Need advice on how to clear 4 acres

[Gary Fowler]

Another vote for hiring it done. It won’t be done well or efficiently with only one piece of equipment. A few guys with the right equipment will be in and out of there in a week or less.

I sure hope it wont take a week to clear 4 acres unless done with a slash blade by one guy. If digging up with a small backhoe, possibly but then if I were using that method, I would rent one (excavator) for a week and do it myself.

My reason for suggesting a contractor with a mulcher machine is because of the loggers stumps that could be anywhere from just above ground level to knee high. Lots of damage could be encountered with a tractor and bush hog from these and unless the stumps are really small, a dozer wont do much for getting them out and it would be really slow. An excavator would work but likely cost much more than a mulcher. Mulch it and get the stumps below ground level and a tractor with bush hog can keep the undergrowth down from that point on.

 

[MMagis]

I sure hope it wont take a week to clear 4 acres unless done with a slash blade by one guy.

That’s why I said “or less”. We have no idea the obstacles in there. Going by pictures alone, it looks like a 2 day job (max) with one guy with a mulcher. But I’ve learn the hard way that first glances rarely tell the whole story.

 

[newbury]

I like this answer, I have managed to rationalize in my silly brain, if I do it myself I can buy XYZ equipment and the money I save will pay for it. If your not working you might come out ahead. I bought back hoe for my skid steer used it then repair/rebuilt it and now worth more than I paid. It was however lot of work, and if I included my labor chances are it was a looser. You can also rationalize buying more tools this way.

Not to go too far off topic but that's my rationalization process also.

I'm retired. Because of various aches and pains plus the weather I can rarely plan on working hard 3 days straight to maximize a weekend rental of equipment. For instance I had a little "stuff" to chip, couldn't burn it, county wanted a few hundred to haul it and I needed mulch.

Chipper rental looked like it would be about $700 for a week.

Bought an 8" Jinma chipper for about $1700, put about 30 hours on it (had to grease it 3 times) over the course of two months, then hauled it down to Mississippi and I've only used it for about another 5 hours. I think the chipper has paid for itself. And now I've an 8" chipper just setting there waiting to be used

Rental of equipment can be good
IF you can use it at the time - inclement weather can mess up schedules
IF you can transport it - in my Mississippi location it's over an hour one way to the closest rental
IF you KNOW how to use it - I've seen people rent floor buffers and then repair the walls they went through 'cuz the buffer "got away from them"

 

[Gary Fowler]

I don't think it would be in good judgement financially to buy the equipment needed to clean up 4 acres and then just let the stuff depreciate especially since your health is not so good. A contractor with the right equipment (big excavator and dozer) can clean this up in a couple of days at most. Rates for these in my area run about $85-100 per hour for dozer / track hoe. A big mulcher could do it in half a day at most and rates stated here on TBN seem to be $175+ per hour depending on the size. A mulcher wont require a lot of land levelling like an excavator nor will there be any trash to burn. There will be piles of chips that need to rot over the years but basically wont be in the way of an orchard.

 

[Gary Fowler]

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

You don't have a tractor!!! Almost every landowner needs a tractor. I think you will need to have a tractor with at least a bush hog at some point even with a pecan orchard. A small 25-30 HP tractor with FEL would be sufficient. Used would be OK too. You will always be hauling something like fertilizer, dirt etc so an FEL is a great investment and most CUT's come with them. Grass and weed/tree sprouts etc will have to be mowed regularly unless you want it to go back to nature like it is now. I find that a tractor earns its keep on almost all land uses. Mine may set for months but are available when a job needs doing rather than waiting for days or weeks for a contractor to be available. I know lots of my tractor chores would have just went undone if I had to rent the tool or contract the work plus I like to do the small chores that take 4 hours or so like mowing. It keeps the blood flowing and joint loosened at least a bit.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I went back to your original post and looked at the scrub brush and excepting any tall stumps that might damage tractor and bush hog, I don't see anything that cant be bush hogged down. I have cut 4" sweetgum and pine trees with a 45HP tractor and lightweight bush hog by just riding them over with the FEL and easing into them with the bush hog. It pretty much shreds the limbs but not the trunk past about 2-3" in diameter. The shredded trunk can be left to rot or gathered up with the FEL (easier if you put a tooth bar on the FEL) to a burn pile.

You will eventually get tired of renting tractors and want your own so start shopping now. If you rent for this job, be sure to get damage waiver insurance , just in case that invisible stump jumps in front of the tractor and rips off an oil pan or something.

 

[newbury]

<snip> especially since your health is not so good. <snip>

OP has 1 post and did not mention health, did that come from elsewhere?

You don't have a tractor!!! Almost every landowner needs a tractor. I think you will need to have a tractor with at least a bush hog at some point even with a pecan orchard. A small 25-30 HP tractor with FEL would be sufficient. <snip>

A SCUT would be good but he needs to get it cleared before it starts growing again. And it's only 4 acres.
But for clearing 4 acres a mulcher or dozer would be better. On my last two properties I bought that had been clear cut before I bought them it seems the only mature trees left standing were sweetgum and black oak, virtual weed trees. That's why I suggested he make sure it was worth leaving the "mature" trees.

 

[ovrszd]

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.

 

[Gary Fowler]

If it is large tree stumps like Oak or similarly rooted trees, even a very large dozer is going to have a heck of a time uprooting a near ground level stump. His best bet to completely remove the stumps is with an excavator that can pop them out, then either pile the stumps for burning or dig a big hole to bury them (not my way of dealing with a stump). He then may need a dozer to come back and level up the stump holes. I suppose he could rent or contract a stump grinder to take care of the stumps which shouldn't be that many on 4 acres BUT it could be expensive.

 

[ovrszd]

If it is large tree stumps like Oak or similarly rooted trees, even a very large dozer is going to have a heck of a time uprooting a near ground level stump. His best bet to completely remove the stumps is with an excavator that can pop them out, then either pile the stumps for burning or dig a big hole to bury them (not my way of dealing with a stump). He then may need a dozer to come back and level up the stump holes. I suppose he could rent or contract a stump grinder to take care of the stumps which shouldn't be that many on 4 acres BUT it could be expensive.

I'm afraid any course of action is going to be expensive if the goal is to clear the land.