8 Acres to clear...... Smart or crazy

[andyz171]

My wife and I have recently purchased a 12 acres old horse farm. The previous owner stop taking care of it over 10 years ago and it is now very over grown. It is mostly brush, thorns and small trees (pine). We are wanting to clear out the underbrush of about 8 acres, which to us means leaving trees about 1 ft in diameter and larger.

I've received estimates from dozer guys all around $10,000 to do the job. But since I have not purchased my tractor yet all I can think about using putting that $10K into an even better tractor. I have not purchased my tractor yet but would be getting a Kubota Grand w/cab either L4240 or L4740 4x4 w/HST, FEL, 6' bush hog and 6' ft box blade.
If you were to do this job would you suggest grapple, reinforced blade on bucket, teeth on bucket, or the dozer attachment??? Or am I just flat out crazy? I'm not scared of hard work and know this would take some time. Suggestions...... Thanks in advance and don't be afraid to really let me have it if I sound like a crazy man.

 

[jbooth]

Depends on what you have in mind for the end use. If it is going to be pasture/grass, you can probably get by with the tractor and a good heavy brush mower and chain saw. If you are planning to till/garden/farm then the stumps need to be ground or ripped out. Also keep in mind it don't have to be done immediately, just set a goal for each year.

Think about gettin a quote from a person with skid steer and tree shear or a saw.

I do a lot of clearing with a skid steer and might be able to offer better advice if I knew what was planned for the end use. Can you burn if you just pile the spoils??

 

[jeffreythree]

I would get a qoute from someone with a skid steer and mulching head or possibly one of the bigger Hydro-ax's if one is in your area. Best thing I have ever seen for clearing out brush.

 

[Arbo]

It will be time consuming, but certainly doable. I would go with the bucket with an add-on tooth bar, and a root rake/grapple for the FEL. The brush hog will take care of the small stuff rather quick, then you can go in and clean up the bigger stuff with the loader.

 

[radioman]

no one is crazy for trying to clear thier own land. It's all on how you plan on using it. Are you just trying to have a place to roam? on atv? walking? farming?
Do you have a timeline for your future plans? where abouts are you located? you mentioned thorns , I only can think of texas the nasty stuff there that should require dozer to save you money on tires. If other locations it is doable if you want to do it yourself and have few years to do it.
There is nothing like doing things yourself. You can save more trees and plants then hiring someone if you like those certain plants. Its impossible to know what to save over such a large area.

Is there a certain reason why you need it cleared? Other then overgrown?

Putting the money into a tractor instead of paying someone makes financial sense until you start having problems like flats, broken machinery, etc.

Perhaps you could just have a dozer build a road into the 12 acres and you can clear the rest yourself? might be cheaper?

We need pics or general idea whats land like.

 

[Kyle241]

I would buy the tractor and do it on my own. For that amount of money, you'll have 25% of the tractor paid off and a nice machine that will last you a lifetime. I'm also one that believes in doing their own work unless: it's dangerous, requires a certified professional (e.g. final electric hookup), etc. There is nothing like doing something yourself and getting the satisfaction afterwards. I have built my last two homes and know every detail about each and yet I am not a carpenter by trade. It will be a lot of hard work but great seat time.

 

[Raspy]

I've been clearing parts of my 5 acres. And I cleared an old drive that had been untouched for about 15 years or so. Nothing over a few inches in diameter, but so thick it was very hard to walk.

I simply lower the bucket with the bottom flat on the ground or tilted up just enough that it won't fill up with dirt, and drive right into it with a bit of speed. The brush and small trees either pop out or get cut off at ground level. If I'm going too slow it will stop the tractor. Then just push it all to an area or pick it up with the forks on the bucket. Once that's done I go over it with the box scraper, maybe some areas with the rippers down, then finish the slope and surface with the scraper blade and no teeth, and that's it.

This works fast and is a lot more fun than paying someone else to do it. It seems like a lot at first, but you get into it and it always goes well.

I've got an enormous pile of brush that I'm going to haul to a free brush dump near home. You could, maybe burn, but I don't want to, and I have a dump trailer.

Brush forks are my next tractor project, but I've gotten by without them so far.

I would definitely put the money into something other than somebody else's pocket for labor.

 

[fastback88]

I would do it myself also,put the 10k towards tractor and attatchments,I would also get the tractor with the R4 tires they will hold up better for what your doing.I have done a lot of brush cutting with my l35 with R4s on it and never had a flat I might just be lucky! I now have a L4200 and can not believe the power differance it has the AG tires and I wish it had the
R4s. Make sure you buy a heavy duty model rotory mower.Take your time and you will enjoy every minute you are out there!!:thumbsup:

 

[moored4]

First off you asked the wrong group! Cause WE are all a little crazy! :confused2:

We like spending time on our tractors or working on them or making something for them. So go buy you a new tractor and go crazy!

All the suggestion so far are good but I would also get the heavy duty bucket and put at least a tooth bar on it and get a brush forks attachment, it is like a big long set of multiple forks instead of just short teeth. They help cleaning up the little branches and stuff without moving a lot of soil around.

Get ready to have some FUN! Keep us posted on your progress and send lots of pictures! :thumbsup:

 

[Western]

If you cut the trees that are to big for your tractor at 3' off the ground and leave the stump up high enough, you can either have a dozer come in at much less cost and just push the stumps, or you could rent a Backhoe and operator or do it your self.

I bet with only 10 years growth, your tractor can do most all of it. I'd save that $10k for a pond if there isn't one.

