Grapple/rake and multiflora rose

[Brand Name]

Hi all,

I have been reading the site for about a year now and I would like to thank everyone for their contributions. I have solved many a problem with the knowledge I have gained here. One issue that I am having a problem with is which attachment would be the best to attack a long neglected multiflora rose infestation.

I have searched the forum and found plenty of ideas(ratchet rake, root rake grapple, piranha, etc...). Does anyone here have experience in using a grapple rake to clear this stuff? Or can anyone recommend a combination of attachments (ex: piranha with grapple)?

I am running a straight edged bucket on my 7040 but it is not "grabbing" the brush like some of the other options out there. Before I drop anywhere from $300-3000 on a new tool I would like to see if anyone else has successfully battled this horrible plant!

Ps. I have also embarked on what will be a years long chemical warfare/shredding attack....just looking for the right tool to clear what I need donein the immediate future, without having to get into dozer territory.

Thanks,
BN

 

[MikeInEburg]

I've found a three-point rotary mower to be the best solution - however, in my world, rose parts scattered in the vicinity aren't a problem. I imagine it would be a real job trying to pick up the pieces with a grapple.

 

[Hilltop Hillbilly]

Before I drop anywhere from $300-3000 on a new tool I would like to see if anyone else has successfully battled this horrible plant!

Ps. I have also embarked on what will be a years long chemical warfare/shredding attack....just looking for the right tool to clear what I need donein the immediate future, without having to get into dozer territory.

Not to derail the thread, but the best "tool" I've found against multiflora is pigs. No joke, they'll eat them right to the ground, never to return.


HH

 

[Kioti Tom]

Brand Name, :welcome: to TBN

 

[Brand Name]

Thanks for the welcome!

As far as rotary cutters go, they are in use. We have shredded and shredded our pastures and it works well if we stick to the proper schedule in order to minimize the mf "crawling". We also spray Grazon P+D on the fresh cut/emerging plants. This is in addition to spot spraying anything over about 2ft tall.

I am looking for the most efficient way to clear out hedges in the 4-7 ft tall range with my FEL and pile them up to be burned. I really have my eye on a grapple of some sort combined with some type of tooth bar. Unfortunately I have never seen this combination used in my area and everyone that I ask about it doesn't really understand what I am referencing. Most of the time people use dozers with a root rake down here. The brush is extremely thick (think WWII hedgerows) and dozers are really the best route for quick clean up. I am just hoping to find a solution that can allow me to clear out some of the smaller stuff.

And as far as pigs go, we have plenty of those around here! Unfortunately they are the kind that can do a number on row crop and rice fields. I would suspect that some of my neighbors wouldn't be too pleased if I introduced more to our area, even if they are domesticated!

 

[Mistyridgefarm]

I would think a grapple bucket with teeth might be the best all around. You can't them out pretty easy and then carry to the burn pile.

I grew up in multifloral rose country. Loved to rabbit hunt around them but only with brush pants!

 

[TraderMark]

BN,
Being from Ga, I don't know much about multiflora rose but would something like

THIS

help in getting the bushes out of the ground? It's not expensive and is quite easy to build yourself if you have a little welding experience.

Once you get them out of the ground, then a grapple to pile them.

That way you get TWO new toys... uhm...er.. I meant tools!

 

[1bush2hog]

You might try putting some teeth on that front bucket first. You can get under the roots better with the teeth and lift them out of the ground roots and all. Pile them close by and use the FEL to compact the pile before moving the whole pile to your desired area. The teeth will also hold the pile while you move it.

You can use a grapple in similar manner.

I use Remedy in a foliar application, but on larger clumps sometimes need to spray area several years afterwards to get the residual sprigs.

It seems that no matter how careful I am when dealing with MF, I always manage to get stuck.

I've heard goats really like MF too.

Good Luck.

 

[oldballs]

Maybe no help here....but I had 1000 feet of Multiflora Rose ringing my property. At their best they were about 12 feet high and that wide. When they all bloomed in the spring their perfume covered the whole place. The wildlife loved the nesting sites and rose hips. It also made a mini wind break as well as hold the dust along the gravel road.

Later on a disease infected most of it which was ugly with all the dead brush.

Thus, I got in there with a chainsaw and sawed all of it down. The chain saw had an attachment that helped funnel the branches in. My trusty Case 18 HP tractor with a front blade helped to push the mess into piles where it was burned. Well then all those stumps finally had to be removed with a mattock. I was one ****-of-a man in those days...Poor stupid boys have poor and stupid ways. Some still grow around my place, but they are in the wooded area where the thorns still remind me of those days.

 

[Missouri Pioneer]

Although I have a ratchet rake, I have yet to use it. I have had success in the past using my grapple to remove MF by the roots, but they were smaller than what it sounds like you have. The grapple is my favorite attachment and I encourage you to get one.