Best way to clear small trees from pasture

[livemusic]

SHORT VERSION: A skid steer with mulcher would be the fastest way to clear an acre or so of 20' to 25' sweetgum saplings. But maybe not the cheapest. Other than using a chainsaw to fell and stack into piles for burning, do you know of another way using a 50hp tractor with FEL? For instance, do you think you should be able to push them over with the FEL? (That didn't work so well but I'm new to FEL on a tractor.)

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I have a Woods HC72 6ft rotary cutter on a Mahindra 5010 tractor with FEL which I bought used this year. Several years old but in good shape. I bought 57 acres of land (8 acre pasture) and failed to maintain the pasture. It grew up in brush and weeds and I got all that mowed down (and it was THICK) and it looks good except that I have a boatload of sweetgum trees and other species, but probably 80% sweetgum. They are a hardwood but the wood is pretty soft in the saplings. I don't know about their root structure. They are 1" to about 5" diameter. Amazing how fast that tree can grow in five years! The biggest are 20-25 ft tall already.

I also have some water locust and they have horrific thorns on them. I do not want to use a cutter or mulcher over them because I am scared it would scatter the thorns and I do not want flats on my tractor! I prefer to take them down and pile them to burn, for sure. (Rather than hire a mulcher.) But there are not many of those left, maybe 20-30. Probably hundreds of sweetgum left! Maybe all total, an acre or so left to clear, the rest is cleared and the grass is coming back fast. Fescue and bahia.

I have been taking trees down by hand with chainsaw and dragging them into a pile and will burn them later. But, heck, I have a tractor, so, do you know of a faster way than with a chainsaw? I tried to push them over with FEL but it didn't work so good but I am new to using a FEL. My cutter is not robust enough to just mow them down as it is rated for only 1" stems. Actually, that surprised me and when I first started, I was probably mowing over 2" stems or even a little larger but I stopped that! I read the manual!

I thought I might could push them over with the FEL, dig them, or chain them and pull them out. Or buy another attachment! But that would be too expensive seems to me.

I have been using chainsaw and also a pole saw. They work fine but it's laborious. Sometimes, I use a weedwhacker and clear the grass out from the tree before I cut it down so I can see clear to cut it as flush with the ground as I can. So I can mow over the stumps.

I have a helper sometimes. But I also work alone alot and prefer to have a technique that I can do alone but I'm open to either.

Another option is to hire a mulcher operator. He could do it great, as I did hire a guy two years ago in the woodlot 40 acres in a 3-hr test and he cleared quite a trail in 3 hours. But... mulcher rental isn't cheap. Actually, I thought his $90/hr was a bargain but I have no idea how much his rate is now. As for my helper, he asks for $10/hr and he's a good, steady worker. He and I can whack and pile with a chainsaw each if that is the fastest (or best bang for the buck) method. I mean, of course, the mulcher could do it great but it won't be cheap and my guy could it, alone, just takes longer. But, only$10/hr. Just wondering what you guys think.

 

[Hay Dude]

Rent/hire a tracked skid steer and mulcher.
8 acres could be shredded into bits in 1/2-1 day.

 

[Diggin It]

Rent/hire a tracked skid steer and mulcher.

I also have some water locust and they have horrific thorns on them. I do not want to use a cutter or mulcher over them because I am scared it would scatter the thorns and I do not want flats on my tractor!

I suppose you could hire the mulcher guy to do all but those. Does he have an excavator to take the thorny ones down and move them?

Is there a place you can rent an excavator or backhoe (and do you know how to use them)?

 

[ROUSTABOUT]

Just bush hog what you can. Pull up the thorn trees and bigger gums. Forget about the one inch limitation. My motto is if the front of tractor will ride it over, the back should be able to chop it up. Put in double low and go. Been doing that since 12 or 13, I'm 52 now. Still have the same tractor and same bush hog. Ain't tore up nothing. Cut a few lanes through it and then just half a width each time, much easier.

 

[MESSMAKER]

Just bush hog what you can. Pull up the thorn trees and bigger gums. Forget about the one inch limitation. My motto is if the front of tractor will ride it over, the back should be able to chop it up. Put in double low and go. Been doing that since 12 or 13, I'm 52 now. Still have the same tractor and same bush hog. Ain't tore up nothing. Cut a few lanes through it and then just half a width each time, much easier.

I think that is how I would do it but i would back off any tree bigger than your forearm. Just cut the big ones and push in a pile and burn them.

