Ideas to do a clean up on this property. An odd one.

[fastline]

Probably about a 3 acre area that was a fishery prob 50y ago, so a few small ponds, but nothing holding water and all grown up. Problem is many big and dead/dying trees (widow makers), and trying to salvage most of the bigger live ones.

Tons of small saplings, and I have no idea where to even start and the berms around all the ponds make this more fun. I don't think this is a "blast and go" type of job, and probably going to have to do it the hard-er way.

A mulch head on the 299 was discussed, but as I looked and thought more, I almost feel the scalpel approach with a 5-6T excavator with thumb, and some sort of strategy is best. I have never had luck with saplings vs a bucket. I need a different plant.

One of the reasons for this over a mulcher is the the poison ivy growth that will get blasted everywhere. I have a solid herbicide strategy, but it needs to get some mechanical control in winter before that can really work.

 

[reganj]

Howsabout a Dozer???

 

[Baxsie]

What will go on the property?

Or is that unknown and just doing a clean-up so it will sell?

 

[Steve Frazier]

I have a grapple rake on my skid steer that would handle this well if I'm understanding your situation. If you sink the teeth into the soil a couple inches it will rip out the saplings by the roots. push along until you have enough that it gets tough to push and then clamp onto your pile and stack them somewhere on the property. I think a tracked skid would work better than rubber tire in this case. You can also run over the uprooted saplings until the soil is loosened from the roots. I've taken down trees up to six inches diameter this way.

 

[fastline]

There is already a home and such there. This is sort of the "backyard". This is nothing more than a cleanup so owners can better use the property.

Actually a very good thought on the grapple bucket. I think some of these are so small that it would miss, but I do agree that a variant of that idea could work. I thinking on that.

Thing I like there is ability to move a bundle around. Probably not as precise as an EX, but a good thought.

As for dozer, I don't think owners will want that level of hammer. Also, what is giving me concern is the huge dead trees around. Widow maker city and I don't need the damaged gear. Probably leaning towards cleaning what I can with what I got, and let someone else go in a drop those trees with a single slice method.

 

[Welder Dave]

A mini-ex with a root rake might work or even a ripper/root rake you drag backwards with a skid steer or CTL. Going backwards is easier on the machine especially when it's hard material and/or lots of roots. Easy to make multiple passes if required.

 

[MrMarty51]

I have used a home made herbicide on the toughest of weeds.
One gallon of apple cider vinegar, one cup of salt and a tablespoon full of dish detergent.
I have sprayed goat head stickers with that mixture and come back the next day and they have turned brown with not much green left. A couple more days and they are totally brown. Next spring and summer they dont return. Nit that plant, but, seeds do remain, have to keep after that same patch for 7 years to totally kill them stubborn old goats completely out.
I do believe that solution would knock out those noxious weeds in a quick hurry. If there is seeds then keep after it.

 

[MrMarty51]

Oh yeah, on the smaller saplings, a cicle bar mower works wonders on those things.
Clips them right off.

 

[TomA]

What are you calling a circle bar mower?

 

[MrMarty51]

What are you calling a circle bar mower?

Its cicle.
This is just for an example. They can be bought to fit old tractors and such too.

Amazon.com : Sickle Bar Mower for Skid Steer Loader, 72" Cutting Length, 0.8" Cutting Capacity, Gerotor Motor Drive, Ideal for Heavy-Duty Mowing Tasks : Patio, Lawn & Garden

Amazon.com : Sickle Bar Mower for Skid Steer Loader, 72" Cutting Length, 0.8" Cutting Capacity, Gerotor Motor Drive, Ideal for Heavy-Duty Mowing Tasks : Patio, Lawn & Garden

a.co

 

[MrMarty51]

What are you calling a circle bar mower?

I guess its sickle, not cicle.

 

[Steve Frazier]

I had never seen the sickle bar for skid steers! Pretty inexpensive and looks like it would work well for keeping roadside trees cut back so they branches don't hit traffic. We're having a problem with that in our town. The boom mounted mowers work well on the low brush but not so much up high. I may have to look into this.

 

[MrMarty51]

I had never seen the sickle bar for skid steers! Pretty inexpensive and looks like it would work well for keeping roadside trees cut back so they branches don't hit traffic. We're having a problem with that in our town. The boom mounted mowers work well on the low brush but not so much up high. I may have to look into this.

They will go through jungles of saplings too.
How big a diameter ? I’m not sure but an inch for sure and beyond. Probably two inch.
A person would have to give it a test run.

 

[Welder Dave]

A sickle bar mower to cut 1"-2" saplings? I think you could damage the mower doing that. It's basically the how swathes cut hay.

 

[MrMarty51]

A sickle bar mower to cut 1"-2" saplings? I think you could damage the mower doing that. It's basically the how swathes cut hay.

