The age old.."what's the best land clearing technique" question again

[Piston]

The age old.."what's the best land clearing technique" question again

You mentioned DIY, so that rules out the mulcher if you want to do it yourself. I do agree that a mulcher would be quickest, but also costly.

If you want some seat time, do it yourself. You have a full sized backhoe that will do ALL of that work. If you have a thumb, your in even better shape.

Here is my recommendation, based on clearing just over an acre of very thick, and more larger trees, with similar equipment.

Invest in a FEL grapple for your tractor, ditch the bucket, it's useless. This will cut your time in half.

Then go through and either now down, or just knock over roots and all, everything you can. Start working and making a central pile, and dump all the brush in that pile. So much fun, and so easy. You'll need some weight on the back of that tractor as well.

Then anything leftover or too big for the tractor, use the 410.

I have a Kubota L4610, and a 2wd JD 410B. I cleared over an acre of thick forest this way, and it took me 3 days.

I never once used the 410 by the way. The tractor with grapple is so much more efficient.

See here for plenty of pics of my clearing project. http://www.forestryforum.com/board/index.php?topic=61752.0

 

[MMfrompa]

DickFoster has the right idea, I have rented this machine several times. One weekend a mowed 1.5 miles of trail about 12' wide through all types of vegetation. Heavy Heavy brush that my brush hog wouldn't touch up to 5 and 6 inch trees. Fast, efficient, and the only way to go.

 

[Rustyiron]

With a track hoe, you can grab and shake what you want and build nice clean piles

Brett

:thumbsup: Taking the trees with the stumps is the way to go. Be sure to rent one with a thumb, fixed or hyd. either one. This method will leave things in the best shape. A hoe will work but finding one with a thumb might be hard.
Welcome to TBN Iguezz!

 

[Midniteoyl]

DickFoster has the right idea, I have rented this machine several times. One weekend a mowed 1.5 miles of trail about 12' wide through all types of vegetation. Heavy Heavy brush that my brush hog wouldn't touch up to 5 and 6 inch trees. Fast, efficient, and the only way to go.
View attachment 476655

And just how do you find a place that rents these? Google only comes up with the same 10 rental places, and none of them have a mulcher and are out of state anyways.

 

[Furu]

And just how do you find a place that rents these? Google only comes up with the same 10 rental places, and none of them have a mulcher and are out of state anyways.

Don't know what you have in your area but I rented one from CAT NC Rentals out here in the PNW before I took the plunge. Not a cheap rental but one week or three days was the same price. The reason the rental is not cheap is that they are expensive pieces pf equipment and the tools on the mulching head are pricey as well. They take a beating doing that kind of work.

 

[Piston]

There is a tractor dealership near me that used to rent them. It was $400 per day for the largest Skidsteer, and $500 per day for just the mulching attachment.

They stopped renting them though and no longer offer the mulcher. They still rent everything else.

 

[MMfrompa]

And just how do you find a place that rents these? Google only comes up with the same 10 rental places, and none of them have a mulcher and are out of state anyways.

Hah, good question. I never had a problem renting one. Our Bobcat Dealer rents this unit out and they have always treated me real fair. Ive cleared with all sorts of methods but if you're saving the bigger trees and just want to clean up scrub, small trees, and brush. It's the only way to go. No mess, no burn pits, easy peasy

 

[Rustyiron]

I'll have to call our local BC or Cat dealer for a CTL mulcher. I had previously inquired about an excavator with a mulching head, that was a no go but would be the best machine for my use.

 

[Apsterbobed]

I'll have to call our local BC or Cat dealer for a CTL mulcher. I had previously inquired about an excavator with a mulching head, that was a no go but would be the best machine for my use.

Rustyiron, I see that you are in maine, I think Eagle Rental out of Waterville have mulcher heads and excavators for rent. I'm not sure how far they deliver but I would think they could get one to you.


Here is the link to the one they show on their website:
Excavator - EX 2 - 46,3 lb - w/ Mulcher - Eagle Rental - Commercial, Industrial, Residential Equipment Rentals - Waterville, ME 1

 

[TractorGuy]

Hey guys. Just signed up to the forum here. Live in South Louisiana where it's flat and HOT. Question is that I bought 5 acres not to long ago. It was a field right at 20 years ago that they just let grow up. Planning a house and pond around the middle of my property. Mostly oak trees. So far Iv found about 5 pine trees on the whole thing, and lots of brush and smaller things. Most of the trees are around 3-6" range with some nice bigger ones in the mix. All I want to do is thin it out so the bigger healthy ones can grow better and make all 5 acres look nice. Roots are not too deep at all from what I can see. Someone working in the area already which does excellent work and I trust quoted me $100/hr for clearing. Around $1000-1200/acre to clear and $1600-1800/acre to clear, burn, re level and make it look nice. I'm an avid do-it-yourself kind of guy. I have access to a 4WD 30HP Deere with front end loader and box blade. And also an older 2WD 410D backhoe. Or I can rent a Dozer and large backhoe for $1300-$1600 a week a piece and go that route. We won't be building for another year and a half to 2 years so time isn't really a concern. Would my best option be to rent a Dozer and plow it all down. Or rip em up with a backhoe. Or do you think a 2WD 410 could handle it all? Any big trees will surely be staying unless there on my house or pond site. Just trying to weigh my options before I dig in. Thanks guys. It won't let me add pics. I'll add some when I get home in a few hours

The "have access to" leaves some questions. Does this equipment belong to a family member that will allow you to keep it on the property for a long period? Are you capable and prepared to make repairs on the equipment as needed?

Other questions are intended use. Do you plan to have any cattle or horses in the future? This would weigh in on digging versus mulching suggestions being proposed.

I like the quick and clean look of mulching but I know you are not finished using that route. Contrary to what the mulching advocates would have you believe you will have ever forming low spots and hole formation from rotting stumps and roots.

The project as described can be done with the equipment you have access to. Bear in mind that old backhoe will need maintenance as you go like rebuilding cylinders and replacing hoses and maybe a tire or two. Diesel fuel will be the least of your costs doing it yourself. Do you have a good hydraulic shop in the area?

One thing I can tell you is to dig the trees and stumps out. Do not try to pull them by force. This will cause much more damage to the equipment. Having the trees attached to the stumps will work to your advantage. You can dig around them and push the tree over with the stump attached then cut it apart. Be very careful when you cut the stump end off because it will want to go back in it's hole with some force. Leave as little tree attached on that first cut so it doesn't fling itself upright and injure you.

I am working 5 acres I bought a couple of years ago but it bears no resemblance to yours. Mine was a 40 year old stand of planted pines with oak and sweetgum in the mix. I had a forester clear cut the land and now I'm left with a huge mess. While he agreed to cut ALL the trees including those he didn't want he left huge piles that will need to be broken apart before burning. I was advised to get my stumps dug up and use the other wood as fuel to burn those. I may eventually want the property to serve as pasture so I don't want to mulch due to the formation of holes from the left over stumps and roots rotting out. Animals could fall or trip in the holes and break a leg. We cut pines off the 2 acre home site we live on and have had some deep holes form over the years from the rotting root systems. When I was much younger I chopped and dug most of those stumps out by hand to get them below grade.

I decided to go the DIY route and bought a backhoe. It was delivered in not as advertised condition around February. I have managed about an acre of digging since that time and have spent about 4 grand in repairs and maintenance on the machine. The only saving grace is I bought the machine cheap enough that I am still within reason of being able to recover my investment at resale. One nice thing about doing it yourself is being able to wait out the rainy weather. I need to have this completed and something planted on it that qualifies as agricultural in a couple more years though to keep my ag zoning.