What' best way to clear 5 acres of stumps, slash, and regrowth?

[MossflowerWoods]

Best = most economical and yet efficient.

I clearcut 5 acres last Nov. it was mostly pulp & chipping saw sized pines, but there were 10% hardwoods and a few of them were big. lots of poplar, oak and gum included.

I want to convert this to horse pasture.

I have a TON of hawthorne, and misc crap growing now and I also have regrowth from many of the stumps.

I'm open to advise, money is tight but I gotta get this done so...

What to do?

 

[dave1949]

What do you have to work with equipment-wise?
Dave.

 

[TonyF]

Best = most economical and yet efficient.

I clearcut 5 acres last Nov. it was mostly pulp & chipping saw sized pines, but there were 10% hardwoods and a few of them were big. lots of poplar, oak and gum included.

I want to convert this to horse pasture.

I have a TON of hawthorne, and misc crap growing now and I also have regrowth from many of the stumps.

I'm open to advise, money is tight but I gotta get this done so...

What to do?

With stumps low cut to the ground a dozer and probably an excavator working together. If they are small stumps, the dozer may be able to go it alone.

Tony

 

[MossflowerWoods]

What do you have to work with equipment-wise?
Dave.

Dave,

I am looking to rent I believe. I have another thread where I got a Craftsman 18HP tractor with front and rear blades and other attachments but it is way too small I suspect.

I am also considering getting a contractor to do it.

I've spoken with a person with a 300hp John Deere stump grinder tractor (but I worry about rotting stumps making sink holes over time).

I've talked to one dozer guy (pretty spendy just to pop the stumps and make a burn pile).

My state forester wants me to use a track hoe because it tears up the land much less.

Add to this, I'm a computer geek and city boy by history. this is all new to me.

 

[MossflowerWoods]

With stumps low cut to the ground a dozer and probably an excavator working together. If they are small stumps, the dozer may be able to go it alone.

Tony

Tony,

Most of the stumps are small. Yes they were cut off at about 3" above ground.

 

[jdonovan]

Most of the stumps are small. Yes they were cut off at about 3" above ground.

small to you might be big to us.... details will help determine what you need.

If the stumps are down in the <8" range, a bulldozer should be able to grub them out just fine.

If you have 12"+ that were left flush cut, or only a few inches tall then you may have a problem. The dozer can't get much leverage on a short stump and they might have to be dug out.

The grubbing process will produce a HUGE pile of stumps, roots, large rocks etc... you need to have a plan for the junk you're going to pull up.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

Too bad you didn't have the logger clean up the site. The quickest and simplest way to convert the ground to pasture is to run a D8 with ripper teeth through it, shove it into piles and burn it. Then you can do anything with the field you want. This has the advantage of discovering any rocks in the soil. Yes, running big iron is expensive, but if you want to take hay crops, this is the way to go.

The cheapest way is to burn the whole thing, throw some grass and clover seed out there, and move your livestock onto it. Over the years, just cut anything that gets too tall or rough for the livestock to eat, and let nature do the rest. Spread more seed as required.

 

[Pilot]

Dozers, dozers, dozers---No, no, no.

Old technology.

Dozers seem to be popular because they have been around a long time, but track hoes, excavators, whatever you want to call them are much more efficient. They will tear up the ground less, they are faster, cheaper and can be more selective about what goes into the pile. With a dozer, whatever is in front of the blade goes into the pile. With a track hoe they can be selective and less dirt goes into the pile. And the track hoe can groom the ground as well as a dozer can--maybe even better.

 

[Chef Pa]

Dozers, dozers, dozers---No, no, no.

Old technology.

Dozers seem to be popular because they have been around a long time, but track hoes, excavators, whatever you want to call them are much more efficient. They will tear up the ground less, they are faster, cheaper and can be more selective about what goes into the pile. With a dozer, whatever is in front of the blade goes into the pile. With a track hoe they can be selective and less dirt goes into the pile. And the track hoe can groom the ground as well as a dozer can--maybe even better.

With something like the above, say 12" or smaller dia, would a small track hoe get the job done? Local rental joint near me has what they're calling a 3,500lb class excavator, Bobcat 322/23/24, 13, 14 or 15hp, that rents for about $200/day, $700/week. 3,500lbs is overall weight, they don't list lift capacity. Digging depth is 8'-3" and that's about all the detail they give. For the price I have some work to do at my Dad's place similar to Moss' If it's too small, next size is still reasonable but would have to have delivered. Any thoughts appreciated. Thanks

Greg

 

[Carl_NH]

I agree best is the excavator pulling and piling the stumps but I would hire this out as well as the rake and cleanup.

Once the stumps are gone/piled, you will be left with a rough pocked surface, rock and root mess so have the same guy/gal york rake to level things out and get the rocks up, then go over the area with a bush hog to clip the roots.

Then you can seed grass in the fall and next year it should look great.

The other option if you dont have a lot of surface rocks or ledge is to do the stump grinder or find someone with a mulcher (big drum with teeth that grind the stumps). This will leave the big stumps in the groud to rot eventually you might have a depression in that area.

This will elimate the stump piles, and as long as they level the chips out you could plant grass next year but with all the wood chips you will need a lot of nitrogen fertilizer for grass.