Clearing 4 acres in North Carolina

[viziers]

So I have 10 acres of land and I will be clearing 4 of the 10 Acres. So far I have acquired a ford 4000 tractor and will also quire a subsoiler to cut some of the roots on the stumps before pulling them with the draw bar of the tractor. I will also be looking to purchase a BB and landscape rake for final grading of the driveway.

The trees are mostly 8" in diameter and smaller with only a few per acre that are 18" and up Pine and Oak. So far I have been cutting the trees down and leaving roughly 3'+ of the stump to ease in pulling and have been de-limbing the trees and cutting them into logs and have made a few trips to the saw mill in my old 95 Dodge Dakota to sell the pine logs as pulp wood and will sell the larger logs as saw logs but will need to rent a trailer for that as they are 12'+ in length. At some point i'll rent an Excavator to remove some rocks and some of the larger stumps and larger trees.

From what I am doing does this sound like a good approach to clearing it? Did I miss anything that may need to be looked at?


Oh and the land is being cleared so we can build a house on it in a few years...


vizi

 

[s219]

If you really mean 3" of stump, that is not real useful (may as well be 0"). Really, you need several feet of stump left to push over with hydraulics. When pulling with a tractor, even that probably won't be enough, as you are fully dependent on traction to get the job done. I leave about 3' of stump when pulling sapling (3" max diameter) stumps out with a brush grubber, and even that can be traction limited.

I have dealt with larger stumps using a backhoe, and know I need at least 4-5' of stump for leverage.

For 6" and smaller pines, I push the trees over with the front loader hydraulics after busting surface roots with an axe. There is still a taproot to deal with on my Loblolly pines, but generally the loader can do it pretty easily.

4 acres is a lot to clear, and I'd suggest renting a track hoe and use that to do the primary clearing work. With a skilled operator, a track hoe can easily and safely push over trees and pop the stumps out handily (use the entire tree as the lever, and then saw off the stump once it's out of the ground). My entire property is 4 acres, and we cleared perhaps 1 acre of that for the home (mostly Loblolly pines, but some oaks, beeches, and poplars too). A track hoe was the main tool, and I wouldn't want to mess around with anything less capable than that, even for 1 acre of clearing, unless you had a lot of time on your hands.

Good luck!

 

[viziers]

If you really mean 3" of stump, that is not real useful (may as well be 0"). Really, you need several feet of stump left to push over with hydraulics. When pulling with a tractor, even that probably won't be enough, as you are fully dependent on traction to get the job done. I leave about 3' of stump when pulling sapling (3" max diameter) stumps out with a brush grubber, and even that can be traction limited.

I have dealt with larger stumps using a backhoe, and know I need at least 4-5' of stump for leverage.

For 6" and smaller pines, I push the trees over with the front loader hydraulics after busting surface roots with an axe. There is still a taproot to deal with on my Loblolly pines, but generally the loader can do it pretty easily.

4 acres is a lot to clear, and I'd suggest renting a track hoe and use that to do the primary clearing work. With a skilled operator, a track hoe can easily and safely push over trees and pop the stumps out handily (use the entire tree as the lever, and then saw off the stump once it's out of the ground). My entire property is 4 acres, and we cleared perhaps 1 acre of that for the home (mostly Loblolly pines, but some oaks, beeches, and poplars too). A track hoe was the main tool, and I wouldn't want to mess around with anything less capable than that, even for 1 acre of clearing, unless you had a lot of time on your hands.

Good luck!

Corrected, I meant 3 feet + of stump... I forgot to mention I also have the Brush Grubber and use a 30'x4" strap on it (I know a there is a lot of debate over straps)....


vizi

 

[Sprinklerman]

Rent a backhoe or trackhoe for a week at a time , use the tractor for clean up and restoration. I have a JD 310 b backhoe I cleared a 1 acre wooded lot in 3 days, Had all the logs stacked and we chipped the brush .

 

[Deere Dude]

Not as cool as a track-hoe but I put a 100 ft of 3/8" cable about 12-15' up a tree and come-a-long it to another tree a ways off. Crank the starch out of it to get the tree to bend and then dig on the back side. Push with the FEL will possibly get it to tip over then. The weight of the tree has tremendous weight to help leverage the root-ball out. Possible dig around the tree first to loosen things up.

 

[bigdeano]

I don't know if you have any cable or pulleys, but doubling your tractor pull with a pulley on the stump can make a big difference.

 

[oosik]

The most important thing - - if the process works for you and does not put the 'ol bod in eminent danger - then its just great. Another option to Deere Dude's "tree crank" is to get an old double-fluke ship anchor and sink it into the ground as an anchor point - some distance from any tree you might want to pull down. There isn't always a suitable tree the necessary distance from the one you want to pull down. You will find that adding a front end loader - if you don't already have one - will be of great assistance.