Just thinking outloud

 

[dstig1]

There's another point that may or may not apply to your situation - if you bring in a dozer and want to save the 12" and bigger trees, that means the dozer will have to dance around them. You'll end up killing them with accidental scrapes and ground compaction from the dozer. You can be a lot more surgical with a tractor and some patience.

If you're going to get the tractor anyways, then I'd go for it. Grapple would be an excellent addition to the mix for that, so make sure you get a 3rd function valve with the tractor. I cleared 2 acres of heavy forest by myself last summer, and that included lots of chainsaw time and trees from saplings to 32" dbh Oaks. Had a friend help with the felling. The tractor helped a ton in cleanup.

 

[Ranger Rick]

now very over grown. It is mostly brush, thorns and small trees (pine). We are wanting to clear out the underbrush of about 8 acres, which to us means leaving trees about 1 ft in diameter and larger.

Since it is mostly brush I think that you should start with the tractor and a good brush cutter. I had many area on our 40 acres that were overgrown and I have a 3940 and 6foot land pride brush cutter. Cut what you can a couple of times and see what you need to have after that. I had locust trees that were 3 inches in diameter that I would back over with the mower and chop up into little pieces. Many of the small stumps rot away pretty quickly. And you will need the tractor to keep it mowed to keep the brush from coming back.
So get the tractor and start mowing. You will get plenty of seat time.
Rick

 

[Soundguy]

if just clearing sapplings and brush.. stuff you can drive over.. then by all means.. get a good tracgtor and hd mower and box blade and go for it.

if removing stuff bigger than 2" green.. .. well.. tractors ain't bull dozers.. and they don't do stumps real well.. in that case for 1-time work.. hireing it done is usually best.. unless you got plenty of time to do this and like the feel and sound of a chainsaw and plan to fell a couple a week, and burn the stumps out as you go over a few year period..

soundguy

 

[milkman636]

I had good luck clearing four acres with my John Deere 5210, loader, bush hog, box blade, and chainsaw. There were some stumps left that needed to be dug out, but I found a good local guy that would dig them out with his backhoe for $65 an hour. He was able to dig up to about 3' diameter stumps with his hoe. I was able to rock smaller trees up to about 8" in diameter over with the loader and get the entire root ball out of the ground. You'll be surprised by what a 50hp tractor can do when you get the hang of it. The whole project was done during the couse of one summer.

 

[SamtheEagle]

Hello everyone, I'm the new cherry around here as this is my first post and I have yet to buy a tractor. I think this is a terrific site, I've learned a good deal from these threads already.

My situation is pretty much the same as Andyz171. I have 11 acres that was clear cut in November that I want to turn into horse pasture. Right now I'm at the stage where I need at least get the brush off the ground so the guys at Southern States can do their thing with lime and fertilizer. I don't want to pay $10-15K to have a bulldozer guy clear the land or deal with mounds of tangled stumps/brush/dirt. I'll need a tractor anyway so I figure I'll just put that dough toward a tractor and clear it myself. I'm planning on grinding the stumps with either a rental unit or an attachment (any thoughts or experience on stump grinder attachments?) and piling the brush up in a corner for now. I also plan on putting up my own fence and doing some work in the woods improving trails, light logging etc. so I'm thinking a 4x4 is a must and something in the range of 40 hp? Honestly, I'm not even sure what questions to ask because I'm such a cherry, but I'm hoping someone else's experience can save me some misery and $$$.

Out of the gate, I've got about $25K to dedicate to the tractor and attachments. I know a lot about the value of cars, motorcycles and guns etc., but I have no idea what is a fair deal on tractors and attachments. Anything anyone can help with would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Western]

Samtheeagle,

Welcome, we like cherries here!!:laughing:

I have rented a walk behind stump grinder, you can get ALLOT done in eight hours. Allot of times it's cheaper to rent things you'll seldom use to validate a purchase, something to consider.

Looking and buying a tractor is almost as fun as having one, You need to read through the various brand threads and start going to dealers. If I where you I would post Brand specific questions in the proper location so you get feedback from owners and dealers of those brands.


One other thing, You should start a new thread, you will get more specific attention and can chronicle your adventures with "LOTS OF PHOTO'S" , where suckers for pictures, but they are worth a 1000 words sometimes.

Good luck.

 

[andyz171]

So here are a couple pics, once again I'm just going after the small trees and under brush, not certain with what to do with the house. Anything the tractor with the bicket or grapple/root rake can't budge will stay. It's an old horse farm, I'm not making it a horse farm so all horse concerns are appreciated but I'm not going that route. I've found a Kubota L5240 HST 4x4 (2008 - 400 hours) with quick detach loader that I'm really leaning towards right now.

 

[radioman]

From the pics it looks like a FEL and bushhog is all you need. Plus seat time:thumbsup:.

Just start by cleaning up the trash around the house and bushhog around the bushes and trees to get a better idea what it really looks like around there. Chances are you will have a better idea what to do with it then. I really don't think you need a dozer from the pics you posted. Thee smaller bushes can be simply mowed down with the bush hog.

 

[moored4]

Here is a thought! :2cents: Go rent several different brands of :tractor: that you might consider buying and try each one out for a day! Tell each dealer what you are doing and he will probable apply the rental fee to the purchase price of a new one if you end up buying from him!

This will give you a chance to see what a tractor and brush hog will do for clearing the land and give you a feel of what size tractor might be best for your conditions,:thumbsup:

 

[charlz]

It's an old horse farm, I'm not making it a horse farm so all horse concerns are appreciated but I'm not going that route.

What is the plan for the place? Anything you clear you are going to have to keep clearing/mowing/whatever if there is nothing there to keep it eaten down. If it is just recreational property Maybe just mow some trails through the 'woods', clear an area around the house and leave it at that.