Best grapple for a cutover?

[JCoastie]

you could also have a forestry mulcher come in and clean it up. Pretty fast since there are no huge logs. Things like this eat that stuff up

 

[DGZRT]

I have the same problem . The deer seem to love all the Slash so I'm keeping most of it but as soon as I clear a path through it. The deer follow the path 70% of the time .

 

[jyoutz]

Well....that kind of makes me think a little differently about this . What would you advice to do with all the slash piles? I'm guessing there is probably 20 of them spred through the property. i want to clean the land up some, but also want to keep the deer coming in ,and try and not damage to many pines that are planted.

For best management practices for soil nutrients and your new forest, you should concentrate the heavy fuels into smaller piles and burn them. Have them well distributed throughout your block. Then just leave the smaller material and light accumulations scattered where they are. You can accelerate decomposition by either crushing the woody debris into the soil with equipment or just buck the longer sections into shorter lengths with a chainsaw to get full soil contact. That will speed decomposition. The key is you want some of the slash to melt into the soil and dispose of heavier concentrations by either burning or removal. You can also skid them into decks away from your tree seedlings if you’re ok with letting them sit until they rot. Burning a large pile just bakes that area into concrete and destroys soil properties.

 

[jyoutz]

you could also have a forestry mulcher come in and clean it up. Pretty fast since there are no huge logs. Things like this eat that stuff up

That is also an option, but costly. If you get much moisture, you can buck and or crush material into the soil so it rots faster.

 

[Fladogman]

Do your research, all grapples are different. Be sure and get one that has the ability to float or depth guide. I've had both and prefer the L shape one too because it holds more debris. Mine has a pipe between the bottom teeth that serves as a depth guide

 

[jyoutz]

There’s no regulation against doing that but the pile is too sloppy combined with 60 inches of annual rainfall. It just won’t burn in place.

Every place has a dry season. I’ve also seen people cover piles with plastic to dry them out. But diesel/gasoline mix works pretty well to get damp piles going. In the Forest Service we burn in the southeast US during the spring dry season. Where I live it’s the fall season.

 

[4570Man]

Every place has a dry season. I’ve also seen people cover piles with plastic to dry them out. But diesel/gasoline mix works pretty well to get damp piles going. In the Forest Service we burn in the southeast US during the spring dry season. Where I live it’s the fall season.

If I pile everything up in nice piles it will burn but as far as burning everything where it lays on the ground isn’t happening. It actually works a lot better to start a small fire and continue adding on vs making a big pile and then trying to set it on fire.

 

[jyoutz]

If I pile everything up in nice piles it will burn but as far as burning everything where it lays on the ground isn’t happening. It actually works a lot better to start a small fire and continue adding on vs making a big pile and then trying to set it on fire.

I was explaining how we foresters do it. We broadcast burn large blocks. We also light piles and they burn (with a little gas/diesel mix). There are also consulting foresters who will burn blocks of land. But my main reason for adding to this discussion was not burning techniques. I wanted to caution against removing all of the course woody debris and reducing soil productivity. I see this way too often. Too clean isn’t good for the land and future forest development.

 

[kenmac]

I use a wicked clamshell style on both of my tractors.

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[mcfarmall]

I have a clamshell, twin lid style. I like it because I can clamp smaller logs, raise them up, and buck them into 4-8' lengths standing up. Mine opens up to nearly 60" so I can grab a huge mouthful of brush.