What do I need? Forest Clearing

[MarEng]

I have 57 acres I'm slowly converting from mis-managed forest to orchards. I need to clear 1.5 miles of fence line immediately and eventually start opening up for more fruit trees.

I can clear around the BIG trees but will have areas ranging from mostly open/scrub to fairly dense stands of 4" diameter and smaller saplings. The big trees will be harvested for timber.

I have a quote to clear the fence lines using a Hydra-Mulcher for $2000-3000. Before I commit I wanted to see if there was an implement investment I could make that would allow me to retain the ability to do future work. (Baring that - anyone know where to rent a Hydra-Mulcher? Hate to give away that much money without at least getting a little expereince or a new toy out of the deal.)

I currently use a 5' vertical shaft flail mower (brush hog) of unknown age/origin. Will batter a 3" tree into oblivion. Only complaints are the flying debris and the bent after skirt from pushing trees over. I have the tubing to build a push bar and reinforce the skirt. . . I also wonder what the shock loading is doing to the tractor.

I've read with interest the posts on flail mowers, esp. the part about reduced debris.

Using a 35hp Branson Diesel tractor.

Suggestion re: equipment types or makers greatly appreciated.

 

[RollTideRam]

I would like to use something like this. JC
Alternative Land Clearing - Nashville Tennessee (TN)

 

[Rara Avis]

I have 57 acres I'm slowly converting from mis-managed forest to orchards. I need to clear 1.5 miles of fence line immediately and eventually start opening up for more fruit trees.

I can clear around the BIG trees but will have areas ranging from mostly open/scrub to fairly dense stands of 4" diameter and smaller saplings. The big trees will be harvested for timber.

I have a quote to clear the fence lines using a Hydra-Mulcher for $2000-3000. Before I commit I wanted to see if there was an implement investment I could make that would allow me to retain the ability to do future work. (Baring that - anyone know where to rent a Hydra-Mulcher? Hate to give away that much money without at least getting a little expereince or a new toy out of the deal.)

I currently use a 5' vertical shaft flail mower (brush hog) of unknown age/origin. Will batter a 3" tree into oblivion. Only complaints are the flying debris and the bent after skirt from pushing trees over. I have the tubing to build a push bar and reinforce the skirt. . . I also wonder what the shock loading is doing to the tractor.

I've read with interest the posts on flail mowers, esp. the part about reduced debris.

Using a 35hp Branson Diesel tractor.

Suggestion re: equipment types or makers greatly appreciated.

Out of curiosity after they cut down the trees are they leaving all of the stumps for you??

If so, you are looking at a LARGE PROJECT...

Your flail mower will not survive 57 acres of scrub tree whacking...

You should definitely consider contracting quite a bit of this work out...or you will still be doing it many years from now...

 

[MarEng]

Paul:

Thanks for confirming. I'm interested to watch the Hydra Mulcher work - just hate to give that much and not have a new toy at the end of the day.

Yes, the timber guys leave the stumps and huge piles of slash.

Actually the stumps aren't that big a deal - I just adjust my fruit tree planting to accomodate and let the stumps rot over time. For the stumps that just won't die I have a chimney arrangement - that and a little of the slash will burn the stump to grade (or lower if I'm willing to dig a bit) overnight.

As for the slash - it either burns or gets shoved into any of several washes on our place to rot down into compost.

I've actually been very impressed with what the brush hog has handled esp. since it was free. I was hoping there was a hog on steroids or a PTO driven Hydra-Mulcher type implement available that didn't require 100hp on the PTO.

 

[MarEng]

Ok - too much Google time last night.

What I'm thinking is one of these modified to hang on a 3-point and a matched PTO driven hydraulic pump. They are designed to cut trees in the size range I require.

Anybody done anything like this before? I like the hydraulic drive as it should cushion the tractor drive train a bit. Any hints on building the hydraulic system? In particular cooling the reservoir - I suspect this will generate beacoup heat.

