How would you guys clear this land? *Pics*

[dickfoster]

Cheap and land clearing do no go in the same sentence. I paid close to 10 grand an acre here in Wyoming to clear 2.5 acres. Even at that, the guy said he was loosing money. They even took out the big trees to offset the cost. We had the pine beetle go through and kill every mature tree living. The state of Wyoming had a grant program where they would reimburse $2500 and acre going out to 150 ft from any structure. So it helped, but it was still expensive. I am still working on clearing the portion out past the 150 feet myself.

The kicker was the forest service went to all the cabins and noted if the land owner cleared the land around the cabin or not. If they did, then if a fire was to come though the forest service knew that the place was defendable and they would prioritize it to be saved. If no clearing was done, they would not prioritize it and they would let it burn. They also wanted all roofs to be metal and red in color, so the air tankers could see the structure from the air and drop water.

That reminds me, the forest service has a program, around here anyway, that will help defray some of the cost but I only found this out after the fact so of course no help for me.
You have to have the work done to their specs whatever that is. Still, I think I remember it being worth something like 4 or 5 grand so it may be worth looking into. What's a phone call cost?

 

[EddieWalker]

If it was me, I would rent an excavator and pull/dig everything out of the ground and make a burn pile. If I couldn't burn it all at once, I would take my time and do it over several years and just live with the pile until it was gone. I'm cheap and I hate spending money on somebody else's labor. Why can't you dig a pit and put everything in the pit while it was burning? Then fill it up when your done?

My neighbor has hired out mulchers several times on his land and it's fun to see the quick results, but in every case, the trees all grow back in a year if he doesn't keep mowing it. Grass never seems to grow in those areas, just shrubs, trees and monstrous weeds. He currently is dealing with the aftermath of having it logged. It's costing him twice what he made from the logging to dig out the stumps, burn all the debris and grade the ground so it will be ready to plant. I still don't know what it will cost to plant it all. He sprigged it last time and that was several grand.

 

[ShowroomShine]

I think my problem with the dig everything up is what do I do with the material once its in a big pile? I cant burn it due to houses closer than regulations allow, and I dont want to dig a hole since the hole would be huge to hold everything.

 

[bcp]

Stump fence



Bruce

 

[hoho]

Do you site plan first house,well, sewer,barn pasture.Then do areas you have to ,house and sewer will be done by who builds them.clear for fencing for horses let horses kill trees use fire pit to burn wood as the die.cut cherry tree if any toxic to horses.Arab any way. horse love to rub trees and will eat the leaves off the hard wood trees pines are shade in summer.

 

[JRobyn]

Those trees don't look big enough to sell, and if you can't burn you don't have much choice left except to chip or grind. Like Eddie says, you really don't want stumps, so pulling them up with an excavator or dedicated tree puller would be best. Maybe a week worth of rental?

Then I would want to find an outfit with a big tub grinder to toss all of it in. But in my experience, you can't rent them and I couldn't find anyone to hire with one. Maybe CA is different. Hope you can find one of them. IMHO, this is exactly what big tub grinders are made to do, and exactly why you sometimes see them being used for exactly this purpose.

If no grinder, you'd need to cut the root ball and dirt off and pile them to rot (big, messy pile). And then run the rest through a large chipper. Maybe another week's rental?

Would be tempting to try to hire a couple of young, strong kids to help, but I'd be too afraid of the risks with such dangerous tasks and equipment.

 

[dickfoster]

Stump fence



Bruce

Now there's an idea. Why didn't I think of that? Thanks.

 

[dickfoster]

Those trees don't look big enough to sell, and if you can't burn you don't have much choice left except to chip or grind. Like Eddie says, you really don't want stumps, so pulling them up with an excavator or dedicated tree puller would be best. Maybe a week worth of rental?

Then I would want to find an outfit with a big tub grinder to toss all of it in. But in my experience, you can't rent them and I couldn't find anyone to hire with one. Maybe CA is different. Hope you can find one of them. IMHO, this is exactly what big tub grinders are made to do, and exactly why you sometimes see them being used for exactly this purpose.

If no grinder, you'd need to cut the root ball and dirt off and pile them to rot (big, messy pile). And then run the rest through a large chipper. Maybe another week's rental?

Would be tempting to try to hire a couple of young, strong kids to help, but I'd be too afraid of the risks with such dangerous tasks and equipment.

The OP is in VA not CA. Sometimes I wish I was back in VA but AZ looks better from a political point of view.

 

[California]

I sort of lost the plot here, was thinking this project is in California.

There are lots of tub grinders here. In the Central Valley orchards are being ripped out for subdivisions, over here on the North Coast ripped out to plant vineyards. Its a common sight.

Seems to me renting an excavator, maybe with operator, then a tub grinder crew when you eventually locate one, would work for this.

 

[deezler]

Need to clear all 6 for the house and pasture.

I can do the mini ex thing, but then I have to do something with the trees. I dont want large piles of brush sitting around my property.

As far as the trees go, you limb them and cut the stumps off to save the trunks/logs if you're into that kind of thing, and you burn/bury/mulch the rest. Pretty simple. Stumps take a while to burn... might as well just bury them. Piles of brush make excellent animal habitats, which some people like. Unless you're in a particular rush, you can spend years to fully clean everything up and still have it functional in the meantime.