Clearing 8" diameter pines

[dmccarty]

Re: Clearing 8\" diameter pines

Nuke,

Have you thought of timbering the pines and making some money on the trees? Eight inches ain't big but it aint small either. You might want to talk with your local extension office and see what they say.

Later,
Dan

 

[Highbeam]

Re: Clearing 8\" diameter pines

Yes, a trackhoe is the proper tool for removing trees and stumps. It really can't be beat, not even by a huge dozer. The trackhoe plucks the trees out leaving minimal ground disturbance and compaction. Once the trees and stumps are out then they are much easier to deal with and certainly within the capability of a tractor. The dozer lacks the ability to pluck a stump, to shake the dirt off and then to stack a dirt free tree. I owned a dozer and found it great for many things, removing larger trees cleanly is not one of them.

The trackhoe must have a thumb, be steel tracked, and of sufficienct weight and strength to pluck the trees. If you have ever played a video game then you will pick it up quickly. If not, an hour more before becoming good at it. You are not threading a needle just ripping out trees.

Resist the temptation to just saw the logs off and then come back for the stumps. They are much harder to get out of the ground without the tree attached.

 

[BobG_in_VA]

Re: Clearing 8\" diameter pines

I just can't help myself on this reply: No matter which way it goes you will learn a lesson. I was a CAT operator in college (I'm now retired, you do the math), I thought about renting about a D6 to clear some land for a house/barn/pond, etc,---about 4-6 acres on my 34 acre place. I have come to realize that I would thoroughly enjoy it, but by the time I could get back to being efficient, an operator with/dozer would be done and gone. Why spend a couple extra thou $$ than you have to?? Oh and its done right the first time.....BobG in VA

 

[SnoFalls]

Re: Clearing 8\" diameter pines

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( They are much harder to get out of the ground without the tree attached. )</font>

Ask me how I know /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif Also don't be swayed to leave one near buildings or utilites ... (even if it's "small" it'll get big and be a PITA!)

The previous owner of my property left trees within 4' of buildings and utilities (not just one or two, but multiple).
So even when I had a trackhoe out to pluck stumps, some had to be left alone and now are 10 times more work to get rid of ...

 

[DmansPadge]

Re: Clearing 8\" diameter pines

Highbeam is right on the money with everything he said. I had an acre cleared with a Case 580L hoe doing all the tree removing and a dozer filling holes and cleaning up. I had quite a few pines that were between 16-24" They had to dig some HUGE holes to get those babies up.

 

[454shooter]

Re: Clearing 8\" diameter pines

I think it all depends on what type of pine it is. I am in central PA and my JD 3720 can easily push over 12" + white pines with the loader. We also have jack pines that are much higher than the white pines. They are more difficult to topple and you must also be very careful when pushing over large trees with the FEL. Ash trees are very dangerous and I have the scratch on my new paint to prove it. I started pushing over an approx. 8" diameter one and it snapped about half way up and came down on the hood like a spear. I was amazed that the hood was not destroyed and I can assure you about 3' back towards the seat and I would not be typing right now.
Hope this helps.....Shooter

 

[EddieWalker]

Re: Clearing 8\" diameter pines

I'm wondering what you can afford as far as buying a tractor goes. You have enough land to need one, and you mentioned 35 hp as what you'd want. If you rent or hire out the land clearing, how much more will that cost? If you combine that amount to what you had planned on spending on the tractor, how much bigger of a tractor can you buy??

I can take out any sized tree with a backhoe. If you stick with the 35 hp tractor, can you add a backhoe to it?

With time, you can clear your entire acerage, but I guess the question what do you need cleared right away and how long do you have to get it cleared??

Taking out the whole tree with stump still attached is by far the easiest way to get them out. Cutting and digging up a stump later is a huge job. Even small stumps are a pain.

A large trackhoe will pluck them right out quick and easy, but all this power costs plenty. Even a small hole needs to be filled in and compacted befor you can build on it. What will you use for that???

My last tidbit of useless information is that it makes a huge difference what time of the year you do this. After a few inches of rain, the same sized tree comes out with allot less power than in summer when it's been dry for months. Or you can take out much larger trees with the same sized tractor in winter when it's been wet out than in the summer when it's been dry.

Good luck,
Eddie

 

[ocaj11]

Re: Clearing 8\" diameter pines

nuke,

I have a big track hoe and it will do wonders with trees. I would rent the track hoe and you can clear a couple of acres in a week with no problem. You'll probably have plenty of time left over to dig a big hole /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I imagine even a pretty small hoe could push an 8" tree over because you have so much leverage to your advantage. Once pushed down, you can read over and pull the stump out with tree attached and slide over to a pile. You won't have any problems running the hoe if you decide to go that route.

But, there are drawbacks. The place will be a huge mess once you are finished. The cleanest solution would be to cut them off at the ground and rent a stump grinder to grind them off a couple of inches below the ground. The only stumps that would need to be dug out would be the site for a house pad.

With tree removal, pick your poison and get after it. I think the hoe rental with a subsequent tractor purchase for clean up would be a sound plan.

 

[Pilot]

Re: Clearing 8\" diameter pines

First, forget the dozer. As others have said, the trackhoe is the machine to use. Think about it. A trackhoe sits in one spot & reaches out to pluck the trees, then without moving the machine from that spot, piles them up. A dozer runs back & forth, back & forth to remove them, then has to run around some more to pile them. 6 passes by a dozer over one spot of ground usually compacts the soil to it's max. The trackhoe is also faster.

And, just to back up someone else, check with your extension agent. You might be able to sell the trees for pulp or firewood and get a little money to offset your expenses.

Taproots? Depends on the particular species & soil depth. And it isn't necessarily the taproot that matters. A wide spreading root system near the surface can also be difficult.

 

[KentT]

Re: Clearing 8\" diameter pines

I'll second the recommendation of good-sized track-hoe with a thumb... but they do leave a mess.

Here's a few pictures of what one can do with pine stumps -- where we cut the larger ones out for timber. The rest he just pulled or pushed over, snapped in two, and piled up...

http://www.simpletractors.com/subsite/major_site_clearing.htm