Clearing 15-40 acres

[Campground Cattle]

I tried the hydro axe/ cutter on about ten acres ended up costing me double over the shear blade. When the dozer came in to finish clearing tops and to pile the trees there were thousands of stumps at ground level. jt now that field is full of holes I am still filling five years later.

 

[k alton]

Brandonm2, went to josephlumber website...wonder if "hydroclearing" is the same as my option#5. Will check it out. Thanks.

 

[jt]

campground, i have the same problem right now having to fill in some holes for stumps that have rotted out.. on the shearing, i figure the holes will come, but it will take longer for the stump to rot out being totally covered up. i could be wrong about this, but that is what i have always been told.

jt

 

[yellowdog]

Brandonm2, went to josephlumber website...wonder if "hydroclearing" is the same as my option#5. Will check it out. Thanks.

I think it sounds very similar. I think you would be getting a deal at $650/ac if they did a good job mulching. Once an area has been brush mowed, it is fairly easy to maintain with a tractor and stout bushhog. Brushmowing isn't for everyone as there are little shredded stumps and the thickness of the shreds will vary proportionately to the thickness of the trees that covered the land. You will get some sprouting from stumps which you can treat or remow eventually killing the stump by using up its energy. In an era with restrictions on burning, neighbor complaints, insurance costs (I bet the dozer guys who burn are not insured to burn), and air quality rules, the days of dozing and burning are numbered. It costs about 2-3x more to clear and chip or grind but you have a useful end product that benefits the soil versus sterilizing soil with a burn assuming you want to reclaim forest land. Hope this helps.

Oh, and someone was asking about the Texas trees and terrain. Where I live, between San Antonio and Austin the land is very similar to Birmingham south and Birmingham north east along the appalacian ridge. We don't have pine trees but have similar or worse density of ashe juniper (cedar) and a lot less green grass. Mtns are similar and though we don't have large tracts of paper company land, many ranches are 1000 - 3000AC just outside of San Antonio so there are dense forests here of oak, cedar, and lots of brush and shrubs..

 

[backhoeboogie]

Somehow I missed reading this thread. It is too bad you are not a neighbor or else we could work out a trade.

If I were you, I'd get myself a track loader. Preferable a caterpillar with front bucket teeth. I paid $20K for mine and it was pretty much a steal with a brand new undercarriage. Anyway, you can push all those small trees you described then back up, set the teeth about 6 inches into the ground, and rake the roots out. You'll have to "float" the front bucket across the terrain. Roll out the roots and drag them the other dorection (90 degrees diametrically opposed) and put them in one of your brush piles. Try to keep from pushing dirt all you can. Once you rake a section thoroughly, back drag doing the same thing in the opposite direction. That will help you level out any gouges you made and dispaly anything that is still inadvertently buried.

When you are done you can resell the caterpillar potentially for more nickels than you paid if you buy one right.

Be warned, if you buy a caterpillar and backhoe you'll have friends coming out of the woodwork!

 

[63DH8]

Sooner or later, you're going to need a tractor. You may as well get one and get the attachments to do the job. After a while, you'll look forward to tractor time.

 

[TheBullLady]

My husband has a dozer business here in Texas. He rarely charges by the hour.. he generally charges by the job.

I would also be wary of getting holes from the stumps when they rot! Filling up smaller versions of that from mesquites being root plowed is a nightmare.

As far as renting a dozer.. this can be a good option, but as others mentioned, if you haven't done it before, you may find it takes you easily twice as long as an experienced operator. I know that for a fact.. I've been on the dozer and the excavator many a time. It looks easy... :roll:

 

[KenB]

If your place was in pasture 5-8 years ago there can't be very many big trees on it.
You said there were some 6-8 inches. I good stout tractor with a front end loader will push them out with no problem. (just get the bucket up high on the tree it acts like a lever) I have pushed over some 10-12 inch sweet gum, pine, and oak trees on my place with a 65 HP 4 WD tractor. a good heavy duty brush hog and a heavy disk should take care of the rest.
You might also check into a controled burn before starting the clearing. you would be suprised a how much that will take care of.

 

[peg4x4]

Please,please take photos--I'd so love to be doing what you're doing

 

[PaMike]

If you go the route of the dozer keep an eye on your topsoil. We had a pasture cleared years ago by an inexperianced dozer operator. Most of the fields topsoil wound up in the piles of trees that were at the edge of the field. Now the field topsoil is that thin it makes for poor pasture.

 

[MikeC]

Cut the trees off about 2 feet above ground and haul them off.

Then walk through it with a big "Trackhoe"

1- take one bucket of dirt from the backside of the stump

2-then push the stump in that hole and cover with the dirt

No disturbance of topsoil to speak of and no stumps to burn.

No need for a dozer at all and you can disc right behind him for planting.

I promise you it works great!