Clearing back field edges

[cmhyland]

Happy Holidays to all,

I've been working the last couple of months to clear back the edges of my fields. The growth over time has encroached 20 to 30 feet into the field.

Lots of brush and trees. Lots of Multi Flora Rose and Privet and Blackberry ( Thorns).

I have been working with my brush cutter and chainsaw... Burning the small and bramble stuff... Fires are getting pretty big... I'm looking into buying a chipper.... Rather than burn so much...

Is there a better way?

 

[kwolfe]

If I had the land and the cash, I would get the chipper. Don't get me wrong, I love a good fire, however I could use the extra mulch.

 

[Highbeam]

Your profile lists an 8 acre lot which means only so much "edge". I take this to mean that once you clear out those field edges they will be easily maintained that way by simple mowing. So this is a one time project if you are able to keep the edges mowed. The stuff in that pile looks difficult to chip and of course extremely labor intensive. I see chipping as maybe fun if you are dealing with easily harvested and loaded material.

Spend the money that you would have spent on the chipper and have a dozer or some other machine blast through your edges and then burn/bury/haul away/grind his piles. You will save time, effort, pain, and maybe even money.

How about one of those cool mulching machines attached to bobcats?

 

[psuedofarmer]

The stuff in that pile looks difficult to chip and of course extremely labor intensive. I see chipping as maybe fun if you are dealing with easily harvested and loaded material.

Spend the money that you would have spent on the chipper and have a dozer or some other machine blast through your edges and then burn/bury/haul away/grind his piles. You will save time, effort, pain, and maybe even money.

How about one of those cool mulching machines attached to bobcats?

Ditto.. save the $ and get a dozer in there. Once cleared you'll never have to deal with it again - as Highbeam points out, chipping that stuff will not be easy; it's very labor intensive not to mention costly. A dozer would make easy work of it in short order..

pf

 

[cmhyland]

Guys the picture is the first burn pile and that was dozered stuff.... Lots of wet wood and dirt...

I have over 1000 feet of stonewalls ... Some need to be cleared on both sides.. This is an ongoing process... The dozer does way more damage than it's worth in my case...

Thanks,
Chris

 

[psuedofarmer]

Guys the picture is the first burn pile and that was dozered stuff.... Lots of wet wood and dirt...

I have over 1000 feet of stonewalls ... Some need to be cleared on both sides.. This is an ongoing process... The dozer does way more damage than it's worth in my case...

Thanks,
Chris[/QUOTE

i recently completed the restoration of large farm in s/w NH. one field (~20+ acres) was hayed the last 30 years, but the edges where exactly like yours; completely overgrown with small pin cherry and brambles. this growth extended 15-20+ feet beyond the walls (well over 1000' increments). on this stuff i used a root grapple (loflin). lowered it just below grade, put in 4 wheel drive, and drove forward (slowly). if i ran into a large stump i cut it with a chainsaw and used the BH to pop it out..

i was left with a rather large brush pile to burn. much better to burn it than spend DAYS chipping it; on the other fields (before i purchased the grapple) i used a dozer and an excavator (with thumb). big piles of mostly dirt - not much fun to burn.

a root grapple is expensive, but it definitely saves the soil (unlike a dozer).

pf

 

[cmhyland]

Thanks PF,

I'll go look at a root grapple. The combo of the dirt and wood and stuff makes more charcoal than anything elsewhen you burn it...

Regards,
Chris

 

[Highbeam]

You must just want a chipper. How about renting one for a day and seeing what it gets you? Your labor input will be much higher than simply piling the material for burning. By all means give it a try.

I started clearing areas into piles with tractor, loader, mower, chainsaw, and chain. Then I burned the piles. The burning part took at least as long as the clearing and the risk involved with burning slash without permits was high. The risk of fire getting away from me as well as legally.

My newest method is to create a mammoth pile of slash. The mammoth pile of slash is so large that even a professional wouldn't burn it all at once. When winter comes and the burn bans are lifted I hire a professional logging (he has insurance) company to bring an excavator onsite and conduct a permitted burn. This is very cost effective and saves an enormous amount of my time and labor. He grabs bites from my mammoth pile and burns/feeds that pile until he's done. Very fast and efficient.

I'm not sure if your problem is slash disposal or collecting the slash.

Even 2000 feet of fence row is no big deal for a one time clearing operation with the right machine. An excavator will do the least amount of damage to the terrain due to the low ground pressure and the ability to reach and grab the slash. My logger's excavator machine could easily walk right along the fencerow and grab and stack all slash into a windrow without ever reversing his machine or steering. The next day or two he would burn the slash. The following day restack the fires and then be done. 2-3k$. Then you could go in there and fine tune the grading, plant grass, and maintain the rows to prevent this in the future.

 

[cmhyland]

Highbeam,
Thanks for the reply. Part of the problem is I'm an army one. I do it all.
In CT you can't get anyone out to your property with an excavator for 2or 3K.

