Buying Advice Yet another newbie, trying to size this right

[Polimom]

Depending on the area you're in and who/what is available, you MIGHT be able to get someone to selectively cut and haul for you using horses. It means almost zero impact on the ground, and you have the enjoyment of watching them work. I hate seeing a skidder/forwarder going to work, they generally make one **** of a mess, especially on a small property like yours.Sean

Now THAT is an interesting idea. Have to poke around a bit and see if anybody's done / doing that locally. Thanks for the input!

 

[Chilly807]

Now THAT is an interesting idea. Have to poke around a bit and see if anybody's done / doing that locally. Thanks for the input!

As nice as a tractor is for light logging work, mine usually only gets used to haul from the edge of the woods to the house, and then only when the ground is either baked in the summer or frozen like a rock in winter. I have an ATV and a logging arch for the tight quarters in the woods. It's much more nimble and leaves less impact on the ground.

I grew up in an area where the trails and hauling roads were destroyed by skidders and tractors to the point where nothing else could get through. It sickened me of modern logging methods.

I've watched horses work in the woods before, it's a fascinating glimpse of a simpler time. Our horses (Morgans) really aren't heavy enough to do that kind of work, though they're willing enough to try.

Sean

 

[Baby Grand]

rbargeron & Sean both suggest looking to the upper end of what you want this machine to be able to do for you. This was the approach that I used when buying my tractor. Get enough to do what you reasonably expected you would want to do, and not a lot more.

I knew I wanted something that could handle an 8 or 9 foot backhoe. This set the hydraulic pump performance, frame size and tractor weight requirements, which led me to the L3240.

Ground clearance was important for getting around in our woods as I wanted to use some of the windfalls for supplemental heat.

I also knew the Plant Manager wanted to grow a lot of vegetables, which meant a lot of ground engaging work for me, so R1 tires, which also work well in the woods and moving snow in the Winter. The lawn is handled by a Sears lawn tractor, so R1s digging up the lawn isn't a problem.

-Jim

 

[leonz]

Ah, Jim. My dreams for this place... hmmm....

What actually kicked off the realization that we needed serious gear (like a tractor) in the first place was reclaiming the pastures. The prior owners' horses have been gone a few years, there is (WAS!) an invasive vine that took out an entire birch stand, and part of the fencing (when the trees started collapsing), and the streams that go into / out of the pond had silted / clogged... which meant a potential new pond in one of the pastures. (no thank you!) I spent a couple days clearing a drain stream probably 100' long with a shovel, looked around at what was left to dig, and had an "oh sh*&t" moment.

We have thought of bringing in some small livestock. Alpacas? Goats? Sheep? But if the fences are coming down and the pastures are being reclaimed, then nothing is possible. It'll just be more woods at the end of the day.

The woods (speaking of) -- many of the trails are now verging on impassible. Between our property and the two adjoining, though, there are nearly 70 acres of marked trail system, and I'd like to bring as much of that back as possible. I can probably only affect 30 acres directly (new owner in the back), but even that would be SO much better!

All of these things add value to our property, as well as increase our ability to do with it what we want.

So I guess my dreams is to be able to do what I want with it. And for it to be as beautiful as it can be. To have flexibility. To hike the trails and set up photography blinds and give classes.

:thumbsup:

It would be of benefit to you to contact a number of loggers with tracked or rubber tired forestry mowers as you will be spending much less money and the overgrown brush will be gone and you wil be able to do the fencing work easliy as the land wil be cleared.

As for the trails and odd areas you can hire a Fecon tracked forestry flail shredder and clear all the land you want cleared up as what you doing is going to take a huge amount of time where these machines will do it quickly and cleanly in a very short time.

I am not trying to spend your money, I wish that you would check with a few loggers that have land clearing machinery which is what you really need for this.

 

[peterc38]

Now THAT is an interesting idea. Have to poke around a bit and see if anybody's done / doing that locally. Thanks for the input!

FYI, There is a guy on NH Craigslist that advertizes low impact horse logging.

 

[Reg]

Logging with horses - almost ANY draft horse work - is a whole 'nother THANG (-:

Fascinating to watch, NOT something (like tractor "work") that one would casually get into on week-ends.

One of my own fantasies - plow an acre behind a team.
ONE acre would probably wear me right out, but who knows, it could become addictive.

Another one - get some decent sized logs out with a horse, I doubt that I would learn to handle a pair in the woods, sure wood(pun) like to try though (-:

I get down to Reading / Lancaster PA area once in a while - - and yes, I stop and gawk at the Amish working their horses whenever I can.
(Admire as much as I gawk)

 

[ChuckinNH]

There are loggers here in NH that do a good job with horses, and will take on smaller properties like yours, or mine for that matter. I have enjoyed helping the process of healing the skidder trails along with my small tractor, and have that good feeling that I am leaving the land better than I found it, and it sounds like you, and your husband are interested in that too. The "Market Bulletin" should have some logger's names, and probably any registered forester would have a list too.

Weekly Market Bulletin | NH Department of Agriculture, Markets & Food

 

[Baby Grand]

Some light reading on low impact forestry ...
new index for Timbergreen Farm 2010
The scope of the work sounds like something that can be done a little at a time, and mostly or entirely by yourselves, if you have the time for it and the desire to do it. Getting the vines under control was one of my big tasks and involved going tree to tree with loppers and snipping the vines where they started on the ground. Around here it was mostly bittersweet (some were 2 to 3" diameter), grape, multiflora rose (not a vine, but still a climber) and poison ivy. Some areas required additional work to clear out entangled trees, limbs, etc and brush hogging where I could get access.