How to clear Mesquite

[tonyoz]

Question,how do you guys in the States deal with Mesquite? Mow it,bulldose & burn?

 

[TRR]

Assuming you want to kill it off - don't mow it!! There are growth buds about 6" underground that will sprout and you'll have many stems instead of one. There are chemical sprays that will work - most are restricted to registered applicators. Otherwise, digging them up is the best answer - we use an excavator to be sure to get the growth point and roots.

 

[AGGIE00]

We spot spray with diesel and remedy. On my own place we mulched it first to get rid of the wood, and then when it sprouted back we sprayed it and got a good kill. A year later I root plowed it to get rid of the stumps which was a whole lot easier with rotten tap roots.

 

[tonyoz]

OK here's where I'm up to on this project. The client wants to mulch the Mesquite (most of it up to 3" dia,how thick unknown,no pic's yet) so in order to be cost competitive I am thinking of using a fail mower and mounted on the C140,2.5 metre(8 ft) cut and working it as a 1 pass operation. Has anyone else tried this and was it successful?

 

[valley]

Lot's and lot's of bar-e-que's

 

[tonyoz]

Lot's and lot's of bar-e-que's

How much meat is required for 100000 acres???????:laughing::laughing::laughing:

 

[johnrex62]

How much meat is required for 100000 acres???????:laughing::laughing::laughing:

Does it matter? Just start cooking and we will come help you get rid of the byproduct of your mesquite disposal. :thumbsup:

 

[crash325]

Sort of depends on a couple of things. How fast it needs to be completed and is anything else to ever grow there.

If your in a hurry use the mower. Go back & dig as much stump & root as you can. The use a lot of salt or diesel fuel.

No hurry let the stump rot for a year or 2 then dig it out. Then you can follow the sprouts and dig out the roots.

Have fun

 

[tonyoz]

Sort of depends on a couple of things. How fast it needs to be completed and is anything else to ever grow there.

If your in a hurry use the mower. Go back & dig as much stump & root as you can. The use a lot of salt or diesel fuel.

No hurry let the stump rot for a year or 2 then dig it out. Then you can follow the sprouts and dig out the roots.

Have fun

As far as I know the client will be in a big hurry so mechanical clearing will be the go. For clearing the bigger trees I am thinking of using an excavator with a vertical tree grab so I can lift the whole tree and roots out of the ground then mulch them. Would this idea work?

 

[crash325]

As far as I know the client will be in a big hurry so mechanical clearing will be the go. For clearing the bigger trees I am thinking of using an excavator with a vertical tree grab so I can lift the whole tree and roots out of the ground then mulch them. Would this idea work?

Worth a try, but even a small mesquite has a big or tough root system and it goes for a long ways. If you can get a gapple that would be better.

I use a back hoe and chase the running roots with my pickle fork. See pickle fork in "I Build Ugly". When most trees are out go through with a ripper. With enough horse power a ripper will take out smaller trees.

Have Fun,
Jim

 

[cbturf]

‪Track Hoe Brush Removal‬‏ - YouTube
best system I've seen. you can burn or mulch when done grubbing

 

[tonyoz]

‪Track Hoe Brush Removal‬‏ - YouTube
best system I've seen. you can burn or mulch when done grubbing

Thanks mate, I reckon thats one of the best ways of dealing with at stuff

 

[CTW]

Mesquite and Huisache eradication is an ongoing battle in South Texas. More and more people are going to the Brush Busters method which calls for mixing small portions of herbicide with diesel and applied to the leaves of young plants and the base of older ones. The best success I've seen with chemical applications on mesquite has been Reclaim and diesel. It's a little pricey but saves time and labor of having to re-apply like you would with other chemicals. Mowing is great if you want to turn one plant into a hundred. Dozing is ok if you get up under the root ball. That attachment in the video is a great idea and I'd like to see more studies on kill rates using that method. I've also seen big ranches drag heavy ship chain between two dozers which pretty much has the same effect as mowing. If you want to farm or bale the land at a later date, I'd suggest you be patient and wait for the chemical to do its work which might be 1.5 to 2 years but you can just go up and push them over at that point.

 

[tonyoz]

The biggest problem with Mequite, Prickly Acacia and Parkinsnoia is the lack of money. There is 11 million acres of Prickly Acacia alone in the state of Queensland. Farmers cannot aford to deal with it, Governments won't even though they sold the seeds to the farmers so the BS just keeps going round in circles.

 

[AGGIE00]

That attachment on the excavator is the same as what we call a root plow which is pulled behind a tractor or dozer and would be far more efficient in higher density brush than what is in the video. I pull a 2.5' root plow behind my little tractor about 12-16" deep and it does the trick, but is a slow go. We have farmers pulling 8' root plows behind 200+hp tractors and they knock it out pretty quick. The d7 dozers pull 16' plows and blow through a pasture in no time.

 

[johnrex62]

You guys can laugh if you want, but the time tested and proven way to eradicate any plant is to have my wife try to keep it alive.

 

[tonyoz]

You guys can laugh if you want, but the time tested and proven way to eradicate any plant is to have my wife try to keep it alive.

Send her over here, she will have a job for life.:laughing::laughing::laughing:

 

[RickS]

I've been clearing mesquite on our small lot for a few days with my dad's little Allis Chalmers dozer. He built a grubbing attachment that extends about 12" below the blade that I use to get under the root ball and bring everything up. Works well, but would be very slow on large acreage.

Here is what I've been doing...