Best way to get rid of 1 to 5 inch diameter inch trees to clear access road?

[WoodDuck]

+2 Piranha Toothbar. I cleared several overgrown lanes through my father's property with this bar. It bites into the small trees and brush, and keeps them from bending over and sliding underneath the bucket. About 12" above the ground worked good for the bush honeysuckle and saplings I was pushing out. Most times it would catch the brush, bend it over slightly, then pull it out of the ground by the roots as I continued driving forwards. Once in a while I'd have to back up and drop the bucket to catch a root ball that I'd turned up, but usually the bite from the tooth bar would just drag it along under the bucket with everything else. I'd drive maybe 30-50 yards pushing it all ahead of me, then just cut the wheel when I saw a good spot to leave the pile off to the side of the trail. Then backed onto the trail, and took off doing it again. Very easy and efficient. Grubbing one sapling at a time is painfully slow if you have a lot of them to do. You could clear more in an hour with the Piranha bar, than you and a helper could do all day snatching them out one at a time; at least in my kind of brush. As mentioned by someone else already, soil conditions matter also. You want enough moisture in the soil so the saplings don't act like they're anchored in concrete, but not so much moisture that the roots bring a huge wad of mud up with them either leaving you a bomb crater in the middle of your lane. I've tried several methods also, and the Piranha bar was the clear winner for me. Good Luck!

 

[CADplans]

If time is not an issue,, you could girdle the larger trees,, and come back in three years, and simply bushhog the area,, the trees would mostly grind to dust,,

That will not happen on some varieties of trees,, like locust,
I have a stump from a locust tree that was cut down in 1982,, that stump is as strong as the day the tree was cut,,
last summer, I further lowered that stump with a chainsaw so that my mower wold not hit it,,,

 

[SELKIRK]

The Piranha tooth bar makes the 4 in one bucket a much better tool. I leave it on my 4 in one bucket almost 100% of the time.

 

[deezler]

A note regarding all the suggestions for a brush grubber. I tried the same technique on my property full of young forest. It lasted about two work sessions before I hung it up and never touched it again. Dont get me wrong, they work great, but consider: You can't work alone (or it will be insanely slow and hard), so must always have a helper. Even with a helper, it is very slow going. For every 1-2" sapling you easily pull out, you must: back up close to it so your helper can chain it up, pull it out, helper has to shake the dirt off the rootball and toss the whole tree aside, then pick up and carry the grubber/chain to the next tree so that you dont drive over it, or lose your chain hooks, and repeat. It gets old fast.

Wow, I just looked up the 1460, that is a serious machine. Do they have a front brush hog for it? I would just brush hog everything under 2", provided you can navigate between the 3-4" stuff that is too big to hog. I don't really understand the concern for popping tires. With proper R4s and inflation, a ripped off 1-2" sapling stump is not going to bother your tires one bit. Then repeat the brush hogging twice a year, and within 2-3 years the stumps will all be rotted away and forgotten.

Does your front loader have a tooth bar? because that is definitely the fastest way: just bulldoze it all. Get a toothbar tooth under the root ball, curl each tree out, and push it aside.

 

[Diggin It]

I would just brush hog everything under 2", provided you can navigate between the 3-4" stuff that is too big to hog. I don't really understand the concern for popping tires. With proper R4s and inflation, a ripped off 1-2" sapling stump is not going to bother your tires one bit. Then repeat the brush hogging twice a year, and within 2-3 years the stumps will all be rotted away and forgotten.

I've got plenty of stumplets left after using my field & brush mower. I call them Punji sticks. Wicked little buggers. Must be VERY careful walking though those areas so as not to step on one wrong. Easy way to turn an ankle and just hope you don't fall on one and catch a wrist, elbow or knee. They last a good three years or more before becoming any where near 'safe' n their own. I've had to go back and nip quite a few off with a recip saw or pruner. Not something I'd want to do over a large area.

