clearing understory - can I avoid the turtles?

[hunterridgefarm]

Y'know what? The first thing I thought of when I read honeysuckle and ivy wasn't a brush hog, sickle bar or weedeater, it was GOATS. Seriously, if you know anybody with a herd of goats or ever considered owning some they will do a better job of clearing your underbrush, with zero worries about collateral turtle damage, than just about anything going. There are people who make good money renting out their goat herds for just that purpose. Just a thought.

That will work, we did this on a 1ac lot we needed cleared.

However you are not helping me rent out my dog with statements like this

 

[ohbehave]

As I walked through the woods today, that thought just occurred to me. The turtles have probably buried themselves!

I just bought the Kubota B3200su today...it will be here Wednesday after I get some lessons at the dealer. I did not buy a bush hog...yet. I'll figure out what I really need as I go along.

My first mission will be to move the trashy huge trees....and various kinds of stuff laying around back in the woods.

The grub grabber looks interesting. I'm going to try to use the front bucket to push the bigger honeysuckles....and the toothbar to push under them just a bit ... whatever works.

I'll need to learn about chains and how to attach them. I get the feeling that I'll be needing to do a lot of dragging of logs and pulling at big things.

 

[Kapnfriday]

I would recommend having your dealer weld on some chain hooks to the FEL before he delivers it. I did this and have been amazed at how often I use them to lift/drag things with chains. I also bought a toothbar when I got the tractor and use it all the time. It's on the tractor more than off. I have a lot of areas like you describe - overgrown understory, honeysuckle, weed trees, etc. I'm planning on getting a grubber at some point to remove weed trees.

Be careful once you get into the woods with the tractor. I've found that tractoring around in the woods is quite a bit different than on open, level ground. Unseen holes and stumps have a way of taking you by surprise in the woods. Using a toothbar to dig/push out trees is a good way to get yourself up on three (or less) wheels. Not saying don't use it for that purpose - just know that you can get a tooth up under roots that are still too embedded to be pried out and the prying force of the loader can raise your wheels off the ground. Depending on the situation it can raise your front or rear wheels.

Congrats on the new tractor.

 

[ohbehave]

Thanks.... I'll try to be wary and work exceedingly slowly. Even at a very slow pace, the tractor will allow me to do more in an hour than I can do in three days by hand.

This thread has allowed me to think this through and think of my plans more clearly..... I will be amazed if a single turtle gets hurt at this point.

Can't wait to get started.

Kapnfriday..... in your thumbnail avatar....what is that building behind you? Is it a small cottage?

 

[Kapnfriday]

Once you get started and get comfortable with the tractor you'll be amazed at what you can get done.

The building in my avatar is our "cabinette". My wife and I built it as a prototype camping cabin to see if we were really willing to take on building our own full size cabin in the NC mountains. Building the cabinette was fun but it showed us that hiring out the full size cabin was the way to go. Nontheless we have some good memories from camping in the cabinette.

Here's a little video of the cabinette building process: Cabinette_0001.WMV - YouTube (no turtles were harmed in the making of this video.)

 

[wolftree]

ohbehave,

I admire your devotion to saving critters. But, I question trying to use a bush hog in a wooded area. I of course cannot see the woods and under brush you are describing. I do agree about using a few goats as a cheaper, safer and faster way to clear the woods.

I had goats that cleared areas of my woods that I was unable to get to even by foot, let alone by tractor. So give serious thought to trying them first, then bringing your tractor for piling and pushing deadfall into piles.

Goats are cheap, $50 or less each and will do more of what you want, safer and cheaper.

 

[ohbehave]

For about $5,000, I can get the rest of my property totally enclosed with fencing.

Once I do that, those $40 goats might be the ticket. (and I am planning on completing the fencing anyway)

 

[wolftree]

ohbehave,

I had several areas I was afraid to back a Bush Hog into. You never know when you are going to discover a long hidden bumper off of a 47 Plymouth. Those can be wicked flying through the air. While my goats did not find a Plymouth bumper, they did uncover piles of rocks and old metal fence posts. Both would have tore up a bush hog or went flying through the air.


The antics of the goats will make you want to throw away your TV as well.

 

[LJH]

The antics of the goats will make you want to throw away your TV as well.

True that! ^ Our two make us laugh until our sides hurt. If you're seriously considering goats do a little research on the care & feeding. They're easy keepers but do need a few basic things to stay healthy and happy. Ours were rescues and I knew zilch about goatness when we got them; pretty much everything I learned (and still learning) came from this site:

The Goat Spot - Goat Forum

Hey, do this right and you'll have your brush cleared with entertainment, milk and cheese as a bonus. :thumbsup: