Willow Trees -- clearing dense growth

[LouieJunior]

I have decided to clear some dense willows from the perimeter of my lowland fields. The growth is much to dense and heavy to run my bush hog. My plan is to chainsaw the trees off at knee hight -- most are 3 or 4 inches across and too high to spray. Then wait several weeks and spray the re-growth. Once dead, my approach will be to dose the remnants with my bucket. Obviously, I'd do better with a mulcher, but I don't have one.

Anyone have a better method?

 

[Bison]

Get a dozer in there ,pile them and burn them.
A mulcher would only leave an ugly mess and a thick layer of chips and sticks and renders that land useless for years.

 

[Piston]

Louie,

How big of an area do you want to clear? This would certainly make a big difference on what would be recommended.

 

[LouieJunior]

There are multiple, small areas. I'd guess an acre, or so each -- measuring about 50 feet by 100 yards. Each year the areas grow bigger, as do the willows in them. I try to keep a wide path mowed around the field edges, but some are prone to be wet and some years it is difficult to mow at all and new saplings emerge. Flooding is more frequent now with nearby developments.

This summer, it is bone dry and I have hogged the smaller growth. I am happy to do the work myself -- but I do not want to tear-up my tractor or my tires.

I have encountered some dead willows among them, and they break-off very easily at ground level. My tractor should be able to easily doze them if I can somehow manage to kill them off.

 

[radioman]

Well - thats the thing. willows love water and it helps to stabilize the ground. Instead of figting it and cutting them all, I'd leave a few in rows you can drive a tractor between so when it gets bigger, the roots gives you a surface to drive on when wet while trying to bushhog it . With the willows soaking up all that water, it will be drier ground.

 

[Piston]

Louie,

I would want to do the work myself as well. I'm sure some more experienced people will come along, but in the meantime here is something to think about. A relatively cheap and efficient way to take the willow trees down would be a brush clearing saw, something like the Stihl models they have on they're website. I have a Stihl FS90 string striker that can accept the brush saw attachment, and it works wonders on small diameter saplings, but it doesn't have the power to be cutting what your facing. I would look into their biggest brush clearing dedicated model. I'm not sure what the max cutting capacity is of the dedicated models however.

An expensive, but "oh so fun and fast" way to go, would be to purchase a PTO powered "Turbo Saw". This would enable you to very quickly cut the willow trees off at ground level, you could clear all those trees out in a very short period of time. However, at around $4,000 for the attachment, it doesn't make much sense if you don't have ongoing use for it.

Personally, I would think hard about a brush saw, maybe you could even rent one from a local dealership, these are pretty incredible tools as well and are quite capable.

 

[LouieJunior]

A relatively cheap and efficient way to take the willow trees down would be a brush clearing saw, something like the Stihl models they have on they're website. I have a Stihl FS90 string striker that can accept the brush saw attachment, and it works wonders on small diameter saplings, but it doesn't have the power to be cutting what your facing. I would look into their biggest brush clearing dedicated model. I'm not sure what the max cutting capacity is of the dedicated models however.

I'm looking into these -- Thanks! I have two Stihl chainsaws and never knew they made a brush cutter, or any one else for that matter. I see Husqvarna and Echo also make them. Stihl's top model (#560) lists for $1,319. That's several times the price of a nice chainsaw. Looking at the product pictures, one wouldn't think they'd be that pricey, compared to a saw. Maybe I don't need the top model. Husqvarna's top model (345) is $780. Nowhere does it say what the cutting capacity is for these. I guess I need to visit the dealers.

 

[yellowdogsvc]

Get a dozer in there ,pile them and burn them.
A mulcher would only leave an ugly mess and a thick layer of chips and sticks and renders that land useless for years.

I disagree. The right mulcher operator could make that look great and the beneficial material added back to the soil is much better than dozing and burning. That material is soft and will shred well. It all depends on what the final use is. If he wants to have a field and just mow it occasionally, mulching would be great and when the grasses poke through, he can run his bushhog.
A dozer would make a terrible mess and strip the soil with the small roots, open his property up to erosion and the burn pile would be a scar for a long time and besides, for trees that small, why bring in a dozer?

 

[LouieJunior]

I followed Piston's advise and bought a ground clearing saw. Cleared better than an acre using the saw for an hour on each of the past several weekend mornings. Today I used my land plane with the shanks down to rip out some of the little stumps. Then I raked it up and ran my plow through several times -- cutting up more of the roots. Here is an "after" picture. I'm guessing there were 500+ trees in this thicket and I have many more areas like this one!