 

[shooterdon]

The grubber works well if doing a few trees and for tight areas where you want to remove smaller trees and keep the larger trees, but it is slow for clearing. Well worth having for the minimal cost. We did a fence line and you need two people unless you have tons of patience and love climbing on and off the tractor.

I have tree puller and have not used it enough to recommend it. For "surgical" removal, it was difficult to see the jaws but I have added a camera and will try it again in the spring. It has a lot of force and will cut through trees less than 4" in dia. But I can use it without a helper.

 

[ponytug]

FWIW: I have the next size smaller PT machine, and have had good success with the brush cutter. I have also used the 4n1 bucket to push things like poison oak over (and the forks to pry them out of the ground). I have done the odd 4” oak, but most of my brush is smaller, and the 1445 brush cutter makes coarse mulch out of it.

With your machine, I would think the piranha bar would make quick work of the trees. My only concern, having never used it, is how many trees get sliced off, leaving sharp, tire cutting, stems behind.

Good luck!

All the best,

Peter

 

[johara1]

Nothing beats a root rake for those little trees, it will get under the roots and leave the dirt...... jim

 

[deezler]

I've got plenty of stumplets left after using my field & brush mower. I call them Punji sticks. Wicked little buggers. Must be VERY careful walking though those areas so as not to step on one wrong. Easy way to turn an ankle and just hope you don't fall on one and catch a wrist, elbow or knee. They last a good three years or more before becoming any where near 'safe' n their own. I've had to go back and nip quite a few off with a recip saw or pruner. Not something I'd want to do over a large area.

Hmm, interesting. I've certainly heard the term punji sticks before and understand what you're talking about. What kind of tree saplings were yours?

I've cut numerous trails and opened areas simply by brush hogging 1-2" sapling-filled areas, and never had any problem. It must be my tree varieties (primarily cherry, elm, walnut, and various stupid invasive bushes - olive, buckthorn, etc) are less durable when hogged. Also, I typically do a final pass by lowering my brush hog all the way to the ground. This often knocks/pulls the whole sapling root ball right out of the ground, where it then decays faster and certainly poses no threat for punctured tires.

 

[PowerTracManiac]

I didn't think it was possible to get the brush hog to cut all the way flush to the ground?
I have not been thinking in that direction because I thought the Bush hog only cut to a few inches off the ground at the lowest as the metal frame/blade cage keeps it from going down any further into the ground? I would have all these 2 inch tire puncturing stakes left in the ground. I cant wait to drive on the access roads till the leftover stakes rot out in a couple years.

 

[Diggin It]

One thing about mine and would probably go for most rotary cutters. The stumplets do not have sharpened tips like they would if you used pruning shears or any other sharp blade. The tops are beaten and battered and shredded, almost mushroomed. They're ankle turners and would do serious damage to you if you fell on them, but I'm not sure exactly how hazardous they would be to a tractor tire. I've driven over them with the two riding mowers without issue. Another 1,000 pounds or more of weight might be different.

 

[Gary Fowler]

Actually I have never seen a bushhog leave "punji stakes" after cutting a small tree. My experience shows that they look like someone set off an explosion on the tree just shattering it so it looks like a small brush instead of a stake. I got rid of my larger saplings by pushing over everything that was too large to bush hog but still small enough for the FEL to ride over, bushhogging anything below 3". Then digging up the larger stuff with my TLB after I got it. Prior to backhoe purchase, a long chain hooked to the drawbar of the tractor and at least head high on the larger trees allowed me to pull them most of them up by the roots. I didn't have too many of those so it wasn't a big deal to get on and off the tractor to hook them up, it was more of a big deal to drag the chain back and forth.

 

[tigers2007]

The piranha bar is hardened steel. I swear I used mine to ram into gravel and to move big stones. I beat the crap out of it and it DID NOT have a scuff on it. Worth every penny. My Brush Grubber never saw the light of day again after I got the bar. If you have a helper then the grubber can help out out in certain situations but the bar will get more work done.

