How would you guys clear this land? *Pics*

[buckeyefarmer]

Another option is push into a pile in one corner and let it rot. With 6 acres probably can pile in less than a half. When my dad had much larger area cleared out yrs ago, they piled it on the edges of the clearing. We cut lots of firewood out of it. The rest rotted in just a few yrs.

 

[RPW]

Ok, here's my 2 cents. After clearing my 38 acres in a weekend. This is how I did it. Rented a dozer. In my case it was a Deere (or Case don't remember)550 as it was the largest I could rent without having a special license. 10ft blade if I remember correctly. That cost me about $1300 for the long weekend. I had already a 8" PTO chipper. After moving all trees to a central area we began to chip. Chipping was a little slow for my taste and I did have chainsaw problems but it did work well. My schedule preculded me from chipping all the trees before they got too dry. Scrub cedar (Junipers) get notoriously prickly the drìer they get. So after about 4 years we decided to burn the rest. But in your case I'd rent a commerical chipper. They can take most every part of the tree including root ball if it doesn't have to much dirt built up. You could clear the land with the dozer in a day or two and then over the next week chip up everything. You see road crews after major storms clear downed trees in nothing flat.

Good luck.

 

[ovrszd]

You obviously have the financial resources to fund this. You obviously don't want debris. You obviously want the entire area cleared. I think you already know the answer.

What percent of the cost of a new house, barn and pasture fence would it cost to hire it cleared? 5%? Even if it's 10%, no big deal.

 

[JRobyn]

Well if you didn't go for my thermonuclear idea then I guess you're down to the Masticator, Forest Mower (whatever ya wanna call it) on a track loader and grinding it all right into the ground. The thing is to get on it before it gets too dry to run the thing. They do make a lot of dust if it's not damp. Looking at the pics it looks like a masticator would just chew all of it right down into the ground. It took two days for two of them to do my five acres but they were being selective while you're doing all of it and don't have any big trees to worry about just small stuff.

Won't do anything for below-grade stumps which in a year or 5 will rot out to leave HOLES for a horse to break a leg in.

 

[TNTurf]

Quite the job. Unless you have access to a D9 dozer, about 5 gallons of gas and a zippo lighter. :laughing:

 

[wcampbell47]

Just watched several videos on youtube where trees like yours were cut down with a tractor mounted rear pto driven saw. Skidsteers got in on the action as well. You might find something there that is viable for you. Google turbosaw. There are a couple of threads here about these saws. Once down you have the disposal issue. Are there any chipper truck crews in your area? Like the ones used to clear trees from power lines. If you chipped them yourself the remains could be spread over the area and would deteriorate in a short while. Compost and mulch yards usually are on the lookout for sources of chipped wood. If you dig them out you have holes to fill and if they rot you have holes to fill. There are tractor mounted stump grinders that can grind several inches below ground level using the tractor pto. I think any way you do it will involve a lot of work.

 

[BigCountry1689]

Sorry in advance for the thread hijack but I figured while the conversation was active I would jump in.

I am starting to clear about 7 acres of land and I have been working with my tractor and grapple. It is very slow and I am putting a lot of strain on the tractor. I have decided to just rent the equipment because I can do that for 1/3 of the cost of a company and I think it would be fun. My question is I can rent a 644 (???) loader with root rake for about $1100 for 3 days (Insurance, Fuel Charge, delivery) or a excavator for about $1500. I have not ever operated a wheel loader but I have operated a excavator. Which one do you think would be better for clearing stump, tree, palmetto and all. Once their out of the ground I can handle with the tractor and grapple and I have a dump trailer for removal. but I want all debris gone including the palmettos and any one familiar with Florida knows we have a ton of them.

Thanks in advance for any input.
BC