Road

[CharlieTn]

I am going to take a shot at cutting a road into my newly purchased property. My big question is there are many trees 12" diameter or less that will need to be cut.
Do I have to pull the stumps or can I cut them low to the ground?

Thanks

 

[psuedofarmer]

<font color="blue">Do I have to pull the stumps or can I cut them low to the ground?</font>

i'm not an expert, but i'd suggest removing the stumps. if you're going to use this road for rough access it's likely OK if you leave them. however, if you're planning on building a real road for vehicular traffic, you'll have to remove the stumps.

good luck.

pf

 

[Gatorboy]

<font color="blue"> Do I have to pull the stumps or can I cut them low to the ground? </font>

I would pull the stumps, for as the stumps decay, they will cause the soil to fill the void, which will cause dips, holes, etc. in your road.

 

[CharlieTn]

Thanks. I thought so but was hoping!

 

[riptides]

Yes on clearing them, but depending on the size of your equipment, it may be easier to push them over.

I had great success in topping trees, leaving about 4-5 feet poles, that I could push over with my FEL.

-Mike Z. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[PineRidge]

I am in agreement as the stumps should be removed from the drive area before further work is done.

Otherwise later when they start to rot you will be sorry that you didn't get them out when you could.

 

[Highbeam]

I agree, stumps need to go on a permanent road. Though I will add that you should have the roadway logged and the timber sold. 12" is a merchantable size of log. Those guys will not leave much stump so you will need to pop them out with an excavator.

If the wood is wasted then no need to cut the tree, just push over the whole tree with a dozer and skid it out to the burn area or push it off to the side for later.

I ran a bunch of pioneer roads when I first got my property. The dozer I used had a seven foot blade and was pretty small. I went around the trees that I couldn't push over. You can usually find a way around the trees if you don't want a straight road. The next nice thing about using a dozer is that you can easily grade the road and fill the stump holes as you go.

 

[TNhobbyfarmer]

A little off the subject here but one question Charlie. Where the heck is Cocke City, TN. I've lived in TN all my life and haven't heard of that one. Sounds like a place maybe the ladies would like. Sorry about that....just couldn't resist. Hey, we need a little levity sometimes.

 

[MadDog]

TN: It's probably just a bit South of "Blue Ball" Pennsylvania. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

...I couldn't resist, either.

 

[CharlieTn]

Cocke County is in East Tenn. I am in Cosby. Center of Cosby 43 miles to Knoxville, 12 miles to Newport, 14 miles to Gatlinburg. 15 Miles to DollyWood.

BTW, It was funny!

Charlie