Thinning it out

[curly]

Question.

I have some land that I want to thin out like what HunterRidgeFarm did in the "Land Clearing to House Building" thread. Mine is not as thick though so the going should be a bit easier. I'm leaving almost all of the big trees but want to get rid of sapplings and other growth.

I will be getting a Montana 45hp machine with fel and rough cutter and a root grapple. I know it'll take me a long time, but I'm not in a hurry because my house is already built, I just want the close-up woods to look better. This will also give me some time to learn how to control the tractor as it will be my first.

What other implements do I need to clear out the underbrush with all of the roots of the small trees etc. Is a box blade with the scarifiers good for that? Since I am getting a root grapple, can I get away without the box blade on this adventure?

Thanks,
Curly

 

[JRobyn]

I'm planning on doing a lot of that with my chainsaw and chipper. Anything smaller than about 4" gets whacked and fed through the chipper.

- Jay

 

[3RRL]

Curly,
With your 45hp Montana and a good brush hog (rotary cutter) you should be able to whack down about everything between the big trees. You can use your root grapple to pop out and remove small stumps and roots left over. So your clearing work can be well done with what you have.

However, your need to smooth out after the clearing job may require a boxblade? Or, if you have a bucket for your fel, you could back drag to smooth also. You didn't say whether you have a bucket or just the root grapple for the fel? IMO, you will want to get something to do the smoothing a little easier after the clearing work. A box blade is a handy tool anyways. You will find many other uses for it. Even a drag harrow would work good.

 

[curly]

Curly,
With your 45hp Montana and a good brush hog (rotary cutter) you should be able to whack down about everything between the big trees. You can use your root grapple to pop out and remove small stumps and roots left over. So your clearing work can be well done with what you have.

However, your need to smooth out after the clearing job may require a boxblade? Or, if you have a bucket for your fel, you could back drag to smooth also. You didn't say whether you have a bucket or just the root grapple for the fel? IMO, you will want to get something to do the smoothing a little easier after the clearing work. A box blade is a handy tool anyways. You will find many other uses for it. Even a drag harrow would work good.

Yes, I'll also have the bucket. The grapple has been sent to the dealer and should arrive today (almost to late for that ) or tomorrow. Hopefully they have already installed the extra front hydralics. After that, all they have to do is deliver it. I guess I should just go ahead and get the box blade since it is such a handy implement.

Actually, I don't really need to smooth it out, it's just the woods. I'll see what it looks like when I'm done.

Thanks,
Curly

 

[N80]

Curly, I cleared over 2 acres of young planted pines down to the dirt with my 45 hp Kubota using nothing but the bucket and the box blade (and no toothbar on the bucket either). The biggest of the pines was about 8-10" in diameter. Most were 4-5". It took several (12 hour) days, but it was completely cleared (as in no stumps). I can mow it now with my light duty rotary cutter.

This is a pic of my son learning to do it. You can see the sort of stuff we were clearing. With a grapple and a bucket, you should have no trouble. Just take it slow and be persistent.

 

[curly]

Curly, I cleared over 2 acres of young planted pines down to the dirt with my 45 hp Kubota using nothing but the bucket and the box blade (and no toothbar on the bucket either). The biggest of the pines was about 8-10" in diameter. Most were 4-5". It took several (12 hour) days, but it was completely cleared (as in no stumps). I can mow it now with my light duty rotary cutter.

Thanks,
I am leaving the big trees though so maybe it'll be easier than yours. Still gonna need a box blade eventually for my roads though.

 

[jdbower]

I'd also consider a toothbar or the recent posts on Payne's Debris Forks to help snag the underbrush. When sizing a rotary cutter, make sure you account for the maneuverability, driving just the tractor+FEL in the woods is a very different experience than using my MMM. Add the backhoe and you end up with a few more scars on the tree trunks than when you started.

 

[curly]

I'd also consider a toothbar or the recent posts on Payne's Debris Forks to help snag the underbrush. When sizing a rotary cutter, make sure you account for the maneuverability, driving just the tractor+FEL in the woods is a very different experience than using my MMM. Add the backhoe and you end up with a few more scars on the tree trunks than when you started.

Yeah, I thought about that. I'm getting a 6ft cutter because well, bigger is better on the fields. But it will definately be a pain in the woods.

I'm hoping the root grapple will handle the snagging of things. I just need to get this thing so I can figure out what'll do what.

Whatcha cooking for the Labor Day holiday? Ribs for me, I'll post a pic or 2. Got a great new smoker last year...saweeet.

 

[hunterridgefarm]

Question.

I have some land that I want to thin out like what HunterRidgeFarm did in the "Land Clearing to House Building" thread. Mine is not as thick though so the going should be a bit easier. I'm leaving almost all of the big trees but want to get rid of sapplings and other growth.

I will be getting a Montana 45hp machine with fel and rough cutter and a root grapple. I know it'll take me a long time, but I'm not in a hurry because my house is already built, I just want the close-up woods to look better. This will also give me some time to learn how to control the tractor as it will be my first.

What other implements do I need to clear out the underbrush with all of the roots of the small trees etc. Is a box blade with the scarifiers good for that? Since I am getting a root grapple, can I get away without the box blade on this adventure?

