Right way to clear a wooded lot?

[dking]

You think a 4 wheeler could winch a 20' tree 10" at the base?

Yes, I winched a few trees out bigger than that. used a 2500 lb winch. Chains on the rear tires made a difference. It's a bit hard on the bike though.

 

[dangerdoc]

Need to clear about a 1/2 acre wooded lot. Have a Kubota L3130 with backhoe. Need to clear the lot quickly. Want to hall the bigger tree's about 150 yds away and then cut up later. What is the best way to move these trees. Drag from backhoe, 3pt hitch, pulling bar? I am thinking pulling bar but would like to get the tractor end of the trees up of the ground. Any recommendations.......what is the realistic amount of tree length I can haul. Thanks

How quickly do you need to clear the field and what do you want left when finished. What kind of trees.

A chainsaw and tractor is a slow way of clearing a field and leaves stumps. Some stumps need chemical treatment to prevent regrowth. A dozer is a fast way to clear a field without leaving stumps.

You can cut fire wood out of a pile left by a dozer. It's not fun and you have to tidy up the pile with your tractor when you are finished but if the dozer operator knows what you want to do, he can stack it to make things a little easier.

If you want to clear it with a chain saw, look into putting a grapple on your tractor. You can cut into logs where the tree drops and move them to where you want to cut rounds and split. Then move the brush to the brush pile.

 

[johnnydel29]

Dendeing on how much you want to spend, like someone else mentioned, using a tractor and chainsaw is a pretty slow process, unless you have some good help on the ground cutting. A dozer and excavator w/ a good operaters, can be done in less than a day.

 

[amigauser]

A couple of fellows here have built attachments for the three point hitch to tow stuff with. Ones name is Lloyd.

Picture of hitch attached.

Here is one by Northern Tool that is similar

Norwood Log Hog Log Skidder Tractor Attachment, Model# 41255 Log Hog | Log Skidding | Northern Tool + Equipment

 

[kubotal3130]

The area i'm clearing is going to be a pond. I have a guy coming in to excavate and bulldoze. I want the hard wood for firewood. He is taking down the hemlock because he wants it for himself. If i pay to many people to do my work i won't be able to justify having the tractor. My wife thinks we need it to get these projects done.

 

[arrow]

Dendeing on how much you want to spend, like someone else mentioned, using a tractor and chainsaw is a pretty slow process, unless you have some good help on the ground cutting. A dozer and excavator w/ a good operaters, can be done in less than a day.

You're correct in terms of who is using this stuff. Depends who is using the chainsaw and the experience of that individual. We ( 2guys) knocked down every tree within an 8000-10000 sq ft house lot in just a little over a half hour. A full size skidder would then clear the stems and slash and we'd be done in a day. An experienced chainsawist with an equivalent tractor driver should take about 4-5 days for this job complete. Inexperienced working steady would take no longer than 2 weeks. I suppose it comes down to what one thinks of as a "long time" and whether "stumping" comes into play. One job I really hated was to cut stems off of full size trees knocked over by a dozer. I hated those giant dirt balls that were every which way and that could crush you in an instant and all the undercuts that could drive your chainsaw right into the ground.

Kubota, a good way to connect to the draw bar is with a clevis hook and bolt thru one of the holes of the draw bar. You may have to make a little metal "ear" (about 3" by2"wide) with a couple of holes on both ends to place the clevis and the drawbar. If you use a 3/8" chain clevis hook, you can use a couple of 1/4" chain 8' long with slide hooks on either end and with one of the chains also having a 1/4" grab hook incase you need a longer chain. Nice thing about this set-up is that you can put 2, 1/4" chains withinthe 3/8 grab hook and pull a couple of stems at a time.

 

[dangerdoc]

The area i'm clearing is going to be a pond. I have a guy coming in to excavate and bulldoze. I want the hard wood for firewood. He is taking down the hemlock because he wants it for himself. If i pay to many people to do my work i won't be able to justify having the tractor. My wife thinks we need it to get these projects done.

If you want to show you need the tractor, buy a grapple. drop and limb the trees and use the grapple to move the logs and brush to the appropriate places. I have skidded logs and a grapple is much more efficient. It is not going to help your heavy equipment operator though, it is easier for him to move the whole tree than to push out stumps.

If you want to get the job done fast and you're going to have somebody out with a track loader anyway, drop the trees you want to use for fire wood and limb them. Have the trackloader move them out of the way and then him take the rest as he builds the pond. After the pond is finished, you can skid the logs to where you want them at your leisure.

Honestly, I think you are not going to enjoy clearing a woodlot with a tractor. To much on and off the tractor, fighting brush and fidling. It is much more fun mowing or moving dirt. I move a lot of wood because I heat with firewood, it is the least fun I have on the tractor. I did buy a grapple this spring so I can at least move brush with it without much fuss.

 

[Champy]

Here's a pix of how we skidded some sycamores in our dry creek...

 

[arrow]

Honestly, I think you are not going to enjoy clearing a woodlot with a tractor. To much on and off the tractor, fighting brush and fidling. It is much more fun mowing or moving dirt. I move a lot of wood because I heat with firewood, it is the least fun I have on the tractor. I did buy a grapple this spring so I can at least move brush with it without much fuss.

And moving trees is the most fun I have on mine. Talk about different strokes

 

[newbury]

My favorite method of quickly clearing forested areas is napalm.

But trading off safety, cost (those jets are expensive), and usable wood leftover a skilled person with a chainsaw and a skilled person with a good tractor with BH should be able to do it.

Of course this will really justify the backhoe!