you are in trouble in a few different ways.
1) little stumps left behind
2) roots attached to the stumps
a dozer, could just go through and push alot of the stuff all over tearing roots and stumps out.
an excavator even a smaller MINI EX (mini excavator) and grabbed from a rental company for say a week might work as well. and just go around poping out the stumps and some of the root balls.
both dozer and excavator / mini ex going to leave the area pretty ragged, and you will end up with a pile of garbage (tree stumps with dirt all mixed into it) but you will get rid of stuff in the ground for most part, but you still may have some smaller size roots to deal with.
the aftermath of above dozer / excavator / mini ex. will still need something to go through and rip the dirt up some to snag and hopefully break out the smaller roots. along with going around with a pruners to cut off roots hanging by a thread and not wanting to pull out.
then... box blade with rippers you can lower on it. might be suggested to rip the ground up a bit better, and level everything up.
note the trash pile from dozer / mini excavtor. you might, and state that loosely, be able to dig a hole and toss some of the trash in hole, but the area will have compaction issues over the years to come most likely, due to not being able to fully compact around all the roots and like. or perhaps have the trash pile out via some dumbsters which can be costly in itself.
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there is also "tree spade" many of them fit over the FEL (front end loader) of tractor. can be used to help pop out some tree stumps / root balls.
a subsoiler / ripper / potatoe plow. to rippers on a box blade, and some times find like rippers on box blade on a rear blade. can be used to also run around and help rip out the roots and cut the roots up in the ground. all the noted doings, generally have a "break away bolt" so if you really snag something good. the bolt will snap allowing the ripper to trip out and away vs damaging your tractor and or bending / warping / damaging rest of implement.
many times dozers have the blade out in front, and then rippers on back, or perhaps rippers on the blade itself.
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extra blah!
FEL (front end loader) generally just come with a straight edge cutting blade on it. a tooth bar would be recommended if you need to dig a lot with the FEL.
a box blade, is more geared in leveling out areas and moving dirt around. while a FEL and back dragging and move material around it can do. a FEL can give you a lot of trouble and not get things nice and smooth but give you a lot of high / low spots. it works, but not the best.
a rear back blade can also be used to move some dirt around and smooth things out. some rear blades come with "side wings" to turn them into something like a box blade. so you can grab and move dirt around, vs causing dirt to move to left or right side pending on angle.
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there are some various types of rakes out there. from spring like tine rake that mimics more of grass / lawn plastic rake, to harrow to chain harrow that has a set of smaller rippers on them that act more like a metal garden rake. these can be used to help grab small smooth and smooth stuff out for finishing touch once other stuff is done. there is powered rakes, think a pipe with a bunch of spikes on it that help break up only a couple inches of dirt if that. and more used for final grading for a lawn / grass area.
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there are rotatry cutters (bush hogs), then you have a heavier duty "forestry mulchers" the forestry mulchers can be rather expensive for a DIY'er with only a few acres. these may leave short little stumps couple inches high from ground, and just waiting for you to trip over. even a fail mower going to have some stumps left to nail your foot on.
if you can find some cheap chain saw chains, abuse the heck out of the chains, and just run the chain saw directly into the dirt and cut the short stumps down right to ground level or slightly below ground level.
along with stump grinders for dealing with stumps and grinding the stumps down to ground or a bit under the ground. these can be rather expensive to purchase as well for a DIY'er though you might find some place to rent, you are more likely to find a local tree cutting business that has one.
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its a bit late in game, with already cut down, and leaving higher stumps stinking out of the ground, so you can pry/push the stump over with FEL of tractor. in attempt to get most of the root ball out.
there is how ever some oh... bush grubbers, they are like a vice grip or better yet C clamps. the ends have some spikes on them, to help grab into the wood. and when you pull on the chain it causes the bush grubbers to tighten up and grab in. they work much nicer than trying to wrap a stinking chain around and having the chain slip on you.
the grubbers and/or chain, can be used with an old METAL tire rim, or A frame setup. to help get pulling power going upwards vs side ways, to help pull stumps out.
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skid steer vs tractor with a 3pt hitch, the skid steer gong to cost any were from 100 to 300 dollars more for each implement. vs same implement for 3pt hitch. when buy new and/or used.
skid steer easier to get into places and turn around, but also can be slower as in MPH, vs a tractor top speed, and tractor has a larger turn radius vs skidsteer that can turn on a dime.
you are more likely at least for my area, be able to rent a skid steer attachment. vs a 3pt hitch implement. but with that said if renting, rent the machine that will do the job vs renting an attachment.
some folks want a backhoe on hand. others just save up jobs, and rent an excavator and/or mini excavator for say a week or two. and go at it every few years. return not per day, but a few days to week or longer you generally get bigger discount. and allows you a couple extra days to deal with rain.
you will most likely want a tractor with a 3pt hitch, if you want a backhoe, be careful, some backhoes do not come off and give you access to a 3pt hitch. example TLB (tractor loader backhoes) that you might see in town/city along the road for maintenance of ditches and like (normally yellow) these are more construction equipment, there are also tractors (Agricultural) in thought, that do allow backhoe to come off and gain access to 3pt hitch.
a larger tractor can be worth it, but many folks have gotten by with a smaller tractor, it just takes longer to get the job done.
MachineryTrader.com | Backhoes for sale, skid steers, excavators, dozers. (construction equipment), and then
TractorHouse.com | Used Tractors For Sale: John Deere, Case IH, New Holland, Kubota. (ag equipment)
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lots of options to take care of stuff. if you are un-satisfied with what a rotatory cutter (bush hog) does in clean stuff up. you most likely will not find FAIL mower to do anything better. or less you are just right at almost satisfied, and then fail mower might be just right.
Tractor Attachments And Skid Steer Attachments For Any Tractor Or Skid Steer has a lot of videos and text explaining usage / how to setup/use all what they sell. good initial spot to check out to familiarize yourself of what is out there. they do not cover every single little thing.
take a couple weeks, reading through threads here on TBN and asking questions. make yourself a list of what you all want to do / needs to be done. along with general maintenance for property. many things can be re-used and cross over into something else. granted not always the best tool for given job but work good enough.
