Best way to clear unwanted trees from pasture

[goeduck]

This thread makes me think of the Palouse region in Eastern Washington. In the mid 1800's it was covered with big pine trees (probably 18" diameter average). 75 years later it was all open fields, and some of the most productive farmland in the world. How on earth did those guys do that back when mules and oxen were the main form of power on a farm?

I know they used the tripods a lot
. Bulletin of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Agriculture; Agriculture. CLEARING LAND IN THE LAKE STATES. 9. Fig. 6.—Typical tripod stump puller. Pullers of this type must be set directly over each stump pulled. quite an item. In pulling small, sound stumps considerable time is saved in not having to dig root holes, which are necessary when using a tripod, type of machine. With large stumps which are partly decayed, this saving of time over that re- quired in the use of the tripod type is about offset by the loss of time due to stumps breaking off. When this occurs, each large root must be Stock Photo: 23382487 - Alamy

 

[Ed27]

It's been very long since I posted an update. Fifty acres; about 35 acres of pastures and 15 acres of woods. The 35 acres of pastures were not maintained for decades by the previous owner. We have the pastures cleared but are still waiting to build a house and barn (COVID, worst inflation in 40 years, ~7% mortgage rates). The attached photo is from September 2022.

 

[Grumpycat]

So, what means was used to clear the acreage?

Your original post mentioned Bradford Pears, the cockroach of trees. And desire not to disturb the soil. Those two desires are contradictory as Bradford Pear roots are survivors, need to be dug up and burned or dependably killed.

Would also think you would not want stumps in the ground, even cut flush because they will rot, make holes for horses to step in and get hurt. Have enough trouble with groundhogs and armadillos on my land leaving holes for cattle to trip.

 

[Ed27]

So, what means was used to clear the acreage?

Your original post mentioned Bradford Pears, the cockroach of trees. And desire not to disturb the soil. Those two desires are contradictory as Bradford Pear roots are survivors, need to be dug up and burned or dependably killed.

Would also think you would not want stumps in the ground, even cut flush because they will rot, make holes for horses to step in and get hurt. Have enough trouble with groundhogs and armadillos on my land leaving holes for cattle to trip.

Trees cut flush to the ground with a TurboSaw on the back of my tractor. Stumps were painted with Garlon 3A, which kills the roots and prevents regrowth. Bradford pears have shallow roots, so hopefully and holes left after the stumps rot will be minimal and can be filled in with dirt.

 

[2manyrocks]

Trees cut flush to the ground with a TurboSaw on the back of my tractor. Stumps were painted with Garlon 3A, which kills the roots and prevents regrowth. Bradford pears have shallow roots, so hopefully and holes left after the stumps rot will be minimal and can be filled in with dirt.

I'd be very interested to see pictures of how close you were able to cut to the ground and what the stumps look like maybe a year after cutting.

 

[Ed27]

I'd be very interested to see pictures of how close you were able to cut to the ground and what the stumps look like maybe a year after cutting.

Post #200 on page 20 shows stumps cut at ground level. I will need to take some pictures of rotting stumps.

 

[2manyrocks]

How were you able to cut that close to the ground with a tractor tree saw? That would be hard to do even with a chainsaw.

Did you have to sharpen your saw blade much during this process due to contact with the ground?

 

[Texasmark]

Hi all,

I just bought 50 acres, about 35 pasture and 15 woods. Land is flat. Pasture has been neglected for many years and has hundreds of trees in it that need to be cleared. Most are Bradford pears and cedar trees, about 5-6 inches in diameter and about 20 feet tall. I want to make a wide open pasture of it all. After the trees are cleared, I will keep it cleared with a bush hog. I will move 6 horses on it. I am not in a big hurry, but I want to get it done as soon as reasonably possible. I don't want to tear up the pasture land more than necessary, but will do what I need to get the job done.

Here are some ways to get the job done. Please tell me which way you think is the best way to go and your experiences.

Forestry mulcher: Wow, what could be more awesome than a forestry mulcher?!
Clevinger Forest Services- Forestry Mulcher Land Clearing - YouTube
I can rent one (tracked Bobcat T770 with forestry mulcher) for about $3,000 per week. Pros: Turns trees into mulch, grinds them down to the ground, does not tear up other pasture, and no burning required. Negative: Renting a Bobcat is still pricey, and it may take many weeks to complete.

Bulldozer: Hire someone to push them over, shove them in a pile, and set them on fire. Pros: Fast, probably cheapest method too. Negatives: Will tear up a lot of ground because many stumps will come out and make holes so ground will need to be graded too.

Tree saw and stump grinder for tractor PTO: TurboSaw quickly cuts each tree.
Tractor Mounted Tree Saw
Use grapple to put in a pile and burn them. Take saw off tractor and attach stump grinder.
Stump Grinder Videos | Woodland Mills USA
Pros: Should go pretty quickly. Can go at my own pace, depending on how much time I have each day. The saw and grinder will cost about $8,000 total, but I will be able to use them later too when I cut some trails through the woods. Negatives: Not sure, but may take the most time.

Your thoughts? Thanks for playing along!