 

[viziers]

Well I just realized by reading from another thread on here I may need a permit of some sort as the driveway will run right over a dried up creek bed (only trickles when it rains) by using a colvert(sp?) or making a bridge but it is the only way to get to the other side as it runs across the whole property. But also read further in the thread that if it is obstructing passage to the house plot I should be ok?


vizi

 

[s219]

You'd really need to talk to your town/county building/environmental/engineering department to get the answer. Everyone has different policies.

Around here, intermittent streams are classified as wetlands and cause problems. But ephemeral streams (only flow after rain) are not an issue. I had to cross an ephemeral stream with my driveway, and it was no problem at all. Put down a culvert pipe (must be sized to handle 10-year rain event here) and then filled over, with rip-rap rock on the edges.

Oddly, the county classified this stream as ephemeral, but I have never seen it dry -- always some trickle. After a heavy rain, it really boils for a couple hours. I can't really figure where the permanent water trickle comes from, other than it just starts in a low spot on the property and then runs all the way to the nearby creek. At some points, the ephemeral stream "ditch" is almost 8 feet deep. It appears to be an ancient terrain feature that has been around a long time. I didn't even know about it when we first looked at this property, and practical fell in the ditch one time when surveying the potential driveway route. The stream and its ditch pretty much divides my rectangular property into two triangles.

 

[viziers]

You'd really need to talk to your town/county building/environmental/engineering department to get the answer. Everyone has different policies.

Around here, intermittent streams are classified as wetlands and cause problems. But ephemeral streams (only flow after rain) are not an issue. I had to cross an ephemeral stream with my driveway, and it was no problem at all. Put down a culvert pipe (must be sized to handle 10-year rain event here) and then filled over, with rip-rap rock on the edges.




Oddly, the county classified this stream as ephemeral, but I have never seen it dry -- always some trickle. After a heavy rain, it really boils for a couple hours. I can't really figure where the permanent water trickle comes from, other than it just starts in a low spot on the property and then runs all the way to the nearby creek. At some points, the ephemeral stream "ditch" is almost 8 feet deep. It appears to be an ancient terrain feature that has been around a long time. I didn't even know about it when we first looked at this property, and practical fell in the ditch one time when surveying the potential driveway route. The stream and its ditch pretty much divides my rectangular property into two triangles.

Ours does the same, from one end to the other and no way around it other than over it......

Now looking at the GIS map for our county it only shows 1 blue dotted water way and classifies it as "Intermittent" and that is actually at the back of our property and not where the driveway goes. So in "theory" I should be ok but will still check it out to be safe!


vizi

 

[s219]

Ours does the same, from one end to the other and no way around it other than over it......

Now looking at the GIS map for our county it only shows 1 blue dotted water way and classifies it as "Intermittent" and that is actually at the back of our property and not where the driveway goes. So in "theory" I should be ok but will still check it out to be safe!


vizi

That sounds like you're OK. If they don't map it on the public GIS site they probably don't care. Our stream was flagged with striped tape from a previous survey when the land was being divided up for sale, and that survey was used by county staff to give wetland classification to some sections of the property and not others. The GIS maps showed nothing except for the far downstream section where it dumps in a main creek. I e-mailed our county environmental guy about that, and he had access to the old survey plats which were not made public. He was able to confirm our stream was surveyed but classified as an ephemeral stream and that I was OK to proceed with a culvert crossing. I imagine if it was intermittent or wetlands, I would have needed to build a bridge instead (which would have been fine to me, would have been more interesting).

A couple years later, I had a survey firm do a survey to make our site plan. I asked the team lead to make sure they took extra spot elevations to identify the ephemeral stream on my maps, since I wanted to know the exact path for future use (up until then all I did was walk it with hip waders and a GPS to mark the general path). The guy seemed skeptical since he didn't see anything on the county GIS maps, but boy was he surprised to see it in person. You'd never know it's there from official maps, but it's a pretty significant feature to plan around when developing a site for a home.

 

[yellowdogsvc]

Not as cool as a track-hoe but I put a 100 ft of 3/8" cable about 12-15' up a tree and come-a-long it to another tree a ways off. Crank the starch out of it to get the tree to bend and then dig on the back side. Push with the FEL will possibly get it to tip over then. The weight of the tree has tremendous weight to help leverage the root-ball out. Possible dig around the tree first to loosen things up.

I don't recommend that. Accident waiting to happen if cable snaps or anchor tree gives. The whipping action alone could bring down a widow maker on you.

 

[viziers]

That sounds like you're OK. If they don't map it on the public GIS site they probably don't care. Our stream was flagged with striped tape from a previous survey when the land was being divided up for sale, and that survey was used by county staff to give wetland classification to some sections of the property and not others. The GIS maps showed nothing except for the far downstream section where it dumps in a main creek. I e-mailed our county environmental guy about that, and he had access to the old survey plats which were not made public. He was able to confirm our stream was surveyed but classified as an ephemeral stream and that I was OK to proceed with a culvert crossing. I imagine if it was intermittent or wetlands, I would have needed to build a bridge instead (which would have been fine to me, would have been more interesting).

A couple years later, I had a survey firm do a survey to make our site plan. I asked the team lead to make sure they took extra spot elevations to identify the ephemeral stream on my maps, since I wanted to know the exact path for future use (up until then all I did was walk it with hip waders and a GPS to mark the general path). The guy seemed skeptical since he didn't see anything on the county GIS maps, but boy was he surprised to see it in person. You'd never know it's there from official maps, but it's a pretty significant feature to plan around when developing a site for a home.

Yea I was glad to see that I have only one waterway on the GIS mapping as there really 4 dried up creek beds... But i'll probably check with county to make sure as I don't want to end up in a gray 8x6 box...


vizi

 

[David Devuono]

A 4 inch strap, if its a recovery strap brakes at 40,000 lbs. You your guarenteed to break the tree grubber first. I realize that its a lot easier on the equipment then a chain would be. I am a big fan of straps but this is a deadly set up. Much safer would be two chains and an old tire. Tire makes it easy on your tractor and will help to stop a flying tree grubber. Make sure you have an appropriate shield.

 

[viziers]

A 4 inch strap, if its a recovery strap brakes at 40,000 lbs. You your guarenteed to break the tree grubber first. I realize that its a lot easier on the equipment then a chain would be. I am a big fan of straps but this is a deadly set up. Much safer would be two chains and an old tire. Tire makes it easy on your tractor and will help to stop a flying tree grubber. Make sure you have an appropriate shield.

I will need a VERY STRONG shield to stop a flying grubber however Unless I am not attaching it correctly it really only de-barks the trunk and have had better luck taking the end of the strap that has the loop and cinching it around the trunk in a way that as I pull on it it only tightens it's grip more around the trunk and works much better...

but for now I am at a standstill with the tractor as I have been doing some repair/ routine maint on the tractor as for one when I looked inside the tranny fill plug I saw a LOT of water so I have drained the fluid and water and flushed it with diesel fuel and replaced the safety start wire as the rubber grommet was deteriorated.

I also have been waiting for some warmer weather to prime the sheet metal that had significant surface rust but still has good metal behind it and sand blasted it and Osphoed it and just got to epoxy prime it yesterday and hope to topcoat it on Saturday or Sunday as temps will be 60ish..

The only other thing that really needs attention is all 4 tires! front are cheap at 200 for a pair but the rear are more than a paycheck worth...lol They are useable and if I blow one in the woods id rather blow and old tire than a new one.


vizi

 

[viziers]

Here is a bit of an update. So I got the tractor almost all back together but the COoooold weather has put a bit of a halt on that process. So instead here are some pics of the land I am clearing.


Here is one of the private road we will be living on.


The beginning of our driveway which will be moved to the left about 20'. This was all overgrown with small sapling trees and weeds.


Another shot of the beginning of our driveway which is a easement.


Driveway. Also all overgrown and could not be driven down.


Our property marker to the right.




My truck that gets me into the property.




Our driveway which was also completely wooded.




Our property.











Straight ahead is where the driveway runs right throught the down trees from some storm damage.







Stumps that have to be removed from the driveway.







More stumps.



Way ahead is a small creek we have to cross to the house plot.



vizi

 

[viziers]

UPDATE, So I finally found a small logging company to buy the wood. they did a great job and helped take the brush and pile it and burn while they were there. I also helped with the burning and cleanup the best I could (1 man vs skidder machine but unfortunately man never can keep up with it)

I still have a lot of brush to burn and they were able to remove some of the stumps that were in the way and still have a bunch of stumps to remove that are in the range of 3" -15" in diameter. For those I will use an 20k excavator w/thumb to pull the remaining stumps.

To the ones in the know, will a 20k excavator be enough to remove the remaining stumps or is it overkill for the job or not enough for the job at hand??


vizi

 

[Bill Stecik]

Those are little stumps . Anything 8 k and over would be fine . Nice chunk of land . Where are you going to put the still ?

 

[viziers]

Those are little stumps . Anything 8 k and over would be fine . Nice chunk of land . Where are you going to put the still ?

Lol, those are the small stumps. Most of them are 6" to 9" stumps and some are 36"+.. Funny you should suggest a still as there looks to have been a still there a LONG time ago.



vizi