How do I go about this job?

[TSMART]

I have a small property overlooking a gorgeous waterfall in NC. The home site sits well above these falls, and the slope down to the falls is too steep to walk comfortably, and it is covered with rhododendron which I want to clean out to enhance the views.

So I am thinking some kind of winch...it is conceivable that I could go down there with a chainsaw, tie a bunch of sticks to a rope and winch it up...or rig some pulleys onto trees...I dont know, just looking for ideas.

I was thinking of buying a winch and mounting it to the reese hitch of my pickup...check out the pic, thats the falls going over a rock, and you can see its near vertical, cant get a tractor in there.

 

[gsdavis1]

Maybe spray some chemicals (i.e industrial Round Up) to kill the foliage.

 

[MarkV]

Yep that is steep. I like the idea of spraying something like Brush Be Gone that is designed for woody plants. It might take a couple of sprayings and a year to die back. Cutting and hauling looks like it would be a job and I think the rhododendrons will just resprout from the stumps.

MarkV

 

[450EXC]

I have a small 80' falls at my place. Bought it off a logger and he left a real mess. But he also cut a road to the bottom, it is a long traverse cut into the side of the steep bank. Getting to the bottom is nice, It's probably 10 - 20* cooler down there on hot days.

I pull everthing down to the bottom and burn or haul it out. An Arborist friend rigged a pully and rope high in a tree that we used to lift and swing larger debris down. A mountain climber friend has a tool that locks onto a rope if you repel down the side - throw a rope over the bank, walk or repel down to the work site and lock in. The locked rope acts as a safty rope or you can hang on it and clean up.


Chemicals sound good to clear the brush. I can barely see the water. Does it flow from top right to lower left ?

This is my place after many, many hours of work, still more to go.

Larry

 

[Egon]

Harness and ropes may work if you have the knowledge and stamina. Remember chainsaws cut rope real easy.

Think about steel cables with a winch and a backup rope. It may require more than one person.

Also think about contracting the job out.

Do you have access from the bottom?

 

[SPIKER]

My oldest brother has a place with similar problem which we started on back in the 70's.

first off it wasn't easy it took years and years to get stuff done right way.


started at the top don't try and do it all at once, plan a pathway down to the bottom starting where you want to start at and ending where you would like to end at.

clearing used chainsaws, brush killer shovels & stone or RR ties to make steps & ramp cutting back into the bank as much as possible and pushing dirt/bank fill out slightly & packing it so that the ramp/stair steps are wide enough to go down. eventually he ended up getting a bull dozer in there and making it drivable with a GOOD 4 wheel drive with a lot of Scary switch backs lol.

not sure if I would take out ALL of the rhododendrons should be really nice looking this time of year! if you are planning on only walking down it is much easier. make sure you plant low growing ground cover to keep dirt in place with course stone on path to keep from washing out with plenty of tile crossing spots. his is still maintained but I don't think anyone has driven down there with anything other than a tractor in years!

he brought in a lot of back fill in several areas too. we planted a lot of pine and intermixed deep root growing trees (oak up here which I had access too) to help stabilize the side wall. it is really looking better this time of year but fall & winter it is still mostly in-accessible due to being hard to walk up/down.

keep in mine until it was widened it was pretty much all done by hand and was climbable up/down prior to starting but in many places you HAD to get on hands & knees/ all 4s to traverse UP the steepness. going down was an exercise of controlled fall & pray ya didn't catch a foot on a stick lol.

sorry no pics

mark M

 

[gordon21]

As you cut your path/road into the side of the hill, don't forget to have it tilt into the hill. That way your water will flow in a gutter between the outer edge of the road and hill. Every so often place a culvert. In your case it could be as simple as 6" PVC pipe with a mesh strainer cover.

If your road tilts away from the hill, you will have no road at all after a few good rains.

If you don't feel comfortable doing a tight switchback, then have the road make a 75-90 degree turn and head straight downhill for 20' and then another 75-90 turn the opposite direction. It does not have to be a smooth continous turn that takes you back 170 degrees.

You can't cut too much into the hill. There is nothing wrong with a 5-10' nearly vertical bank next to you on the other side of the drainage ditch as you look into the hillside.

 

[TSMART]

I am not trying to cut any kind of road into it, we will have a road to the homesite professionly done. I only want to get rid of the rhododendron so I can have a clear view to the falls from our deck above. Some of these rhodies are 20 feet tall. I can get down to the bottom of the gorge from another approach if I were to cut/slash/burn from the bottom up. I was just figuring on working from the top down, cause I could get the brush up to the homesite where I could chip it up or burn it.

I like the idea of a pully rig, sort of like a large clothes line, a loop attatched to two pulleys bungeed to a tree above and a tree below in the gorge.. Then I could attatch a tail to the loop, tie that to the hitch ball on the truck, drive the truck down the hill, thereby raising the brush up to the homesite. I checked into winches, but if they only reel in 10 feet per minute, that would take quite a while to do. Which is why I thought i would use the truck.

I wonder about using killers right next to the stream.

Even if I can only do one or two plants in a day, I am willing to have a go at it. Thats what tylenol is for! Regular part of my diet these days!

 

[DmansPadge]

I checked into winches, but if they only reel in 10 feet per minute, that would take quite a while to do. Which is why I thought i would use the truck.

Not sure what kind of winch your talking about... but I've never seen a truck mounted winch go that slow.

 

[rlk]

I have a small property overlooking a gorgeous waterfall in NC. The home site sits well above these falls, and the slope down to the falls is too steep to walk comfortably, and it is covered with rhododendron which I want to clean out to enhance the views.

Tsmart, if you clear out all the rhododendron, don't you need to be concerned about erosion? I would think the plants are keeping the soil from washing.

Bob