Clearing small trees

[horse7]

Around here 2" would mean 10-15 years-- if you had enough horizon, I'd bush hog for a few years so the old sapling roots die off and rot, takes less (human) time that way. You sort of imply there is more acreage, perhaps bush hog the other acreage and do the extra work on the 1 acre you want to plant on.

If you want to use the 1 acre this year, you probably need to get as much root system up as possible. I'd try an FEL/toothbar to get up what I could, then something like a brushgrubber (which I use), the chain one works well on bushes particularly if you don't mind crawling through the dirt to get to the bottom of the bush (these are 12' and higher bushes that rabbits like to live under); small trees up to 3" I've never been stopped by, but over that even with a 4' lever arm (tree cut off 4' up) sometimes the tree just won't come out unless I can try multiple directions. Seems like trees always have a weaker direction to yank them out. PITA though for one person, that brush grubber Xtreme seems to gain weight almighty fast as the day wears on as does all that logging chain.

 

[the old grind]

Big +1 on the brush grubber for 1"-2" trees. Too thin a trunk can slip between it's teeth and just strip bark. Bushes with several big limbs can be loosened a bit with BH stinger or corner of FEL bucket and yanked from there grabbing one that fits the jaw opening. (#^#% autumn olive) I pull most with a short chain on frt bucket and grab hook shackled to the tool. Jiggle-jerk the stick a little coming up and some dirt will shake off the root ball. All gone & small hole left to ignore. (depends on soil type, too) Use the drawbar & longer chain to pull the biggest ones but watch for where the trunk tips when they come loose.

I can get a 10yr old to rock a foot pedal & steer the HST CUT while I select and rig up. Productivity is unmatched if your stuff is in the right size-range for this. Dry overnight & toss right on the burn pile. btw: I let someone else explain why not to brush-hog hardwood saplings when I helped him r&r a tire he'd punctured doing it. Ratchet Rake should scratch up any too small for the 'grubber'. IMO, the pair could pay for themselves in a week or so with time/effort saved.

 

[Egon]

First off what kind of trees and what kind of soil. Both make a difference.

If the soil is not solid clay and the trees are mostly shallower rooted try the loader.

One acre is not very large an area. Your tractor should have lots of loader ability. Use the loader to dig out the whole tree and make a pile out of the way. Most times just moving the downed trees will get rid of attached soil. Try and keep it as level as possible. Easy to say. Much harder to do. Then take out the rotatiller. Make sure the back flap is fully open. It lets junk out the back rather than rolling round and round. Keep tilling and levelling till you are satisfied.

Note: dig down with the loader and then use the curl to lift out the tree. Just a straight cutting edge will work but the toothed attachment would be better. My Kubota B71100 HST cleared a few acres this way. Some of the trees were bigger.

Big tractor and big disk would be the easiest but they may be hard to come by.

 

[dsaw]

I got out there today and got some area cleared. What I ended up doing was using the brush cutter for small stuff, 1/2"-3/4" in diameter. I'm not sure what most of the trees were, they are a hardwood scrub tree that has a very shallow root system of 1-2 roots that could run for 15+ ft a few inches deep. Most die off when they get to about 1-2" in diameter. A toothbar should be perfect for clearing these. Anything over 1" I wrapped a chain around and my wife was on the tractor to yank it out. We also took out several ceders and one maple; up to 3" in diameter. I can see now that a brush grubber will be added to the tool kit very soon. I've come across a toothbar, but need to drill the holes to mount it to the bucket. I didn't get as much cleared as I wanted, maybe 1/2 acre; but it's a start. The rototiller never hit anything that triggered the slip clutch or seemed to give it any problems. I think the ground was a bit too wet because it was balling up on me. I did have to clean the mud/roots out a few times. Next time I'm out (which won't be for a few weeks due to some travel plans), I need to see if the box blade can get deep enough to grab the shallow root systems.

 

[newbury]

<snip> I didn't get as much cleared as I wanted, maybe 1/2 acre; but it's a start. <snip>.

Well if you've done half of the job why get additional equipment?

If you are going to get more I'd recommend either a tooth bar or Piranha bar.

However IF you know you'll eventually want pallet forks they can be used effectively in digging up roots

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachments/276088-brush-removal-strategy.html#post3262947

 

[yankeerider]

Maybe your recent experience says you're good to go. Otherwise, haveyou considered renting a mini-ex for a day? You likely could completely extract most of those in one curl of its bucket. For a couple hundred bucks, you'd have them out in no time, andeven a few bigger ones if there.

Sent from my iPad using TractorByNet

 

[Bogi]

This has worked for me in the past. Agreeing with deezler don't cut em short, you need that to pull on. Second, three point lifting combined with forward and backward movement. Creative chaining and you will find what you need for your ground. I had to build a 3pt. ripper for all the one's I cut short before I learned.

 

[fredflintstone]

what about root grapple or a rock bucket