Sagebrush Has to go. Whats the easiest way to clear 10 acres?

[Silvic]

There is also a Spanish Broom that is also a Class A Noxious Weed in Washington but it is also different.

 

[lowriderb]

Ordered a piranha teeth blade. 370.00 Just cant see any other way. Our burning days are ending here, Thanks for the input. B

 

[3Lfarms]

It looks a lot like Southern Utah sage. The soil at the farm is clay and no rocks. I found for the sage that is too big to mow down with the ditch/bank flail mower, I just dig them up with the pallet forks. They usually have one tap root, but it usually comes out pretty intact. My forks are 60” long and rated at 5k lbs. I just push the forks together and use them like a shovel. Spear downward and curl the whole thing up out of the ground. Works quite well after a moderate rain.
Anything smaller than 2” gets obliterated with the flail.

 

[flingwing1969]

We have broom here. Also coyotebrush. Up to an inch or two the regular rotary cutter can handle it. Over that I cut it with a chain saw and chip it. Yes that takes time. You can buy heavier duty rotary cutters or rotary brush cutters. Those are expensive but cheaper than a PTO forestry mulcher. example: BaumaLight - Brush Cutt 3 Point Hitch Models

the same company makes small 3pt mulchers. But even with your HP those probably will not handle 5" stems. (Baumalight has a chart).

Coyote bush is a native plant and very valuable to wildlife. I'm told that something like 200 species of insect, mammal, and bird use or depend on it. It is actually fire resistant, to a degree, unlike broom that goes up like kerosene. Not the prettiest darn thing, even when it's blooming but it is fun to see a hummingbird nest made half out of the coyote brush fuzz.

 

[YLee Kioti]

I don't know what type of root system this weed has. Is it a deep tap root like huisache?

If not, then maybe a root plow or root gruber like these: Armstrong Ag - Rock & Brush Equipment

You have a 47 horse machine if it has draft control you can set it for say 2-4 inches deep and plow the roots. Use the rake to clean up later.

Is that a feasible move?

 

[flingwing1969]

I don't know what type of root system this weed has. Is it a deep tap root like huisache?

If not, then maybe a root plow or root gruber like these: Armstrong Ag - Rock & Brush Equipment

You have a 47 horse machine if it has draft control you can set it for say 2-4 inches deep and plow the roots. Use the rake to clean up later.

Is that a feasible move?

It usually pops out of the ground pretty easily, the hardest part is how brittle the stock is, it likes to break. Good thing is it usually doesn't come back after fire or being broken completely off.

 

[mopardude318]

I've had good luck ripping this stuff out with my grapple... I have it growing in a heavy concentrated area, and its close together. I put the tines in the ground and drive forward, once I'm deep into the plant I close the grapple and raise the loader like I'm ripping hair out of someones head. LOL

Maybe It's not sagebrush? Let me find a pic...

 

[oosik]

I've seen large tracts of virgin land cleared for planting of apple orchards. They use several large crawler tractors with ripper teeth on the blade. Great piles are formed - great piles are burned. Sagebrush - she be all gone.

Mopardude318 - if that's not sagebrush - its doing a darn good imitation. Looks exactly like the stuff around here.

 

[Reb954]

Many years ago I had an area, about 1/3 acre, covered in 3 to 4 foot tall sagebrush that needed cleared so I could push snow into it in the winter. I had just finished building what I call my Ag system for an ATV. With the bank of S-tines on I just kept running back and forth until all the sagebrush was ripped out. It never grew back and was a good test for my Ag system.
View attachment 546283

 

[Jerry/MT]

Call the local county extension office and see what they recommend.

I would think at a crawler tractor with brush forks on the dozer blade would be the best way to clear that sagebrush out. You could bulldoze it into piles for burning in the winter.