 

[MossRoad]

I didn't think it was possible to get the brush hog to cut all the way flush to the ground?
I have not been thinking in that direction because I thought the Bush hog only cut to a few inches off the ground at the lowest as the metal frame/blade cage keeps it from going down any further into the ground? I would have all these 2 inch tire puncturing stakes left in the ground. I cant wait to drive on the access roads till the leftover stakes rot out in a couple years.

It's not possible to get the PT brush cutter down to the ground. You don't want that anyway, as it would eat dirt and rocks and fling them everywhere. Pretty much what others have said, the brush cutter will shatter anything it touches, not cut it cleanly. There's rarely anything left on the ground that you can't comfortably walk on. When I cut through thick brush, be it weeds, vines, saplings, etc... there's brush in front of the machine and a 4' wide walking path behind the machine. At least, that's been my finding with my little PT425.

 

[ponytug]

Yes, the 1445 cutter shatters pretty much every little thing it mows over. No punji sticks. That’s one reason why things tend not to regrow. You can certainly drive over it in a tractor. If I was concerned about the stumplets, I would back drag the road with a bucket, or a land plane.

I don’t have a great sense for whether this is more a mowing project or more a bulldozing project. (Brush cutter vs 4N1 with a cutter bar) The answer may be both; one pass with the piranha to knock everything over and a second pass with a brush cutter.

The 1460 has lots of power and weight; you might just be able to push the trees over and then push the root balls out of the way. I have done it for lighter brush with the 1445. (I push poison oak over year one, when it is dormant, and brush cut it year two, after the sap is dry; no sense it getting whole body (and lung) rashes.)

All the best,

Peter

 

[two_bit_score]

If time is not an issue,, you could girdle the larger trees,, and come back in three years, and simply bushhog the area,, the trees would mostly grind to dust,,

That will not happen on some varieties of trees,, like locust,
I have a stump from a locust tree that was cut down in 1982,, that stump is as strong as the day the tree was cut,,
last summer, I further lowered that stump with a chainsaw so that my mower wold not hit it,,,

Or spray or inject it and probably in a year it would be dead and dry enough to bush hog. Depends on how soon you need it done I guess. I’ve been spraying a lot last year.

 

[m5040]

You can try a tree puller (they are reasonable at Titan when on sale). If you can pull them out with a chain, the tree puller will work quick and only need one person and you don't have to get off the machine. I grab the larger trees and push over forward then back etc.

When I bought mine, it was only $600, they have gone up a bit, but on sale now. You would need an adapter or weld on a mounting plate.

Heavy-Duty Post And Tree Puller For Skid Steers, Universal Landscape Tool

 

[mikester]

Need to clear a couple access roads through my bug out property. Alot of 1 to 4 inch trees (oak and maple). I have the light material bucket and the 4 in 1 bucket and PT1460.
Going to try and just use the front edge of the bucket and dig into the ground slightly and lift and tear all this out as I go into it?
A little concerned about getting flat tires?
I think it will work on the smaller stuff but the trees that are around 4 inches and bigger may be a problem?
Any better/other suggestions?

If you need an access road in the bush I find that the best thing is to get an old chainsaw bar and chain and cut these small stumps flat and flush with the ground. The roots hold the ground together and give your vehicles better floatation and traction, especially if you have soft ground. Ripping out the roots leaves you a big muddy mess and you make ruts fast.

If you are planning a real road then rip out the roots, remove the topsoil and put down gravel. Root rake grapples work great for small stuff like this.

 

[Diggin It]

If you need an access road in the bush I find that the best thing is to get an old chainsaw bar and chain and cut these small stumps flat and flush with the ground.

I use a recip saw with a rough cut blade.

 

[MossRoad]

I use a recip saw with a rough cut blade.

That gets old after a couple hundred trees.

The OP's machine is large enough to probably tip over any 4" tree, then pop the root ball out with forks or a spike, push it off to the side, then on to the next.