Clearing overgrown forest

[Overgrown]

Hello everyone, this is my first post. I am new to land ownership and just bought 90 acres in West Central Illinois. I have a Yanmar LX490 tractor along with some attachments and have been working on cleaning up the land. The property consists of about 8 acres of pasture and yard around the house, while the rest is an overgrown thick almost impenetrable mess.

The property has a lot of Black Locust (I have had many flat tires on my tractor and utility vehicle from the thorns) and Osage Orange, Buckthorn, Multiflora and other obnoxious thorny brush. The forest has some nice Walnut trees and some Cottonwoods and Sycamore trees which I would like to clean up around these trees so that I can hike around and enjoy the forest. Right now I have to get on my hands and knees in many places to go through the forest, and get all cut up from all the thorns. There are also a lot of downed trees and the creek beds are full of downed trees and brush.

I have been cleaning the land with a chainsaw and the FEL and Root Grapple on the tractor, but it is slow as molasses and I have stumps everywhere. I am burning up all this brush, which can't be all that great for the environment.

I have been looking at the Track Loader Mulchers and they are impressive, but they are expensive.

Would it make sense to buy a Track Loader and Mulcher, use it and then try to sell it. I found some places in Chicago that rent them for about 8-9 thousand bucks a month, which is also expensive. Some people have suggested using goats. Basically I am looking for a little guidance and suggestions on how best to clean up the land so that I can enjoy it.

Is there anyone in the area that does this kind of work?

Thanks

 

[J_J]

Have you asked for any quotes for cleaning up your land?

 

[Overgrown]

I havent yet, thought it would be fun and ego boosting to do as much as I can myself. I'm in no rush to clean up the land. I probably will get some quotes just to get an idea.

 

[oosik]

Welcome to TBN from Ea WA state. Essentially you have 80 acres thats as thick as the hair on a dogs back and it sounds like it all has thorns of some kind. You can keep doing it the way you are or hire it out. I think you might be surprised at the mess still remaining after you hire it out and for sure, the cost. If time is not a problem - then hack at it and look forward to that day when it will be the way you want it.

 

[bcp]

Clear roads/trails through it, then keep widening them. That gives you lots of edges to work on and routes to drag stuff out.

Bruce

 

[Rustyiron]

Welcome to both TBN and land ownership! I find that "chipping away" (clearing/cleaning) at you place is highly rewarding & therapeutic and delivers a certain sense of achievement that is hard to come by these days. Get your tires "foam filled" and hack away. Occasionally you might want to rent an excavator (also highly therapeutic) to take a big bite out of it, removing and stacking it for your later further processing of it with your tractor. Black Locust is great firewood, might be time to get a good wood stove also.:thumbsup:
A good friend of mine (let's just say raised WAY back in the WV mountain's & woods) told me; "that's why they made man live so long, He's got a lot of work to do"

 

[Overgrown]

Thanks for responding Rustyiron. I have put that green slime in the tires and it only works for really small holes. Where can I find someone to fill the tires with foam. My local tire shop, didn't know anything about foam filling tires, but I suspect they don't want to lose all my business.

 

[davesl708]

Thanks for responding Rustyiron. I have put that green slime in the tires and it only works for really small holes. Where can I find someone to fill the tires with foam. My local tire shop, didn't know anything about foam filling tires, but I suspect they don't want to lose all my business.

Check with your dealer. They should be able or know who can fill the tires.
I had a similar project on a much smaller scale. My BX with FEL cleared everything under 3". Pushed it in a pile to burn. Advertised free firewood for cutting.
Got rid of a lot of it that way.
Just some thoughts.

Good luck and welcome.

 

[tmc_31]

You can rent a skid steer or a compact track loader for weekend jaunt through the forest. A ratchet rake on a standard bucket works wonders for clearing underbrush. Get a skid with an enclosed cab and the thorns won't bother you. You will be surprised at how big a tree you can push over with a large skid loader. Much cheaper than a mulcher but you have to pile the brush and burn it or get rid of it in some manner.

Tim

 

[JimRB]

Some folks get aircraft tires that have really thick carcasses for front tires. http://www.genscotire.com/agriculture.html

 

[MinnesotaEric]

I havent yet, thought it would be fun and ego boosting to do as much as I can myself. I'm in no rush to clean up the land. I probably will get some quotes just to get an idea.

No rush? Then check this attachment out. One at a time, you evict the evil via tractor exorcism.

This company is local to me and their prices seem pretty reasonable.

Buckthorn Puller - Custom built Skid Steer attachments to fit almost any need you may have.

