Reclaiming Field Perimeters 101

blin · Dec 1, 2014

I am newer on the tractor, and just starting to reclaim the perimeter of several fields. I have no problem bush hogging the small trees that have grown over a few years, but how do I deal with the hundreds of tree branches that want to decapitate me, or stab me in the back? Is it just a matter of using a pole saw, walking and cutting the several thousand feet by hand? My tractor is only 43 HP and not made to handle the big arm cutters. Do I use the FEL and rip them down?
What is standard practice?

bcp · Dec 1, 2014

Put on an inverter or carry a generator on the tractor or truck and use an electric pole saw to trim.

The electric saw is about half the price or less compared to gas pole saws. You may already have the generator or plan on getting one.

Search Results for pole saw at The Home Depot

Bruce

KiotiKowboy · Dec 1, 2014

There are cutters that can be attached to the FEL. I opted for a Stihl HT-131 and an Easy-Lift Harness.
Home

kneedeep · Dec 1, 2014

If there are a lot of limbs these could work-

The Limbhog - thelimbhog62468674-149620-sml-1

Limbinator Saw, Model# LS8 | 20in. Bar Chain Saws| Northern Tool + Equipment

ksluy · Dec 1, 2014

Are we talking pines, cotton woods or oaks. If its small lower limbs I have taken the loader and broke them down. I have also used a pole saw you will be shocked how much you can get done with a pole saw as long as you have the ground under the tree cleaned up.

blin · Dec 1, 2014

Mostly Poplar, Oak, Locust (thorns), and other hardwoods. Some scrub pines, but they bend easy under the bush hog. Anything over the ROPS I am not concerned about.

blin · Dec 1, 2014

dave1949 · Dec 2, 2014

It's a jungle out there. :laughing: I don't know any easy way that doesn't involve writing big checks. If you have lots to do and it would be worth it to you, there are forestry mowing contractors that grind everything down to the stump; nothing but chips left behind. Not sure about pricing but I would expect around $1000 per day. They can cover a good bit of ground in a day though.

I like the elec. pole saw idea + generator.

A 3pt chipper is a good tool for cleaning up what you trim off. The cleaning up is more work than the cutting. Another method would be hand stack in small piles and use a grapple to move them to somewhere out of the way.

rd_macgregor · Dec 2, 2014

Something like this might work:
TS-08 Model - Fabrication S.Houle
But I notice it calls for 15GPM minimum flow rate, so your (or my!) CUT likely wouldn't handle it (I would think it should still work; just be slower). I'd like a machine with a forestry mulcher on it so I could just go around the edges of my fields and move them back about 8 or 10 feet (recover some of what Mother Nature has taken over the last couple of decades). Unfortunately, the smallest mulcher I've found so far still requires somewhat more hydraulic capacity than my Kioti DK45 produces.
Bob