Whats the best way to clear brush?

[gregsons]

I have a 45 hp tractor, a 6 foot Bush hog, and two acres of thick brush under power lines that i started to clear. the land is real thick with alot of trees 5 inch wide. well i started going slow at it , it was more then i should do with the tractor / hog. When i would get to a tree and use a axe to take it down. it was taking me a while to get it done. i was only about 20% done. I woke up the other morning to look out the window and find it all cleared every last piece. The power co. came threw and cleared the whole thing out on day while i was at work. i dont know what they used some of the stumps were 8 inched thick . must have been a large bush hog and a 100 hp tactor . wish i was home to see them rip threw that brush.

So thats the best way to clear brush!! have some one else do it with big equipment. Now i need to have a big fire to get rid off all the wood.

 

[MSWoodlot]

Many Utility Companies clear their Right-of-Ways using Hydro-Ax equipment, as shown in the video.

YouTube - 1998 Hydro-Ax 621E


MSWoodlot

 

[Couple of Achers]

Skid loader mounted mulcher. I hired a guy to clean up a big area for me a couple of years ago with one of these. I had worked for weeks on my hands and knees using everthing from hand pruners to a chainsaw. In under an hour, he was done.

YouTube - Denis Cimaf Skid Steer Forest Mulcher DAF-180

If the link doesn't open, just search utube for mulcher.

 

[amigauser]

Wow very impressive, especially the hydro-ax.

The company I work for had some land cleared of large trees, I am talking 3 plus feet in diameter trees. They used a large excavator with a device on the boom with a circular saw blade. It was amazing how quickly they cleared the land.

Something like this -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySOF0YOaG34&feature=PlayList&p=0CA6A15FC522DF8A&index=0

 

[Lt CHEG]

That stuff is awesome. If I ever won the lottery I'd have to buy some equipment like that. Not because I need it, but because it would be like a big boy's Tonka Toy.

To the OP, too bad you didn't get to see the work in action, but it has got to be nice to not have to worry about getting that work done now right?

 

[whistlepig]

They may have used a Brown Cutter. I have seen them cut this kind of stuff with a Brown Cutter.

 

[lawn_king]

Napalm.

 

[Heavyduty]

What did the trees on the ground look like when they finished? Like fine mulch or big long shreds? I'm guessing that the rotary cutter would leave more of a mess than a front mounted mulcher.

 

[Couple of Achers]

What did the trees on the ground look like when they finished? Like fine mulch or big long shreds? I'm guessing that the rotary cutter would leave more of a mess than a front mounted mulcher.

When the guy was done with the front mulcher, all that was left was wood mulch. If it was along a fence line, you could just leave it there. Since the area I had done I was turning into lawn, I used my landscape rake and gathered it up. We actually used it as mulch in other areas. He could saw full size trees down, push them over and then grind them up. He was grinding up big, old poplar stumps like they weren't there. Amazing tool.

 

[whistlepig]

Be glad it wasn't a Brown Cutter. My old place looked like it was hit by dynamite after wards. It threw chunks of trees 5" diameter x 2' long everywhere. I had to clean this mess up.

 

[gregsons]

WOW that ax thing is awsome!!!!
I would have to say it was something like the second post due to the size of brush and the tire tracks left behind. The stumps look more like a weed waker hit them and the mulch left behind is more of a shred compared to a wood chipper. that bobcat toy looks like fun and i could use that to clear trails and push back hedge rows but it sure did not clear up the land in question way too small.

I wish i was around to sit on the back porch with a few cold beverages and watch the distruction.

the good thing is i still have many hours of tractor and dozer work to do there they didnt have all the fun.

 

[Gary Fowler]

They likely used something like this 500 HP tracked flail mulcher. Mulcher Videos

 

[thunderworks]

I cleared a 5 acre hedge, locust and cedar field a couple of years ago. I hired a local guy to cut the trees (there were hundreds). He used a skid loader and this boom mounted saw to limb the trees. I then collected the tree tops with my tractor and grapple (Bodozer) and made huge burn piles. He then followed behind me and cut the remaining tree trunks at or below ground grade. I followed up behind him again, moving the trunks, large branches etc to a pile where I could salvage hedge fence posts and firewood. This was not nearly as efficient as the big machines in the videos, but I wanted the wood for posts and firewood anyway. The coolest thing about the saw was that he made the tool himself. He cut about 5 acres of trees in less than two days.

 

[AHNC]

How times change. When I was a kid ('66) I had a summer job working with a pipeline outfit cutting a 100' right of way through the woods of southern NYS out around Painted Post/Corning area.

We had four saw men and 4-6 laborers with each saw. This was mature hardwood forest. They'd cut'em down and we'd carry the branches to the fires. One every 150' or so. After we got thru a JD450 with a rake came thru and handled the big logs. Once they were out a D9 came in pulled and buried the stumps on one side leaving a pristine work area for the pipeliners. 7/12's in the heat all summer and off to college football. It was hard work, but good work too. That is gone today.

I was just an 18 yr old kid and the only local hand on the project with all the rest being from Gasaway, WVA. Tough guys! Good guys...mostly I learned a lot that summer. Have some good stories too, but they become less funny as time goes by

 

[Erik_in_Hoyt]

Napalm.

you stole my line!

around here the water and road crews do a lot of that sort of thing with bulldozers.
I lost a 1/4 mile long strip 15' wide worth of productive plum thicket that way last week.

 

[gregsons]

MSWOODLOT was right on, I tracked it down yesterday a few miles down and it was a hydro axe

 

[lawn_king]

you stole my line!

around here the water and road crews do a lot of that sort of thing with bulldozers.
I lost a 1/4 mile long strip 15' wide worth of productive plum thicket that way last week.

I came a across a line in a nelson demille novel (up country) based on his experiences in veitnam. The guys that sprayed agent orange had a slogan. Only we can prevent forest!

 

[Erik_in_Hoyt]

good book!

 

[amigauser]

Looks like Prentice bought out the Hydro-Ax. Few videos on their web site to.

Prentice - Built Better Than It Needs To Be

 

[lawn_king]

good book!

Great book! Demille is awesome!!!