I at one time worked road maintenance for the Montana DOT.
Some of the farmers/ranchers were allowed to mow/swath the grass along the shoulder and ditches, they would skirt around saplings and sagebrush.
Part of my duties was to mow and pickup areas that they didnt get to.
Where ever there was sage brush or saplings that they had skirted around I would mow through those patches with an old Alice Chalmers tractor with a sickle bar mower and not once damaged the bar nor busted or dulled a knife.
I dont remember how large they were but I know many were at least an inch diameter.
Once I mowed down those patches then the next time the landowner along their stretch if road came through then they would mow and bale through those areas.

 

[aighead]

I'd love to have something like that but several years ago when the honeysuckle around the back field wasn't 4"+. We hung "No Hunting" signs back there along the property line probably 8 years ago and a few of them are 20 feet deep in junk now. I probably need to hire someone with a roadside mower on an arm thing to some hack it all back. I mow a path around the edge now, so it won't get thicker but I've lost a fair amount of yard back there.

We've done the vinegar, salt, soap thing to varying levels of success. We use the 30% vinegar and while it does seem to take care of weeds it doesn't seem to last very long. I have a bunch of junk growing up through the gravel driveway that I've tried to take out and we won't use Roundup or it's variants, so it's either fire or this vinegar concoction. Fire seems to work better but take a lot more time and propane is expensive.

 

[treemuncher]

The problems that I see with sickle bar cutters and rotary mowers is that they leave sharp stubble that is hell on tires and feet. If you use a mulcher, the stubble has been shredded down the grain leaving more of a shattered, ragged stubble than a sharp, clean cut stubble. Personally, I have never punctured any tires driving across mulched ground with any of my vehicles. I won't drive across a field where 1"-2" brush has been cut with a rotary cutter.

Sickle bar mowers are very limited in maximum diameter of cut. Saw type cutters usually handle 2x-4x the maximum diameter of what a sickle bar mower can handle. Keep this in mind for cutting back overhanging limbs. There are a lot of limbs in excess of 2" on those types of jobs.

I have not seen what this job looks like but from what was described, why not mulch it? I take out lots of dead trees on a daily basis. Get the right size machine for the job and it will likely be done in less than a day unless it is really thick or really technically challenging. No matter how it is done, there will be follow up cutting or herbicide maintenance required.

 

[fastline]

Treemuncher, you are correct on sickles and even rotary mowers. They will leave not only thousands of stubs sticking up, but the issue is repopulation of trees. Many are elms and I know them well. You cut one, and there will be 15 in only 3mo. You would question *** you even did the job for.

I have a herbicide strategy that works very well but even with that, you are looking at days here.

The complication is the ponds with bermed edges on all sides so the type of equipment is important, and there is everything from 60yo trees down to 1" saplings. To be honest, you have the experience and do this every day, and my equipment is not setup to take a hit from a widow maker. Some big trees are dead and 60ft tall. One limb strike and I go from making money to losing.

I'd love to help these people, but I see tremendous risk. My intent was to punch out the sapling stuff and get some control of the area, and let someone come in later to fell some of the big trees. In our area, we just don't have the tree density and logging level experience here.

But yes, I very much factor 'machinery risk' into my yes/no. Even a high price could be a bargain if I destroy a machine in the process, and the customer doesn't care.

 

[Welder Dave]

The problems that I see with sickle bar cutters and rotary mowers is that they leave sharp stubble that is hell on tires and feet. If you use a mulcher, the stubble has been shredded down the grain leaving more of a shattered, ragged stubble than a sharp, clean cut stubble. Personally, I have never punctured any tires driving across mulched ground with any of my vehicles. I won't drive across a field where 1"-2" brush has been cut with a rotary cutter.

Sickle bar mowers are very limited in maximum diameter of cut. Saw type cutters usually handle 2x-4x the maximum diameter of what a sickle bar mower can handle. Keep this in mind for cutting back overhanging limbs. There are a lot of limbs in excess of 2" on those types of jobs.

I have not seen what this job looks like but from what was described, why not mulch it? I take out lots of dead trees on a daily basis. Get the right size machine for the job and it will likely be done in less than a day unless it is really thick or really technically challenging. No matter how it is done, there will be follow up cutting or herbicide maintenance required.

The spears left can be very dangerous. Even a HD flail mower would be better because they chop much more than a rotary. Mulching is the most permanent option if you don't want it to grow back.

 

[treemuncher]

A good friend over in NW Arkansas swears by Remedy mixed with diesel fuel for a fast, complete chemical burn down of any live vegetation. From my past experience, you need to treat any leftover stubble within 4 hr max (1 hour best) or the plant can seal itself off until leaves are available to take in glyphosate herbicide.

Last job I did with lots of dead standing timber was one where pine beetles killed a large stand. That was worked carefully with the PC200 and cutter head. I had to slowly test every tree before knawing on it to find weak tops or complete rot. If solid, I would chop & vertically drop the tops when possible so I didn't rattle surrounding trees. I was always testing at max reach. Got through the job without any major problems but a few pucker moments did occur.