Cutting down Juniper, Cedar, brush along fence lines

[frogracer]

I am liking this device - just a little costly to purchase and not a rental place close to the property - wish there was a close rental - Sealy/Columbus Texas area

 

[3Lfarms]

Lane Shark USA – The Only FEL Mounted Brush Cutter Designed For The Midsize Tractor
One of these should do 90% of what you are wanting to do and is within your budget.

 

[Wakey]

Lane Shark USA – The Only FEL Mounted Brush Cutter Designed For The Midsize Tractor
One of these should do 90% of what you are wanting to do and is within your budget.

Seems like you could pull a bush hog and clean much of what you trim at the same time. On cutting trails anyway.

 

[Rowdy Redneck]

I would say man up and buy this, LOL...Right of way saw

 

[frogracer]

I would say man up and buy this, LOL...Right of way saw

That would be perfect and the major cutting portion of the job would be done in an hour or two. I could then pick up with the grapple and finish off the remainder my hand. Would love to rent this for a day! Or better yet, hire it out to an experience operator that knows how to use it!

 

[Rowdy Redneck]

I have seen one being used to clear the right of way below and alongside power lines. I think the crew was a private group who subcontracted to the utility company. Maybe there are similar outfits near you. You could perhaps call the utility companies to see who does their clearing.

 

[tmc_31]

Sorry, a little late to the party. I will go ahead and relate my experience anyhow. A few years ago a friend of mine hired me to clear about 3/4 mile of barbed wire fenceline. The fence line was in pretty bad shape and thickly overgrown with mesquite, cedar and other stuff. I rented a tree shear with a built in grapple from one of our local rental places. Probably was about $400-500/day. I used my NH L170 to run it. It took me the better part of a day to clear the fence line. I could shear (in one bite) a 20" mesquite trunk, pick up the whole tree and move it to where I wanted it. One problem we had was much of the fence was under a 12.5kV 3 phase power line. So since many of the trees were up to 40' tall. I had to be vary careful to keep the trees out of the lines while cutting and moving them. It was fairly easy to do given the equipment I was using.

I was very impressed with how easy this was to do. This project was in Abilene Texas and I was able to rent the shear locally.

Tim

 

[frogracer]

Thanks tic_31 - I appreciate the real life feed back. most likely going to put most of the work off for a year (only to make it tougher next...)

 

[lpigott]

I have a Lane Shark and would not recommend one for this purpose. If most of the trunks were less than 2" then yes but many in those pictures are much larger. There are heavier units, especailly with your size tractor that will handle the larger sizes much better. Look at Quick Attach skid steer mower attachments low flow offerings and then Youtube search for the model to see them in action. However, search for a forestry mulching service in your area. You will be shock at how many there are so they are very competitive and will come give you a free quote they could do the work in a day and be done. I live in the deep south myself and there is NO WAY and no sense in attempting to do what you want with powered hand tools unless you LOVE manual labor and have the time to do it in the winter. It is too late for that this year as it has warmed up a bunch already.

 

[davek78063]

It isn't as bad as it looks. A good pole saw ran by one person while another pulls the cut limbs back will open up the shrubs to a chain saw fairly fast. This is similar to the fence rows at my place in some areas, nothing worse than those dense shrubbery to cut unless it is dense shrubbery overgrown with saw briars. You will need at least one person pulling back the cut limbs so the person running the pole saw can just keep whacking them down.
You will be surprised how fast that you can open that tangle up to expose the trunks.
You may need to work from the side opposite the fence for easier access.

For that thick hedge, I would cut it to within ground level, it will grow back at a rate of about 4 feet a year which you will need to keep topped to prevent a nasty regrowth that will look like the original in 5 years. The only way to kill that is to dig out all the roots. I don't even think 2-4D will totally kill it.

Goats do love it though and that my be an option to use to thin out the ground level stuff prior to tackling it. I do hate goats though as they climb on everything, stick there heads through small holes in fences and get stuck. A real PIA.

Few things about the Juniper Cedar in TX. If you cut all the foliage off it will be dead. You do NOT have to pull it out by the roots. In fact that is the only good thing about cedar here. It is a severe water hog that prevents the little bit of rain from getting to the ground to fill the aquifers and/or grass. It is ugly and not native and will choke out most if not all natural foliage or plants. Also goats will not eat this stuff. Would be great if they did, I would let a few loose on my property. If you want to get rid of it I would recommend a bobcat with a tree sheer. You could cut thru it all in a weekend then use a grapple and pick it up and move to burn piles.