Removing Small Trees & Shrubs with a Tractor

[Alien]

I used to push the trees and then lift under the root mass with the FEL to lift it right out of the ground, however as most of mine are black wattle, any part of a root left there seems to grow again with a vengence.
Lately my lad and I have been chainsawing them at ground level and hitting the stump with Garlon 600 mixed with diesel. This prevents regrowth permanently.
Reminds me... I have about 50 cut off saplings to pick up for the heap... grrr. Only a million to go.....

 

[astrohip]

Pictures...

BTW, my shredder is a JD MX-6.

 

[GPintheMitten]

From the pics, I would brush hog it and then run my ratchet rake over it.

 

[ovrszd]

I agree. On the larger ones I might cheat and raise the cutter and back onto the bushes and then slowly lower it to chop them up.

 

[astrohip]

I've only used my shredder for grassy pastures, and maybe some heavy vines and ground cover. Y'all don't think 2" diameter saplings are a problem for it?

 

[GPintheMitten]

Two inches, huh? Well I guess they look smaller in the pictures to me. I wouldn't want to encourage you to hog them down and have you break something. I guess it depends on how much of those clusters of 2 inch saplings you have. You could wrap a choker chain around them and try to pull them out. Or see what it's like to use your loader or brush hog against them as an experiment.

 

[25002500]

If your live oak is the type that has many roots near the surface you DON'T want to be digging with a tooth bar.

Pulling with those grubbers or cutting with a rotary cutter would be much better.

What he said. FEL toothbar or grapple will damage the live oaks' roots. Bushhog the saplings down or if you are concerned about compaction use a chainsaw.

 

[CurlyDave]

The 'Grubber' pullers work very good...but they work a whole bunch better if you have a ground man...otherwise it's a lot of getting on and off the tractor...

Total agreement.

I found that my 4-n-1 bucket worked very well for this task. Clamp whatever you want to pull in the bucket and lift it right out of the ground.

 

[jeff9366]

Yet another recommending the RATCHET RAKE. The brush in your pictures will rake out cleanly.

Ratchet Rakes are sold by the T-B-N store, button at the top of this page.

Here are some YouTube VIDEOS: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=ratchet+rake+brush+clearing

Ratchet Rake is also excellent at piling debris.

 

[RalphVa]

I'd think a chain wrapped over an old tire rim to give some mechanical advantage would work fine.

Ralph

 

[Cjm005]

You aren't that far from me... I'm close to Smithville. I've got about 15 acres myself to clear, mostly small cedar and youpon. The struggle is real!

 

[astrohip]

Ok, had a chance to tackle this area today (gorgeous day here!). Decided to use the shredder as much as I could, thanks to feedback from y'all. I managed to chew up about 90% of the shrubs & smaller trees. Just a few thick ones it couldn't handle. Cleared out all the vines & underbrush I could reach at the same time.

I'll chainsaw the remaining stragglers next.

Thanks for the help!

 

[GPintheMitten]

Good. That looks great. Thanks for the update.

 

[Cjm005]

Those look a lot like the trees on our place, with the single curved trunk.. Maybe it's how they grow when crowded in a grove.

 

[astrohip]

Those look a lot like the trees on our place, with the single curved trunk.. Maybe it's how they grow when crowded in a grove.

I think you're right. We have some huge spreading oaks that are by themselves, and a couple of groves, that tend to have single curved trunk looks.

Here's one of the oaks that stands by itself near our house. It's a huge 150+ year old specimen. Very different growth pattern than the wild ones in groves.

 

[Clay45]

Live oak is my guess.

 

[astrohip]

Live oak is my guess.

Yes, they're all Live Oaks.

I think you're right. We have some huge spreading oaks that are by themselves, and a couple of groves, that tend to have single curved trunk looks.

Here's one of the more unique Live Oak groves, down by our old barn. Multiple trees/trunks all growing out of one big base.

 

[Thall303]

Yes, they're all Live Oaks.


Here's one of the more unique Live Oak groves, down by our old barn. Multiple trees/trunks all growing out of one big base.

Any idea how old the tree is?

 

[astrohip]

Any idea how old the tree is?

Interesting question--I have no idea how old the grove is. The single tree pictured in post #35 is about 100 years old, according to my tree guy. There's one in the front of our house that is closer to 200. Huge huge trunk.

 

[Thall303]

Interesting question--I have no idea how old the grove is. The single tree pictured in post #35 is about 100 years old, according to my tree guy. There's one in the front of our house that is closer to 200. Huge huge trunk.

We have one slightly larger at the family farm where my recently deceased father in law (age 90) grew up and he told me it looked much the same to him as it did when he was a kid.