Blackberry Menace

Harv · Oct 12, 2000

Looking ahead on my culvert project, there is an obstacle near the site of future culvert number 2. There is a stand of the dreaded blackberries, about 8 feet high right at the approach to that creek. I would dearly love to demolish about 200 square feet of the stuff.

I have an as yet untested 5' bush hog, but the terrain from which the blackberries spring is "uncharted", so to speak. The surrounding area is quite rocky and uneven, so I hesitate to wade in with my shiny new mower.

Any first-hand experience out there on this one? Can I trounce the devil with my 'Bota somehow, or should I invest in a machete and wage battle by hand?

An anecdotal aside here -- As I began scraping away on culvert #1 I was subconsciously annoyed by a small dead tree that I had to keep working around and whose branches I kept eating every time I whipped the tractor around to dump a load of soil. Not yet thinking like a tractor guy, I was making mental notes to come back with a saw and take that puppy down. Then I remembered the talk I had seen on this board about knocking 'em over with the loader.

. I raised the bucket in challenge and slowly drove straight into the little pest, and almost shouted with glee when I saw how easily the tree just picked up its roots and moved out of the way.

If I was a cigaratte-smoking kind of guy, I would have lit one up after that one. /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

Bird · Oct 12, 2000

Harv, I have about a 50' row of blackberries and 4' wide, and each year when they are through producing (about mid-June here), I mow them down with the brush hog, fertilize and water. You know blackberries produce next year on the stalks that grow this year. Then the stalks that produced die and a new crop starts. I guess the bottom line is that I don't know about the rocks, etc. that might be under the blackberries, but otherwise, mowing them with the brush hog is the fast, easy way to cut them down.

Bird

bpence · Oct 12, 2000

I'd go at that situation with both methods you mentioned. First, I'd go in with a machete (or similar appropriate weapon for berry warfare) and see what lies within the mess, working my way around and in. What's on the ground? Nothing, rocks, logs, limbs, debris? If it was clean and mowable, I'd be in there with the bush hog in a heartbeat. Otherwise, I'd sharpen my machete and prepare for berry bush battle, knowing I could always use the front loader to cart the downed bushes away.

Bob Pence

Bird · Oct 12, 2000

Harv, I forgot to respond to your question <font color=blue>should I invest in a machete</font color=blue>. The question made me wonder whether you've used one before or not. If you have, then you can ignore this, but if you haven't . . .. Buy the heaviest one you can find; heavier works better. And secondly, if you take a straight swing, as you would with an ax, you'll work yourself to death. They work much better and faster if you learn to strike and slice (pull the handle towards you) at the same time. In other words, you have to use it as a combination knife and ax. It took this dummy awhile to learn to use mine effectively, but when I watched a couple of guys using them to cut down 2" to 4" cedars when I was doing good to cut little vines, I finally learned.

Bird

glennmac · Oct 12, 2000

Yeah, ain't it fun: digging, crunching, knocking things over, pulverizing, cutting, smashing. Actually, we all knew these things instinctively when we were 5 years old, before all that Freudian superego stuff civilized us.

As you have discovered, trees with weak or rotten roots can be pushed over. The issue for your bRush hog, as you speculate, is whether your blade will start clanging continously into protruding rocks. Not good, sounds like Gotterdammerung, and can be dangerous. Try driving in with your hog lowered but with the PTO off just to get a feel for the clearances.

Glenn

scruffy · Oct 12, 2000

Great Opportunity for a sickle bar mower! Thorns can and do create painful reminders of the blackberry wars. They can even cause the dreaded 'flats'. At any rate, a good echo weed eater with brush blade will work wonders also, but the less physical labor the bettor. I cleared a 5 acre addition on my campground years ago of briars, and no matter how you work it, they will make you pay for the experience. Good luck Harv, Have fun!

Anonymous Poster · Oct 12, 2000

Your post brought some fun memories. A few years ago I took my tractor up to my mother-in-law's place. She had about a 50 x 100 blackberry "area". They were about 8-12 feet tall and completely unmanageable.

Using the teeth on the loader I pulled them out of the ground and soon ended up with big rolling masses. I kept rolling them around crunching them up into a tight wad until I couldn't even lift, roll or push them anymore. She eventually lit the piles after the greenery had gone away.

As to the machete, in skilled hands they are amazing. The 70+ year old guy that surveyed our "wild" property just blew me away. He had a young guy (65+) assisting him. I don't even know if my tractor could have kept up with the rough grade of the land. He would stop and run a stone over the edge to keep it sharp. Blackberries are a another story though, those things always end up around your leg or neck! They are ALIVE and know you are there!

When I did my mother-in-law's place I considered it work. I also used the backhoe to "weed" the blackberries that had overtaken a once well maintained large plant "garden" on the hillside. At 70 she was having trouble keeping up.

I wish she had lived closer to me, she was a fantastic grandma to our daughter. She gave me hell for 10 years since she thought I was stealing her daughter. All in all I wish she was still alive. Give your folks a call and go see them. It can be too late before you know...

DVerbarg · Oct 12, 2000

Harv,

Do you want to keep the blackberries? If not, then as another poster mentioned just use your FEL with the bucket edge floating on the ground and you may be amazed at how easy the blackberries clean out. This works best at the end of the season when the stems dry. I've done this on my property and after removing the first one (it was such fun - of course it is only fun to those who have done it the manual way/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif) went looking for others to remove! /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif)

DaveV

RobertN · Oct 12, 2000

Hey Bird, I saw on Harv's profile that he's been into Martial Arts for three years now. He should be able to handle that strike and slice /w3tcompact/icons/cool.gif Harv, you have been working with that Katana, yes?

Harv, another poster was right on on this subject. Keep you tools sharp. Our wildland gear is always kept sharp, and files are available for sharpening when you're working the fire line. Doing this at home has made a BIG difference when I'm clearing brush.

RobertN in Shingle Springs Calif

Thomas · Oct 12, 2000

Harv,
Blackberry or raspberry the best way I found to knock them down with out getting torn up /w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif,is a heavy duty weed trimmer with a blade on the end, /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif
than I chop those little boogers to pieces. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif
I did leaves some berry bushes,for I enjoy a couple of had fulls of berry now and than. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

Thomas..NH /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif