Land Clearing Project

[rademamj1]

I purchased a 27 acre property here in Texas about four years ago. It is flat terrain and heavily wooded with mainly Mesquite, Elm, Oaks and Cedar trees. Extremely heavy brush composed of Cat Claw and assorted 4" thick vines are everywhere. Using my tractor, chainsaw, stump grinder and chipper, I have selectively cleared 9 acres in 2 years of partime effort.

Last week I hired a land clearing specialist, who uses a 90hp tracked skidsteer with a forestry mulching head, and they basically accomplished the same Selective clearing on 18 acres in just 4 days. That's 4.5 acres cleared per day. Any trees removed were ground down by the mulching head. I was always present with my tractor to pick up any barb wire rolls, which can create problems for the mulching head.

I am completely surprised at the speed and capabilities of these land clearing skidsteers. Anyone else have similar experience with these specialized land equipment.

 

[oosik]

Don't know what it looked like before. Certainly looks nice now. Amazing what specialized equipment can do.

 

[suburbanfarmer]

Yes, I am in the same boat although much smaller lot. Chainsaw and grinders take forever. A forestery mulcher can make short work but it costs.
To me labor was free as I looked at it as a work out to stay fit. The older I get , the lazier I become and finally last yr got a few acres done by a professional who took care of it in 6hrs..LOL

 

[oosik]

It's not that you are getting lazier. As you get older - you get wiser. "A man has to know his limitations". Harry Callahan

 

[3gunr]

This past weekend we had a guy come in with a skid steer and and a small excavator to clear about 2 acres of cedars and honey locust. He had a thumb on the excavator and pulled all the trees, at least 100. his 14 yr old son ran the skid steer with a grappleand piled them all up. Took about 7 hrs.

 

[rademamj1]

It's not that you are getting lazier. As you get older - you get wiser. "A man has to know his limitations". Harry Callahan

Oosik: you are more correct than you know. When my wife saw the 18 acres cleared in just 4 days for the total cost of just $6,000. She says "Honey, you worked hard for two years, but this week you got smart...so let's plan on a nice vacation this year"

 

[Fuddy1952]

That sure is pretty land. What future plans do you have, some pasture, bushes, etc.?

 

[rademamj1]

Will be allowing native grass to develop, an then an interconnected system of walking trails, park benchs, bird feeders and wildflowers. I also have four water tanks, which average about 130,000 gals each. Should look like a city park when its done.

 

[Hay Dude]

I purchased a 27 acre property here in Texas about four years ago. It is flat terrain and heavily wooded with mainly Mesquite, Elm, Oaks and Cedar trees. Extremely heavy brush composed of Cat Claw and assorted 4" thick vines are everywhere. Using my tractor, chainsaw, stump grinder and chipper, I have selectively cleared 9 acres in 2 years of partime effort.

Last week I hired a land clearing specialist, who uses a 90hp tracked skidsteer with a forestry mulching head, and they basically accomplished the same Selective clearing on 18 acres in just 4 days. That's 4.5 acres cleared per day. Any trees removed were ground down by the mulching head. I was always present with my tractor to pick up any barb wire rolls, which can create problems for the mulching head.

I am completely surprised at the speed and capabilities of these land clearing skidsteers. Anyone else have similar experience with these specialized land equipment.

I'll be experiencing it next week. Have a tracked CAT 297 and mulcher head for 1 week/50 hours. 20 acres to do. ~15 acres in one location and ~5 acres in 2 other locations. Im big enough that fitting in a skid steer is kind of clostrophobic.

 

[EddieWalker]

Here in East Texas, my neighbor has had the same thing done on his land several times. It looks amazing for the first year, but the next year, the weeds really take off and by the end of the second year, it's thicker then before he had it cleared. He says that he's going to keep it mowed, but he's too busy doing other things, and it gets out of control again. I think we are on the third clearing in a dozen years, and it's starting to turn to weeds again.