds like a mulching price to me!

 

[cat 297c]

I'm seriously looking at purchasing 80 acres of land in SW Mississippi for recreational purposes. The land was planted in pine and clear cut 2 years ago. I don't know how old the trees were, but the stumps are saw log size, about 10-12" in diameter. Unfortanetly the loggers didn't do much cleanup after they finished cutting and in addition to all of the stumps the property is littered with slash (limbs, tops and other cutoffs), all of which is hidden by chest high weeds.

I'm looking for some advice on how to go about cleaning all of the logging trash up and getting the land to the point that I can bushhog and lightly disc. How well sould a skid steer mulcher work well for a job like this? Or are my stumps too big? Are there any other options that anyone can recommend? Any advice would be appreciated!

Have the stumps and slash left behind started to rot yet?

 

[UncleBuck1]

Have the stumps and slash left behind started to rot yet?

After 2 years the slash is breaking down, but the stumps not so much. I haven't walked a lot of the clear cut yet, but it looks like the loggers must have used feller because the stumps are all close to ground level.

 

[UncleBuck1]

I still haven't pulled the trigger on buying the land but I'm starting to rethink my strategy if I do. I had a chance to walk the property this weekend and there's actually not that much slash; I'm thinking a 40-50 hp tractor with a FEL grapple would do the trick (although it will take time). But there are 12-14" pine stumps everywhere; does anyone have any idea how long until they rot down enough to grub them out with a FEL mounted stump digger?

 

[pjbci]

Its probaly going to take a lot longer for them to rot than you wanna wait to be able to pull out with a front loader. A small dozer would be your quickest soulution for the size stumps you mentioned. Maybe clean it up yourself with your tractor then get somebody to pop the stumps for you.

 

[MarkV]

Why worry about the stumps if you are going to replant in pine?

MarkV

 

[UncleBuck1]

Its probaly going to take a lot longer for them to rot than you wanna wait to be able to pull out with a front loader. A small dozer would be your quickest soulution for the size stumps you mentioned. Maybe clean it up yourself with your tractor then get somebody to pop the stumps for you.

I sort of assumed that would be the answer; pine stumps do seem to stick around forever.

Am I at least on the right track with my idea of a 40-50hp tractor with grapple for clean up? I know it may be slow, but (1) I'm cheap, and (2) I'm afrad a shear and rake will be hard on the topsoil in hilly sections. And to be honest, I'm wanting to do as much of this myself as I can.

Why worry about the stumps if you are going to replant in pine?

MarkV

In the areas to be replanted in pine I'm only planning to clean the slash out and I will not worry about the stumps. But I'm also planning to keep some of the area open and will need to get the stumps out so I can disc.

 

[pjbci]

It will be slow, but very relaxing and rewarding work to do it yourself. Enjoy your property if you decide to purchase it.

 

[radioman]

If I were you, I'd either rent a very large excavator and just use it to pop stumps out for the week. You can always go back with a tractor with grapple of your choice and move it to a burn pile. You can use the same tractor to try to push some of dirt back in hole. If you happen not to be able to pull all the stumps out- renting or buying a 3 pt stump grinder would be my choice to finish cleaning up rest of the stumps so you would have nothing left to burn. You would move some of slash to the stump burn pile and go at it. This would be the cheapest option and good personal therapy :thumbsup:

 

[Carykong]

If you have time and small budget those pine stumps will rot and disappear in five to six years. Want pasture? Control burn will sweeten the soil for vigorous grass. Just get the stumps low enough so your brush hog can pass over the stump. You will have beautiful pasture by the third summer.

 

[Piston]

For 12"-14" stumps, and slash leftover from logging, you'd be amazed at how much you can cleanup with a setup like mine....







I can grind a 12" stump a foot below ground level in no time. How high are the stumps?

If I were in your situation, and the stumps really are that small, and I wanted to do it myself, I'd use just the setup I have now with the exception of if I were buying a tractor, and didn't already have one, I'd buy the next size up from mine and somewhere around 60PTO hp. Also, a skid plate of some sort would be almost required for logging cleanup.

I've done a lot of similar work as you describe, but on a much smaller scale, no where near 80 acres, but that isn't to say it can't be done, it would just take a long time.
If you want to make a lot of progress with affordable equipment, and minimal impact on the land, then the grapple setup on a good size tractor, and stump grinder on the back, would really do a lot for you.

 

[UncleBuck1]

unclebuck1

Well, I signed a purchase agreement yesterday and I'm closing on the 31st, so these questions aren't so abstract now.


Lots of good advice so far, but this one caught my eye:

If you have time and small budget those pine stumps will rot and disappear in five to six years. Want pasture? Control burn will sweeten the soil for vigorous grass. Just get the stumps low enough so your brush hog can pass over the stump. You will have beautiful pasture by the third summer.

will pine stumps in the 12-14" range (small saw logs) really rot to ground level in 5-6 years? As I mentioned in my first post the land was logged last spring- say 18 months ago- and if this is correct I might let time do the work of an excavator or stump grinder.

 

[Piston]

They won't rot to ground level, but you can cut them to ground level with your chainsaw.....Or a 3pt hitch turbosaw.

Not sure what the soil is like where you are, but where I am, 12"-14" pine stumps last a lot longer than 5 yrs, no way will they be rotted out by then.

 

[tcreeley]

Around here- that is standard- though sometimes they chip everything left behind nd it goes to the papermill. The slash is your ground nutrition- it rots in and fertilizes the ground. Here after clear cuts they plant saplings by hand- plugs carrying them in bags slung over their shoulder- low wage summer job. The stumps and all of it rots in time. Wild Raspberries make the first comeback. The dead stuff on the ground and the growing stuff helps to hold the moisture and keep the forest from drying out in the heat of the sun- and everything dying. 15-30 year cycle for pulpwood - spruce. Large clearcuts look like wasteland.
Good luck.