clearing trees

[TomG]

Yikes! Looks like I'm not the only one with this particular rant.

Yep, government and public service. Our Province is carrying out something called 'Lands for Life' that is suppose to increase the percentage of 'protected' public land and this and that. Can't figure out why every where I look I see logged public land.

Part of the 'Lands for Life' stuff creates 'Legacy Lands' and 'Heritage Parks.' Any time politicians start naming things like that, I know I'm not part of the public service that is being talked about.

 

[roysallis]

The way to tell a black from a grizzly is to climb a tree. If the bear climbs the tree after you it is a black. If it shakes you out of the tree it is a grizzly.

 

[ejb]

I have a lot of black bears in my woods, and in my yard, and have never really worried about them, I have been less than 10 feet away more than one time and would always just yell at them to go away...BUT in the last few weeks I have read about 2 people killed by black bears, one was somewhere down south I beleive, and one a runner up in canada....I am beginning to rethink my laissez-faire attitude about the black bears.

 

[W5FL]

I would be double careful, ejb. They like to climb on Green things. /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

 

[TomG]

The incident in Canada was sad. The victim was a national athlete who was training for a biathlon competition. Probably the same bear, now dead, charged two cyclists the week before. It seems to be an isolated case of an aberrant bear.

However, black bears are becoming a problem here. There are more of them, and there are more people in the woods. Troubles start when bears or other animals start associating people and food. Bears come around because people equal food. If somebody wants a bear to go somewhere else, then they're competing with the bear for food. It used to be that you didn't have to worry about the big bears, you just had to look out for the little ones. Now you also have to make sure that you're not trying to move a bear off its meal. Gets complicated. You have to especially watch out for dump bears.

A week or so ago there was a story in the paper. A couple of researchers were doing a field study of wolves in British Columbia. The woman was scanning the terrain for wolves and felt something. It was a female wolf licking her hand. A male wolf joined the party later. Over several days, the male started behaving aggressively. The researchers said the male may have been trying to play, but they didn't want to figure it out. They relocated while cursing whoever must have been feeding those wolves.

Anyway, I realize that this is a long way from tractors, but I wanted to say to anybody who vacations in the woods: 'Please don't feed the animals.' It just turns them into problem animals that end up having to be shot. I'd rather see bear alive and in the woods. One thing nice about living here is that when you walk in the bush, there's the feeling that the bear, wolves and moose rule there. You're just a visitor. I'd like to keep it that way.

 

[kwright]

Speaking of clearing trees... I'm no expert, though I do know how to use a chainsaw, so here's my situation:

I have a grove of Hawthorns (nasty trees) that I need to remove. Hawthorns grow multiple small tree trunks from one stump - each trunk is probably between 2 and 4 inches in diameter w/four or five of these small trunks per tree.

My thinking is to cut the trees off just above the ground, then use the loader on my TC21D to dig out around the stump.

Note, I'm not intending to "root out" the stump w/the loader, simply remove soil from around it so I can get access below grade level. I'll then use the chain saw to cut the remaining trunks off below ground, then back fill over the top.

Does this sound workable to those that have done this kind of thing before?

Note, the trees are too big to attempt to pull from the ground, at least with my TC21D and I don't want to leave stumps.

REAL horses weigh a ton.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Kill the trees with a girdling cut and herbicide. Wait 6 months to a tree and the roots will rot and then they tree and roots/stump can be removed with the NH. I have done this with great sucess with large stumps that had sprouts. The roots rot fast after the herbicide takes effect.

 

[Bird]

kwright, I don't know anything about Hawthorns, but I've tried your suggestion on oak, bois d'arc, and a couple of unidentified varieties of trees and it never worked for me. The bucket digs in, promptly hits an underground root, and the tractor stops (wheels may spin but you don't go anywhere with a tractor that size). As for the herbicide killing a tree and waiting for it to rot enough to pull, maybe I haven't found the right herbicide yet. My brother and I have even cut some trees, bored holes in the stumps and poured in a variety of concoctions that we were told would rot them enough to pull, and just last week I pulled two 6" stumps quite easily that I killed 4 years ago. Everything bigger than that has either been slowly dug and chopped out by hand (ax and chain saw) or simply cut off at ground level so I can mow across them without the blades hitting them.

Bird

 

[gordon]

Tom I'm game what type of trees are you refering to? Also what type of killer do you use I've had no luck on trees around here (Delaware) with herbicide. As for natural rotting yes a few years is not uncommon for the stump to look rotten until you get down a few inchs and then is tough as nails.
Gordon

 

[gordon]

Have your considered a stump grinder to clean the stumps out after cutting down the trees? I'm not familiar with the type of tree your talking about but they sound like some pretty tough rascals for sure.

Remember one thing once a sawchain hits the dirt it dulls real fast--like sandpaper. Be careful of kickbacks when cutting roots!!!!
Gordon