1026R owner
Bronze Member
Hi Gang!
I have a meadow of about four acres surrounded by wooded wetlands, some of which is edged with thorny bushes I would like to eliminate. I'm fairly certain this is some sort of invasive alien plant, possibly multiflora rose. I want to get rid of this and replace it with native bushes, trees, wildflowers and grasses that provide food for us as well as food and cover for turkey and birds and nectar for bees and butterflies. Also, there are a lot of vines growing all over the trees at the edge of the woods that I will be snipping. I'm considering several ways to do this, each of which involves purchasing equipment that will find other uses down the road. So which method is best and what should I buy? Burning isn't allowed here.
I've cut some of it with a small chainsaw, but the lighter stuff and vines grab at the saw and crawling around and under the thorny bushes isn't ideal.
One thought is to buy a handheld brush cutter, similar to a string weed trimmer but with a rotary blade and bicycle-like handlebars. Echo, Stihl and others make them, though they are not readily available at the big box stores, possibly because you could cut your shin in half with one.
Once everything is cut down, I could let it rot down or, preferably, grind it up in a chipper/shredder and either blow it in a shallow pit or hot-compost it to kill the seeds. I would need to get a chipper/shredder or chipper, which would be useful to have.
Another thought is a field and brush mower such as that sold by DR. They have a tow-behind version that should work well on our John Deere 1 Series subcompact tractor or on our Yamaha Rhino ATV. It has its own gas engine. DR claims its mower will chop and mulch the material. I could use such a device for blazing and maintaining a trail we're building through 40 acres of woods.
Similarly, John Deere has a flail mower. I have not priced it but am guessing it's the most expensive option. I believe it's a three-point hitch setup. Either the flail mower or the brush mower could be later employed to mow nearly two acres of wildflowers we are planting in the meadow.
Another thought is to scoop the bushes up with my little backhoe, though I'm not sure it has the guts to scoop up one of these bushes, some of which have strong, deep root structures.
Equipment I already have: backhoe, front loader, box blade, tiller, chainsaw, chains (for yanking), Roundup.
Thoughts? Suggestions?
I have a meadow of about four acres surrounded by wooded wetlands, some of which is edged with thorny bushes I would like to eliminate. I'm fairly certain this is some sort of invasive alien plant, possibly multiflora rose. I want to get rid of this and replace it with native bushes, trees, wildflowers and grasses that provide food for us as well as food and cover for turkey and birds and nectar for bees and butterflies. Also, there are a lot of vines growing all over the trees at the edge of the woods that I will be snipping. I'm considering several ways to do this, each of which involves purchasing equipment that will find other uses down the road. So which method is best and what should I buy? Burning isn't allowed here.
I've cut some of it with a small chainsaw, but the lighter stuff and vines grab at the saw and crawling around and under the thorny bushes isn't ideal.
One thought is to buy a handheld brush cutter, similar to a string weed trimmer but with a rotary blade and bicycle-like handlebars. Echo, Stihl and others make them, though they are not readily available at the big box stores, possibly because you could cut your shin in half with one.
Once everything is cut down, I could let it rot down or, preferably, grind it up in a chipper/shredder and either blow it in a shallow pit or hot-compost it to kill the seeds. I would need to get a chipper/shredder or chipper, which would be useful to have.
Another thought is a field and brush mower such as that sold by DR. They have a tow-behind version that should work well on our John Deere 1 Series subcompact tractor or on our Yamaha Rhino ATV. It has its own gas engine. DR claims its mower will chop and mulch the material. I could use such a device for blazing and maintaining a trail we're building through 40 acres of woods.
Similarly, John Deere has a flail mower. I have not priced it but am guessing it's the most expensive option. I believe it's a three-point hitch setup. Either the flail mower or the brush mower could be later employed to mow nearly two acres of wildflowers we are planting in the meadow.
Another thought is to scoop the bushes up with my little backhoe, though I'm not sure it has the guts to scoop up one of these bushes, some of which have strong, deep root structures.
Equipment I already have: backhoe, front loader, box blade, tiller, chainsaw, chains (for yanking), Roundup.
Thoughts? Suggestions?