 

[thunderworks]

I cleared 5 acres of hedge, locust and cedar trees last Fall. I found a guy in our area (Kansas) who had a fantastic tree saw to drop the trees. He could cut anything up to 24" in diameter almost quicker than I can tell you about it. Incredible machine, pictures attached. He'd limb the trees first. I would follow behind him with my tractor and grapple and move the brushy tops to a pile then he'd return and drop the tree at or below ground level. His machine didn't mulch anything, but I wanted the wood for both fence posts and firewood. He charge $70/hr. which I think is a bargain. He cut 5 acres of trees in less than 2 1/2 days . . .This method gives you an excuse to buy a grapple . . .a remarkably versatile and useful tool.

 

[Soundguy]

Forest clearing? dozer and excavator.. or hire it out.. farm tractor ain't a good choice..

soundguy

 

[sunspot]

Forest clearing? dozer and excavator.. or hire it out.. farm tractor ain't a good choice..

soundguy

I got a quote of $180 per hour, excavator has a thumb. Ouch

 

[tlbuser]

I have 57 acres I'm slowly converting from mis-managed forest to orchards. I need to clear 1.5 miles of fence line immediately and eventually start opening up for more fruit trees.

I can clear around the BIG trees but will have areas ranging from mostly open/scrub to fairly dense stands of 4" diameter and smaller saplings. The big trees will be harvested for timber.

http://www.machinerytrader.com/list...6359137&GUID=E10F433F9147481BA1AE026B3B2D72CF
something like this would be a great addition for now and later.

Or, move up to a heavier duty bush hog like GR60

 

[tlbuser]

I got a quote of $180 per hour, excavator has a thumb. Ouch

What size excavator? machine hours or on-site time? How many hours are they estimating to complete the job? May want to get some more bids. Local price is running ~2500 per acre, we keep the logs, you get the tops and stumps piled. Burning and/or hauling adds to the price. (our burn ban goes into effect 1 June)

 

[ikymojoe]

Since you said you need to clear 1.5 miles of fence line immediately, it depends upon what you want as debris left over for the fence line. If you do not care about stumps or piles of log debris, a dozer would be more economical.

However, if want a clean line with little to no debris to worry about, then I would recommend a mulcher like what RollTideRam suggested. I work for a Timber Company and we use this model:

Gyro-Trac - GT-25XP Heavy Duty Mulcher

The mulcher is a wonderful tool for bringing unmanaged forest back to manageable levels. Great for wildlife management also.

P.S. I am an Auburn fan so it killed me to write "R*** ***e"

Sincerely,

Ikymojoe

 

[Willis Fecon Bushhogging]

I have 57 acres I'm slowly converting from mis-managed forest to orchards. I need to clear 1.5 miles of fence line immediately and eventually start opening up for more fruit trees.

I can clear around the BIG trees but will have areas ranging from mostly open/scrub to fairly dense stands of 4" diameter and smaller saplings. The big trees will be harvested for timber.

I have a quote to clear the fence lines using a Hydra-Mulcher for $2000-3000. Before I commit I wanted to see if there was an implement investment I could make that would allow me to retain the ability to do future work. (Baring that - anyone know where to rent a Hydra-Mulcher? Hate to give away that much money without at least getting a little expereince or a new toy out of the deal.)

I currently use a 5' vertical shaft flail mower (brush hog) of unknown age/origin. Will batter a 3" tree into oblivion. Only complaints are the flying debris and the bent after skirt from pushing trees over. I have the tubing to build a push bar and reinforce the skirt. . . I also wonder what the shock loading is doing to the tractor.

I've read with interest the posts on flail mowers, esp. the part about reduced debris.

Using a 35hp Branson Diesel tractor.

Suggestion re: equipment types or makers greatly appreciated.

