Best way to clear unwanted trees from pasture

[Ed27]

The Tenn. Invasive Plant Council
Plant Details Tennessee Invasive Plant Council

Have you checked with the local university/county extension office? See if anyone in the area has a root plow and large disc. Dozer Root Plows | Rockland Manufacturing - Bedford, PA

Since I will be reclaiming agricultural land AND killing highly invasive trees, I need to see if any state or federal agency might give me some support, money or otherwise.

 

[My Gym]

The place to start your look is the local USDA Field office. They are the best source of information about funding, and information about your land. They will have records of ag use of your land in recent history and any programs that it may have been in. They will have USDA soil survey for the land describing the soil classification,slope ect. Call setup an appointment, and have the legal description of your property. I was paid $1,800 for removing cedar trees on my property by a program called EQIP (Environmental Quality Improvement Program). I had removed about 1/2 the trees before I found out about the program. I lost out on about $1,500.

 

[searcyfarms]

Not really a waste of time/money, hook to a semi-large dozer (D6, JD 650, etc.) instead (not a track loader). And if it wasnt clear, I was suggesting hiring it out. A root rake like the one I showed takes a little skill and practice and alot of traction since its slicing dirt and roots below the surface. Rippers (front or back)on a dozer arent quite as good but will do a pretty good job. Ive even seen guys use bottom plows, but you almost have to expect the moldboard(s) to have issues.

Lots of good choices out there, some not so great. Once you start ripping, dont forget to include the price of new seed, cheap stuff is $2.00 a pound.

sorry about the confusion, i didnt mean the root cutter/plow was a waste of time i meant it was a waste of time for him and too small of a tractor ;-)

 

[Ed27]

Not sure if it was mentioned yet...Just burn'em all down???.....
View attachment 613404

:drink:

That would be freakin' awesome!

 

[Ed27]

let the education begin!!!

So true!

 

[Ed27]

The place to start your look is the local USDA Field office. They are the best source of information about funding, and information about your land. They will have records of ag use of your land in recent history and any programs that it may have been in. They will have USDA soil survey for the land describing the soil classification,slope ect. Call setup an appointment, and have the legal description of your property. I was paid $1,800 for removing cedar trees on my property by a program called EQIP (Environmental Quality Improvement Program). I had removed about 1/2 the trees before I found out about the program. I lost out on about $1,500.

I will definitely check this out. One of my friends recently bought 100 acres. He has a bunch of beef cattle and needed to put in a bunch of fencing before he moved the cattle on the property. Some agency (forget which) gave him some money to help defray the cost of part of his fencing.

 

[kthompson]

Ed27, I have posted earlier and have read many of the post here. First my experience with financial support, you need to really study the details before you even think about applying. Some have strong stings on you or the land if you accept it. I hate to say this for know it means corruption but have made proper application and later to be told find no record of it by same person who toke the application, submitted into computer system and assured me all was fine and my request was in category there was great desire to control water run off on. I wanted to move from row crops to grass. Find of mine had same experience. It was easy to listen to conversation with the employee the grants were going to people she could call by name one after another. I quit with that process but my land is not locked down for a period of time to any certain use. NOT saying do not go that route, but saying know what you are doing and the grant may or may not happen based upon what I know.

Second, it has been posted here are least once there are a lot of good ways given but no great way...point of view. The job you want to do is not a complicated job and as some find it amazing there are often more than one way to do a job. You use the tool you have available and you know how to. Some hate to think you may have more than one tool, fire and machine an example.

I have not cleared hundreds of acres. However I have cleared clear cut woods land, I have cleared piles of dirt from digging pond of trees 30 inches in diameter and all in between. It does not matter to me if you or someone else thinks my suggestion is crazy but here it is: Ask around and find a local small company with mid size I will say 10 ton at least excavator. You want him to have smaller bucket and very good thumb. I bet when you count your efficiency and rental cost will not be much more than you renting a machine from rental company. Have him or her look at the job. Explain your goal and be 100% sure they under stand it. Put it in writing so there is no memory issue. That should be able to clamp most of the trees you have an simply pull them. For the few too large they can take the bucket and loosen the dirt on side and backside of the tree and that should allow them then pull it. NOT much digging there. They have them either pile for burning and YOU come back later with box blade and pull the yes burnt dirt back to the holes left. Or have them leave the trees where they fall just be sure roots is clear of ground so they dry out well. Have them come back in few months depending on how long it takes the dirt to dry on the roots, shake the trees where they lay and then stack. That keeps more dirt in place but you loose the foliage for helping burn the piles.

