Clearing land, stupid or crazy?

[p dunham]

i cleared 40 ac with a jd 750 2wheel drive and it takes 38 hrs w/6' hog to mow good times after work talking to my best friend jd about life

 

[Grateful11]

A little off topic but: We recently hired a guy to do some pasture fence work, 2 days of it was the Dad and his youngest son, about 14 yo, and for the last day and a half there were 3 of them total. It took almost 2 rolls of 330' wove wire, they spent almost 2 days removing the old fence, posts, underbrush, about 5 decent size trees and piling all the crap on a pile. I could not believe how big the brush piles were when they got through. They only heavy equipment they used was an ASV brand skidster with rubber track, a stump digger attachment like someone showed on here but this one had a grapple and a 9" hydraulic auger. This was one job my wife and I were not about to undertake. Part of this stuff was nearly bottomless NC gray clay and growth that had amassed since the Dairy shutdown in '03, it was massive, Dairy cows will keep fence lines clean, beef cows must have a lazy streak in them because my wife didn't have this problem with growth on fence lines when she ran the Dairy. Anyway it was money well spent, she supplied the red cedar posts, T-Posts, Wove wire and one 10' gate. They know how to build a proper fence with excellent corners and inline tighteners every so often and all. The whole job cost her $1200 and man was worth it, we can actually see a couple of our neighbors houses now ;-). We do our own spot repairs and even some fairly long runs but this was just one job that we were not going to undertake. There's 85 acres here on the main part of the farm so we don't have too many neighbors.

I guess what I'm trying to say is sometimes it's better to hire out certain jobs.

Btw: The more I saw him using that grapple the more I want one, I like the way his was made as a stumper digger and grapple combo. I couldn't believe what he able to pick up with that ASV and the grapple.

 

[bz1]

All right, very interesting discussion that I just have to chime into. I lurk and learn more than write but I do have some experience with this one. I started out with 80 acres of wooded land and built a 1500 foot driveway and a house. Did lots of tree clearing and dirt work. I debated long and hard about what type and the minimum amount of equipment I needed to do all this work myself. In the end I bought a 27 HP compact tractor and an older medium sized wheeled skid loader. The tractor was bought new since it would be a long term investment. And of course I had a chain saw. I would have preferred a slightly larger tractor and dump trailer but I wanted a tractor that could fit into tight areas and could be used as a mower when the yard was done. I equipped the tractor with a 4 foot bush hog, a 5 foot tiller, and a small 4000 pound dump trailer. I went with the skid loader instead of a loader on the tractor because no small tractor under 50 HP is going to dig, push trees and move dirt like a skid loader. Try running a tractor loader into a large tree at about 4 mph about 100 times and see how the loader holds up. Besides, since I needed to haul dirt with the tractor and trailer I also needed the skid loader with bucket to load the dirt. This combination worked extremely well for me. I must say that I did not have to remove many large trees, most were 12 inches or smaller and they were mostly poplar and birch. The occasional larger oak tree was removed by first cutting it down leaving a 6 foot stump and then pushing or pulling over with the skid steer. In total I probably cleared 4 acres in one summer weekends. Later on, as I began to have the need to dig up larger areas to obtain dirt fill in low areas I bought an older used small dozer. Best thing I ever did. No skid steer or tractor can dig dirt from the ground or remove trees like a dozer. A tracked excavator would be better but they are more expensive and not good at moving dirt over 50 feet. Take note that we have no rocks in my area. I have since used my dozer to dig several ponds moving a total of about 2000 yards of dirt into piles. I then used the skid steer and tractor/trailer to move most of that 2000 yards to areas where I need fill. For this work the 3 machine combination of dozer, skid steer, and tractor/trailer have worked very well. The dozer did the digging and piling, the skid loader did the loading, the tractor did the hauling. I used this combination of equipment now for 15 years. I recently sold the old machines skid loader and dozer for just about exactly what I paid for them originally. So my total cost for 15 years worth of work was only my maintenance on those machines, about $2000, plus the cost of the tractor which I still have and will never give up. I got 10's of thousands of dollars work done with little cost. I used the bush hog to clear light brush up to several inches and the tiller to bust up and level ground. I've never used a box blade but I leveled my one acre back yard with the skid loader and tiller. I dumped 300 trailer loads of black dirt into the yard and rough leveled with the skid steer than ran the tiller over it to smooth out. Leveled many other areas this same way. Since I got the dozer with 4 way I use it to level. A have also used the small dozer to clear solid woods for parking lots on several occasions. My dozer is a small JD350 with 4 way blade. I worked side by side with some of the largest tracked skid loaders made by CAT and Bobcat and I could outwork any of them removing trees with that little dozer. I don't understand commments about the dozer leaving things too chopped up. When I removed trees with the dozer they were completely gone, roots and all. I took out oak trees up to 2 feet. Then you can final grade and it's ready to be gravel parking lot. I can also loosen and move dirt short distances into a pile faster with the dozer than anything but the largest tracked skid loaders. Keep in mind that all my experience applys to the type of soil in my area, lots of sand and clay mix with no rocks. There is my 5 cents for what that's worth.

