Which Implement For Vine And Root Removal From Woods? (Sandy-Loam Soil)

[OldMcDonald]

jeff, That is why I suggested the mouldboard plough without a tine or coulter in front. It will pull much longer lengths onto the surface, although I still think that a disc in front would not cut through the roots you showed, just mess up thwe action of the plough. Whatever you do, you are going to have an enormous amount of raking up to do. I do not know whether the species of vine you have will strike from root cuttings - perhaps they do not. Best to find out though if what you use is likely to chop them up, but even if they did, small pieces could be cultivated out next summer as if they were strong rooted weeds. You can win. It just takes time.

 

[jeff9366]

I have an e-mail from Hay King:

Hay King J-5 Chisel Plow weighs 600 pounds, $1410 approximately, plus freight from Texas.

 

[CJONE]

Rent a dozer/loader with a root rake. CJ

 

[Poopdeck Pappy]

I have an e-mail from Hay King:

Hay King J-5 Chisel Plow weighs 600 pounds, $1410 approximately, plus freight from Texas.

Jeff, a chisel plow is not made to rip out roots, etc. Rather, it's made for breaking up the soil AFTER the roots and vines have been cleared. I'd be afraid of bending and/or breaking the shanks on a chisel. Once a shank is sprung, it needs to be replaced. (Read: $$).

That Hay King Renovator looks pretty good, but notice that it has shear bolts on the rippers. If your vines offer enough resistance to start breaking the shear bolts, that could quickly become a PITA to replace shear bolts all the time. Before I spent money on it, I'd call Hay King and talk to them about my intended use and see what they say.

Also, what will the Renovator do that your ROBB won't do? Can you remove the two outside rippers on your ROBB so the pulling power of your tractor more closely matches the job? If not, is there any chance you could rent or borrow a bigger tractor to see what your ROBB would do to the vines with a little more HP in front of it? If it does a great job in that situation, I'd be more inclined to spend the $1,410 on a smaller ROBB, which could be sold after the job is finished.

 

[BGigHarbor]

I've been ripping out scotchbroom (mature ones, some 12 ft tall) roots and blackberry roots, etc from a number of acres and have had decent luck with the scarifiers on my hrl3578.I sometimes use the hydraulic top to angle the teeth in deeper, but often that is too deep a bite.

The heavy passes have to be downhill (traction) and it generates massive amounts of material. The whole box turns into a big bundle and I then am able to clear the box by lifting and retracting the hydra scarifier bar. It would be a challenge to clear the box without the hydra scarifiers as it all gets intertwined pretty good with the stiff roots.

I use a grapple to move and pile elsewhere. Also a landscape rake helps then raking the smaller stuff. Amazing how much material I am ending up with. Luckily I have lots of room to pile it out of sight. I figure eventually it will be nice compost.

 

[OldMcDonald]

Poopdeck Pappy, I am not so sure that the OP wants to hear that sort of advice. Two of us have already told him more or less the same thing - no response, just responses to others who go along with his thoughts.

BGigHarbor, I am not familiar with the piece of equipment to which you refer, bu am I right in thinking your scarifier is different to my scarifier, and your teeth/points are NOT springloaded or with shearbolts? Broom and blackberries have much smaller roots than the vines which the OP showed in photos. Plain logic is that he has to use something that has more strength than the biggest root he wants to move. I suspect there could be bigger ones than he has shown. Using an underrated implement will cost him a lot of money.

 

[jeff9366]

After a three week dry period rain was forecast for my area. I revised the order of my tasks to make seeding of Fall Deer Food Plots the top priority.

