What to RENT to speed up my cleanup from mulching

[masalser]

I would be extremely concerned about the idea of grinding stumps down below grade in a horse pasture. As the stumps rot they will create holes and soft spots that are likely to result in injuries to the horses. I guess it depends. If you are only going to have some old retired horses out there as pasture ornaments then maybe ok. Just remember that vet bills and rehab are very expensive. A horse ripping around the pasture and then stepping on a rotted out stump will possibly do serious useful life ending damage to itself. I know it's more work and expense to dig stumps and fill the holes but it's the way to go for horse pasture

 

[MossflowerWoods]

I would be extremely concerned about the idea of grinding stumps down below grade in a horse pasture. As the stumps rot they will create holes and soft spots that are likely to result in injuries to the horses. I guess it depends. If you are only going to have some old retired horses out there as pasture ornaments then maybe ok. Just remember that vet bills and rehab are very expensive. A horse ripping around the pasture and then stepping on a rotted out stump will possibly do serious useful life ending damage to itself. I know it's more work and expense to dig stumps and fill the holes but it's the way to go for horse pasture

Sir,

I ask A LOT of questions before I move forward on anything, an I did extensive research here on TBN last fall before investing in the mulcher direction.

The clear results of that research was that digging out the stumps and filling in the holes creates MORE potentially damaging and unsightly holes than grinding below grade and rotting in place.

As an engineer I believe the difference is air. If I dig a hole and fill it, there is MUCH more air trapped than there is in a stump. If I leave the stump for worm food, it converts to dirt slowly and there is less compression, and less holes 10-15 years down the road.

It is all way back in my threads about "best way to clear".

I am on a committed path now, I've bought the stump grinder and paid for the mulcher...

I hope this works as my research has said it will...
Thanks,
David

 

[Stick895]

I would think that they rot so slowly that horses and all walking around it would sort of compress the ground enough to sort of "moosh" out the air pockets, not to mention settling from rain and snow.

 

[97hokie]

Moss,
Glad to see you are still working on the conversion to pasture! I did the same thing with Lotscapes, and I have a few areas that I needed to remove the bush from to seed. I used my loader after letting the mulch dry out over the Summer and it folded right up, and pushed out of the way nicely. Not quick, but if you are good and use the float of the bucket it can be done. After that I just pushed it all in the woods, and almost two years later it is rotting away VERY slowly! You may want to think about waiting until Fall to seed your pasture and let all those weeds seeds germinate this summer before you kill it once. Fall is a much better time to seed and you will establish better grass(of course if you are putting horses on it before it has had time to establish it does not matter either way). It will take at least a year for the grass to get stong.

Boike

 

[IslandTractor]

Your photos show quite a mess of slash remains. I was initially going to say to get a heavy duty bush hog and just drive over the stuff multiple times but some of that non rotted 3" thick branch material would be nasty.

I use a Woods rake mounted on a FEL 3PT adapter and facing forwards to push stuff around but those 3" branches would cause problems for that approach.

Your RGB grapple is designed to deal with this sort of stuff. Don't be shy. What would be a little better than just the grapple pushing it into piles is a grapple with guide wheels so you don't dig into the ground too much. The alternative is to tilt/curl the grapple so the bottom tines skid along the ground rather than dig in. You could then just collect the bigger stuff with your grapple and then use the bush hog to mulch the stuff 1" and under.

I would also say that you are being optimistic to try to get this into pasture the first season after clear cutting. You can do that by hiring commercial guys to do it for you but what I have found is that it takes a couple of years with continuous mowing to chop up debris and let the native grasses come back.

As for the stumps: get a ripper and backhoe. You like Woods equipment so a BH90x and a Michigan Iron Ripper would be just the thing. Works like a dream and doesn't leave the big holes that digging stumps out with a bucket does. Five or ten times as fast as using a bucket too.

Good luck.

 

[Depmandog]

I got a call this morning from a TBN buddy with a Case450 who offered me a killer deal...

I'm 99% sure I'm taking him up on it...

Thanks for the education! Sometimes all you need is the right wording and answers are easily had.

Thanks,

David

Is that 450 the older dozer, or the newer skid steer? If its the dozer, I would want someone to assess the undercarriage....all the moving parts from the tracks in....you know - the heavy wear items. You think tractor parts are expensive....the cost of yellow iron parts will put the kill in "killer deal" very quickly.

But you are getting this from a fellow TBN'r..,,no offense to whom ever this maybe, but I would still get a heavy equip mechanic out to give the machine the once over. He is gonna charge you for his time, IMO money well spent.

Good luck.

 

[MossflowerWoods]

Is that 450 the older dozer, or the newer skid steer? ...

Good luck.

Dean,

I'm not buying. He will come over and run it, maybe teach me how to run it also. I believe it is the newer skid steer tracked version, not sure.

He is giving me a discounted hourly rate, plus will allow me to run it when he is not here...

David

 

[jcliburn]

Yes I can do it with my grapple, but wading into that heavy stuff I am slower and very timid, becauser I've broke stuff already (HYD line) and the SSQA lever was popped and the grapple fell off with a tree in it, and other stuff.

This comment caught my eye. I've had a very similar thing happen to me, and when my grapple detached, it bent the SSQA frame. (I was able to repair it by cutting and welding.)

My solution to debris kicking up a lever was to add an expanded metal shield to the back of my grapple (to cut down on stuff getting near the levers), and to add a "lever lock" to my SSQA frame (to prevent either lever from moving to the unlocked position). Basically an inverted U-bolt, a couple of shackles with screw-in pins, and some wire rope. Anytime I use my grapple, the lever lock is in the configuration shown. Takes 30 seconds to fasten or unfasten.

I haven't had a lever kicked up since.