 

[boggen]

Spot on Big Al!!! Here are some updates from recent work. As you might remember you could not even see the house from across the street before 3 weeks ago. I'm learning that slow and steady will win this race, when I get in a hurry things go bad.... It's not a dozer, sledge hammers fix bend fenders and I love my tractor!!!

looking awesome!

just catching your thread for first time. it is amazing what a small size tractor can do. it takes longer the smaller the tractor is. but it can be done.

same situation you are in myself right now. though decided to go with a 555C TLB construction tractor with cab. it is used and old. but extra power and bigger chunks of trees and like go quicker. will end up going your route with new or almost new unit in the 40 to 60 hp range. in a couple years once this farm gets cleared up with the bigger tasks. maintance is higher. on this old tractor but a well. it is paying for itself through and through.

some things to watch out for. being this is an old farm. is folks back in the years use to dig holes and burry there old farm equipment. also you might find old animal bones. were folks dug a hole and put the dead animal in to make a grave.

be careful seeing that everything is getting green. and watch out for ruts and wash outs and wet spots. for me i have found a few nasty spots they were not there before. or at least that is what i am telling myself

i would caution making large piles of brush, near your home. the can attract fox, coyotes, coons, and other critters. and make there den right in the pile.

it is kinda of a pain, but would suggest as you clear stuff, get a game plan down, and take a little extra time reshaping dirt areas, to allow rain water to run off into ditches and creaks. so you do not end up making a bigger mess down the road. it is that one pain of larger projects that take time. and in that you end up doing extra work prepping and maintaining things long term as you go about things as you shoot for that longer term goal.

============
with all this brush clearing i would highly advise a good brush grill in front of your radiator. the standard grill on most tractors is not that strong, and it is fairly easy to get a stick to ram right up through the raidator. and with a brush guard helps to prevent that.

 

[andyz171]

So here are some pics from this past weekend's work. That is actually a pic of the overgrown barn you could see in some other older pics. Funny / not so funny side note: I got off tractor to move something from underneath, stood up hit top of my head on bucket...... Now have 6 staples in top of head. I bet I never do that again and pay more attention in the future. I'm fine and never even had a headache.

 

[BoFuller]

Awesome job. I'm laughing about the staples, but only because I've been there, done that! :laughing:

 

[Reg]

Safety police...
over here, this guy {pointing finger}

Didn't anyone TELL Ya to
a) wear a hard hat at all times when around tractors
b) to never go under a raised bucket

Kidding, congrats on the progress - but don't go under buckets or raised implements ANYWAY.

 

[andyz171]

So I have not updated in a while because last time out work I un-earthed a body in a shallow grave. This is not a joke, it's been a really weird week dealing with cops, news, ect. I cannot give details because it's an open case an body is still unidentified. Thanks to you all telling me to do clearing with my tractor we were able to recover this body, a dozer might have just rolled over and never noticed it. Here are the pics I can share, sorry nothing great.

 

[k0ua]

Holy Cow!, OMG. when we said you could clear off the land with your tractor, we didn't mean to go digging up dead guys! Wow, seriously, what a mess, hope it all settles down, soon and you can get back to work.. Good Luck

James K0UA

 

[Rob-D]

So here are some pics from this past weekend's work. That is actually a pic of the overgrown barn you could see in some other older pics. Funny / not so funny side note: I got off tractor to move something from underneath, stood up hit top of my head on bucket...... Now have 6 staples in top of head. I bet I never do that again and pay more attention in the future. I'm fine and never even had a headache.

