Best way to clear unwanted trees from pasture

[My Gym]

My first Question would be why do you want to remove all the trees with 30 acres and only half a dozen horses can you not leave a lots of the trees standing the horse will appreciate the shelter I would be tempted to get a big old 2wd second hand tractor and a heavy duty bushhog you would be surprised how much it will clear mow around the bigger trees with a big old tractor more weight means much more grunt to pull over push over and pile up the bigger trees and typically a big old 2wd tractor has more ground clearance and is much tougher than a little home owner 4wd tractor to handle the knocks and bangs that will happen in a wooded area. every year clear more area as you stock up on firewood and maybe get a few neighbours to collect firewood you end up with a more attractive property and the horses will be better for the shelter

I will reply to this, with my reasons in my situation. I have 47 acres about 20 woods, 20 pasture and 7 farm site. With 20 acres of woods, I will never run out of firewood. Most of the 20 acres of pasture were infested with 1"-5" Eastern red cedar. The trees limited my ability to spray for weeds and fertilize. The trees reduced the carrying capacity of the pasture. With the trees, the land could not be hayed or planted for crops. The longer you wait to control the trees, the bigger the problem(larger Trees). I have no animals, and with out crops or animals I would loose Agicultural classification of my land. This would increase my property taxes by 25%. By removing the trees, I now produce about 40-50 1500# round bales. on the formerly unused land. The haying controls regrowth of the trees and my property is more valuable.

 

[searcyfarms]

regarding leaving trees in a pasture, ask my daughter how that turned out for her horse during a thunderstorm thats just one of the trees in pasture incidents i have experienced in my lifetime regarding livestock, as a father it was the most helpless one for me, the others belonged to people i worked for and were not pets

 

[Ed27]

My Gym - I love trees, but the ones in the pasture are wild Bradford pears. An invasive crap tree with thorns that can puncture tractor tires. They all need to go. I will reclaim all the pasture. Pasture for horses, crop land, fruit trees, hay for mowing, new house, barn, and garagemahal. I have an old Ford 2310 now. I'm going to buy a Kubota M7060 to help with the land clearing and all things farming.

 

[Ed27]

What happens to those little cedar stumps when they rot in the ground? Do they make potholes or do you even notice?

 

[My Gym]

Your ford 2310 should be able to run the turbosaw. The hydrostatic on my John Deere 3038E makes it easier than a clutch. Working on the neighbors trees this spring 1/2"-4" trees I would cut in a saw tooth pattern forward and back. I did 100 trees in 1/2 hour. Since the neighbors mow with a disc mower, I try to keep all stumps ground level or lower. I drop the cutter just before the trunk and let it dig in a little bit into the ground. It cuts the stump slightly below ground and covers it with debris. I have never noticed any potholes from the small trees. Some of the larger trees I have taken out 12"-18" will leave potholes 2-3" depressions after several years. Some of the stumps show up due to erosion. I patrol the fields after they hay and look for stumps. The neighbors when they mow rake and bale, tell me about any stumps they see.

 

[My Gym]

What part of TN are you in. Nearest town?

 

[Ed27]

What part of TN are you in. Nearest town?

Knoxville. I'm thinking hard about getting one of those TurboSaws. Has it been reliable? Do they have good service? How much does it cost when you need to replace the cutting teeth.

 

[Xfaxman]

------------ I'm thinking hard about getting one of those TurboSaws. ------------------------------

I like this design, no spinning blade: Models and Specifications for the Marshall Tree Saw

 

[My Gym]

My saw is the one with the grapple. It was designed for use up to 100 hp. I fairly sure that I would destroy my tractor before hurting the saw. I bought a Harbor Freight 3-point quick attach that makes mounting it much easier. It has zerks on the PTO shaft and filler for gear oil on the transfer case. I bought a set of replacement teeth just to have on hand since I had chipped about 1/2 of the teeth due to hitting metal. The teeth are VERY!!! difficult to remove. Do not even try without a 3/8" impact rated allen socket, a breaker bar and propane heat. I do not remember the cost of a set of teeth but the $300 range seems right. I have filled it with gear oil once and greased the U-joints once. It is built like a tank. An Ag equipment dealer had one at a big Ag show and bought the demo unit.

 

[My Gym]

I did some research on Bradford Pear trees. The Bradford Pear was introduced as an ornamental tree in 1960 from China. So there are no "old" growth trees and little historical information. They have a brittle branch structure and are prone to storm damage. They are prolific seed producers and the seeds are quickly spread by birds. Beautiful white flowers but smelly in the spring. They are now considered an invasive species and are crowding out native trees.

My thoughts on your problem. Stop the seed production as soon as possible. Cut every seed producing tree as soon as possible. Do not worry about treating the stumps. There are a 1,000 seeds and seedlings ready to replace the one you cut. Imagine stopping, getting off tractor, bending over, and getting back on the tractor several thousand times. Treating stumps is for removing a single tree in a lawn not a thousand trees in a field. Mowing obviously controls seeds, seedlings, and regrowth since lawns are not overgrown with the trees. Let the tree use it's reserves to develop growth and leaves, then brush hog it. Check into tree services to come in, mulch, and haul away. They will have a bigger grinder than you can justify and it will be done rapidly. Please post a picture of your fields.