 

[Doughknob]

Goats will eat everything in reach. Even kill those trees……

 

[livemusic]

Just bush hog what you can. Pull up the thorn trees and bigger gums. Forget about the one inch limitation. My motto is if the front of tractor will ride it over, the back should be able to chop it up. Put in double low and go. Been doing that since 12 or 13, I'm 52 now. Still have the same tractor and same bush hog. Ain't tore up nothing. Cut a few lanes through it and then just half a width each time, much easier.

This is exactly what a local friend said to me regarding the way he uses his bushhog. What is confusing to me is... there ARE different sizes and capabilities of bushhogs. And, secondly, mine sure makes one hechuva racked when I mow over a downed sapling of any size! It's concerning, I sure don't want to tear it up, lol.

I don't have an adequate fence for goats. I think it would take too much effort to restore the fence. More than I want to expend anyway. I don't have any desire to run cows or any livestock. I could lease if I wished, people call me all the time but I really don't have any desire to do that.

 

[Hay Dude]

I suppose you could hire the mulcher guy to do all but those. Does he have an excavator to take the thorny ones down and move them?

Is there a place you can rent an excavator or backhoe (and do you know how to use them)?

Why would he need that when the mulcher can push them over and turn them to sawdust? Probably up to 8” diameter. He said it was new growth-like 5 years old. Should be no problem for a mulcher.

 

[livemusic]

Why would he need that when the mulcher can push them over and turn them to sawdust? Probably up to 8” diameter. He said it was new growth-like 5 years old. Should be no problem for a mulcher.

deleted post, didn't read closely what was written.

 

[Hay Dude]

Well, the answer is that if my tractor and bushhog will do it, I don't have to pay to rent a mulcher and operator! Plus, I control exactly which trees get whacked. I actually do want to save a few elms, oaks. There is no doubt a mulcher would do this easily, but there is the cost.

I’ve done that for many a customer. You can back over the thorny saplings and try hacking them up, but as you said earlier, the thorns will still be there. A mulcher will pulverize them into little harmless chips.

 

[ehcrain]

Try a tree puller for your fel, I've got one by mtl and can usually pull up to 3 inch sweet gum trees using my l3901. Your tractor is bigger by a decent amount so 4 inch is likely to be doable for you.

 

[jyoutz]

Visit or call your state forestry office. Ask for a list of contractors who do mastication work. Get some bids and have it masticated. Then you can maintain with your tractor and cutter. This is a small job of 1-2 days work. Why tear up your equipment trying to rotary cut 20’+ trees?

 

[oosik]

I thin my pine stands - almost every year. 600 to 800 small pines - 1" to 6" on the base. Identify - fell - drag to piles - chip. By myself, it will take the better part of two months. The - "drag to piles" is the tough part. This year my son & his friend WILL help. All the trees are felled with a chainsaw. The remaining stumps will all rot out in five years.

The only trees I have are Ponderosa pines. So - I have no idea what a chipper would do to a tree with thorns. I tend to think - at least some of the thorns would probably make it thru my chipper without being busted up. You could use a chipper with a "sizing discharge screen" that would probably break up all the thorns.

Even with the most heavy duty bush hog - I would be very hesitant to try shredding those trees. It's going to be hard on all the equipment involved. If you care to see what it would be like - take a look at the videos on the Brown Ag web site. The trees are knocked down and shredded. But I doubt it would take care of any thorns.

 

[jeff9366]

My cutter is not robust enough to just mow them down as it is rated for only 1" stems. Actually, that surprised me and when I first started, I was probably mowing over 2" stems or even a little larger but I stopped that! I read the manual!

NEW Rotary Cutters cut everything at first. As the light blades dull a light cutter undergoes increasing stress.

25 horsepower will power a Light Duty 5' Rotary Mower
35 horsepower will power a Heavy Duty 5' Rotary Mower

35 horsepower will power a Light Duty 6' Rotary Mower
45 horsepower will power a Heavy Duty 6' Rotary Mower

Using a HD Rotary Cutter of 1,000 - 1,100 pounds you will need an FEL to hold down the front of the tractor on moderate slopes.

I use a Land Pride RCR2660 (60") HD Rotary Cutter with a Class 4 driveline, weighing 1,002 pounds. My 2013 vintage L3560 powers RCR2660 through Florida jungle mowing over flat land with no complaint and no damage/distortion to the implement. I "try" not to cut brush thicker than 1-1/2". $3,120.00 in May 2018.

I had a Land Pride RCF2060 (60") medium-duty Rotary Cuter with a Class 3 driveline, weighing 620 pounds, nominally rated for 2" brush. It required a ~~$600 repair each year when I would get into brush. It would have been reliable cutting grass. $1,600 in February 2014.

