How would you clear 5 acres of pines?

Coyote · Aug 12, 2004

I've got a section of about 5 acres of 10 year old pines. It's a timber tract from a paper company so they are planted like corn! I want to turn it into a field. I know...bulldozer time! But that is big bucks. Would you cut all the trees off about 2 ft from ground and then pull stumps or hook a chain up high and try to pull them down? My equipment is a 24 HP Yanmar. Am I crazy or is it doable?

KiotiMutt · Aug 12, 2004

Is this a poll?
1. Crazy
2. Doable

Just kidding.

I had 15 acres to clear a few years ago. I thought I could pull them out with my 35hp 2wd Deere. WRONG.... when the traction was good the front end would come up. When the traction was bad of course the wheels would just spin.
If you have a bh and plenty of time you can dig them out.
The best and quickest way is with a dozer, the bigger the better. That's what I ended up doing. All I had to do was drink my beer and watch. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

KiotiMutt

Nat · Aug 12, 2004

It is do-able, if you have the energy. I cleared about 5 acres some years back that was covered in 2-4 inch pines. I made a tree puller that fit on the homade 3PH on the back of a WD Allis Chalmbes. It was made from a short piece of I-beam that had a 12" X 12" square 1/2" plate on the bottem that had a torch cut V in it. You would simply back up and let the V engage the tree close to the ground and when it was "bit" into the base lift up on the lift and keep backing up, and it would pull tree and roots out. An added benefit was the tre stayed on the puller and you could drive to the pile and lower lift and pull foward and swipe the tree out of the V. I was younger then and couldn't afford any other way, now I'D call a excavator. Hope this helps, Nat

Bob_Skurka · Aug 12, 2004

RENT a dozer or an excavator.

An excavator, also called a track hoe, will work if you cut the trees and just want to pull the stumps. It is more capable than a back hoe for this purpose becuase it is bigger, more powerful and much faster to move.

A dozer, sized appropriately will just push the trees down and pop out the root balls.

In any case, I fear your 24ph tractor is undersized unless you have a few months of time off of work to do the job.

higgy · Aug 12, 2004

I agree with the other posters. Do the cost benifit ratio, time and ware on you and the tractor V.S. rent.

It will be quick and painless.

Dane

DiskDoctr · Aug 12, 2004

Coyote,

How large and what shape are the pines? (I'm thinking a sign "free Christmas trees, U-Cut") /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I agree with the dozer recommendation. You want to get rid of the roots, too.

-JC

Kevin_in_VA · Aug 12, 2004

See how many you have left after hurricane season, then do a cost analysis on renting equipment vs. hiring out the work.

Docsknotinn · Aug 12, 2004

If their 10 years old they may be marketable to a forester in your area. Here the minimum they come out for is 10 acres but that's for pulp wood not pine. Sell the timber and use the money you get for the timber to pay a dozer.

EddieWalker · Aug 12, 2004

My loblolly pines were planted in 1998, and are probably quite a bit smaller than yours. Mine are 30 feet tall and about 8 to 9 inches thick at the base. My backhoe takes them out easy enough, but it's very slow going and all those little trees make a huge mess.

My dozer just knocks them over just as easy as can be. I have a big Case 1550 dozer, but I used a small 70hp John Deer 450G that was plenty big enough for those pines.

Remember that once they are on the ground, you still have to get rid of them. Wait a week for the dirt to drop off the roots and let them dry some, then they burn real easy. A dozer is also much better for this than the backhoe. Especially if you have a rake!!!!!

Good luck and include some pictures.
Eddie