They're just not going to show up for two grand. I have no problem with cutting and collecting. The burning is becoming more of a problem. While it's OK to burn here you have to have the right conditions. I only have weekends in the fall and winter to do this work and there can be long gaps between the proper conditions.

If I chip the majority of the stuf it's done! Finished... No waiting for a "good day to burn"

Thanks,
Chris

P.S. and I do want a chipper..... I have rented and would rather own and work at this stuff on my schedule.

 

[wushaw]

Highbeam,
Thanks for the reply. Part of the problem is I'm an army one. I do it all.
In CT you can't get anyone out to your property with an excavator for 2or 3K.

They're just not going to show up for two grand. I have no problem with cutting and collecting. The burning is becoming more of a problem. While it's OK to burn here you have to have the right conditions. I only have weekends in the fall and winter to do this work and there can be long gaps between the proper conditions.

If I chip the majority of the stuf it's done! Finished... No waiting for a "good day to burn"

Thanks,
Chris

P.S. and I do want a chipper..... I have rented and would rather own and work at this stuff on my schedule.

I am also a one man band on my place so planning and patience is key to clearing, you have to do it in peacemeal, I have finally finished removing most of the nasty stuff on about 9 of my 12 acres in five years....trying to get it done quickly as you know cost $$$.
I had a pile sit for three years before burning mainly becaus I wasn't finished in the area.
Here in Texas I couldn't burn any of my other piles that were ready (properly seasoned) due to burn bans for almost a year.

 

[andrewj]

the only "chipper" solution for wood piles like that is a large commercial shredder and a backhoe with hydraulic thumb to pick up debris and place it in the hopper.

if you are remotely thinking of using a hand place chipper, think again, especially if you are a one man show. doze it, burn it, forget it. (then spread the potash around so your grass will grow.)

 

[cmhyland]

Andrew,
That pile is long since gone... That was two or three burn piles ago.. And it was some heavy nasty stuff. Most of the stuff since has been brush and tree tops...

I'm looking to chip brush and tree tops as I go along the walls...

Thanks,
Chris

 

[Highbeam]

Well heck, If you've already rented a hand loaded chipper and are pleased with the speed and effort it takes to accomplish your tasks then you are much better off buying one than renting one for the long term. Especially if you can only work in spurts such as weekends.

I too am a one man army and have spent a few years now clearing my jungle. I have "evolved" from a small dozer, to a logger, to a tractor, and then to a tractor/logger combination. Money is always a large factor as is time.

In my thoughts about chipping I have decided that it would be wise to attack the jungle with the mower and when I find something too big to mow then leave it until I come back with a saw and chipper to dispose of the larger stuff. It is quite amazing what a raised mower backed into brush can do. Sawed off stumps that are cut low enough can be mowed over until they rot away.

Collecting the material into a pile for burning just makes a huge pile very quickly. Perhaps there is a contractor who can be hired for just the burning phase of the work, one with smaller equipment and insurance. Chippers are expensive and being "economical" I would take the advice from many forum memebers and get one of those chinese 6" models. Keep the debris clean of dirt to help your chipper teeth last longer.

Without a big machine doing the work in one big swoop you should be prepared for years of clearing. I have been doing it for years, still fun to convert jungle into pasture.

 

[Arcane]

I'm with the excavator and burn crowd. Its taken us 2 years of most weekends to clear the stone walls at my place: nearly a mile of them, and the stuff was 10' deep and 20' high in many places. Rose, grape, bittersweet, choke cherry, russian olive, and some poison ivy. (Try not to be downwind of the burn.) Anyway, chipping that much material would take forever, and who wants to touch it? Rotary cut wherever I could, chainsaw when I had to, then used the backhoe to pull most of it away, grub out the stumps, and set up numerous small piles to age for burning season. Small piles aren't as intimidating. I hired a wall builder who uses a 50 hp Kubota excavator with a thumb to rebuild (and in some cases move) the walls, and he helped me take apart some of the piles that got too big, pop the stumps that the bh couldn't handle, etc.

 

[1bush2hog]

Anyway, chipping that much material would take forever, and who wants to touch it? Rotary cut wherever I could, chainsaw when I had to, then used the backhoe to pull most of it away, grub out the stumps, and set up numerous small piles to age for burning season. Small piles aren't as intimidating.

I'm with Arcane on this one - While I would like to have a chipper to utilize the mulch, mulching invasive species is not a good idea as it could potentially spread the problem. Also, with a chipper, I would think one would have to handle the material more.

I also go with smaller burn piles too and don't really worry about when I can burn. The wildlife utilizes the brush piles during the times I can't burn. Since I am also a one man show and my property is 3.5 hours away, I work on it when I can and when I can't I don't worry about it - Lots of time, hard work, money, and patience is required to clear land - no matter what tactic you use.


Another user on here from Goshen, CT - Toy1, has a front end mulcher setup that might be of some interest to you, especially if geographically and financially desireable for the two of you

Good Luck!