Need advice on how to clear 4 acres

[MMagis]

I have a whole different view of this situation.

The 4 acres was logged. That tells me it's full of large tree stumps, cut at whatever height pleased the logger. This property needs dozed. And it's not going to be a "done before lunch" project. Nor is it going to be cheap. It's a slow project finding and digging up low cut stumps with any piece of equipment, even a large dozer.

Hope it was purchased well below the average price for timber land in that area. It is non-useable in it's current condition and even if left alone, will never be a valuable forest again.

I agree with everything except that last sentence. It certainly could be valuable forest again, if that's what one desired. Since he doesn't, it's not so important.

 

[ovrszd]

I agree with everything except that last sentence. It certainly could be valuable forest again, if that's what one desired. Since he doesn't, it's not so important.

I didn't word that very well,, sorry. What I meant was if nothing is done it will not be a valuable forest again because it will be full of brush trees rather than valuable hardwood, etc. To get that value it must be cleared and replanted.

 

[AGRIMAN]

I look at it two different ways. Since the largest piece of equipment you currently have is a riding mower, I would assume that you don't have any experience operating larger equipment. For this reason I would also suggest that you hire it done as it will be faster and cheaper with better results.

On the other hand, if time and money is not your biggest concern, this would be a great opportunity for you to gain some experience and maybe have some fun along the way. Not to mention the satisfaction of doing it yourself.

If so, I would also suggest an excavator (with a thumb) over a dozer and probably a skid steer. My reasoning is mainly based on your limit experience (which is an assumption). If you are going to dig up stumps, clear brush/small trees and make burn piles, they need to be as dirt free as possible or you will have a big mess on your hands when you try to burn them. An excavator will probably be the easiest for you to learn to run. It will also allow you to pick up the stumps/brush and shake the excess dirt out and make clean piles. It's also rather easy to level things back off with the bucket.

It is absolutely possible to do it with a dozer, but it will require more experience to do it right (especially building clean burn piles). A skid steer (with bucket and grapple) would also work, but you could run into trouble if you have any large stumps.

Over the last few years I have clear a fair amount land. The majority of it done with my dozer (850 JD), but I have also used my skid steer (LS190) and rubber tire backhoe (580E) many times. Sometimes we run the skid steer (with grapple) alongside the dozer. This really works good and speeds things up as the dozer does the heavy clearing and the skid steer does the piling, but that two pieces of equipment running.

I have a midsized excavator on my want list, but as the old saying goes .... I'm not to old for my wants to hurt me.

 

[zing]

Hello,
I need your advice on how I should go about clearing four acres of land. The land was harvested about 5 years ago. Since then, a few trees and bushes have regrown. I'm leaving all of the large trees in place (not many remaining), but cutting all of the small trees (no larger than 3" width).
I'm going to plant walnut and pecan trees once cleared, and also hunt the property.
How would you go about clearing it, and what tools/ tractors would you suggest? Note: I don't own any tractors, other than a riding lawn mower, so I'll be renting the equipment.
Thanks. View attachment 452717View attachment 452718View attachment 452719

That really just looks like it is scrub brush and small stuff, and not really that much of it. If it was me, I would just by a brush cutter and a chipper. You could probably do an acre a weekend and be done in a month.

Make sure you get a skil saw style blade for it like this, not one of the three or four arm ones. Those will buzz right through a 3 inch sapling with a single pass.

Any gas powered chipper or shredder should be big enough to handle the size of saplings that you are cutting. Just blow the cippings into piles around the edges of the property or to fill in low spots.

You will use both of these items again and again over the time that you own the land, so buy rather than rent.

 

[JamesHW]

I have to agree with zing re brush cutter. I would only add a full harness. I have one and it really helps.

Coincidentally I am having a forestry outfit clear (stumps and all) almost 5 acres (and selective logging elsewhere on the land) on my place currently. The area was previously cleared and was used for corn as late as the early 50's,but was neglected and overgrown since then. I came across some historic high altitude photos that I have stitched together here with the current, pre-clearing view from Google Earth Pro...

 

[newbury]

I think this may be another dead thread, OP posted once and that's his last activity.

 

[Jim Timber]

Depending on what he wants to hunt, leaving it brushy is his best bet.

Getting walnut trees to grow up in a thicket just ain't gonna happen. They need full sun.

I'm going to second the forestry mulcher and you can rent them yourself for 1K a day here (not sure about down there) IF you really do want to destroy all the habitat you currently have and start at a point where you can plant walnut trees and get them growing. You won't have any merchantable timber for 50-80 years depending on the quality of your soil and the amount of rain and sun they get. 80 years will MAYBE get you a saw log, but you'll have poles by then for sure. Probably worth more as firewood by the time your kids retire though.