Thanks,
Curly

Curly,

Good advice from everyone. I was using a 31 HP tractor and it did more than I ever thought it would. My problem was my undergrowth was sooooo thick that once I pushed up a good size pile I would lose traction and have to attack from a different angle. Now if I had a grapple like your getting it would have been a different story. I could have carried piles of brush instead of pushing. I do think the toothbar would help but it alos depends on the undergrowth. Pines push up fairly easy and can be mowed down with the bushhog with not too much worry of little stumps causing flats. Hardwoods are a little different if you mow them be careful of sharp little stumps. I had 3 flats, 2 front and 1 rear, when I was doing my clearing.

When I did not have enough time to load the tractor to make it worth while I would use the chainsaw to cut brush and small trees off at the ground and use the boxblade to pull the stumps up later; this was mostly for the road.

How much do you plan on clearing? have you consider renting or hiring a mulcher to cut a few trails?

 

[curly]

How much do you plan on clearing? have you consider renting or hiring a mulcher to cut a few trails?

Not sure yet how much, I'm just gonna go at it and do what I can when I can. There's no hurry cause I'm not building anything. Just clearing it to look better so I have the rest of my life

Yeah, the toothbar...dang, it never ends does it

 

[QwikDraw]

are you just piling the debris? are you going to burn it? Chip it? Grind it?

Just wondering?

 

[IslandTractor]

The equipment you have is exactly right for the task you are approaching. Don't worry about how fast it goes. Start off slowly until you get comfortable with the equipment. You'll learn to use different strategies as you become more familiar with your tools. It won't take long before you can pretty accurately judge whether to push a tree over first or pop it out directly and also just how much to do with your cutter instead of the grapple.

You will also learn more about the soil and root systems of the trees on your land and those factors will determine a big part of what technique to use. I always back the cutter in first as that is easiest and it also opens up the lanes around bigger trees so you can push from different sides or get under the roots with the grapple more easily. I generally will try to push a tree over with my grapple up about 10 feet from a couple of different angles before attacking the roots with the grapple. Don't be afraid to let the front of the tractor lift off the ground a foot or so to increase the pressure on the tree but don't push it beyond that as you'll risk instability. Often moving the tractor 90 degrees around the tree and pushing in a new direction will loosen things up even if you've stopped making progress in the first direction. Again, just experiment and make incremental changes in your technique until you get comfortable with the different ways to apply engine, loader and weight force to loosen up a tree. First step with the grapple is just to get the lower tines under an exposed root and drive forward then curl to see how it may loosen it up. See which way the tree is willing to move then try to push again in that direction.

Again, just get to work and carefully experiment to explore the capabilities of your tractor at the same time that you are learning the various techniques. That land will be cleared long before you are bored with the task.

 

[N80]

IslandTractor is right about the soil type and all that. When pushing up pines, the soil needed to be moist if not wet. When my soil is dry, it is like concrete. When it was like that, the pines would snap off just above the ground and the roots would be real hard to get out. If the ground was wet, the pines would lean over when pushed and the roots would pop out. Then I'd just back up, hook the bucket edge under the root and drive forward.

Now, talk about a brush pile! I had several really big ones (8-10' tall 30 yards long, 20 yards wide), and they were more like log piles. I pushed some of the stuff up in the woods for wildlife habitat but most of it I burned. However, I would not do the burning again on my own. I did all the precautions, it was even a light rain at the time, and I had no problems. But it still got scary a few times. I don't recommend it.

 

[curly]

are you just piling the debris? are you going to burn it? Chip it? Grind it?

Just wondering?

I'd love to chip it and use the mulch...but that's another implement I don't have. We have some deep ravines on the land and my thoughts were to start filling some of them up.

I can also burn some to if need be, but I like to be careful there too, not too large of a fire.. We live in a log cabin

 

[jdbower]

Ah, PTO chipper/shredders are fun but spendy toys!

I can also burn some to if need be.

If you can identify any good smokey hardwoods I'm sure you can figure out what to do with them.

 

[IslandTractor]

I can also burn some to if need be.

I'd second N80's warnings about burning. A brush pile can get out of control real fast and contains an awful lot of dry fuel.

I've been pushing my piles into areas that I am happy to leave alone for 10-20 years and just allow them to become wildlife habitats. One of my biggest piles is in an abandoned foundation so it is not so visible...similar to filling a ravine I would imagine. The stuff compacts over time so I can still add material (especially heavy stuff like stumps) on top.

Chippers are nice but if you are really clearing out a large area you'll likely generate more brush and trees than you'll be happy chipping with anything less than a hydraulically fed $6000 chipper. Maybe the Jinma is an exception. I find I use my PTO chipper selectively and mostly when I want to generate mulch rather than to get rid of brush.

 

[curly]

Ah, PTO chipper/shredders are fun but spendy toys!



If you can identify any good smokey hardwoods I'm sure you can figure out what to do with them.

Yeah really . Any hardwoods over 4 inches will go into the woodstove or smoker.


Smoker

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Woodstove

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[curly]

I went ahead and ordered a toothbar. Since WRLong did my grapple I went with them on the toothbar also.

I got what they call the Flat Toothbar which is flat on the bottom so you can back drag and leave a smooth finish.

Tooth Bars TB, STB, and ITB

 

[3RRL]

Curly,
Super nice log home, stove and smoker!
So exactly how much of your money have we spent on your new stuff so far?

 

[MacLawn]

Whew, I'm in bad shape! I want to do about the same as Curly, but only have a John Deere 2210 (23 hp) and a rear finishing mower!

So, for me, it back to the old chain saw, axe, etc. and a lot of sweat!!

I plan to get a box blade sometime, but don't think I will be able to do much with that. Maybe clear some of the muscadine vine roots and real small shrubs... at least that will be better that using the axe like I've been doing.