Mesquite Thorns: Slime vs. Ultraseal

[perdurabo]

You know your pasture best, but if you are going to rent a dozer anyway to plow up for a field, why not just do it all with the dozer?

Honestly, I'm mostly just tired of looking at it and I wanna take control of it somehow sooner rather than later. Plus there's a lot of other areas not in my pasture/hay field area that need shredded down as well.

I've been told that the best time to spray is in the heat of the summer, but honestly there has to be a better way than spending $200 for a mere two gallons of herbicide. For that kind of money I could just hire a pack of Mexicans from the home depot parking lot with machetes to slash it all by hand twice a year.

I've heard that these herbicides can stay in the soil for as much as a year or more, and Im worried that if i plant anything other than hay it might be affected. I've also got problems with smaller yaupons and cedar elms but those are too close to my post oaks which I definitely don't want to harm, so Im leery of spraying anywhere near them.

I wish i was rich enough to afford a dozer, but I cant and thusfar all the dozer operators I have hired to clear my property have been incredibly unreliable/untrustworthy or incredibly overpriced. Im just going to have to break down and do it all myself and that means controlling the smaller stuff with a tractor/shredder and rootplowing/clearing with a rented dozer and a lot of time off from work to maximize my rental time. If you want something done right...

 

[texasjohn]

OK.... understand your desires.... I'd like to give you briefly my experience... if you want more info, PM me and I'll be glad to expand.

First... trust me, you CAN spray immediately before frost and get about 80% kill on your mesquite assuming you use reclaim and appropriate mix of diluting material....

I've been ASTOUNDED about how selective it is... kills ONLY mesquite... grass underneath, vines in the tree, other trees in the clump...all live and don't show any effects of the herbicide... but the mesquites DIE.

Also, please trust me, ANY shredding or machete cutting you do will simply make your problem worse rather than better. Shredding will NOT kill the mesquite, simply make it sprangle worse.

Yes, the BEST time to spray is some 50 to 90 days after bud break in late spring if my memory serves... I've sprayed then..and got about 95-98% kill, and continued to spray as time permitted thru the summer and to the fall.... kill ratio will remain very acceptable IMHO at 80% or above, depending on how careful you are with the application.

Yes, the chemical is expensive... it is either that, or mechanical removal/root plow...which, at today's cost for fuel is IMHO going to be even more expensive. Chemical spray IMHO is the most cost effective.

I'm not too far from where you are... call or come by some time.. I've cleaned up my approx 200 acres of mesquite chemically... in case you have not see actual results of removing this most pernicious of Texas brush species.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

I'm going to shred my pasture down for now and then sometime this winter Im going to rent a dozer with a root plow to dig up my entire 6-7 acre pasture so that I can plant it the next season.

Not telling you what to do, but I'd wait until I could have it root plowed, piled up and burned. I've heard you can cut and spray the appropriate herbicide on the stumps. I'd just hate to have a pasture full of thorns.

You might want a bit bigger tractor if you want to pull a 6' shredder or be able to disc your property. Its all a matter of how much spare time you have to spend taking care of it.

You just thought the land was pricey, just wait til all of us help you spend your money.

 

[krackerjack9]

want to control Mesquite?????

Try Spike 80 DF the stuff works GREAT,,, far cheaper than anything else out there, Dow chemical makes it, Google it stuff is great on any thorny brush, tree, sage ect. dosnt affect your grass..

 

[texasjohn]

Krakerjack9, but does the stuff kill mesquite.... it is not labeled for mesquite....I looked it up, here http://www.cattlementocattlemen.com/uDocs/Spike80DF-FactSheet.pdf possibly it does... but there are a lot of herbicides that work great on numerous species but mesquite is immune to it...

It seems to be labeled for:
Susceptible Species
Spikeï½® 80DF Herbicide
B A N D E D A P P L I C A T I O N F O R F E N C E R O W S

Big sagebrush
Blackberry
Blackjack oak
Cenizo (silversage)
Creosotebush
Hickory
Lotebush
Macartney rose
Multiflora rose
Post oak
Privet
Red oak
Running live oak
Sand sage
Sand shinnery oak
South Texas brush
(including blackbrush,
catclaw acacia,
guajillo, huisache,
lime pricklyash, Texas
persimmon and spiny
hackberry)
Virginia creeper
Western hackberry
White oak
Whitebrush
Winged elm
Tarbush
Yaupon

NO MESQUITE.... it is a common misconception that mesquite can be killed like other things people are familiar with... NOT.

Unless labeled for mesquite, I would not apply it that way. Mesquite is hard enough to kill with highly specific herbicides, much less a general herbicide. IMHO, it would be a waste of $$.

I also note this is labeled for banded application along fence rows... not pasture application.

Thus, use of this herbicide in the pasture would be improper use on an off label target species.

 

[wushaw]

Mesquite thorns hang out for years waiting for unsuspecting tires. Also you will still have em coming up every year hear & there from old seeds and wildlife spreading seeds.

Between the Mesquite, prickly pear and sand burrs I find the sand burrs the worst to keep in check.

 

[jdsafeman]

Purdurabo, welcome to the forum!
I don't have mesquite but I do have Black Locust (3-4 inch thorns) and Bois D'arc trees in abundance. Both are hard on tires.
I traded an L3600 for a new M9540 and put Slime in both. (ag tires)
The Slime seems to do the job for me.
Only when I drove over a broken T-post did it make a hole big enough that would not self-seal.
One thing that the tire guy told me was to take the time to pull out all of the little thorns that get stuck in the tire. It keeps them from being pushed even deeper into the tire.
Good Luck in Texas...

 

[2manyrocks]

Haven't used spike but my recollection is that spike herbicide is one of those chemicals that is very effective---to the point that you'd better be sure about what vegetation you want to destroy and for how long before you apply it to anything.

 

[texasjohn]

well.... reading the label is very instructive.

I discovered that there isn't just one "spike" but at least two.

Spike 80D
Spike 20P http://www.dowagro.com/PublishedLit...ange/pdfs/noreg/010-56042.pdf&fromPage=GetDoc

The latter seems to be highly selective for Big Sagebrush... not mesquite.

I repeat... for mesquite, be sure and use a herbicide labeled for mesquite and follow label mix and application directions or it's $$ wasted.

 

[For God and Texas]

I'm in Milam Co. and am going through a similar situation. We have dozered, root plowed, disked and now are doing spot application of remedy and shredding. Even after root plowing, we still have re-emergance of mesquite.

If it is cost of chemical you are worried about, mix remedy with diesel and use a backpack and spray the idividual plants. You will see fast results. Broad application is a bit slower. Either way, you are in for an annual battle.

Oh, and slime has worked great for me. Just remember, it looses effectiveness over time and after sitting for awhile. You will need to freshen it up.