If your budget will stand it, I would buy a mulching machine. I do this thing for a living(clearing land) and since I bought the Fecon FTX90L mulcher, it really has helped with our production. I cut and mulch up to 4" trees, productively. It will mulch larger, but it takes longer. The Fecon and the GyroTrac are a little pricey, but they are great machines. I see a bunch of ASV, Cat, NH mulching machines on sale for around $45,000 and less. If your budget will stand it, buy one of these, do your work and sell the machine. If the ecomony turns around, you might sell it for what you paid for it.
Be careful buying a used machine, get a history and get a machine with low hours.
Almost forgot, they are almost fun to run

 

[sunspot]

What size excavator? machine hours or on-site time? How many hours are they estimating to complete the job? May want to get some more bids. Local price is running ~2500 per acre, we keep the logs, you get the tops and stumps piled. Burning and/or hauling adds to the price. (our burn ban goes into effect 1 June)

Here is what I was told.
Return land to pasture. Pull out all stumps. Burn debris, no need to haul. About $1,500 per acre. No wood worth hauling.

You're right about asking other land companies for prices, they have very little work at this time.

 

[tlbuser]

If you do not care about stumps or piles of log debris, a dozer would be more economical.

At a used price of ~20,000 for a decent crawler loader (not dozer ) vs. ~ 45,000 for a used mulcher......yea, I could stand a couple hours of burning or burying time. Send the bigger logs out for pulp (currently 10.00 a cord/150 a trailer load) at least they'll be turned into something.

 

[tlbuser]

Here is what I was told.
Return land to pasture. Pull out all stumps. Burn debris, no need to haul. About $1,500 per acre. No wood worth hauling.

You're right about asking other land companies for prices, they have very little work at this time.

That sounds reasonable when you put it like that. Get three more estimates and let us know how wild the price swings, would you? I just got a contract for a 3 acre lot of "selective clearing" for 7800.00 haul the logs, leave the tops and stumps. Customer said his bids were from 6000.00 up to 12500.00

 

[dangerdoc]

I got a quote of $180 per hour, excavator has a thumb. Ouch

You're getting nailed by the price of fuel but compared to what you can do with your tractor, a skilled operator and commercial machine is still a bargain.

 

[cbturf]

If I were you I would call me! I have the machines to do your job and even have a track record of meeting people here on the site and doing some grinding for them. If you buy the attachment you will only need it for one job since your land will be clear when you are done and then a bush hog will do the cleaning. If you hire it out you will have an experienced operator doing the work and it will get done much faster. I will be passing through TX next week on my way to and from NM if you want a bid PM me and I will drop in!

 

[wstr75]

Want to clear out your 57 acres in one day? This is how they do it in the Land Down Under (and here in the USA for big projects like new airports).

National Archives of Australia - Vrroom

A huge steel ball, ship anchor chain and two huge dozers. Can pull the trees out of 100 acres of moderate forest per day, 60 acres of heavy forest per day. The ball rolls up trees and levers them over. The chain smashes and drags out everything in its path.

 

[Northland]

Forest clearing? dozer and excavator.. or hire it out.. farm tractor ain't a good choice..

soundguy

I agree with Soundguy. I had a few acres along with a mile of trails cleared two years ago by a Linkbelt (161?) excavator and a JD 450(?) dozer. All my maple and birch trees were stacked in piles. After I cut the stumps off they buried the stumps in holes. Nice and level, where possible, and free of boulders and stumps. They even leveled out my hilltop forest trail and moved many boulders hald the size of a VW bug.

It took them two days and only cost me $2300 cash. With the price of fuel I am sure it would cost $3000+ to do it today.

It was a mess at first (see pictures) but it all grew in nicely. You will get an idea of the grade and hill size in the last picture. That's my house (w/red metal roof) way down there at the bottom of the hill.

 

[JMER]

I can tell you from experience that these mulchers do the job quick and clean. Sounds like another benefit in your case would be that the top soil won't all be scraped away, you won't be scarring the earth by burning AND you'll have a lot of free mulch to add nutrients for your orchard. I'm working w/CB Turf right now and so far am very happy w/the progress and quality... PM me and I'll give you some more opinions on this method.. can also send some pictures of before/during/after.