Clearing a two track

[BlacknTan]

I'm about to pull the trigger on a B-7800 with FEL and brush hog. One of the primary uses is to clear a road (two track) through the woods to more easily get to my back woodlot.
Should I chainsaw the trees at waist level and push the stumps over or can they be pulled? Should I cut them close to the ground and wait for them to rot?
Anyone out there with any such experience to help me out?

 

[hwew]

How big are the trees?

 

[Cildein]

When I was chainsawing some land in my property to make way for the big BH to clear the stumps they asked to leave at least 4 feet of tree for leverage. With that in mind I would think that the higher the stump the more leverage you would get thus easier it would be to pull down. With obvious safety issues in mind. However too high in ratio to the thickness of the tree might just snap whatever length you did leave in half.

 

[Highbeam]

Totally depends on the size of the tree and whether or not you can tolerate driving over the stumps when traveling along the two track. Length of time to rot also depends on the tree species and how wet the ground is. Can you go around the trees?

 

[BlacknTan]

Most of the trees are popple 6" in dia or slightly under. I can probably tolerate the stumps if that is the preferred way to go.

 

[rswyan]

Most of the trees are popple 6" in dia or slightly under. I can probably tolerate the stumps if that is the preferred way to go.

Put a toothbar on your FEL and then use it to loosen the ground about 3' or so at the base of a tree. Put the B7800 in 4WD and raise the FEL up about 5' or so and put it against the tree trunk and push ..... you may be surprised at how many of these you are able to just push over (bringing out a good portion of the rootball in the process)

I've done this a number of times here on similar-sized popple (popular, quaking aspen) when we were clearing the pad for the new polebarn.

The only thing you have to watch is the rootball coming up out of the ground ..... just make sure you don't jam it into the bottom of the tractor. Once it starts to go, you may need to release pressure on the trunk, back up and lower the FEL a little. Keep an eye out for dead limbs/widowmakers.

 

[AMR]

I agree, leave them high then work them out, you won't be disappointed in the long run.

 

[BlacknTan]

Thanks for the responses. They've been very helpful.......

 

[Highbeam]

On poplar type trees that size I have had good luck pushing them over and then pushing out the root ball with the tree. I learned pretty quickly that if a high FEL doesn't push it over to just cut it down. So push over what you can and cut the rest low. Poplar will resprout from the stump so paint the stump with roundup or some other appropriate herbicide. A dead poplar stump will rot in about two years. After it rots you can either mow the stump into dust or pop out the woody part with a boxblade scarifier.

One thing that I painfully learned last weekend: Once you have all those trees with their rootballs laying around, you will want to push them to a burn pile. I have a toothbar and love it for collecting slash. So I set the teeth down and push the slash into a pile up against the standing forest, I then raise the loader and move it forward over the pile and set the toothbar down to rake the pile back out into the road where I can push it towards the burn pile. When backing up with the toothbar down like a rake, the little rootball can be caught and will flip that little 5" poplar/alder tree right over onto the operator's shoulder. It is almost like stepping on a tines up rake in the yard.

We're going to want to see some pictures.

 

[Egon]

The soil the trees are growing in will make a difference in how easy they come out.

Look overhead before pushing on a standing tree. Stuff may fall off the tree.

Sometimes you can shove over the tree and then use it's length for leverage to remove it. Be carefull of the tree snapping back over the top of the bucket when doing this. My bucket has several vertical bars attached to prevent this.

A single tooth about two feet long on the bottom of the bucket will work well for cutting loose roots. Once the tooth is in the ground the curl function of the loader will probably have the most force.

For trees cut off the three point hitch may be another choice to pull them out.

Many different approaches that can be used. Experiment and find what works best for you and on each individual tree.

There is no one best method unless it involves a D9 with brush rake and lots of personal protection from spears.