clearing sapplings

[farmerpsv]

have any of you ever used your tractor to clear thickett? i just bought 32 acres with nice old growth and alot of sapplings in between. want to clear about 10 of it. i've always had open pasture, so this is new to me. lots of 1 to 3 inch sapplings i want to clear. i have a 4wd NH TN65 w/FEL. don't suppose the fel would work to great for clearing, maybe a front blade? do they make such an animal? is this crazy and really requires a dozer?
thanks
paul

 

[EddieWalker]

You got a big enough tractor with plenty of power to run a serious shredder. Just mow them down.

 

[KENB]

You might want to get a toothbar for your FEL. I find it works well for clearing Yopon bushes.

 

[Tdog]

Ditto on the toothbar. I've only got a 22 hp BX22 & get good results clearing yaupon, at least the small ones.

If you are in a hurry, yeah, get the dozer in.

 

[texbaylea]

I am doing a lot of brush clearing now. I have a Hy-Reach Tree Shear on my FEL and can cut anything up to 8" at ground level. The with a grapple on the FEL bucket, it is easy to pick it all up and pile it for later burning or chipping or shredding. A toothbar on the bucket gets out th small stuff.

Country Home products has what is called a beaver blade - 8 inches in diameter with a chain saw edge that fits on the larger weed eaters. Works great for cutting clumps of small stuff that you can't reach with the tractor.

Vernon

 

[Egon]

One or two forks attached to the bucket will work. Straddle the tree and dig in the forks - then curl the bucket to break roots and lift out the tree. The forks will also work for stacking the removed trees. Doing this should remove a lot of roots and stumps. Makes it much easier to work the land afterwards.

Egon

 

[farmerpsv]

thanks everyone for your input.
what are "yopon"? i was out fooling around with a chainsaw yesterday, gave me perspective /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif. i have some great trees, the 3" go about 12 to 15 feet, straight up, mostly oak, my solice is that i'll leave 22 acres and let em grow. should be nice by the time it's ready to cut the old growth. i've seen the dr beaver and considered it or a front end cutting device, the mix is such that a bush hog would be a bit overwhelmed, this is thicket with heavy growth and i think i would fry a few clutches in the process. any of you used a harley rake? would that work on the left over stumps? i'll just have to get out there and try the fel (tractor is not on site yet) and play around with it, maybe try it in conjuction with my box blade
paul

 

[PitbullMidwest]

Check out this thread from the archives. I think it will do exactly what you're looking for.

Sapling puller

 

[farmerpsv]

pitbull,
yeah! that's really great, i can see where that would work great and it's very simple.
thanks
paul

 

[farmerpsv]

Hey Pitbull,
i did a search on "brush brute" and came up empty handed. do you happen to know a resource for such an implement?
thanks
paul