Need advice on land clearing

[DennisH]

Hi

I have 7 AC of land south of Huntsville AL in need of some clearing, it is both open and hardwood/pine trees.

The areas that need cleared are:

1. 300' x 50' area
2. 200' x 50' area
3. 3 rounds areas about 20-30' in diameter.
4. 500' x 15' single pine tree line (push down)

For the most part this is all tree line and wet weather creek areas that can't be bush hogged that have grown up over the last 30 years. There is also some old barbed wire and posts mixed in with all this.

One guy I talked to said he would pull everything out with a track hoe and skid steer, pile it up and burn it (at a later date). His rate was $125 hr for the track hoe (40 hrs) and $50 hr for the skid steer (20 hr.) I did get a little sticker shock over the $6,000 est.

I meet another guy last night that has a mulcher who said he can clear this but still need to have him look at it and give me an est.

What is the best approach for clearing this mess up? I have attached a couple of pictures that show the general type stuff I'm dealing with.

Thank you and if you know anyone in this area that does this pass along a name and contact number.

 

[rekees4300]

Assuming you don't want to DIY with a chainsaw and tractor/FEL, I'd hire a guy with a bulldozer. A track hoe is made for digging. Seems to me a bulldozer could do it much faster (less money) since it's built for pushing.

 

[brin]

A few months ago I had about 6 or 7 acres of a 22 acre farm I own cleared and it was similar to the way yours looks....I paid a mulcher $1.200.00 total for the clean up and it went well and looks great..There was nothing to burn or clean up...all that was left behind was nice looking wood chips. I bush hogged it after they left and it looks great..

I had also gotten a bid similar to yours from a fella with a Dozier and skid steer and he too was going to come back later and burn it...I wonder if they would ever show up to do the burning....and to do that much burning you have to have a loader on site..

 

[sweettractors]

I would use a dozer so I could get the stumps out at the same time I am clearing the land. Ken Sweet

 

[sandman2234]

The barbed wire is going to give a mulcher a fit, isn't it gentlemen? I can just see it wrapping around the head and requiring hours to get it loose. Another option would be a ditch mower mounted on the back of your tractor, like road dept's use. I have one on the back of a four wheel drive tractor and it reaches out and touches places where a bush hog can't go. Assuming that this area is going to require mowing over and over again, but can't be reached with a bush hog, your going to continue spending money to hire somebody else if you don't have the equipment to do it yourself.
David from jax

 

[DennisH]

David, you hit on a point that has also been on my mind as well. While the barbed wire is not everywhere it was at one time running along that path so my guess is what you can't see is still in there somewhere or rusted away over time.

I will talk to the mulcher guy this week and let you guys know what he says.

This project has gotten moved forward a few years due to a relocation so I might just have to pull the trigger on a tractor now and get busy with doing most of this myself.

 

[tommcintire]

Having done the "knock it down and burn it" route on 1/4 acre of land, I don't recommend it... It can be done, but it isn't fun. I thought (incorrectly) that if I left my slash piles laying for a while (9 months or so), they'd shed their dirt off the stumps, and it would all burn easily.

Long story short, it didn't (not really, anyway). Ended up getting a grapple for the tractor (Markham Welding), and burning the brush, but it was miserable to keep burning. Had to hit it with a backpack leaf blower continuously.

One bit of advice would be to make sure the stuff you take down is fully leaved out before cutting it or knocking it down. Then it will suck itself dry and burn better than it would otherwise.

Second bit of advice is a square bale & 3 gallons of diesel make a great firestarter... The hay holds the diesel and makes it burn like a giant oil lamp!

Good luck! The rest of mine is getting "harvested" and chipped as part of a saw timber and biomass harvest later this year. Will be much more pleasant to deal with!

-Tom

 

[jbooth]

I imagine the wire will be a problem with the mulcher. I have a saw for my skid steer and the one thing it does better than cut trees is wind wire.

 

[sweettractors]

I have a D3 B Cat dozer and buy land or small farms to clean up and resell. The dozer is the easiest way for me. When I get the laps burned, then I will dig a hole and bury the dirt clods or root balls. Ken Sweet

 

[WestshoreConstruction]

Bulldozer in wet area = Tremendous mess Best bet trackhoe w/ thumb push them over, lift and shake get a tub grinder in or rent a chipper. Problem solved. Bulldozers are a thing of the past and if someone tells you they cant do it with a Hoe, they don't know what they are talking about look else where. It has been so wet here all season my mulchers can't get into most places without leaving it a mess, the hoe is one of the only pieces working right now.. you can also pile it in rows and get a mulcher in there when its dry, or like I said rent or hire a chipper/grinder. You can use the chips for landscaping later or sell the pile after.