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

[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.