Andy,
Sorry about the dent in the head, I try to wear a soft cap when working. I find it gives me a little more reaction time. Sort of like the brim on Navy caps, when I was in the Navy those brims save a lot of guys going to sick bay!

Rob

 

[MarkV]

So I have not updated in a while because last time out work I un-earthed a body in a shallow grave. This is not a joke, it's been a really weird week dealing with cops, news, ect. I cannot give details because it's an open case an body is still unidentified. Thanks to you all telling me to do clearing with my tractor we were able to recover this body, a dozer might have just rolled over and never noticed it. Here are the pics I can share, sorry nothing great.

Wow, that would get my attention! Hope you will fill us in with the details when you can. Can you say whether this was a resent burial or one that had been there for many years? Wow!! :shocked:

MarkV

 

[sandman2234]

I used to do a little lot clearing on overground lots for people when the city threatened them to clean them up, and I was always concerned I would find something like you did, but never considered finding one on my own property. Yikes, that had to mess up the rest of that day (and probably the rest of the week!!!) Hopefully the wrongs of the past will be righted and you can go back to work without being dragged into too much of it.
David from jax

 

[Reg]

Now you probably have them crawling all over your property as a potential group dumping ground - gee I hope NOT !
Corpse sniffing dogs, ground penetrating radar, whatever all else...

Errr, recent ?, more than 50 years ?
OK, you probably can't say more than the local news channels.
Good luck with this.
I think I would have FREAKED !!!

 

[cannonfodder999]

A good dozer operator will strip the brush and leave most of the top soil. A root rake would work great. Call a couple more guys and get bids. You don;t need finish grade, just the brush uprooted and piled.

Or get a heard of goats and a small chain saw

When the goats have killed everything inside their pasture send in the pigs to root them out. Just pile and burn.

 

[andyz171]

It's been a while since I updated you all on my progress. While the tractor was getting it done it was taking too long for my liking so I rented a dozer and knocked it out in a week. Now I've got a mess of stuff to burn and looks like I need an excavator to accomplish that because of needing to shake dirt out of piles. The job is in Hammond, LA......anybody interested?

 

[cannonfodder999]

It's been a while since I updated you all on my progress. While the tractor was getting it done it was taking too long for my liking so I rented a dozer and knocked it out in a week. Now I've got a mess of stuff to burn and looks like I need an excavator to accomplish that because of needing to shake dirt out of piles. The job is in Hammond, LA......anybody interested?

I have the same to do and think a grapple on the bucket will do the job.If the trees are too big either make firewood or just cut them up enough to handle.

 

[Green Acres Homestead]

How often does a stump grinder have to sharpened?

How do you sharpen them?

 

[countryboycansurvive]

Good call on bringing in the dozer. I have a L3940 and a CAT 96J D5. Entirely different classes of machines. Love my tractor but it's no dozer.

 

[Tollster]

Andy I checked your profile to get an idea on the land you own, such as where you lived which would give many here a very good idea, and also wanted to see how old you where, which would give us an idea on your physical condition, but you don't have any info.
I am 47, clearing 13 acres of northeast mountian land, cutting and burning all softwoods, and saving the hardwood, also removing rocks and such. Its good excersise and may add years to your life, there is also no where else I would rather be or doing...

‎18 Degrees, Coyotes Howling in the distance, no one around for miles, and an all day fire, no where else I would rather be on a nice winter day.

All I can say is give it shot and see how ya make out doing it yourself, the tools you purchase you will more than likely need to maintain your new spread...take it form there. Now is a good time if there is no snow, no ticks in many parts, buring in normally not an issue this time of year, and the scrub brush does no have leaves and critters,making it easier to carry as allthe moisture is in the root ball and they are domant, not to mention there is not much a s s time, cause once ya sit down, ya get cold, its time to go back to work then....summer is another story in my book for land clearing . just pack a lunch and make it a day, you'll be surprised at your progress.

 

[savageactor7]

Andy I've buried big piles of refuse like that with no negative results. Might be laws against that now, I dunno.