Clearing old oilfield / farm land

[charlz]

My basic approach would be to devide and conquer. Lay out areas to work and concentrate on them.
Maybe paint/mark danger with florescent paint when you walk it.

I think using this approach as you figure out what part you want to live on. The part you really like at first might turn out to be the least 'build a house' friendly. So walk it and mark it, paint, ribbon, tall stakes etc. and get a feel for it.


greasemonkeyok has definitely posted some good info.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

I like to work on wild grown up areas in the winter, when there is less vegetation, and no leaves.

 

[dmccarty]

I like to work on wild grown up areas in the winter, when there is less vegetation, and no leaves.

And fewer ticks, chiggers, heat, humidity, and because of all of the rain we have had this year, squeeters.

Later,
Dan

 

[RockyMtn.Hillbilly]

Hey, all.

I have 40 acres that has been in my family since the land run days. It was originally part a 160 acre dairy farm, but hasn't seen use for much of anything except oil wells for probably fifty years.

I'm thinking about clearing it and building a little home on the land, but I'm not sure how to go about it. It's pretty grown up with cedars, brush, blackberries, and general weeds.

I can't just hire someone to do the usual "bulldoze it all into a pile" routine because there are active oil lines running from pumps to tanks, random old lengths of sucker rod buried around, and rusty pipe sticking up that goes down somewhere deep I imagine. Most of this stuff is so hidden and buried that you'd never see it if you weren't on foot. There are also some old barn foundations and the foundation of the original farmhouse that I want to keep intact.

What is the best way of clearing land like this without destroying the old foundations or causing an Exxon Valdez scenario (or destroying a brush hog)?

Contact the well producer and tell them what you want done. They may have the oil rights (or not, I don't know the story there), but I do know that if you own the ranch, YOU have the surface rights. And most generally the producer will either do the work around the wells, lines and tanks for you, or since it's only 40 acres (or even if it's the full 160) they just may do they whole thing (in some cases it's easier to wipe out the whole batch instead of just a small patch here and a small patch there). But odds are they will want to do the work around the wells themselves. Liability is the biggest reason. And I doubt you have the money it would take to fix the damage if you hit a pipeline. Only best case scenario there is if it's empty and dry. Otherwise you're looking at a hazmat spill.

 

[DrRod]

Goats are great at this but you have to want to keep goats. I have a neighbor who has a couple and they just drive a stake in the ground and tie them on a ten foot teather and let them eat. They'll move them several times a day depending on the density of the foliage. No fence needed, just a good rope and a watchful eye. But I've seen them move down a fence row in a day and when they are done its all nice and tidy.

 

[adirondackmtnman]

Goats are great at this but you have to want to keep goats. I have a neighbor who has a couple and they just drive a stake in the ground and tie them on a ten foot teather and let them eat. They'll move them several times a day depending on the density of the foliage. No fence needed, just a good rope and a watchful eye. But I've seen them move down a fence row in a day and when they are done its all nice and tidy.

They will definitely strip everything in their reach clean...I have a couple fenced in 1 acre, and everything within the pen, and within a neck's length besides the grass is dead...including a couple 4" maples that they stripped the bark off to about 6' high

Sent from my LGL35G using TractorByNet

 

[MacLawn]

Hmmm, ropes and goats, eh? Sounds like a plan.

 

[tcreeley]

Have you thought of getting the water and soil tested for toxic substances before you put money into this land? Oil may be found naturally, but I wouldn't want to ingest it. As kid we had a 1000 gallon gas tank leak. 10 years later you could still taste it in the water. We had to filter the water before we could drink it, and that was only in the last couple of years. My brother died of brain cancer. I always wonder if there was a link.