Mud Wrestling or...

jinman · Nov 2, 2003

( I once cut down a chicken tree the size of that willow.... )

Have_blue, I don't think I know what a chicken tree is. Is it a wetland tree? No matter, these little tractors will sure surprise you sometimes. Most of the time I don't have my camera, but this time I remembered. Maybe I should invent a new camera holder accessory to go right beside the cupholder. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

Slamfire · Nov 2, 2003

Well I'm glad the willow tree broke first. There is a REAL sinking feeling when your tractor refuses to move when it is in gear and the engine is running. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

F350Lawman · Nov 2, 2003

I like to use the truck and tractor in combo. Sometimes it's just easier to pull with an 8000lb truck than beat up my -3000lb tractor. Other times you just get ticked and keep at it with the tractor til' ya win! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

have_blue · Nov 3, 2003

( I don't think I know what a chicken tree is. Is it a wetland tree? )

Jim,

"Chicken tree" is a local name for the sapium sebiferum, or Chinese tallow tree. It grows in bottomlands and almost anywhere else...including your area. I would like to send them all back to China. What a pestilence! I carved my 10 acre plot from them, and still haven't recovered from all that work. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

jinman · Nov 3, 2003

( Sometimes it's just easier to pull with an 8000lb truck.... )

That's funny because that was going to be my next step if my last attempt did not work. I was worried because my pickup is 2WD and I'd probably have to "bump" the end of the chain rather than a slow and steady pull. This dry caliche soil doesn't provide a lot of traction. As it turns out, my tractor's front wheels just lifted slightly and the R4s caught enough traction to pull the stump up the bank.

jinman · Nov 3, 2003

( the sapium sebiferum, or Chinese tallow tree )

I'll look that up in my Field Guide to Texas Trees. What we have most of here is mesquite, poverty bush, and a wild "fruitless" pear tree that I think is similar to the Bradford pear. My theory is that they call the Bradford pears fruitless, but they make a small seed pod the the birds will eat. The birds then drop that seed and the native tree grows. Any unused land around cities where there is a large concentration of Bradford pears has these wild pear trees springing up all over the place. I'll look for your chicken trees to see if I've seen them, but just didn't know what they are.

jinman · Nov 3, 2003

Have_blue, I checked my references and did an internet search on the Chinese tallow tree. I now see why it's such a blight on the land with the native grasses and plants being choked by the tree. When people see them in the fall and they look so pretty, they are tempted to transplant them. That's a big mistake according to everything I read. These trees haven't made it to my area yet, but they seem to be able to thrive in a variety of soils and conditions. For now it seems that burning the fields to kill the young trees annually is the only good solution. Too bad that grasshoppers don't love them. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

have_blue · Nov 3, 2003

Jim, I saw a bunch of them up in Austin. The trees that ate Louisiana are creeping your way! Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

Slamfire · Nov 3, 2003

Kuzdu has killed just about any kind of tree I've ever seen, but then you are left with the vine that ate the south. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

ScottAR · Nov 4, 2003

Ugh... The K word... If you get still and quiet, you can hear it growing. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif And as far as I know, They haven't invented anything that will kill it completely.