Clearing for a Horse Pasture (help)

[sidecarist]

I have about 3 acres of forested land that I need to clear to make a horse pasture for 2 horses that were "donated" to my wife and kids...

1. We know almost nothing about horses but are learning fast.
2. I need to expand the pasture area for them and do it fairly quickly. The small trees I can rip from the ground whole. its the larger stumps I need help with. Can I just cut them flush with the ground and let them rot, or do I need to dig/grind them all up? Its a lot of work maybe 60+ stumps 6" or bigger with more than half of them being in the 6-8" range.

I'd really like to cut them flush and leave them but am concerned about them causing problems for the horses. I will be planting forage grasses for them and will disc the ground, lime, fertilize, etc to get the pasture established.

Thoughts and advice are greatly appreciated!

Thanks.

 

[BLSXJ]

I'm in the same boat. 2 horses, and looking to make some pasture.

I think for the Horse's sake the stumps need to be dealt with, you can't just leave them flush. rotting stump = hole=broken horse leg

I'me trying to decide if I'm buying a 3pt stump grinder to grind them to 6" below grade OR hire/rent an excavator to dig them all out.

 

[Birdhunter1]

My advice is rent a trackhoe in the 8-12000 lbs range, remove your stumps, disk or otherwise till the soil and plant a pasture mix on it and lightly disk or otherwise run a drag over the seeded soil.

Sounds simple doesn't it?

Contact your local ag extension office or soil conservation office of some sorts to ask what to plant, I woudl imagine TN growing season is longer than where I am in Southern IL so you might still have time to get it done this year. However you won't have a good pasture to put them on till at least this time next year. I planted Timothy, Ladino Clover and Orchard Grass last week after removing a bunch of russian olive and scrub brush with a trackhoe and prepping the soil as described above.

 

[jeff9366]

Here are some U-tube videos of excavators removing trees and stumps.

excavator pulling trees - YouTube


A tractor is not the right tool.

 

[sidecarist]

Budget is an issue for me at this time... Renting large equipment is out of the question. I'd like to avoid renting a stump grinder is possible. I have pallets of fertilizer, and can get lime done by a neighbor. The real question is should I leave the stumps 3' high, or cut them flush. If flush cut will that cause problems for the horses? I realize that i may need to dig them out as they rot and I'm ok with that. Option two is bight the bullet and rent a grinder and do what I can with limited funds. I'm already not too happy about having horses yet. We simply aren't ready for them and the expenses they bring. But here they are and now I have to deal with it the best I can....

Thanks,

 

[jeff9366]

After small stumps soften some, you should be able to work small stumps out with a Subsoiler.

I recently bought a Subsoiler from everytfhingattachments.com. I intend to assemble it and give it a try cutting roots in the next two weeks.

VIDEO: subsoiler stumps - YouTube

In my experience dull-tooth rental stump grinders are slow.

 

[sidecarist]

Yes, I have a subsoiler, and a backhoe that will work after the stumps have had a year or two to rot. In 5 years I should be able to have them all out. It's the immediate question of flush cut stumps being a problem for the horses in therror near term.

Maybe I should post under a different topic.

 

[CADplans]

A LOT depends on the variety of tree as to whether it will rot.
We have a variety of locust that the stump just will not rot.

I cut one (8" dia at ground level) flush with the ground,, in 1982.
To promote rot, I plunged the tip of the chainsaw into the stump at least 4 inches,,, at least 6 times.
The plunges are at different angles, and intersect.

Well, any other stump would have rotted, the locust is as strong today,, 34 years later, as the day I cut it,,,

I did one acre, in the middle of the woods as a game feeding plot.
It had big (20"+) trees standing. A 953 CAT cleared and graded the area in two hours.

Get an excavator,,, :thumbsup:

 

[Birdhunter1]

Another way to look at it is either spend the money feeding a horse in hay or spend some money to invest in the pasture so you have to feed less hay.

In the midst of the same issue as you I have weighed options on my farm of where to build a pasture for a horse and have opted to take 3 acres out of row crop production to contruct fences and pasture because I can grow a good pasture there and will end up buying less hay. The other option for me was very mediocre ground that wouldn't grow good pasture and I woudl en up buying alot more hay.

Of course I have a loan agreement worked out with a good friend of mine on heavy equipment but I would say the work I did with a trackhoe would have been $1500 maybe to hire it out or $500 to rent a machine for two days and have at it. For 6'8" stumps a large tracked bobcat and toothed bucket would do the job too, but not as good as an excavator in the 4-6 ton range.

