Clearing land, stupid or crazy?

[k0ua]

The man said it is mostly brush,thorns and small pine trees what part of that is to tough to do with a tractor w/ heavy duty bush hog, FEL and box blade?
If you take your time you will have no problems just watch out for large pieces not shredded up good as it can flip up under the tractor and damage belt or radiator and blades
When the going is rough always keep a eye on tempature gauge, go thru with FEL close to ground and use as a dozer to knock down growth before tractor with bush hog goes over it. If you can save small trees for last and just take them out roots and all with FEL or box blade, push them to the side and burn or bury them
The main thing is to have a tractor in 45-55 horsepower range and work smart
Use a low range maybe 3rd gear to mow and a high range 1st to box blade out small pines , I have a MX 4700DT and I do this type of work for a living,it is not always rough going but sometimes it is.
Don't let some of these people that has lots of money to throw at projects or little to no patience to achieve their goals scare you just go slow and use common sense
I have pics of some jobs I can post that are just about what you are talking about I believe

Best advice I have seen, from someone who has done it.

What are all you naysayers so scared of? haven't you ever made a road in your woods? I just have a little L3400HST, and I have done it. sure it takes some time, but I gathered that most of the trees were under 1 foot, or He was leaving any that were that big, heck a 40+ horse tractor can push over 10 inch trees all day. I have pushed over or pulled over 8 inch trees many times with my little tractor, Oh sure a few days after a rain helps a bunch, but isnt the land mostly just brush? Grind it up with the bush hog, or push out the big ones with your toothbar on a bucket. Heck it is only 8 acres, not 80. I think, unless there is something I am really missing here,(are the trees and brush that much different in your part of the world?) it is well within the capabilitys of a good tractor. Put it this way, I sure would give it a try before I paid some one $10000 to do it with a dozer. there is my 3cents, again.

James K0UA

 

[leveled]

I just clean up after the d6 with my mx5100 its to much abuse on your machine to do all that work that the D6 does it a idle.

 

[Degolyerent]

These are some pics the first two are of a 65 acre job that we used two tractors with heavy duty bush hogs ( RCR 2672 Landpride) it took 8 days
The second set is of a 3acre job that took 6 hours with one tractor
It takes about 2hours per acre

 

[LostInTheWoods]

I'm not sure if you can clear 12 acres with 40HP tractor and a chainsaw, but you can clear 6 acres with a 26HP tractor and a chainsaw...

 

[LostInTheWoods]

Plenty more pics...

 

[Rob-D]

Last year I wanted a little less than two acres cleared for fruit trees. What I did was cut all the trees in the area down to stumps and removed all the brush. I had an excavator come in with a dozer and push all the stumps to one spot where I could remove them from. He leveled the ground, pulled all the stumps and saved me weeks of work. (pulling 10" Ironwood stumps is no fun and it takes a lot of time) Done in a day, nice and level and top soil where it should be. I came back in with my tractor (2720 Deere at the time) and York raked the stones seeded and cleaned up. Took me about two weeks, so don't underestimate the work involved.
The dozer guy charged me a grand and it was well worth it if you ask me.

If you don't know tractors well I don't think it's a good idea to tackle a job this size. Going out and getting a tractor for this may leave you very disappointed! Start off with a couple of easy jobs to learn your machine and it's limits. My first job was clearing about a 75 square foot area, it took me a couple of weeks of hard work and I'm no stranger to work.
Rob

 

[jbooth]

There are shears and saws suitable for tractors. I have a saw mounted on a 65 horse hiflow skid steer so I am partial to the saw. I think a good heavy brush mower would make a big dent in what you are facing. At a minimum the mower would give you a clearer picture of what you are facing. Even if the brush mower don't fit in with your long range plans, you will have the asset to sell after you are done with it. Contracting may get you some tax breaks but no assets to sell or trade.

I have had no particular problem with tires on my skid steer but they are 12ply. I do run sealer in them but cut a lot of thorny locust which has tough thorns as longs as 4 - 5".

Might want to rent a tractor and heay duty mower for a day to get some idea of what you are facing.



