Reclaiming Field Perimeters 101

[blin]

I am newer on the tractor, and just starting to reclaim the perimeter of several fields. I have no problem bush hogging the small trees that have grown over a few years, but how do I deal with the hundreds of tree branches that want to decapitate me, or stab me in the back? Is it just a matter of using a pole saw, walking and cutting the several thousand feet by hand? My tractor is only 43 HP and not made to handle the big arm cutters. Do I use the FEL and rip them down?
What is standard practice?

 

[bcp]

Put on an inverter or carry a generator on the tractor or truck and use an electric pole saw to trim.

The electric saw is about half the price or less compared to gas pole saws. You may already have the generator or plan on getting one.

Search Results for pole saw at The Home Depot

Bruce

 

[KiotiKowboy]

There are cutters that can be attached to the FEL. I opted for a Stihl HT-131 and an Easy-Lift Harness.
Home

 

[kneedeep]

If there are a lot of limbs these could work-

The Limbhog - thelimbhog62468674-149620-sml-1

Limbinator Saw, Model# LS8 | 20in. Bar Chain Saws| Northern Tool + Equipment

 

[ksluy]

Are we talking pines, cotton woods or oaks. If its small lower limbs I have taken the loader and broke them down. I have also used a pole saw you will be shocked how much you can get done with a pole saw as long as you have the ground under the tree cleaned up.

 

[blin]

Mostly Poplar, Oak, Locust (thorns), and other hardwoods. Some scrub pines, but they bend easy under the bush hog. Anything over the ROPS I am not concerned about.

 

[blin]

 

[dave1949]

It's a jungle out there. :laughing: I don't know any easy way that doesn't involve writing big checks. If you have lots to do and it would be worth it to you, there are forestry mowing contractors that grind everything down to the stump; nothing but chips left behind. Not sure about pricing but I would expect around $1000 per day. They can cover a good bit of ground in a day though.

I like the elec. pole saw idea + generator.

A 3pt chipper is a good tool for cleaning up what you trim off. The cleaning up is more work than the cutting. Another method would be hand stack in small piles and use a grapple to move them to somewhere out of the way.

 

[rd_macgregor]

Something like this might work:
TS-08 Model - Fabrication S.Houle
But I notice it calls for 15GPM minimum flow rate, so your (or my!) CUT likely wouldn't handle it (I would think it should still work; just be slower). I'd like a machine with a forestry mulcher on it so I could just go around the edges of my fields and move them back about 8 or 10 feet (recover some of what Mother Nature has taken over the last couple of decades). Unfortunately, the smallest mulcher I've found so far still requires somewhat more hydraulic capacity than my Kioti DK45 produces.
Bob

 

[Xfaxman]

This would work on trees and it rotates for limbs.

"Contractor" Front Loader Mount - Precision Manufacturing

 

[blin]

All good information. I have a gas pole saw that I have started to use. I guess that may be the most economical way to go. Most of the branches that I am cutting are around 2" in diameter. I will drop those and run them over with the bush hog a few times and let them rot. The large ones I guess will go to a burn pile. The TS-08 looks cool. I will look into that some more. Anyone see anything like a large chop saw with round blade that will fit on the front side of the tractor? I would love to line up along a fence line or creek line and just move it up and down as I drive the line dropping branches in front of me.
Again, I am fairly new to this, so I am open to all ideas.

 

[blin]

The Limb Hog and HyReach Tree Shear are closer to what I was thinking would be needed. A 43hp tractor might be able to drive them, and weight might be light enough not to tip the tractor.
Please keep replying with products and practices.
Thanks,
blin

 

[breadtrk]

Gas pole saw and a teenager that needs gas money.

 

[STx]

I guess I'm just lazy but I just use my bucket to knock the limbs that will be a problem down and then run over it with the brush hog. I just did quite a bit of that over the weekend.

 

[clemsonfor]

This would work on trees and it rotates for limbs.

"Contractor" Front Loader Mount - Precision Manufacturing
View attachment 400993

That would take FOREVER!!!!

a pole saw or chain saw in hand would be much quicker

 

[DT86]

Blin, depending on where you are in Va, I might know a guy that has what you need.

 

[newbury]

I just use a chain saw with the longest blade I can easily handle. Pole saw is nice for small stuff up high but if I'm walking and swinging a 60CC saw with a 30" blade it tends to go thru everything. However my son advocates a Dewalt rechargeable reciprocating saw with a long blade.

 

[blin]

Gas pole saw and a teenager that needs gas money.

Only if the I Phone stays in the truck during work!

 

[blin]

I guess I'm just lazy but I just use my bucket to knock the limbs that will be a problem down and then run over it with the brush hog. I just did quite a bit of that over the weekend.

Not Lazy. I have done that too. I just keep getting hit in the head from the ones that don't break all the way and whip back across the tractor. :banghead: This may be a standard practice, and the way I keep doing it at times.
Thanks for the feedback.

 

[blin]

Blin, depending on where you are in Va, I might know a guy that has what you need.

Not far from NC line. About the middle of the VA. Don't hold out on me DT86. What do you know?