I had about an acre, in two sections, to prepare for seeding, which involved excavating Palmettos and dragging out vine roots. I excavated the Palmetto and vine nodes with a FEL Bucket Spade, then used my box-frame Howse Disc Harrow to cut the ground in two directions. Discing revealed deeper layers of Palmettos, wild climbing rose corms and additional grape vines. Removed deeper Palmettos with the Bucket Spade. Lengths of subsurface vines and rose corms were pulled out pretty well by the Landscape Rake. Then I rough graded the land with a Landscape Rake, seeded with Rackmaster/Pennington Deluxe Fall Deer Mixture and rolled in the seed with a Cultipacker. The rain just started as I finished with the Cultipacker. We had about 2-1/2" of precipitation overnight so the rolled seed should germinate in 3-4 days.

Once the grape vines emerge from the soil and commence to run up the trees, they swell and become woody fast.
In the ground they remain 3/4" - 1" in diameter and smooth. You can see how smooth the disinterred vines are in Photo #2 in Post #1. Some roots are sixty feet long.

In the process of secondary clearing of this small area I hauled maybe two tons of organic debris to the burn pile.

I have been pecking at this project for two years. If I can determine an easier or thorough way to do this work, I am prepared to buy an implement dedicated to vine removal.

I will be back to this thread in a few days. I need to remove a shank from my Rollover Box Blade, measure it and photograph it for this thread. In Post #1 is explained that the rippers are too blunt with the contact faces, too straight to pull easily. While I can pull just three rippers, I am still hoping someone will report a vender for Box Blade rippers that are parabolic shaped, like the rippers on the Hay King Chisel Plow and/or Fred Cain Field Cultivator. I think this would provide the best solution in terms of low cost and functionality.

In a few days I will mount the new-to-me Ford Series 101, 2-14" plow and give it a test at vine surfacing.

I appreciate everyone's input. Grateful for additional ideas.


RACKMASTER/PENNINGTON DELUXE FALL DEER MIXTURE

45% Common Wheat

25% Elbon Rye

20% Coker 227 Oats

5% Crimson Clover

5% Austrian Winter Peas

 

[jeff9366]

The Hay King Renovator looks pretty good, but notice that it has shear bolts on the rippers. If your vines offer enough resistance to start breaking the shear bolts, that could quickly become a PITA to replace shear bolts all the time.

There is no way my dinky B3300SU nor heavier L3560 is going a break a Hay King shear bolt. Hay King equipment is built for the Big-Ag market. I shopped Hay King at the 2012 Southeast Ag Expo in Moultire, Georgia....Hay King builds massive stuff.

The C-3 has the same massive components as their wider Renovators, just fewer shanks.

Should i purchase a C-3, I will ask Hay King to install lighter-than-standard shear bolts, suitable for an L3560.

Rocks are a rarity in my sandy loam. Those rare rocks that turn up are soft Lime Rock.

 

[jeff9366]

Rent a dozer/loader with a root rake. CJ

I am preparing food plots and planting a variety of native wildlife forage trees in the woods, including re-establishing the American Chestnut from purchased, potted, Dunstan Chesnuts. My 60" wide tractor is the maximum width that will work in my conditions. Water Oaks are a common, desirable tree. If the bark and underlying cambium layer of a Water Oak is breached by being hit by a tractor or dozer a Water Oak will not recover; the tree rots inward from the breach and eventually dies.

This is a big job in terms of time required but requires finesse.

http://www.realtreenursery.com/store/c/18-Dunstan-Chestnuts.aspx

 

[CJONE]

I am preparing food plots and planting a variety of native wildlife forage trees in the woods, including re-establishing the American Chestnut from purchased, potted, Dunstan Chesnuts. My 60" wide tractor is the maximum width that will work in my conditions. Water Oaks are a common, desirable tree. If the cambium layer of a Water Oak is breached by being hit by a tractor or dozer, the tree rots inward from the breach and eventually dies.

This is a big job in terms of area but requires finesse.

Dunstan Chestnuts

Gotcha, then I would suggest a mini ex with a thumb, you can get quite good at scarifing roots with them and with the thumb drop them into a trailer to get rid of them. Thanks for the info on the trees, always good to learn from someone who knows! Like was stated your next best bet would be a box with hydraulic retractable scarifiers then clean up with a grapple. CJ