Turbo Saw - Tree and Brush Cutters for Tractors

 

[Rob-D]

These are some pics the first two are of a 65 acre job that we used two tractors with heavy duty bush hogs ( RCR 2672 Landpride) it took 8 days
The second set is of a 3acre job that took 6 hours with one tractor
It takes about 2hours per acre

It depends on the land and the trees. If you have 6" to 12" trees to clear that takes a lot of time. You're just not going to pull trees that size without a good size tractor. Also the terrain matters. Does it have to be leveled with a lot of quick rises and falls? If it does you need a dozer. If you're working in hardpan you need a dozer.

Rob

 

[Rob-D]

Might want to rent a tractor and heay duty mower for a day to get some idea of what you are facing.

Good idea!

 

[Johnbro]

Very interesting thread!

I would say it depends on a lot of stuff.

If you're in a hurry hire it out. A dozer will do it quickly but make a huge mess. What will you do with all the crap they doze into piles? Around here most land clearing is done with a track hoe. We have big trees so usually you see big track hoes. A good operator with a powerful machine and a dump truck can clear land FAST. And it's not that expensive--since construction is in the dumper people with equipment are desperate to get work.

If you've got time you can certainly do it with a 40-50HP tractor, no problem. A root grapple would make it a lot easier. So would a PTO-driven chipper, a box blade with good scarifiers, and a strong rotary mower.

Another possibility is to get some goats. They will eat a lot of the brush and in a couple of years it will be dead. You might even run an ad on CL that you have goat-suitable pasture for someone who has a flock and needs a place to put them. Of course, you'll have to have livestock fencing (not electric).

Just mowing isn't necessarily a good idea because it will just grow back.

For the big stuff, rent a mini-excavator for a weekend or a week. I cleared a lot of alders up to about 8" in diameter a couple of summers ago from our pasture, just sawed them off then popped them out with the excavator. The root grapple will make clearing the stumps away very simple. Or, you could take the $10,000 and buy a BH for your tractor, not as efficient as a excavator but if you have time, well, you can do a lot with a BH. But get a thumb, no matter what. With either one you can also dig out big rocks and move them, something that's harder to do with a tractor.

 

[Verticaltrx]

I've done a fair bit of land reclamation on different scales and there are some situations where a tractor is appropriate and some where it is not. Some pics of the land would be beneficial to help us really see what is involved.

If it is mostly underbrush a tractor and bush hog will do the job in fairly short order. Even if it is fairly dense you should be able to get it all cut in a few days with a 6' cutter and 40hp tractor. Realistically with a setup like this you are limited to trees 2-3" and smaller. When you get into larger stuff is when it really starts to take some time.

Having done a lot of this type of work myself, (300+ acres over the years), here is my recommendation for a tractor:

-4wd
-HST or power reverse
-open station (no cab)
-high breakout force on the loader
-more weight is better
-narrower buckets are better
-tooth bar is a must, 4n1 bucket or grapple are nice but not needed
-size of machine is limited only by your budget

Attachments:
-loader with tooth bucket
-heavy duty 5-7' bush hog
-backhoe if budget allows
-other loader attachment: tree puller/shearer, grapple, root rake, etc

With a backhoe you can dig out most any size tree within reason. With a loader the conditions can greatly limit how big of trees you can dig/push out. There are some situations where my little B3200 can get 10" trees out, whereas there are others that a 10" tree stops our M9540 in its tracks. If you have many trees in the 8-12" range that need to go the best two options are either hire an excavator or a track loader. A dozer can do the job, but the two aforementioned machines will do it faster and cleaner.

Hope some of this helps

 

[andyz171]

What size Bush Hog are you running on that L4240 as I'm leaning more towards it of the L3940.

 

[powerstroke444e]

I have cleaned up several small tracts of ground that were left untouched for 10 to 15 years with a B26tlb and a m5400 kubota. most was to big to mow so we grappled and backhoed most of it then disked and mowed to get it where we wanted it. I would get a grapple and get a heavy mower with slip clutch on it. I would guess a few weekends and you should have it done.

 

[BoFuller]

Interesting thread. If I had the time, I would go for it. If I didn't have the time to spare I'd probably buy a D5 or D6 and then sell it when done.

 

[catfishdaddyengineering]

Before I bought my tractor, I needed 10 acres cleared of 3-4 YO growth after clear-cutting from before we bought the land. The timber crew had left all the smaller pulp size laying where they were because of low pulp prices. Anyway, I got a mulcher to come in and clear it. Took him 24 work hours (3 days) and $3000. Best money that I ever spent! It looked like bags of mulch thrown out, except for a few bigger logs that I burned. I then bought my tractor and can handle brush cutting without tearing it up. I could have done it myself, but was super busy at work during that time. I just finished up an additional 5 acres with my tractor.