If you buy too light a Rotary Cutter, then cut saplings, it will soon visit the shop.

Regardless of what you buy, order chain guards for the front and rear, not rubber guards and not plain metal.


I tried to push them over with FEL but it didn't work so good.

A Ratchet Rake on your bucket will greatly improve bucket grip on saplings to 2" diameter. Chainsaw any more mature.

Front-End Loader - Ratchet Rake // Today

I had a snarled mass of wild grape vines and brush near a gate. Decided I should clear it today, before everything emerged from dormancy. Photo #1 Ratchet Rake on bucket. Downward oriented teeth make this attachment excellent for pulling brush and light grading, but you cannot dig a hole...

www.tractorbynet.com

 

[2manyrocks]

If you pull those trees, the holes are going to make your pasture bumpy. It's also going to take a lot of time to pull the trees and then what do you do with them?

Although it seems pricey at first, your best option may be to pay someone to mulch them and be done with it.

 

[kthompson]

First thing is the root system on a sweetgum is strong. Cut the tree to the ground and next year you have a sweetgum bush, growing very fast. If the root system is left in place, you best be mowing that area multi times per growing season, for a few years. If you cut the trees or use rough cut mower spray with something like 2,4,D on the stumps. You might be good to use 2,4,D to kill all those trees. Roots and all. Takes coverage of the majority of the tree. Issue with using rough cut mower is tractor tires. It is easy to leave a spike stump just made to puncture tractor tires. (been there done that).

Issue with pulling with chain is, pulling forward tree is being pulled onto tractor and you (unless long chain). If backing up your tires are pulling against the lugs with not as much traction. If you are going to use chain or stump puller and you have a subsoiler plow around the trees cutting what roots you can, will make any pulling method easier. Hey if using fel loader to pull them, do not hook to one loader arm, need to pull from the center of them to prevent twisting the loader frame (again been there). Your rear lift probably has more lift capacity but not as much height.

Method I prefer is I have a 5 ton mini excavator with thumb on it and can pull and stack that size tree in two or so minutes, would expect you could handle one in say 5 minutes. If totally new to excavator watch some youtubes on this and go from there. Would suggest look for someone who has suitable excavator with thumb.

If you have front end loader and have forks or grapple or can borrow that might be best way to get them in piles but a box blade or rear blade turn backwards of the fel bucket are all good tools to push them into piles. As they dry keep pushing them and when you burn push them more and you should end up with good job.

Back to the fel, depending on it's capacity you may find teeth on the bucket can be used to break up roots and get under the tree and lift if out rather easy. Want to not over load the fel.

If you have pile or piles you will be burning, summer is safer to burn in with vegetation green.

 

[Gord Baker]

A D6 with wide root blade and subsoiler on the back.
Make big piles and burn them at the appropriate time.

 

[462]

I would vote to hire a Forestry mulcher (skidsteer) guy to do the work. I did some damage to my tractor(bent muffler, broken light, tire, etc) before I learned my lesson. He took down up to 8 inch pine and sweetgum and lots of yaupon here in NW Fla and some smaller oak as well. Enlarged a food plot and widened and made new trails throughout the property. Cleaned up a pond levy I would never of attempted with a tractor. His expertise with the machine and speed at getting it done was impressive. He even hit a piece of metal and had to replace a part. All part of the daily game for him.

 

[jmc]

I had the same situation with a neglected pasture about that size (previous owner) and I was new to tractoring. 30 HP Ford 1920 4x4, FEL. Thorny locusts too, not big but too big to bush hog. Wanted to uproot them so they wouldn't re-sprout and to keep from spreading thorns.

Welded up a 3 PH mounted scoop where the scoop component was a 4' long by 12" wide heavy C- channel with its concavity facing up. Sharpened all 3 segments of its end.

Worked OK in reverse simultaneously lifting and pushing. Stubborn ones sometimes raised one side of the tractor which was a little unsettling. Sharpened end severed the tap root and peripheral roots broke off. What didn't come with the root ball lightly re-sprouted but were easily mowed.

Worse was handling them on the ground. Lined them up side by side and pushed them into a pile with the FEL.

These days, I would buy a stump bucket for the FEL instead. What you can't lift out directly you might be able to pry out with downforce. Sell the bucket when you're done.

pro-tip from my dealer: if you have to work in thorny fields, do it when it's dry to keep the tire carcass perched up off the ground.

 

[dickhob]

I bought this stump bucket last year. It's proved to be just the thing for the type of work you describe.

STUMP BUCKET FOR SKID STEER QUICK ATTACH