Clearing 20 acres on top of small mountain/high hill

[Nativewolf]

I'm looking to get 20 acres cleared in northern VA, close to the Shenandoah mnts. The portion I'm looking to clear is at the top, a flat ridge that is fairly long and narrow (2000' by 500' give or take), was a pasture back in 1937. After WWII it was abandoned and grew up in Yellow Poplar due to some YP field trees with a bit of oak. It was selectively logged back in 2012, they took some old legacy poplar and about 1/2 the newer growth (20" diameter on average). I'd like it mulched down to 4" below ground, not worried about stumps rotting over time or anything like that. There will be a few small stones, no rock outcroppings but just some stones 6-20" (greenstone). My current plan is to let the logging company come back and finish cutting the 20 acres.

Issues I know of:

Grinding the old legacy YP trunks and tops. They just took the 36-45" trunks. Left some pretty big tops and the stumps are cut high.
Rocks, there will be a few but they should be isolated rocks.
Access road. Not bad but depending on the driver they might prefer to unload in a pasture at the bottom and drive the 1/2 mile to the top.
Could be additional work.

Since this forum has been a very helpful source of info on tractors over the last 2 years I thought I'd go ahead and register and let people contact me if they would be interested in this project. Timing wise it would kick off in April.

 

[Nativewolf]

I'm looking to get 20 acres cleared in northern VA, close to the Shenandoah mnts. The portion I'm looking to clear is at the top, a flat ridge that is fairly long and narrow (2000' by 500' give or take), was a pasture back in 1937. After WWII it was abandoned and grew up in Yellow Poplar due to some YP field trees with a bit of oak. It was selectively logged back in 2012, they took some old legacy poplar and about 1/2 the newer growth (20" diameter on average). I'd like it mulched down to 4" below ground, not worried about stumps rotting over time or anything like that. There will be a few small stones, no rock outcroppings but just some stones 6-20" (greenstone). My current plan is to let the logging company come back and finish cutting the 20 acres.

Issues I know of:

Grinding the old legacy YP trunks and tops. They just took the 36-45" trunks. Left some pretty big tops and the stumps are cut high.
Rocks, there will be a few but they should be isolated rocks.
Access road. Not bad but depending on the driver they might prefer to unload in a pasture at the bottom and drive the 1/2 mile to the top.
Could be additional work.

Since this forum has been a very helpful source of info on tractors over the last 2 years I thought I'd go ahead and register and let people contact me if they would be interested in this project. Timing wise it would kick off in April.

Added a picture, first time and don't know how large a picture file I can add

 

[tractorshopper]

I had mulching done at my property once. They mulched everything to the dirt except for mature trees I wanted to keep standing. Stuff grows back very quickly and will need to be kept on top of. I don't know if they couldn't or just didn't go below grade with mulching head. I'd assume that would cause damage to the cutter.

 

[Nativewolf]

I had mulching done at my property once. They mulched everything to the dirt except for mature trees I wanted to keep standing. Stuff grows back very quickly and will need to be kept on top of. I don't know if they couldn't or just didn't go below grade with mulching head. I'd assume that would cause damage to the cutter.

Thanks. I'd prefer for it to be taken down about 2-3 inches below ground level, I know it will really be an issue later on if we don't take it down below the root sprouts.

 

[yellowdogsvc]

That looks like it's going to be horizontal or tub grinder work and a big stump grinder/mulcher after they finish to get the stumps down. It would take a really big mulcher to tear up 45" trunks and it would be messy and "chunky" in my opinion even though the poplar is relatively soft, right? Been awhile since I had land with Poplars back east. I've seen the big barkos take on a 45" dead live oak (quercus virginias) but it was like 25-45 minutes per tree and it was a huge mess compared to mulching hard wood. Even with the barko and fecon head, they were leaving a tall stump so that would be additional time going back. I'm sure poplar isn't as hard as our dead oaks get (like rock) but even if you cut it down to 20 minutes per trunks/tops, and stumps, that's a lot of time and then you have larger material to dispose of. Would be fun to watch, however, and I'd love to see how you get it done before and after. Pretty land up there. Haven't been to the Shenadoah area in 25 years but it was spectacular.

 

[Nativewolf]

Well the big poplars are all down, they have left 2' high stumps, still pretty green I think and nice and soft. Nothing like that live oak. I'll be sure to keep people updated and do the before and after pictures. We've got some folks proposing tiger cats at $340/hr and estimates of 4 hours/acre. We'll see once they get on site and firm up the proposals.

 

[yellowdogsvc]

The drawback with a mulching head is the depth. I'd try and find a big machine with a stump grinder for the stumps. Are the tops and trunks mulched or grinded?

 

[Nativewolf]

The drawback with a mulching head is the depth. I'd try and find a big machine with a stump grinder for the stumps. Are the tops and trunks mulched or grinded?

The loggers left some tops, I don't think they had a chipper up there. The YP timber was pretty decent and they got a good $ for the trunks, whole site was skidded (not my favorite but they seeded in the skid trails nicely and waterbeds, almost no erosion whatsoever). So I am left with some old legacy stumps that were cut high, smaller trunks were cut down just a few inches high (i assume a machine feller). Going to look great when opened up though. I really appreciate the thoughts on the stump grinder, those big stumps are something.

 

[cbturf]

How soon are you looking to get this job cleared? I see no reason to pay for what someone out there is willing to do for free or even pay you. First thing you need to do is bring the loggers back in, have them take everything they can get a nickel for. Why pay a guy in a Tigercat to mulch something that a logger is willing to pay you to haul it away? After the loggers have left and the tops are down advertise for free firewood. Let people who cut and sell or use wood to heat their homes come and haul most of the tops away for you. Poplar is not hard at all even a 45 inch stump is nothing to worry about. Any decent machine will not even know it is mulching poplar.

 

[Nativewolf]

I do plan on having the logging crew come in with a chipper and take everything on this coming cut, so that will be pretty darn clean. I don't have time for folks to cut firewood but I wish I did, there is some around the old logging deck and firewood prices are high. I have a pretty aggressive schedule for conversion for a field and that's why I am looking for the mulching. Blueberry's are getting planted and they love organic material so frankly it is only to my long term benefit to get it mulched.

That said, your advise is much appreciated and it shows a really good mindset. Wish you were a bit closer.