Backhoe Dealing with pine trees

[ruffdog]

I wanted about 5 acres of Scotch Pine and Blue Spruce (ave 8" trunk), tree every 7' grid (~1800) because they were a fire hazard. I hired Homer Tree service to come in with a feller/buncher that grabs the tree while a big circular saw blade cuts close to the ground. Each tree takes about half a sec to cut and he could cut/grab 3 at one time before laying them down. Then they used a traveling chipper to stuff bunches of trees in and chipped them all. They then ran the Hydro-ax to level all stumps and brush. It also distributed the chips around the area. DONE!

 

[Tennsawdust]

I wanted about 5 acres of Scotch Pine and Blue Spruce (ave 8" trunk), tree every 7' grid (~1800) because they were a fire hazard. I hired Homer Tree service to come in with a feller/buncher that grabs the tree while a big circular saw blade cuts close to the ground. Each tree takes about half a sec to cut and he could cut/grab 3 at one time before laying them down. Then they used a traveling chipper to stuff bunches of trees in and chipped them all. They then ran the Hydro-ax to level all stumps and brush. It also distributed the chips around the area. DONE!
View attachment 595547View attachment 595548View attachment 595549

That would be the ticket!:thumbsup::thumbsup:

 

[Looking4new]

With your stumps, IF you can still get it, Potassium Nitrate/Salt Peter will rot your stumps.
IF in Canada, then any high nitrogen fertilizer will do the same thing, it just takes longer.

 

[Industrial Toys]

That's some nice big iron. No offense, but compact equipment just isn't meant for earthmoving or forestry work.

 

[1930]

I appreciate all the feedback, Ill post some pictures, maybe you guys would enjoy.

Really the only pict. I was gonna post was the pine stump I was trying to dig out with my first piece of equipment and that was the DR towable backhoe.

I didnt fare well with that.

As Im hoping can be seen but maybe not too clearly is that the hole is approx 2 feet down and the stump/tree only gains substantially in circumference.

Starts out at approx 9 inches and I swear every bit of 16 inches could be measured 2-3 feet down, thats a tap root, I gave up, I dont know how deep that one goes, Its still there and I guess I will find out.

 

[Oldoak]

Wow 1930, where's your rocks? I have more hardpan and red shale than good soil around our neck of the woods here in the northeast.

 

[jdom84]

Anyone here ever had to deal with their removal? Ive got a lot to remove. Ive already played around with them enough to know they arent very cooperative.

Sandy soil, tap roots go straight down and the trunk only gets larger underground.

Ive just ordered a Kubota tractor/backhoe and I plan to see what I can do, surely I can remove the 4 inchers and under but that still leaves alot of larger.

Im thinking of digging down one side ( once the tree is felled ) and just cutting off the stump underground with a battery powered sawzall but its worth asking here others experiences.

No Im not interested in hiring someone to come in and do it for me nor rent a piece of equipment at this point but thanks.

why not just sell the land with trees and buy land with out trees?

 

[radios1]

With your stumps, IF you can still get it, Potassium Nitrate/Salt Peter will rot your stumps.
IF in Canada, then any high nitrogen fertilizer will do the same thing, it just takes longer.

Pool shock(high strength chlorine) works very fast.. drill 4 holes, and pour it in.. put a cover over it so it stays there. this only has to be done once. it takes 24 hours for the Chlorine to break down into a harmless chemical, so no problem with the rest of the yard..

 

[radios1]

a Cat D10 will take down any trees you want.. no need to worry about that!..

 

[boomer1025]

my vote is to cut them flush with a chainsaw low enough you can brush hog over the top. In a few years they will be all rotted away and not leave a big mess. That's what i'm doing with a lot of the alders I have on my property.

:thumbsup:

 

[1930]

Wow 1930, where's your rocks? I have more hardpan and red shale than good soil around our neck of the woods here in the northeast.

Nothing but sand, I cant tell you the last time I have seen a rock unless it was placed there by someone

why not just sell the land with trees and buy land with out trees?

Possibly unlike Montana no-ones giving away land here for cheap just to get people to move over. I need to work with the land I already own

Pool shock(high strength chlorine) works very fast.. drill 4 holes, and pour it in..