 

[woodchipper]

:welcome: fro Québec, Canada!
Following your posting, it looks like you have plenty of work on your hands! Actually , by this, I mean plenty of Tractor seat time enjoyment!:thumbsup:
Now, to get to business..., as you are not in a hurry to do the work, and as you have a Tractor that offers you plenty of capability, the do it yourself avenue is the only option I would recommend. When you contract out, you know when you start, but not when you finish most of the time... And price wise, you will quickly empty your pockets.
Not to lead you in ten different directions at once, let me suggest you one thing very usefull to get started on the right foot: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...PTO-driven_mulching_attachment_on_tractor.jpg
This is a Forestry Mulcher, mounted on the three point. This will permit you to get rid of most unwanted growth, while nourishing the soil. No burning, no waisted time hauling away a million loads of debris, etc. This will complement real well your Root Rake. Also, for long term forest maintenance, you will need a five foot bush hog. The heavyer, the better. It is a small investment, worth every penny (get a heavy duty model!).
If you could post some pics, we would also love to see what you are dealing with!
Happy Tractoring!:tractor:

 

[CDN Farm Boy]

Thanks for responding Rustyiron. I have put that green slime in the tires and it only works for really small holes. Where can I find someone to fill the tires with foam. My local tire shop, didn't know anything about foam filling tires, but I suspect they don't want to lose all my business.

Check with an equipment rental yard....one of the bigger ones that would serve contractors more than the average homeowner. They are the foam filled market so they should be able to point you in the right direction

 

[Xfaxman]

No rush? Then check this attachment out. One at a time, you evict the evil via tractor exorcism.

------------------------------

This company is local to me and their prices seem pretty reasonable.

Buckthorn Puller - Custom built Skid Steer attachments to fit almost any need you may have.

+1 on the Buckthorn Puller. I have the Longarm.

More pictures: http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachments/277824-tree-puller.html#post3444397

 

[MH8675309]

When you take the trees out try and stump them as close to the ground as possible. In time stumps will rot. Or you can leave them longer so they can be ripped out with an excavator. Get a file so you can sharpen your chain,, Have fun

 

[yellowdogsvc]

Welcome to the forums.
I've got my own 100 acre wood with arroyos, cliffs, and a lot of cedar and oak trees. Even with my own equipment (mulcher, shear, chipper, mini ex, etc.), I find that clearing trails is the best way to open my property versus wholesale clearing. I spend a lot of time working my own place. It's expensive in fuel, time, maintenance, and wear and tear but it is worth it to do it yourself.

With that said, I've done almost all of it with a tree shear, chipper and mulcher. I probably cleared the most with a tree shear and I did burn some stuff a long time ago but mostly recycle or use logs for erosion control or to reclaim trails I don't use.

 

[EddieWalker]

The best machine for clearing trees is an excavator with a thumb on it. Nothing else even comes close if you want to get the entire tree out with it's root ball. Cutting them down and grinding them down leaves the root ball, which means it might grow back, or be something that you have to take out. Grinding/mulching the underbrush works fine for just doing small stuff. If that's all you want to have removed, hiring it out would be the fastest, easiest, and probably cheapest way to go. If you are wanting to create roads and open areas, I would get an excavator.

The draw back to an excavator, and any tree removal is what to do with them when they are out of the ground. I burn most of mine in a very large log pile. Getting the trees and debris to the burn pile is more work then getting them out of the ground. I've found that a grapple is the best thing ever for cleaning up an area. A good sized tractor with a grapple will pick up and carry most of what you take out. Sometimes you have to cut a really big tree up into a few pieces, and sometimes you still have to wrap a chain around it and drag it, but that's up to you if you are going to take out anything huge.

If you don't want to spend the money on two machines, a full sized 80 hp backhoe or bigger is a great all around machine that does it all. I removed my front bucket and put a grapple on it, which is one of the smartest things I ever did. The backhoe can take out any sized tree, and the loader is strong enough to pick up most of them. For really big holes, I just put the bucket back on again and haul in a yard or several yards of dirt to fill and compact it. Once done, nobody would ever know anything had happened there. It's just smooth, bare dirt.

Eddie

 

[treemuncher]

Every time that I clear my own land with the dozer or trackhoe with conventional slash and burn methods, I always swear at myself and ask WTF was I thinking. For me, leaving the stumps in the ground is not a problem where all I want to do is grow grass. Mulching is the fastest, most time efficient method for me. It's also my business.

Even if you need the stumps pushed or ripped out, once they are cut to grade level, the stumps tend to split out easier and faster than they would if there were several inches of stump above ground. If I have to extract stumps on a job and I don't use the stump grinder, a Tiger Tooth on the corner of the bucket will split stumps and knock most all of the dirt off. Then I mulch those to get rid of them. Less ground disturbance, less work, faster results.

I like to work fast. One day with tooooo much coffee, I started to demo a single story ranch with the demolition rake and thumb.....it was taking wayyyy to long. So I put the grinder head on instead, and in 45 minutes, the house and garage were chipped into mulch and ready for load out. That was with the 170 hp powerpack - now I have a 300 hp unit on the back with bigger pumps. Faster, more efficient.

 

[Cat_Driver]

I had the EXACT same problem. I deal with date palms thees that have thorns up to 3" long and as sharp as a hypodermic needle.
I had so many flats on my Kubota I quickly found myself doubling the price of the tires at $20.00 a repair. Then it hit me - get a track loader, which is what I did the next day, and haven't looked back. Just recently I was quoted 6K to trim back some trees.
I dove in with the track loader and grippler and was in and out in two days. about 400 ft.

 

[ultrarunner]

Had to drive 60 miles to a large AG tire dealer and one that also does recapping.

They foam fill 40 hours a week and it is based on weight...

Best thing I did was to have the rear on my Kubota done... better stability, added weight and no more flats.