Land Clearing With Your Tractor

[nybirdman]

I spent ten years clearing my 100 acres(not totally left a lot of trees/woods) with my tractor and hiring bigger tractors with bigger bush-hogs.Last year I hired a skid-steer with a FECON head and he did more in four days than I had done in ten years.Yes; it cost a lot of money but it's finally done to my satisfaction.
So it depends on your wallet and how fast you want it done.

 

[Aquamoose]

Last year I hired a skid-steer with a FECON head...

What’s a FECON head?

 

[4570Man]

Essentially an extreme duty flail mower for a skid steer. Google it.

 

[hddnis]

That is too funny right there, but sadly also the truth.

I once was clearing an 18 acre mountainside off, and a guy rented a 700 G John Deere bulldozer for me and I was like, "and just exactly am I supposed to do with that?" It worked okay for finish grading, but just was nowhere near enough tractor.

Ok, I gotta ask, why is that woman tied to that tree???

 

[treemuncher]

I'd have to say step one of land clearing with a tractor is park it. Step two get a proper machine.

This is the best advice if you want to save money and keep a decent tractor. Tractors are rarely designed to meet such stress levels as put on a machine in land clearing operations. The cost in repairs, maintenance and parts will cost a whole lot more than hiring it out. I won't even consider pushing out 3" or larger stumps or bush hogging out anything larger than 2" with my Kubota M120 as it is not designed for such abuse.

Essentially an extreme duty flail mower for a skid steer. Google it.

Actually, flail mowers use free swinging teeth, can't handle large material and are inefficient in comparison to fixed tooth mulcher heads with carbide or steel teeth. I started with a flail head 21 years ago when I did not know any better. Unless I am mistaken, Fecon only manufacturers fixed tooth heads. This pic is of an FAE head that uses fixed teeth. With the exception of steel, mulcher heads will destroy almost anything in their paths.

Before and after pics of a job I worked on this past week.

Just a tiny spot on the project but it was full of hardwood stumps and tree tops from logging 2-3 years previous. About 12-15 stumps in this patch measuring 20"-30" diameter at the cut and I took out some other trees as well. Soil rototilled and ready for seed to be cast directly on what is left. Time to completion was about 30-35 minutes and was about a quarter acre. If seed is cast down today, this can be pasture in about 2 months time from what I've seen with other past jobs.

 

[Silvic]

Essentially an extreme duty flail mower for a skid steer. Google it.

As treemuncher posted not a flail at all. Fecon, FAE, DENIS Cimaf all make very nice mulching heads.

Here are the three options that Fecon has for heads. It is clear they are not a flail.







What they can do is so much more.

 

[Egon]

Good article showing equipment the small plot owner may have available to use.

As the amount of acreage increase's it reverts to Money = lots of HP, lots of traction and very heavy attachments or very expensive single design machines.

That said my ancestors cleared sections of land with Axe, Saw, Grubhoe, Four horses and a single furrow walk behind breaking plow. It did take time and lots of strong backs but it did get done!

 

[Industrial Toys]

I never really gave that much thought. How did the pioneers remove those stumps? I always thought of stones and stone boats, and pulling trees away by horse, but what of the stumps?

I had a Vermeer that could easily do a six foot stump without repositioning. But even that gets tiring if you have a lot of stumps. Plus, in rocky ground, you know every stump is ringed with stones. Hard and expensive on teeth.

 

[quicksandfarmer]

I never really gave that much thought. How did the pioneers remove those stumps? I always thought of stones and stone boats, and pulling trees away by horse, but what of the stumps?

I think they just farmed around them until they rotted away. It's only when you get mechanized that dealing with obstacles becomes a problem. My ancestors here did an admirable job of picking up rocks, we have miles and miles of stone walls and it's not uncommon to see stones up to about the size of a desk in walls. I can't imagine how much work that was, but they didn't have television. Rocks bigger than that were just left in the field and they plowed around them. It seems like just about every field here has a big rock in the middle.

 

[ovrszd]

I think you did very well.

I think so too Eric. Definitely pointed at 99% of the members on TBN.