I may try this, can you tell me more.....drill 4 holes pour it in......thats it? Do I need to do this repeatedly?

a Cat D10 will take down any trees you want.. no need to worry about that!..

I cant even afford the Kubota without having to get financing, pretty sure cat 10 is not in the budget

:thumbsup:

 

[1930]

post # 17 shows a stump grinder mounted on the rear of a tractor? I never knew such a thing existed and no-one told me this before that I can remember on any other forum?

Can I rent this? People keep saying get a stump grinder......I keep thinking how am I gonna drag a hand held stump grinder through 5 acres of sand?

 

[Jstpssng]

Nothing but sand, I cant tell you the last time I have seen a rock unless it was placed there by someone

Possibly unlike Montana no-ones giving away land here for cheap just to get people to move over. I need to work with the land I already own

I may try this, can you tell me more.....drill 4 holes pour it in......thats it? Do I need to do this repeatedly?

I would be hesitant to dump that much chlorine onto my land, especially as sandy as yours is; but that's just my opinion.

I cant even afford the Kubota without having to get financing, pretty sure cat 10 is not in the budget

It would have cost me about 2K for the excavator (with operator) for 2 days to clear 2 acres. Now it would probably be about $2500. I lucked out and they did it because I let them put a wood yard on my land. When they were done I had tillable ground, and the stumps are in 13 piles waiting for me to buy a grapple and dump truck so that I can move them to their final resting place, a stump dump which I can cover and plant raspberries.
He also moved the big rocks, but it looks like that's not a concern with you.

It sounds like you have time and a plan; it will take you a while anyways to cut those trees and dispose of them. As others have mentioned pine stumps will rot down quickly so if you wait even a year they will pull a lot easier.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I have dug up a lot of pine trees with my B26. It does take a while for some of them with really deep tap roots. I set up and dig out on two sides, then reposition so I can dig out the other two sides. I use the hoe to test the stability of the tree when I start getting down to the bottom. When I can get it to start leaning in the direction I want it to fall, I start working on the other three sides till it gets loose enough that I can push it over with the hoe.
Sometimes the hole is pretty big when you are working on a large tree (20" or more at the base) but I just use the FEL to push the dirt back in and walk it in with the front tires. Usually I have enough dirt to completely fill the hole by scraping up the mounted dirt that is always around the larger trees.

 

[1930]

At the this point I would only have to deal with the trees that border the property I want these removed so I can put up my fence.

That will leave another maybe 100 trees plus and I'm starting to like the idea of leaving them to rot over the next few years.

I don't plan to start to consider building until Feb 2023 so I do have some time

 

[hunt4570]

At the this point I would only have to deal with the trees that border the property I want these removed so I can put up my fence.

That will leave another maybe 100 trees plus and I'm starting to like the idea of leaving them to rot over the next few years.

I don't plan to start to consider building until Feb 2023 so I do have some time

So you have 5 acres right? and are going to build a house sometime in the future correct? Why do you want to remove ALL the trees? Why not leave some of them for shade, wildlife habitat or whatever? Yep, its your place and can do whatever you like, I'm just curious as to why.

 

[1930]

I don't like pine, I have other trees on the property that I am looking forward to keeping and am looking for ways to bring them back to a healthy state.

I don't like barren property. I want trees, just not the pine

 

[1930]

I keep reading posts about pushing pines over, here is another pict.

That's my saw with it's 22

No way is this gonna push over.

That's 4 ft down

 

[hunt4570]

I don't like pine, I have other trees on the property that I am looking forward to keeping and am looking for ways to bring them back to a healthy state.

I don't like barren property. I want trees, just not the pine

I like my pines, but then I keep cutting them down to run through my little sawmill! ;-)

 

[hunt4570]

I keep reading posts about pushing pines over, here is another pict.

That's my saw with it's 22

No way is this gonna push over.

That's 4 ft down

Do you know what variety of pine you have, I've never seen one with a tap root like that.

And look at all that sand! That's all I have here too is sand and I'm in north central South Carolina! I did not know I was moving to the beach when I bought this place!