Clearing 154 acres of woods in west Tennessee

[TTBHG]

My wife and I just bought right at 300 acres in West Tennessee. Half is cleared with row crops planted and the other half is wooded areas.

I’d like to clear the remaining 150 acres of woods, including stumps and roots to eventually plant on it. What is the best way to go about this? I’ve runs tons of tractors and equipment before but I’ve never cleared woods/timber.

Thank you for taking the time to read and offer advice.

 

[paulsharvey]

My wife and I just bought right at 300 acres in West Tennessee. Half is cleared with row crops planted and the other half is wooded areas.

I’d like to clear the remaining 150 acres of woods, including stumps and roots to eventually plant on it. What is the best way to go about this? I’ve runs tons of tractors and equipment before but I’ve never cleared woods/timber.

Thank you for taking the time to read and offer advice.

Track hoe to pull trees/stumps; shake dirt out, and burn. If there are several really large stumps; plow around them. If it's undergrowth mostly (say less then 5"), Heavy foresty chopper drum, and Rome plow on a dozer. Mulching is going to get thrown out here; but that "clears the air, not the ground" as I heard someone say once. Loader with a root rake helps clear roots, but really isn't the best for pulling stumps. Don't cut the stumps low; it's easier to work them out if they are around 8-12 ft tall; and let's you "lever" the root ball loose with a hoe.

 

[Midniteoyl]

Excavator and a dozer with a rake.. and maybe a skidsteer to help move and stack. Should be able to just push over most trees with the excavator, no need to cut.

 

[Ortimber]

Excavator and a dozer is what I have for land clearing

 

[old and tired]

Are there marketable timber on the property? Could you have it logged and stumps removed for the price of the logs? Around here, the lumber barely pays to have the stumps removed.

 

[Egon]

Find a contractor with the proper equipment.

 

[tractortroof]

That’s a lot of acreage, a lumber company might bring in a buncher and clear it for free. I think it’s called a fell buncher-the excavator with the circular saw on the arm. That would leave stumps though.

 

[dodge man]

Is the ground relatively flat? If not I’d leave it as it is. If it is fairly flat a large track hoe and bull dozer are the best. That’s a lot of work by the way, not a small project.

 

[deezler]

My wife and I just bought right at 300 acres in West Tennessee. Half is cleared with row crops planted and the other half is wooded areas.

I’d like to clear the remaining 150 acres of woods, including stumps and roots to eventually plant on it. What is the best way to go about this? I’ve runs tons of tractors and equipment before but I’ve never cleared woods/timber.

Thank you for taking the time to read and offer advice.

Sorry if this sounds rude, but are you serious? You want to destroy 150 acres of natural wooded area? If you need 300 acres of row crops, why didn't you just buy 300 acres of existing farmland? 150 acres is already a huge farm to manage. I don't get to decide whether this is the right and moral thing for you to do, but you asked for opinions, so mine is: please don't do it.

 

[lman]

I had the same questions and assumed he got a heck of a deal on the property because it doesn't seem cost effective to clear that much land unless you're growing houses or Walmarts.

 

[paulsharvey]

Wow. some hate! I personally am in favor of food. Heck, I eat at least 3 times per day I like it so much. If it makes $$$ sense, go for it.

 

[ddbackhoe]

My wife and I just bought right at 300 acres in West Tennessee. Half is cleared with row crops planted and the other half is wooded areas.

I’d like to clear the remaining 150 acres of woods, including stumps and roots to eventually plant on it. What is the best way to go about this? I’ve runs tons of tractors and equipment before but I’ve never cleared woods/timber.

Thank you for taking the time to read and offer advice.

150 acres, whats the timeline? Bring in a logging company to clearcut, then a large excavator (20 ton range) and a large dozer (100 + hp) with rippers. I would rent or lease (at least to start) so maintenance is covered. Do you have a mobile fuel and lube plan? Big stuff, big fuel bills. Are you gonna burn, stack or grind the stumps and roots ?
Maybe drop it into smaller sections, say 5-10 acre cuts to start and see just how much is involved before committing too much.

 

[paulsharvey]

A couple pictures, including an aerial of the wooded area would help people make an informed suggestion.

 

[newbury]

Napalm would work. Properly applied of course.

 

[TTBHG]

Sorry if this sounds rude, but are you serious? You want to destroy 150 acres of natural wooded area? If you need 300 acres of row crops, why didn't you just buy 300 acres of existing farmland? 150 acres is already a huge farm to manage. I don't get to decide whether this is the right and moral thing for you to do, but you asked for opinions, so mine is: please don't do it.

Row crop fields are 4x the price. I can buy this property and clear the wooded acres for half of what I can buy farmland for. What’s in row crop will stay. The additional land will be made into beef cows pastures.

I know it’s unconventional but it’s far and away cheaper this way and it’s not even close. Anything usable will be cut down and used for fencing and cow pens so the wood isn’t a total loss.

 

[Fuddyduddy1952]

.

 

[paulsharvey]

For pasture; mulching May be an option, but you will probably need to disc and ammend the soil. Also, I've said this half a dozen times in clearing threads; some times it's easier to just go Around big trees. A 36" oak might just not be worth it...

 

[Fuddyduddy1952]

Row crop fields are 4x the price. I can buy this property and clear the wooded acres for half of what I can buy farmland for. What’s in row crop will stay. The additional land will be made into beef cows pastures.

I know it’s unconventional but it’s far and away cheaper this way and it’s not even close. Anything usable will be cut down and used for fencing and cow pens so the wood isn’t a total loss.

A grain lot, factory farm?
Shade for cattle would be nice.
Will you live there?

 

[oldnslo]

If pasture wouldn’t you want to leave some trees for shade?

 

[paulsharvey]

If pasture wouldn’t you want to leave some trees for shade?

I've heard arguments for and against leaving trees in pasture. Cattle will some times shelter in a storm, and those trees attract lightning; and you Could loose 10+ head off a single lighting strike. What I don't know, is would an open field have the same number of lighting kills over time? In theory, the lighting is gonna strike in the field somewhere, regardless of there not being a tree; but the cattle won't be as tightly packed in the area of the lightning.