Land Clearing ~ 30 acres

[tjkadar]

Downside to grinding is the stump will eventually rot. When it does, its going to leave a hole that is waiting to break a horse's leg. For some reason, cows do pretty good with the rotting stumps. Horses - well, they're an accident waiting for a place to happen.

 

[D7E]

The job is always best if you never make a stump . Big dozer to push them over wholesale then cut timber off then burn tops and bury stumps .

 

[Egon]

Then whatcha gunna do with do with the stumps?????

The root rake takes out the smaller ones. The u-blade digs out the large ones. Make a windrow of the stuff and let it rot. The root rake leaves the dirt behind. The heavy disk takes care of the rest. In fact for light bush the disk alone will work!!!!!!

Some place the trees are dozed off into windrows during the winter frost. In the spring the big disk will till it up. Breaking plough can also be used.

 

[D7E]

The root rake takes out the smaller ones. The u-blade digs out the large ones. Make a windrow of the stuff and let it rot. The root rake leaves the dirt behind. The heavy disk takes care of the rest. In fact for light bush the disk alone will work!!!!!!

Some place the trees are dozed off into windrows during the winter frost. In the spring the big disk will till it up. Breaking plough can also be used.

For the very small stuff (less than 6 inches) we sweep off in -20c but bigger stuff breaks off in the ground then having to wait till summer to dig them out so do it in two passes , Topple the big ones in summer then sweep everything into fires in winter to avoid dirt .

 

[tjkadar]

Remember guys, I live in South Carolina. :laughing: We rarely drop below 0 C and its even rarer to stay below 0 C for a whole day. I might have to wait until December for the first frost.

 

[reggiejr]

Have you considered buying your own excavator or renting one?
Without seeing the land i would suggest to rent or buy a good sized excavator with a thumb and pull and pile all the bigger stumps first.
Then rent a decent sized dozer with a root rake to level off everything else and finish grubbing the small stumps and brush out then burn everything.
I would for sure rent an excavator for a week and see how it goes i think you would be surprised what you could get done.
I would buy my own before i forked out 90k to hire it done.
Then you could do all your own projects with it and then sell it when your done and probably recover most of your investment.
Just keep in mind if you beat the machine repairs can get real expensive real fast but if you get a decent machine and use your head you could save lots of $$ if you do the work.

 

[DIRTROAD]

The u-blade digs out the large ones.

Actually a V-blade is more for busting out stumps and a KG-blade is perfect for it. A U-blade is made for moving dirt.

A Drum Chopper is also better for going over the debris than discs.

 

[Egon]

Actually a V-blade is more for busting out stumps and a KG-blade is perfect for it. A U-blade is made for moving dirt.

A Drum Chopper is also better for going over the debris than discs.

U-blade with tilt works for many things.

Does a drum chopper turn over the soil?

 

[DIRTROAD]

U-blade with tilt works for many things.

Does a drum chopper turn over the soil?

I assume that you have done this in the red clay of the south????? I think I know just a little about what I'm talking about.

 

[fishfactor]

I am close by and 36" stumps are no problem for our mulchers. I would be glad to stop by and take a look.

Leaving the stumps in the ground is a discussion we encounter constantly when prepping for pasture. We can remove them or mulch them flush. Each landowner has their opinion on which is best. Some have the same concerns you do about Horses stepping in holes. Others comment that they ride their horses on trails, etc where there are holes, loose rocks, etc and the horses don't have a problem so why would they in a pasture. I don't own a horse so we just explain the methods and let them decide which is best for them.

 

[ShearHeadMS]

The crew I work with runs two D9Hs with v blades followed by a D8R, D7G and D6s. Shearing wise we can do about 20-30 acres a day depending on terrain and how sharp the edge is in the blades. Don't be fooled a D9H can shear a 20 inch stump without any loss of power. Raking wise I alone can do anywhere from 8- 12 acres a day. Best be is to have someone shear it and run a new earth plow over it and re seed it. The break down of the stumps can take from a year to 2 years. Just depends in what you want to do. And those prices sound off the wall, if you pay 1200 an acre you better bug the crap out of them and make sure you get it done the way you want it!!

 

[Egon]

I assume that you have done this in the red clay of the south????? I think I know just a little about what I'm talking about.

Never seen the southern red clay but there are northern clay's, and rock and muskeg and lots of other soil types and lots steep slopes. And lots of acres that were cleared for farming. Not unusual to see a section at a time cleared.:thumbsup:

Unlike yourself there is a lot I don't know and what little I do is all many years in the past and yes I did not operate the equipment but did get to watch a lot of Top Tier Operators.

There are also different methods/equipment used to clear land for farming. Some even used axes, saws, horses etc.

ShearHeadMS has it down!!:thumbsup::thumbsup:

 

[tjkadar]

Shearhead sounds like he could handle the project expediently, efficiently, and cost-effectively.

We live on top of a hill. Soils here are mostly sand of a couple feet thick on top of the dreaded red clay. Most of the time you can pop a stump without having to dig into the clay.

The clay is tough. I've had it stop our Geoprobe a time or two!

 

[tjkadar]

Some pictures of the project:

 

[reggiejr]

Nice looking property
It will look great all cleaned up

 

[Wakey]

Informative thread.

We've got 8 acres next to us that I feel like eventually, we'll get a deal done.

We would be doing the same thing, pastures.

Plenty of old growth trees would need to go. I like the idea of preserving the soil but it would kill me to wait a couple of years before using the land.

How did it turn out?

 

[tjkadar]

Informative thread.

We've got 8 acres next to us that I feel like eventually, we'll get a deal done.

We would be doing the same thing, pastures.

Plenty of old growth trees would need to go. I like the idea of preserving the soil but it would kill me to wait a couple of years before using the land.

How did it turn out?

Its been about 14 months since the land was cleared. I've been over it once with a skid steer and forestry grade rotary mower. Then we planted the steepest slopes in pine. This week, we will have everything sprayed to control competitive hardwood growth. On the flatter areas, we have some grass coming up through volunteer growth. But the majority of the growth is weeds and hardwoods. Spraying will take care of that and the plant matter will add some good material back to the soil. Stumps are starting to rot. I've had a couple smaller ones break up and pop out of the ground going over areas with a drag and the rotary mower. Bigger stumps will take longer, but they are already starting to deteriorate.

This year, in the flatter areas, I've been able to bush hog with tractor. I'll break some shear pins, but that is why they are there. I'm not looking forward to fencing all that extra acreage, but its getting time to start.