I keep reading about Bradford pears in this thread with thorns, sure thankful the Bradford pears here don't have them. I have dug cedar trees here of about 8 to 12 inches, have 5 ton excavator with thumb and have no issue. We are not true sandy soil but it is a loam dirt and able to use the process i explain and have very little dirt issue. Stump left in ground here on cedar rot very very slowly. I would strongly not recommend that. Hardwoods and most pine rot well and a 20 inch stump will leave a 20 inch diameter hole you will keep filling till the two feet or deeper stump has totally rotted. Twenty years ago we use that method on our current home site to not disturb the ground more than necessary. Right now have some refilling that needs to be on large stump holes that have been filled probably at least five times. Get the stumps out, have dirt hauled in if need be and use your tractor with box blade to push dirt into big holes but pulling dirt over them to grade.

Burning standing trees may kill them well, then who wants to clean up that trees unless cab machine? You also are working with trees that are brittle and will break compared to bending. Still burning has merit. Again it is what YOUR GOAL really is and the ability to fund it. Look forward to seeing pictures of your progress. KT

 

[ddbackhoe]

sorry about the confusion, i didnt mean the root cutter/plow was a waste of time i meant it was a waste of time for him and too small of a tractor ;-)

OH, thanks for the clarification. :drink:

 

[TASMAN17]

lots of opinions already. I had something similar, old overgrown pastures I need to rehab asap when I moved in with my horses. We used a backhoe bucket to push over all the trees except a few older large diameter ones. Once in a while needed to use the backhoe itself to reach higher up and push, but most of the the stuff was 3 to 6 inches and the weight of the bucket was more than enough. Shallow root balls popped right up. I didn't burn them, rather pushed them up along the perimeter of the pastures as a brush fence since I needed to do fencing replacement once I had the pastures clear anyway, made a great temporary fix for the fencing. The soft wood was gone in a year and a half, cedar and hardwood I recycled into logs for fence gate posts and corners. The disturbed earth of the tree bases I just landscape raked and broadcast seeded into the exposed earth - because it was so overgrown it needed grass restoration anyway, so a good clover/timothy/orchard mix gave it a quick start. By the end of a couple of years the fencing was up, most the remaining wood on the ground was punky enough the bush hog "chipped" the remnants, and I have clear pastures with good grass (I kept overseeding the first couple of years, plus some ag lime). I liked this approach - could work it on my own pace with my own gear. I hate the pressure of a rental return, and given I needed to clear, seed and fence it worked out well.

 

[rScotty]

lots of opinions already. I had something similar, old overgrown pastures I need to rehab asap when I moved in with my horses. We used a backhoe bucket to push over all the trees except a few older large diameter ones. Once in a while needed to use the backhoe itself to reach higher up and push, but most of the the stuff was 3 to 6 inches and the weight of the bucket was more than enough. Shallow root balls popped right up. I didn't burn them, rather pushed them up along the perimeter of the pastures as a brush fence since I needed to do fencing replacement once I had the pastures clear anyway, made a great temporary fix for the fencing. The soft wood was gone in a year and a half, cedar and hardwood I recycled into logs for fence gate posts and corners. The disturbed earth of the tree bases I just landscape raked and broadcast seeded into the exposed earth - because it was so overgrown it needed grass restoration anyway, so a good clover/timothy/orchard mix gave it a quick start. By the end of a couple of years the fencing was up, most the remaining wood on the ground was punky enough the bush hog "chipped" the remnants, and I have clear pastures with good grass (I kept overseeding the first couple of years, plus some ag lime). I liked this approach - could work it on my own pace with my own gear. I hate the pressure of a rental return, and given I needed to clear, seed and fence it worked out well.

I like that; it's the same trick that is popular around here. We dig down next to the root ball and then push the tree over from the other side. Sometimes pushing with the loader and sometimes with the hoe. When it works, this gives enough leverage that the root ball will pop right up. A full size TLB is the tractor of choice for this kind of work - although any size that works is worth a try. Older commercial backhoes aren't on the market so much around here, but are usually sold from schools, utility companies and contractors by word of mouth. It's worth asking. We usually use the loader bucket to backdrag the area around where the root ball was to fill it in. Then a BH makes it easy enough to carry the trees to the perimeter to make a brush fence. It is rewarding to to work at your own pace, and a brush fence works fine for a while.
rScotty