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Post by kl9 on Aug 8, 2017 10:00:14 GMT -6
So I need advice on clearing trees. I have a 15-20 yard wide by 150-200 yard long area of shit trees that I want to get rid of and turn into a bedding area next spring. I may plant native grasses or some type of spruce trees for bedding (or both). I am considering two options to complete this plan. Also noteworthy is that this area is adjacent to a food plot I just put in that (as you all know) was not cheap and is currently doing quite well.
Option 1: Hire my dozer guy to do the work for $1,500 ish (hard ish). He will use a D6 and he will already be out there doing other work within the next 2-3 weeks. My main concern with this plan is the fact that a dozer is the machine in this option and I’ve heard that a lot of dirt can get displaced when using this type of machine (relative to an excavator). Also, a dozer needs a bit more room to work than does an excavator. I don’t want the dozer running over my plot, which I’ve expressed to the operator and he thinks it will be okay… but still.
Option 2: Rent a 35,000 pound excavator for a week and knock out this chore as well as a few others. This would cost me about $2,200. My main concern here is the fact that there is a learning curve with this machinery and I don’t want to pay all of the money and it take me (more likely my brother) a whole day or so to figure shit out. The upside is that if it only takes an hour or so to get competent with the machine we could knock out a bunch of chores over the 40 work hours we would get to use the machine. Plus it would be fun to toy around on one of those. I also think it will be easier for an excavator to pick the trees out and pile them up for burning purposes than it would the dozer. However, the dozer operator has 45 years of experience so I’m sure he could figure it out.
What are all of your thoughts?
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Post by biglakebass on Aug 8, 2017 10:02:39 GMT -6
what kind of trees are they? Can you just hinge the mess into a tornado area?
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Post by kl9 on Aug 8, 2017 10:05:04 GMT -6
Birch. I suppose I could, but that option is less appealing to me and certainly to other members of the family that don't use the property for hunting.
Additionally, with the mix of stuff I have on the property now, I am lacking in the native grasses category big time
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Post by Freeborn on Aug 8, 2017 10:14:22 GMT -6
I have herd the same thing about a Dozer taking top soil. If you have deep top soil I think you would be OK with a dozer but if you only have a few inches of topsoil I would go excavator.
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Post by mnfish on Aug 8, 2017 10:14:33 GMT -6
I paid a guy to come in with his hoe. He had an arm attached and pulled the trees out like dandelions. Shook out the dirt and laid the trees in piles along the entire stretch. Then came he came with a dozer to level. No rocks, no stumps, and most of the dirt (especially the important top soil) left in place. The results...   how to upload photo to internetDozer alone will work but it won't be pretty. Root balls with lots of dirt in the air. |
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Post by MoBuckChaser on Aug 8, 2017 10:40:42 GMT -6
If you want to save money, Cut the birch down, the trees and the stumps rot fast. Broadcast your seed by hand in that little area and plant your spruce.
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Post by nhmountains on Aug 8, 2017 10:53:28 GMT -6
Kaleb,
Spend the money and get it done. 3 years from now you'll forget what extra you paid and you'll have it the way you want it. I'd go with a guy that can do both land or MNFish said. Excavator and then a dozer to smooth.
MO's right that birch rot down pretty quick but you're talking hundreds of trees.
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Post by kl9 on Aug 8, 2017 11:01:53 GMT -6
Thanks for the advice! I should mention that I don't have the easiest time distinguishing between birch and poplar. The dozer guy called it birch but the forester that is coming out in a couple of weeks thinks it will be what folks around here call popple, which if I understand correctly is a general term for various aspen/poplar. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
If the forester is correct in that these are poplar he said that they are not easy to kill and that if the roots are not removed it will be hard to grow grass.
Is this correct?
There are certainly hundreds of trees to be removed
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Post by kl9 on Aug 8, 2017 11:06:36 GMT -6
After doing some quick google searches it appears there are a few distinctions I can go off of to determine for sure what type of trees they are. So I will do that and report back. I'm fairly certain it is actually poplar.
Regardless, if they are poplar is it true that they don't rot away quickly?
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Post by nhmountains on Aug 8, 2017 11:34:22 GMT -6
Poplar will root sprout like crazy after cutting if you don't spray them. I'm not sure about if they are torn up. They rot quicker than birch though.
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Post by biglakebass on Aug 8, 2017 11:34:27 GMT -6
Our slash piles from logging poplar/aspen several years ago are tiny compared to what they were. Its a very soft wood.
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Post by badbrad on Aug 8, 2017 12:00:40 GMT -6
I lost top soil when the guy used a dozer to do my big plot. Year two after was showing improvements and by year three of using WR and tillage radish I wasn't able to tell the difference again. Now on year 6 my dirt is way better than I started with. Not saying losing topsoil isn't a big deal but it didn't take me long to get it back to where it was. Just my experience.
Still the excavator is probably the way I am going to try and go next time just to move things along faster. We will see when the quotes come in.
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Post by batman on Aug 8, 2017 12:34:01 GMT -6
If you want bedding skip the native grasses and log the popple this winter. Years 2 through 13 will provide excellent bedding. From what I have gleaned native grasses can't hold a candle to popple regen or spruce in Minnesota. Maybe you are far enough south that grasses will have value but it goes against what I have been taught.
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Post by Tooln on Aug 8, 2017 13:07:30 GMT -6
If your really looking to make this a bedding area HINGE the area. If hinging is out of the question hire an experienced excavator operator. Yea it's cool and fun to rent one and run it, but you get someone who knows what they are doing you just can't beat it. I hired an excavator to dig the stumps out after I logged my plot, it was wider then the area your talking about. The guy had many years running his machine. He'd dig the stump out, pick it up, shake the dirt off and set it aside. Once he had a pile of them he would pick them up and throw them along the edge of the plot. I wanted to create a blockade to the plot and created entrance/exits. It was money well spent.   free gif hosting |
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Post by badbrad on Aug 8, 2017 13:23:29 GMT -6
If your really looking to make this a bedding area HINGE the area. If hinging is out of the question hire an experienced excavator operator. Yea it's cool and fun to rent one and run it, but you get someone who knows what they are doing you just can't beat it. I hired an excavator to dig the stumps out after I logged my plot, it was wider then the area your talking about. The guy had many years running his machine. He'd dig the stump out, pick it up, shake the dirt off and set it aside. Once he had a pile of them he would pick them up and throw them along the edge of the plot. I wanted to create a blockade to the plot and created entrance/exits. It was money well spent. free gif hostingWere you present when the guy did the work or did you just show him what to do and he just did it? |
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