The age old.."what's the best land clearing technique" question again

[holeycow]

Fence the area

Buy a 100 pounds of kernel corn and a four foot pinch bar.

Go around to all the small stuff you want out and jamb a bunch of holes in the ground and drop a hand full of corn in the holes.

Turn a couple hundred hogs on the land.

Keep the water tank full. You said it was hot there.

This would be the very best way, but probably wouldn't work out because you wouldn't have the freezer space.

Not much 'clearing by hogs' done around here anymore.

 

[4570Man]

Unless you're experienced on a dozer don't go that route. I like to consider myself a pretty good operator and I can't do worth a flip on the dozer. I could do a pretty good job on the backhoe and tractor.

 

[bcp]

A dozer isn't too bad at clearing it it has the right blade so it leaves the dirt behind.

From:
Gallery | Mesquite Clearing



Bruce

 

[roadhunter]

I operated a skid steer with a spinning blade on the front clearing cedar and I was pretty impressed with what it would do, especially for the small stuff you are talking about it might work pretty well. I also liked the ability to cut right at or slightly below grade.. The owner put stump grinder teeth on the blade and just replaced them instead of the whole blade. Looked similar to this.

 

[Furu]

I am a fan of the mulching idea. It puts the nutrients back into the soil. Stumps of the size you are talking (6") are ground down to ground level or slightly sub grade level and rot quickly.

If you were out in my area I could show you some areas that I have done. There are lots of videos on youtube of the mulching process. My Trovenn Forestry Mulching Facebook page Trovenn Forestry Mulching | Facebook has some shots and a video that show the process. Not great quality video as my mulching FB page is not up to snuff for what it should be but you can see a bit.

Good luck on your decision.

 

[Fallon]

If you have access to an old industrial backhoe for free, go with that. It will rip those stumps out just fine.

Puttering with a 30hp tractor, rotary cutter, box blade & a rake can clean up the rest easily over a few months.

Plan B would be a forestry mulcher or mini-ex. The only problem with mulching is stumps. You can grind em flush or below grade, but can't ever really build over the rest of the stump. Not a problem if it's field, but it will slowly rot & sink. Not good under a gravel driveway, dangerous under a foundation. You always need to dig out stumps you might one day build over.

Spent a day with a dozer clearing brush this week myself... picks up to much dirt & tears the ground up to much. We didn't have any big stumps to deal with really (at least none under 10-20 years old), just brush & blackberry piles you couldn't drive a rubber tired tractor through.

 

[LD1]

How dense are the trees that need removed? You said a bunch of 3"-6" trees is all yoou want out right now right?

The guy you got a quote from.....while $100/hr seems fair.....what is he using that is gonna take 10-12 hours per acre for? To me.....THAT seems out of line for just clearing and piling.

And 3-6" trees are pretty small. They would be no match for that 2wd 410 (unless you get into some mud). Should be able to push anything 6" diameter down with just the front loader.

And a grapple for either of the tractors would be real handy, so look into that if you do yourself.

Depends on how tall and thick the rest of the brush is, I'd probably attempt to bushhog everything first, going around all the trees. Once opened up, you can see what you need to remove, then start at it with the backhoe. And alot of the smaller brush that is too big to go over with the bushhog, can be pushed out even with the smaller tractor and FEL and piled up to be burnt.

 

[prichard]

Our land was similar when he bought it. I can scroll back in time on Google Earth to the 80's and see when it was all under cultivation. It was taken over by Chinese privet, wild blackberries and a bunch of weed trees.

I used this guy Land Clearing and Tree Clearing Atlanta, GA

My only regret is I didn't have him take every single tree on the place. Now I'm taking out trees that we thought we wanted.

 

[bspeedy]

How dense are the trees that need removed? You said a bunch of 3"-6" trees is all yoou want out right now right?

The guy you got a quote from.....while $100/hr seems fair.....what is he using that is gonna take 10-12 hours per acre for? To me.....THAT seems out of line for just clearing and piling.

And 3-6" trees are pretty small. They would be no match for that 2wd 410 (unless you get into some mud). Should be able to push anything 6" diameter down with just the front loader.

And a grapple for either of the tractors would be real handy, so look into that if you do yourself.

Depends on how tall and thick the rest of the brush is, I'd probably attempt to bushhog everything first, going around all the trees. Once opened up, you can see what you need to remove, then start at it with the backhoe. And alot of the smaller brush that is too big to go over with the bushhog, can be pushed out even with the smaller tractor and FEL and piled up to be burnt.

This is the way i'd go if on a budget. Unless the trees are so thick you can't bush hog around them. Plus, cutting the underbrush will give you a better view of the land. Might be a good idea to wait until the leaves are off and the underbrush thins out in fall / winter time. That will save you some trouble and maybe keep you out of the poison ivy if you have it.

 

[JRobyn]

I concur with the Dozer faction. That's what was done for our homesite and the in-law's 2-3 acre field. I also agree that the dozer CAN result in a lot of dirt in the slash piles and unnecessary disturbing of he topsoil, but only if the operator isn't experienced with land clearing. Our operator with a medium-sized dozer and 6-way blade disturbed the soil very little and there was almost no dirt in the piles. He even skidded the root balls around just the right amount to clean most of the dirt off of them. It was like ballet watching him work. Not a single wasted motion and each motion blended into the next. So if you go with a dozer, shop around for someone with experience. Talk to some past customers, and get endorsements from some local land developers. Expect to have to wait a few months to get them engaged. The good ones stay very busy and have a long backlog.