So in essence... spend now to have a great pasture and feed hay heavily for a year then less after that, or have a mediocre pasture and feed hay alot more.

 

[sidecarist]

No locust, Poplar, Oak and Maple.

Wish I could afford the Excavator. I'd have a long list of things to do in 1-2 days and I'm sure it could be done, but for now I have 2 horses eating the excavator budget in feed!

 

[Birdhunter1]

In that case....
If the stumps were cut flush I don't see how it would hurt much, it would make it hard to do any dirt work but you could sew grass seed over the top of the ground and it will sprout without being covered. But you will have to keep the horses off of it until it establishes itself well.

 

[sidecarist]

Thanks, That's my intention. I can scratch up the top 2 in of the soil easily enough after clearing off the brush, etc and make a seedbed. I have a pond I can use to water the seed to get it to sprout. They can stay in the existing but too small pasture for a while and we can afford to feed them until the grass is well established.

I'll be able to work on them in the future after they have softened up a bit. I'll probably have a couple of times a year to do this while this pasture rests from grazing.

The wife is concerned about the horses slipping, etc...

I will also probably use an auger drill to bore holes so Water can sit in the stumps to promote the rotting process. Maybe also soften them up a bit with he tip of the chain saw.

 

[RPW]

Horses are interesting creatures. Even in a perfect pasture they will find a way to get hurt. I've got 7. They are also survivors and do well in the most inhospitable environments. So my opinion is to cut everything flush to the ground. Oversees your grass seed. Fertilize according with your soil sample results. Improve your pastures as time permits. Keep it simple.

 

[jeff9366]

Yes, I have a subsoiler.

For the 2" to 4" trees I would get under the roots on two sides with the Subsoiler, then lift the 3-Pt to break the roots. That should reduce tree holding strength in the earth by 50%. Then attempt to push over whole tree with your bucket. The roots will come up with the tree, if you succeed. Moist soil is important. So maybe 50% reduction in your stump count, rather than 100%.

If you have toothbar or Ratchet Rake attachments for your FEL bucket either will increase bucket purchase on the tree trunk, relative to an unadorned bucket.

Here are germane threads from the T-B-N archive:

subsoiler to remove stumps site:tractorbynet.com - Google Search

 

[prichard]

If you have a backhoe why not dig the roots on 3 sides and push the trees over? Use the trees as leverage to pull the stumps.

 

[Egon]

Three acres for two horses? Just give them a little time and the area trees may die and the ground cultivated for seed.

 

[holeycow]

In time the horses will likely kill every tree in there on their own. Horses need shade and wind breaks. They are more comfortable with some forest than in wide open fields.

I would take only the poorest trees flush to the ground and leave the rest for them to rub on and gnaw on and just generally abuse, as horses do.

Once you open up the canopy and work up the surface the grass will grow.

Just buck up the trees and let them rot. Or pile them to rot.

 

[TractorGuy]

Im with prichard. 6 to 8 inch trees shouldn't be that much of a challenge for a 40hp tractor with a backhoe and loader.

 

[Clay45]

With your criteria its not a project to rush. You could cut back some ot the trees, cut & pile the wood. Let the woodpiles and stumps dry for a year. Get a few steel drums to cut the ends off of, drill a circle of holes around a foot up from one end. This leaves you with a steel tube.

Burn the woodpiles. Set the drums over your stumps and fill with the hotter and larger coals from your woodpiles. Repeat until you've removed as many trees and burned as many stumps as you want. Disc up the new open ground and plant your favorite pasture mix.

 

[sidecarist]

At this point I have already taken down a bunch of the trees and have 3ft stumps. The ground is super dry and hard. I've dug a few of the stumps out with the hoe, but it's time consuming and they don't give up easily. I can spend an hour or two on each one...

For now the plan is leave several of the larger trees and see what happens with them. The stumps I can't easily pull I'll dig around the edges and cut below the surface if possible. Then I'll score them with the chainsaw and drill with an auger to promote rotting.

I'll bury them as best as possible using the landscape rake and prepare the seed bed I will also lime and fertilize per soil test and then plant a pasture seed mix.

We will be building a home at this site in the next 12-18 months. When the excavator is there I'll pay a little extra to have them deal with anything that is troublesome at that time.

I'm hoping to have the pasture seeded and give it a chance to get started before really cold weather, then I'll over seed in the spring. If I can get the horses on it by March I'll be happy.

Thanks for everyone's advice!