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.)

=

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.