Going from timber to grass.....

[chrishet]

Looks like I've found THE PLACE to be for great advice (and any advice here would be greatly appreciated!).

I haven't decided on a tractor, or attachments, yet. We are considering a Kubota 3830 but I am starting to think we will need more muscle. We will probably get a front loader, box blade, and bush hog deck.

Some friends and I are purchasing 100 acres here in Georgia and we want to clear nearly the entire track and pasture'ize it for grass. Right now there are planted pines, about 5 years old. Most of these pines are about 3 inch in diameter. We are looking into a number of different options and I would appreciate any thoughts....We would like to do the work ourselves but we need more info.

1) Dozing the trees and doing a burn pit. Of course this would strip the top soil from the land and I suspect would be tough to prep the soil for grass. This would also leave us with a lot of trash that would need hauling off. I'm guessing we would need a tiller or power rake, box blade...to finish it off.

2) Hiring a contractor to mulch the entire site using a Bull Hog shredder. We would be left with small stumps and a lot of mulch. We kinda like this idea though as it leaves the top soil and would prevent errosion while we are getting established. I'm guessing we would need to get the stumps out then rake the roots, box blade it, then power rake it.

3) The most expensive option thus far is to do #2 and also have the contractor use a special implement called a root hog to grind up the roots and stumps and till all in one pass. We looked into buying one of these (about $35k) but the PTO requires 250HP and that is just to far out of our league. The contractor said we could follow him with seed, making this a simple option (but VERY expensive).

Any other advice would be appreciated. I've read some great posts on this list. Thanks again

Chris
http://hetlage.com

 

[thcri]

Cant you sell the planted pines. To me you could make some good money doing that. Buy yourself a skid steer. Get the equipment for moving the trees and sell them. I don't know how much pines go for in your area but I know people around here will pay good money for them. But I guess if the trunks are 5" it may be to big for a skid steer maybe not.

When the trees are gone you could continue to use the skid steer or you could sell it at a good price and then buy your equipment for grass.

murph

 

[rdbrumfield]

dependiing on how fast you want the grass to come in, I would take a heavy duty bush hog to the place and let the stumps rot. Are you using it as pasture for domestic or wild. I have a 50 hp rig and that wouldn't be a problem for me. I have however put a skid pan under the tractor to protect it and reinforced the tin under the mower deck. Basicly, if I can push it over I can mow it. Larger stuff it might just take the limbs off, but the rest can be handled with a chainsaw. Other than that, I have found the most efficent way to clear ground is to use an excavator with a thumb to create piles for burning. Have fun with it.

 

[chrishet]

Thanks murph, we have looked into selling the pines but so far no takers, they are just too small (like 5-6 foot tall). I thnk the skid with a bull hog is a good idea. I need to see if there are rental units out there.

 

[chrishet]

Thanks rd, can a bush hog really cut down a 6 foot pine? That would be an idea.....

 

[MODiesel]

I guess I gotta' ask what your goal is? Are you trying to strip 100ac into pasture? If so, anything that gets the roots out is going to leave you with enough to work with/smooth to get grass planted.

However, if you're looking for a hunint/hobby farm, what's the rush? You could bush hog or chainsaw portions at a time, pile up the trash, and burn it at your convenience. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I guess we might want to know a bit more before we go off half-cocked offering advice. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Regards,
Jay

 

[Egon]

Get a dozer with root rake on the blade. It can clean up and windrow or pile lthe pine with the roots attached . They should have shallow root systems. Then hook a big disk behind the dozer and do your initial tilling. After that it's the normal procedure for planting.

Egon /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Partsman2]

If you use a dozer and put the pines in burn piles you'll still have the top soil. You'll have to spread it back over the area that has been dozed. If you need to have the dozer pile the top soil up prior to dozing down the trees. Or use the dozer with the root rake and then you would't have to worry much about the top soil.

I don't know what the burning laws are there but I would burn the trees.

I would think this would be the most cost effective way.

 

[have_blue]

Too bad those pines aren't a little bigger. They would just about pay for stump removal. I just don't know if paper companies would buy pines that small.

You didn't say how many acres are in pine, but it sounds like most if not all of the 100 acres. Try to do everything in one operation. That's a lot of cutting, dozing, grinding, hauling, burning, etc.

Consider an attachment for grabbing and uprooting the little pines. I would think a 50 HP tractor would do it just fine. If you had an old farm truck or a big wagon to load the pines as you pull them, it would cut your work and time in half.

Welcome aboard, good luck, and keep us posted on your massive project.

 

[cwarrix]

Wish I was closer, I'd come over and help you remove about 40 or 50 of them! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif I'd love to have some more trees around our property, and pines seem to grow pretty fast. Wish I was closer!!