Heavy Duty Herbicide?

[N80]

I have a brush and tree problem. Two of them actually. The first is a steep slope leading down to my pond. I've cleared all the land between the pond and my cabin so that it is mowable and I can keep a nice view. But this slope is far too steep for any tractor. I'd say it is about 20 feet down and about 40 yards wide. I've been trying to keep it cleared by hand but it is a losing battle. The gum trees and briars grow faster than I can keep up with.

The second problem is the dam. It is quite large; 150 yards long with a grass road on top which I keep mowed. It is probably 30 feet high (above the waterline) and very steep. The county soil and water folks used to maintain it but they are broke and don't do it. It was cleared by hand by a crew of 'immigrants' about 5 years ago but slopes are now covered with in gum trees, cedars and pines, some 15 feet tall. The slopes are too steep for a tractor.

So I'm wondering what my options are. I could hire my own 'immigrants' to clear this stuff but suspect it would be expensive. There may be equipment with boom mounted mowers but they could not reach all the way down either slope and you can't work from the bottom (pond). I suspect hiring that out would be even more expensive.

So I'm wondering about herbicides. I've seen railroad and powerline crews using something that just kills everything. Fast and dead. Does anyone know what this stuff is? How much it costs? Can mere mortals buy it? Can you hire people to do this sort of thing?

I found this at tractor supply:

It is listed as an orchard sprayer and is about $800. Says it can spray 40 feet away. Uses a 12 volt pump and is sled mounted. If I could get something like this that fits on a 3 pt hitch and is pto or hydraulicly driven it seems like that would be the ticket. Tractor supply has this for $550:

But, they don't say how it is driven and it is a boom sprayer. I guess you could fit it with the same hand sprayer as that orchard sprayer.

If anyone can help me work this out, I'd appreciate it. I think if I found the right tractor mounted sprayer for under $1000 it would be worth it over the years. But that would largely depend on the cost and availability of an herbicide strong enough to do the job.

 

[JerryG]

I use Pramitol 25E. It kills all weeds and grass to leave bare ground for a full years after spraying. It says that it will not kill bushes or trees, so something else would have to be mixed with Pramitol 25E for a full kill with bushes.

 

[quicksandfarmer]

Herbicides work, but you have to be very careful when applying them so close to water. Many of them are basically harmless and break down quickly in soil, but can kill things in the water. Also, many contain detergents which help them stick to plants better, and the detergents can cause problems with your water. The best thing to do is to read the label carefully.

I think you can get triclopyr in a formula that is labeled for use around water.

From your description, it sounds like what you care about is just keeping the area from turning into forest. Annual weeds will die off every winter, but you need to kill the perennials to keep them from getting bigger and bigger every year. I find it is best to spray perennials in the fall right before they go dormant; most of their life is in the foliage, and they have no chance to recover before winter.

The sprayers you have listed look like way overkill. The biggest patch you have to spray is less than a quarter acre, you should be able to do that with less than ten gallons of spray. A smaller sprayer will be cheaper and easier to handle. I use a 16-gallon sprayer from Northern tool, I just set it in the front loader bucket and clip it to the battery and I'm ready to go.

The challenge I see is spraying things 20 or 30 away from the seat of your tractor. You're not going to be able to shoot a stream that far and get any kind of even coverage. You need a boom or something to get your sprayer head closer. Another option is just to park the tractor and walk around with the sprayer head. My sprayer has a 15' hose and sprays about 8' reliably, but I don't see any reason why you couldn't extend the hose another 10', especially if you are working downhill from the tank.

 

[N80]

That's right, I'm mostly trying to kill trees. Trees are bad for dams and the gums on the slope in front of the cabin are going to block the view I worked so hard to get. The briars and weeds can stay if necessary and in reality I probably don't want bare dirt on the slope or the dam due to erosion.

It looks like I'm in a bit of a bind. I went to the BASF web site and they have several chemicals that look perfect for the job (Arsenal & Stalker) but both say not to spray around any standing water. (Now, if this is a problem in theory, I don't mind taking some license with the labeling, but if it is going to kill my fish I certainly don't want to do that.)

As for the sprayer, I'd likely find other uses for it like food plots, etc. so I don't mind getting something bigger. The one labled for orchard use has a 25' hose on a reel and says the sprayer will shoot 40'. I just need its hose and sprayer on a 3pt hitch model. Probably not too hard to do.

But, the issue at hand is the chemicals and the proximity of the pond.

 

[cp1969]

This is (along with triclopyr) what is supposed to replace 2,4,5-T, aka brush killer.Dicamba - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It probably doesn't work nearly as well.

 

[quicksandfarmer]

Here's an article I found about the Nature Conservancy using herbicides to clear wetlands:
The Nature Conservancy in Connecticut - 2007 Land Trust Awards

If it's good enough for the Nature conservancy ...

 

[marimus]

I use and would reccomend Grazon P+D
One of the active ingredients (Picloram) remains active in the soil to provide residual control (it stops more trees growing).

That said, it does break down, but it sure keeps the trees down longer than anything else.

It is also a selective herbicide, so it will kill trees and weeds, but not grass (good for stopping erosion).

Grazon P+D

 

[dmccarty]

Not sure if it would work but if the trees are under 2 inches thick a DR Brush cutter could clear the space. The slope is the worry. I THINK the DR will work on a 30 degree slope. I know its on their website or manual. Even walking a steep slope with a good hand held brush cutter will be work. Our property lines that are cleared get mowed each Jan/Feb with the DR. Its nice and cool out then. I have done in the summer and it ain't fun. Once a year easily cleans up the brush.

I assume DOT plants the stuff but vetch is all over the road cuts in my area. Its all over my road as well. I call it Tick Weeds cause there be ticks in it. Vetch seems to keep out most other plants since it grows so thick and the sunlight can't hit the ground. I see some trees grow up through the Vetch but not many. Maybe you could wait until winter. Hand spray what is green, cut down any larger trees and then plant vetch or some other thick ground cover. Trees will still grow but there should not be many and easily handled.

Later,
Dan

 

[hazmat]

No suggestions for your current situation, but thinking longer term...

This sounds like a maint. nightmare. Perhaps you could plant some wildflowers / praire type grasses that will respond well to being burned every so often. That should keep the trees down & the pond will make a natural fire break.

 

[schmism]

controlled burn every year?

wildflowers and natural grasses should do well in a "burnt off every year" hillside