Ed

A competent dozer operator with a D9 can work wonders on land clearing and for nominal by the hour pricing..... your best value....BTDT

On the holes roots might leave, have him smooth it out, or you come back with tractors and implements and condition the soil (which you will be doing anyway) and filling in the holes in the process.

This would be my approach.

 

[Texasmark]

A competent dozer operator with a D9 can work wonders on land clearing and for nominal by the hour pricing..... your best value....BTDT

On the holes roots might leave, have him smooth it out, or you come back with tractors and implements and condition the soil (which you will be doing anyway) and filling in the holes in the process.

This would be my approach.

I just helped a neighbor clear out some Locust trees and stumps but they were not as dense as you suggest. The solution was to cut the stumps at ground level, haul off the brush and apply Glyphosate (stump killer...paint on with a brush) to the stump. Let it sit till the stump rots.....less than a year, and come back with a tandem disc and grind up the stumps into small pieces, follow with a spike/chain harrow and just leave them lie...your farm equipment will work around them and eventually they will disappear.

On stumps that don't die off as fast as most, i used the Fel on the tractor to push the roots out of the ground to be hauled off.

 

[Ed27]

How were you able to cut that close to the ground with a tractor tree saw? That would be hard to do even with a chainsaw.

Did you have to sharpen your saw blade much during this process due to contact with the ground?

 

[Ed27]

I use the LT3200 Tractor Saw (TurboSaw) made by DFM. It is designed to cut at (even slightly below) ground level. It cuts with 10 carbide teeth attached on the edge of a heavy metal disc. Never need to sharpen. The teeth are square and one of the four sides of each tooth is actively cutting. When the teeth get dull, you loosen the screw holding it in place, and rotate the tooth to the next side. So, all four sides of the tooth can cut, but only one side at a time. I have cut thousands of trees in the last 3.5 years and I recently started using the second side of each tooth.

 

[5030]

I grind them as well with my Worksaver 3 point stump grinder. It grinds at least 6" below grade and a heck of a lot easier than excavating. Quicker too.

 

[2manyrocks]

I use the LT3200 Tractor Saw (TurboSaw) made by DFM. It is designed to cut at (even slightly below) ground level. It cuts with 10 carbide teeth attached on the edge of a heavy metal disc. Never need to sharpen. The teeth are square and one of the four sides of each tooth is actively cutting. When the teeth get dull, you loosen the screw holding it in place, and rotate the tooth to the next side. So, all four sides of the tooth can cut, but only one side at a time. I have cut thousands of trees in the last 3.5 years and I recently started using the second side of each tooth.

When I look at the DFM website, it looks like they are only making units for skid loaders these days? Products | DFM Attachments | United States

 

[ovrszd]

In my opinion, the best way to take out trees is with an excavator. If that's not an option, then a backhoe, which is what I have. For small trees like you described, most of the time I can just push them over by putting the bottom of the hoe bucket against the base of the tree and working my way up, while pushing it over. If that doesn't work, then a little digging on either side and they come right out. For smaller saplings I use the teeth of the bucket to push the tree over and pin it to the ground, then I move the bucket sideways a few inches an pull the bucket back towards me. This creates a hook in the tree where it's bending and I can quickly pull it out of the ground. I did this with hundreds of trees over the last weekend while clearing an area for a new fence.

I would not use a dozer. I own a pretty good sized dozer that's 40,000 pounds and 170hp. It pushes most trees over alright, except when the tree snaps off and leaves a stump. Then that's a big mess. The big problem with a dozer is getting the trees to where you want to burn them. Even with a rake you will end up with tons of dirt in your burn pile.

My neighbor has had a lot of his land mulched. The day its done, it's really nice. But nothing grows there for awhile and you cannot plant anything in all of the chips until they rot away. In six months it's all weeds. A year later it looks worse then before it was mulched!!! You really have to spend a lot of time working the ground after it's done to have nice results. In my opinion, it's a lot of extra effort to accomplish this.

Getting the trees out is the easy part. Getting them to the burn pile is where you will spend all of your time and energy. Dragging them creates ruts and it's very VERY SLOW. A grapple is by far your best friend. Nothing is faster, cleaner or easier then picking them up and carrying them to the pile. I modified my backhoe front bucket to be a Quick Attach so I could remove the bucket and put on the grapple. Now I can remove the trees with the hoe, and then turn around and use the grapple to clean up my mess. A quarter of my time over the weekend was removing the trees, the other 75 percent of the time was picking them up and hauling them to the burn pile.

Good stuff Eddie. I completely agree.

Not a fan of a mulcher. If you have a thick growth you won't be able to see the ground when done.

Not a fan of saw/shear. Leaves a mess of stumps that will haunt you whem trying to smooth and seed.

 

[two_bit_score]

Good stuff Eddie. I completely agree.

Not a fan of a mulcher. If you have a thick growth you won't be able to see the ground when done.

Not a fan of saw/shear. Leaves a mess of stumps that will haunt you whem trying to smooth and seed.

I would mostly agree too but I think you have to look at clearing as a multi-step process. Even pulling trees with an excavator is just the first step in turning forest into crop land.

 

[ovrszd]

I would mostly agree too but I think you have to look at clearing as a multi-step process. Even pulling trees with an excavator is just the first step in turning forest into crop land.

Absolutely.