Best way to clear small trees from pasture

[marhar]

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.

It is not cost effective but if I when the power ball I would buy one of these.

 

[Ken45101]

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.

Yeah, when I first started, a guy at work told me I could bush hog anything I could drive over. He was wrong, there is a lot of stuff I BACK over to bush hog that I won't drive the tractor over.

 

[EXO1]

A tooth bar for your FEL? I have had great success using a root grapple on the FEL. I approach teeth in the ground short of the trunk, breaking up the front side dirt, then approach again with the grapple lifted up high and push the tree over. I would think a tooth bar would get enough front side pentation on smaller saplings. Certainly not as quick as hiring a mulcher, but pretty cheap.

 

[kthompson]

One thing I think that is being seen here over and over, as with many task there may be perfect tool, then often there are a few tools that will work well and then more that will work but say average and not great nor well but will do the job.

The best tool for a job is often the one you have or can afford, as long as you can do it safely and not damage the tool.

I have removed large trees, two to three feet in diameter with a five ton excavator and using thumb or just bucket a lot of saplings also. On smaller stuff I agree if you have space to let it rot do so. It might amaze you have quick the normally rot.

 

[ROUSTABOUT]

I can probably do 100 6 inch trees an hour with a wheeled bobcat and a set of forks. Probably more than that really. Pine, gum, oak, cedar and others. That includes piling the carnage.

 

[2manyrocks]

There's a substantial difference between the frame, loader arms, and hydraulic systems on a skid loader vs a tractor. We might be able to mount grapples, tree pullers, etc., on tractors due to the quick attach, but that doesn't mean there won't be a penalty later when it comes to damage to the tractor.

 

[DKCDKC]

There is a almost free tool that is helpful for pulling trees a bit too large to push over - an old truck tire rim. I push over smaller trees with a toothbar - sometimes after cutting their roots with the toothbar. But I can do pretty well pulling up slightly larger trees with a chain over a truck tire rim that makes your pulling force go up - not out. Works well on many trees. I've found major brush like autumn olive or multiflora can be pretty easily pushed out in damp ground - even when it looks gigantic. Autumn olive, for example, has shallow roots and is a pushover. I get it uprooted - trees or brush -then use the grapple to stack back in the forest to decompose.

 

[2manyrocks]

The truck tire rim method using the tractor's drawbar (not the rear 3pt lift) and a chain may be least likely to damage the tractor compared to other methods that depend on the hydraulic system so long as one doesn't go too far and flip the tractor.

There comes a certain point where it is safer, faster, and less costly to use a skid loader or dozer.

Having said that, I know two guys who each ended up in the hospital clearing brush with dozers.

 

[Boeing]

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.

Your bush hog will bounce and bang greatly when you go over saplings but it shouldn't hurt it. If the trees are too big you'll shear your "shear bolt" (suggest having a few spares). About those damnable locusts.....they grow back from the roots left in the ground. There is a permanent killing concoction that I read about and tried. It works well, some of the ingredients are expensive but you only need to spray the cut off "stob" or stump. I have hundreds of Locusts and a few "princess" trees that grow a foot a night; no chainsaw could stop them as they grew right back. Good luck

 

[Boeing]

I just looked up the mixture of "stuff" that works......the trees WILL NOT grow back.

the blend I use and recommend most is:

50% triclopyr (Garlon 3A brand name)
40% water
10% imazapyr (Arsenal AC)

Important: Mixed in this order! When you are blending these in a container or bottle, add the Garlon first, then add the water, then add the Arsenal last. If you don’t do it in this order, the blend will form a gel that won’t squirt through the nozzle.