Land clearing question

[AlbertC]

I have 3-4 acres that I would like to pretty up. It contains some nice pines but has a lot of scrub hardwood trees from 1-8" in diameter. I have previously paid a man to mow about an acre, but the problem is the hardwoods sprout back out.

I have another guy who has a grinder that he says will also handle this size trees. ?? Will I have the same problem with re sprouting with a grinder. Cost is 150hour.

Would I be better off to rent a mini excavator and pull the stuff out by the roots? The advantage that I see to the grinder is that it is fast and would get rid of a lot of the material whereas with a ex I will have to dispose/burn the material.

For the final product, I would like to be left with some large trees and have some type grass under the trees.

Can anyone tell me the best way to proceed?

Thanks

 

[Shaneard]

Dig them up, do not grind them. I currently keep up 44 acres for a guy who has the land for sale and moved out of state. He had a lot of stumps ground off about 8 years ago instead of digging them out. They keep sprouting and get bigger every year. It is awful! He sewed it all in grass after having them ground and the trees are taking over. It may be cheaper now to have them ground off but in 5 years you will regret it and have the same problem.

 

[rustyshakelford]

I would go with the mini ex. If your familiar with them, you can do quite a bit of work and leave a nice clean pile that'll burn down nice

Brett

 

[roadhunter]

Why can't you just kill the tree with some sort of chemical when you cut it flush with the ground. Seems like it would be easier to spray something on the stump than to dig them all up.

 

[teg]

...Can anyone tell me the best way to proceed?...

Do you know what the hardwoods are? If they are "Tree of Heaven" or "Kentucky Coffee Tree" you'll just piss it off when you pull them out. It will sprout up in spades. Best to spray with Garlon 4 without killing grass around the stump. You can spray round up but you'll kill the grass nearby.

I ripped up my clump of Tree of Heaven, took 5 years of twice a year spraying the spouts that pops up. Best to chemically treat the tree before removing. The chemical can spread throughout the roots.

 

[bigtiller]

I'd spot spray it with Pasture Pro. It will kill up to a 6" tree just by spraying the bottom 24" of a tree trunk.

https://www.orschelnfarmhome.com/view/product/si-pasture-pro--brush-killer-1-gal/si6556181

 

[teg]

Pasture Pro and Garlon 4 have the same active ingredient, triclopyr - I'm sure there are other names for the same chemical.

 

[prichard]

Pasture Pro and Garlon 4 have the same active ingredient, triclopyr - I'm sure there are other names for the same chemical.

Lots of triclopyr on the market. Great stuff. We've almost got to Chinese privet cleared up with it. The fact that it doesn't kill grass is letting the pasture grass take back over as it dies.

 

[newbury]

I have 3-4 acres that I would like to pretty up. It contains some nice pines but has a lot of scrub hardwood trees from 1-8" in diameter.

<snip>

8" DBH hardwood is approaching chip size!

How much of the acreage is at the larger range? If it's a lot you may be needing chainsaws.

I would suggest picking your poison and carefully SELECTIVELY spray the hardwoods after they leaf out and then let them die. After the last die off have a mulcher chew up everything you don't want. Then plan on mowing the grass and applying brush killer annually.

You've got a massive "root stock" bank that will sprout for years if not killed. The sprouts from roots may come up thick and quick. You probably have a massive seed bank that will sprout for years but they tend to come up slow and slim.

 

[TnAndy]

Large dozer with a root rake.

 

[rutwad]

Mulcher can grind them to ground level and regular mowing will keep the new sprouts manageable, but they will continue to sprout. So if that is not what you are looking for, dig them up.

 

[Egon]

Large dozer with a root rake.

Followed by a breaking Disk!

 

[Redlands Okie]

It's not a excavator but its a lot less money and perhaps fit on what you have. Do not lift your tractor up into the air on the front end loader and push with the tractor at the same time like some do. Take it easy and keep all four tires on the ground and you will have it done faster than you might think.

Worx Stump bucket from Everything Attachments used on a Kubota L3560 with LA805 heavy duty front end loader. 535 feet of drive 12 to 16 feet wide of heavy cedar cover with some bodark trees in the mix. Cedar up to 18 inch stumps (thankfully only a few of those) bodark stumps up to 12 inch or so. If you cut the trees own leave at least 3 to 4 feet of stump. If you can just leave the tree as is. Fastest way if you have access is to scoop 3 to 4 times on each side of the tree then move 1/4 turn around the tree and do the same again. Push em over and on to the next one. Start your scooping or digging furthest from you and work back so that most of the digging is into the hole you made. Pictures are when the project started out. And one of a bit of gravel applied.

 

[sixdogs]

You won't know the best way to do it until after you've done it because every situation is different and subject to second guessing. You will have to mid-course correct.

I've done it all sorts of ways and have had the best luck with cutting the bigger stuff flush with the ground, spraying the cut stump with a killer herbicide and when all done have a dozer skim things and push the dirt around to cover most of the stumps. Spray an herbicide to kill the smaller stuff before dozing. Then I seeded and could mow most all of it with a bush hog. Any problem stumps got dug up in future years but were easier to get out by then. Most evergreens won't sprout but cedar will unless you get it all.

When I dug stumps out, it took forever and was hard on the equipment.

 

[Silvic]

Chemicals and then mulch them or mulch them and then chemical the resprouts. Uses less chemicals that way. Triclopyr works great. I like the triclopyr ester formulation but some use the amine formulation, I just don't think it works as well. Using chemicals in late August or September depending upon when your fall starts helps the plant pull the herbicide down into the roots for a more effective kill with less chemicals as well.

 

[bspeedy]

I would go with the excavator to get the roots. Also a more tactical approach rather than 'scorched earth'. Let's you pick and choose which trees get to stay and which will go. And probably the slowest method.

Excavator, bush hog, level with blade. That is the method I use for making trails and clearing small to large areas. It's also a matter of how quickly you need it done.

 

[AllenBurns]

I think it would ultimately depend on how quickly you want it prettied up and how many trees you want removed. A lot of time we just cut it flush with a chain saw and use Pathway (Amine) on the cambium layer of the tree. Seems to work pretty well. If its in or near an area that gets mowed frequently, we don't even use the chemicals.

 

[hayden]

Wouldn't brush hogging once or twice a year take care of any re-sprouting? I've cleared a number of areas and never had to do more than mow to keep in under control. I see all sorts of stuff popping back up, but the mower keeps it from ever taking hold.

 

[teg]

Wouldn't brush hogging once or twice a year take care of any re-sprouting?...

Depends on what you are dealing with... most of the time, yes, it's fine...

 

[dougtrr2]

I had the state forester give me a woodland management plan. Part of that included getting rid of some tree of heaven and black locust. I did not like the idea of chemicals so I just kept cutting the sprouts off. Eventually, after a year or two, they both died out. The key is to keep the sprouts cut off so the roots can't grow anymore. For the roots to stay viable they have to have some greenery feeding them.

Doug in SW IA