Clearing land options

[wixthedog]

How would you folks go about it? I know there are a million ways but I want to know if there is general agreement to my plan. I need to clear some wooded area, about 3 acres, and be selective about it. I don't want to damage any trees I want to keep. I have a mix of oak, mesquite, spruce, cedar, Burch, make, and other scrub stuff. I would sat the largest diameter is 12" with the average around 4"-6".

My plan is to go through a cut down and drag away anything my 4400 can't pull out easily. Once cut and removed from the area I will rent either a track hoe or a dozer and remove the stumps.

With this way of doing things, how much trunk should I leave sticking up when I am cutting them down? I am not really interested in the stump grinder route at this moment but it could be a consideration.

 

[brin]

Have you thought about hiring a mulcher to come in ? They can selectively mulch up trees and stumps to below ground level and that leaves you with the wood chips as mulch..makes a nice forest bottom.

 

[amaxwell]

Have you thought about hiring a mulcher to come in ? They can selectively mulch up trees and stumps to below ground level and that leaves you with the wood chips as mulch..makes a nice forest bottom.

1+:thumbsup:

 

[rasimmo]

I am not sure about the mulcher, never seen that done. Cutting them down and removing the stumps is the way I have done it on my place. I would rent a track hoe to remove the stumps. To me it is easier that way.

 

[Combustix]

When I cleared my around my pond and woods I used a Hitachi 135 track hoe.
It's got a small foot print and at 18,000 lbs it's got some muscle. For the really large trees I ditched in front to about 6 feet then did the same in the back. get on the opposite side you want the tree to fall and reach up as High as you can with the bucket and lean into it. The tree will come down in a nice slow controlled fall. The smaller I didn't even cut just lean on the tree and everything will roll right out. Simple and easy

 

[wixthedog]

Have you thought about hiring a mulcher to come in ? They can selectively mulch up trees and stumps to below ground level and that leaves you with the wood chips as mulch..makes a nice forest bottom.

I have talked to a couple mulching companies and they want a good chunk of change to do what they do. That would leave me with a lot of good mulch and a way to get rid of the waste but I would also be left with hundreds of rotting stumps underground. How many years until there are depressions formed?

If there is one thing I have is time. I work offshore so my time off is open for whatever I want really.

 

[rasimmo]

I hear you on the time. I work offshore too. It is nice to have time to play with toys at home. I still feel like I don't have enough time though.

 

[MarkV]

Just my two cents, but if everything is 12" and below, plus you want to be selective, I would use a small track hoe or backhoe and remove the trees as a whole. I find it much easier to let the tree's weight remove the stump than to dig them out after I have already spent the time to cut and haul the tree away. Depending on species and soil conditions in your area you might just push over 4-6" trees. I do that often with a 39 hp tractor in my clay soil.

MarkV

 

[sfloggie]

All stated thoughts are good. I decided to rent a Bobcat Forestry Cutter and do it myself after hiring a mulcher.

I rent one as budget alllows and it does a great job plus fun. A Fecon would be better, but too expensive for me. We have 113 acres of which 80 or so is thick woods/saplings. After the mulcher, I maintain through the year with JD 3320 pulling an MX5 mower. I do not even see the stumps and the ground gets better each cut (MX5) due to the mulch.

Here are (hopefully) three photos.

Jim

 

[wixthedog]

All stated thoughts are good. I decided to rent a Bobcat Forestry Cutter and do it myself after hiring a mulcher.

I rent one as budget alllows and it does a great job plus fun. A Fecon would be better, but too expensive for me. We have 113 acres of which 80 or so is thick woods/saplings. After the mulcher, I maintain through the year with JD 3320 pulling an MX5 mower. I do not even see the stumps and the ground gets better each cut (MX5) due to the mulch.

Here are (hopefully) three photos.

Jim

I realize you are not in Texas but what kind of rates are you getting for your forestry cutter rental? Seems like a solid option for some areas of my land but everything I have been seeing around SE Texas is high.

Looks like you are making good progress!

 

[sfloggie]

Mike,

What caused me to rent and do it myself was the cost when I had someone else do it. The guy was good, but I could get more if I did it.

* The hired guy cost $1,500 per acre plus $600 to move the equipment to site. He did five acres and did a good job.

* However; I could rent a Bobcat for $900 per eight hours or $2300 for 40 hours. I could do several acres for $900 once I got use to it, which was on the first rental.

I also only rent when tied to a weekend or holiday, so I do not have to let them have the Bobcat back until after two to four days if on an eight hour rental as they are closed on weekends and holidays.

They give me a break or extra hours/day if there is a mechanical issue that prevents me from using it.

This also helped me on taxes. A buddy of mine in Arcadia, OK wanted to rent one to cut his boundary, but the closest was Abiline, TX. Their cost was less than mine.

I am renting over the Thanksgiving holiday to try to cut a boundary and green trail (for deer/turkey) on our West side 2800 feet x 10 foot wide to the river. I clear up to large trees and then go around them as I want to keep them.

This mulching helps with environmetal issues as no roots are removed thus I do not get in trouble with the NRSC or Corp of Eng as I near the river. Nor do I devert any water as the trucks leave no footprint (per se) and I am not "blading anything" which a dozer or FEL would do.

The mulcher cuts to the ground leaving noting to harm the JD wheels or impede the MX5.

Best to you.

Jim

 

[sfloggie]

I meant "tracks leave no foot print" Mike.

 

[955Lincoln]

As others have mentioned, use the tree's falling weight to help pop the stump out of the ground. You will make a whole lot more work if you cut them down first.

 

[IslandTractor]

As others have mentioned, use the tree's falling weight to help pop the stump out of the ground. You will make a whole lot more work if you cut them down first.

Agree. A CUT based TLB can handle up to 12 inch trees without much difficulty by adding a ripper tooth to the BH. A BH is a big purchase but it adds huge flexibility to have your own and you can always sell it after you finish your job. At the rates that a skidsteer or minitrack go for on daily basis, you can justify a temporary BH purchase for just about any project that is more than three or four days work.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachments/185530-added-ripper-my-woods-bh90x.html

 

[sfloggie]

That is true IT. I have a BH, but am so inexperienced with it that I found the BobCat easier and thus faster. I will be learning the BH soon as my wife has given me one last time with the BobCat rental and only because of a free day.
Jim

 

[IslandTractor]

That is true IT. I have a BH, but am so inexperienced with it that I found the BobCat easier and thus faster. I will be learning the BH soon as my wife has given me one last time with the BobCat rental and only because of a free day.
Jim

I think you will find that a ripper can be purchased for about what you would rent a Bobcat for a day so it is a good investment. I recall that my thread discusses my ripper purchase from Michigan Iron. Great to work with them.

 

[sfloggie]

Good idea thanks..I forgot abbout the ripper as I have never seen one except on TV and here. I will check into one as to the right one for my JD 3320.

Jim

 

[wrooster]

Some more ideas/insight in this thread:
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/projects/218203-clearing-1-2-acre-you.html

 

[Mike476]

Wish you better luck than I had, once we cleared all but the trees we wanted for the lot before building, within two or three years we lost some to winds, either snapping in half or uprooting themselves entirely. Not particularly strong winds either, but once they were no longer protected by surrounding trees the exposure to weather proved too much for some of them.

The first pic is where we decided to clear cut and replant where we wanted them for landscaping, mature trees (maples / oaks) in the background, can make a nice balance.

Row of spruce to the left of the birch were planted 8 years ago, approx 2 feet tall. Are now 15-16 feet.

 

[Gary Fowler]

We had a guy with a D6 dozer come in and clear 1/4 mile long strip to reset our fence line to correct coordinates. The strip was angled from about 10 feet up to 70 feet wide at the lower corner. Took him about a half day at $80 per hour to do it all. He didnt have a root rake for his dozer, just a 6 way blade and therefore we got a lot of dirt in the timber pile. After it dried out for about a year, we had some need for a dozer again and while we had him here, we got him to repile the timber and separate the dirt. Took another 3 hours for that. We had him leave all the big pines and oaks and just take out the scrub sweet gums and small trees and bushes. Total time of about 9 hours time to completed the work and much better than we could do it with out tractors.
Best clearing that I have seen done though is with the chipper.