 

[andyz171]

This post is full of great info, but why no cab??? I have found an amazing deal on a 2010 Kubota L3940 4X4 HST with a cab, only 30hrs on motor. Thanks, Andy

I've done a fair bit of land reclamation on different scales and there are some situations where a tractor is appropriate and some where it is not. Some pics of the land would be beneficial to help us really see what is involved.

If it is mostly underbrush a tractor and bush hog will do the job in fairly short order. Even if it is fairly dense you should be able to get it all cut in a few days with a 6' cutter and 40hp tractor. Realistically with a setup like this you are limited to trees 2-3" and smaller. When you get into larger stuff is when it really starts to take some time.

Having done a lot of this type of work myself, (300+ acres over the years), here is my recommendation for a tractor:

-4wd
-HST or power reverse
-open station (no cab)
-high breakout force on the loader
-more weight is better
-narrower buckets are better
-tooth bar is a must, 4n1 bucket or grapple are nice but not needed
-size of machine is limited only by your budget

Attachments:
-loader with tooth bucket
-heavy duty 5-7' bush hog
-backhoe if budget allows
-other loader attachment: tree puller/shearer, grapple, root rake, etc

With a backhoe you can dig out most any size tree within reason. With a loader the conditions can greatly limit how big of trees you can dig/push out. There are some situations where my little B3200 can get 10" trees out, whereas there are others that a 10" tree stops our M9540 in its tracks. If you have many trees in the 8-12" range that need to go the best two options are either hire an excavator or a track loader. A dozer can do the job, but the two aforementioned machines will do it faster and cleaner.

Hope some of this helps

 

[Verticaltrx]

This post is full of great info, but why no cab??? I have found an amazing deal on a 2010 Kubota L3940 4X4 HST with a cab, only 30hrs on motor. Thanks, Andy

I've found that a cab on a tractor is more of a liability than benefit when working in the woods. You constantly have to watch what you are doing to keep from tearing the mirrors off, busting the glass out, crunching the fiberglass top, etc.

 

[plowindeeper]

I cleaned up 40 acres of 15 year old cutover with a 48hp took 3 months 1st had forest service come out and do a control burn cost $250 cleaned up underbrush so dozer could see what he was doing no playing in vines waited 2 months for a little rain to settle ash and for small trees to die out dozer(d-6) come and worked for 33 hours at $150 hr excavater 10 hours at $175 hour me and tractor both took a beating it was all worth it total cost from start to finish $18,000 beautiful geen pasture with oak trees scatered arround would have went with excavater only if I could have afforded it cleaner job on 8 acres I would burn it first if allowed in your area then deal with whats left it saved alot of work for me

I wanted to buy a dozer and then sell when done sooo glad i didn't they guy on dozer worked 1st six hours got stuck had to winch him self out 2 more hours later hose busted in belly of dozer caught fire cost him $18500 to fix 20 hours later top end of moter went down that dozer went to shop and he had to bring another to finish

 

[BoFuller]

This post is full of great info, but why no cab??? I have found an amazing deal on a 2010 Kubota L3940 4X4 HST with a cab, only 30hrs on motor. Thanks, Andy

I cut the lower branches off of about 15 trees around the site where I plan to build, to help prevent a rodent problem. Trying to get in under there with the back scraper was a mess just with the ROPS, I can't imagine what it would have been like with a cab. I don't think trees and cabs mix well.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Before I bought my tractor, I needed 10 acres cleared of 3-4 YO growth after clear-cutting from before we bought the land. The timber crew had left all the smaller pulp size laying where they were because of low pulp prices. Anyway, I got a mulcher to come in and clear it. Took him 24 work hours (3 days) and $3000. Best money that I ever spent! It looked like bags of mulch thrown out, except for a few bigger logs that I burned. I then bought my tractor and can handle brush cutting without tearing it up. I could have done it myself, but was super busy at work during that time. I just finished up an additional 5 acres with my tractor.

I agree.

Page Title

I have watched this very machine work and he really moves too. It leaves everything mulched if there is many trees and it is all cut below the surface.

This is the way I would go then use my own equipment to maintain.