50 Acres of Gamble Oak. What it the better way for Mitigation for skid-steer

[treecare]

I have got 50 Acres of Gamble Oak. What it the better way for Mitigation without disturbing ground.

Disc mower for skid-steer or Deck mower the better way to go. It is 2ft to 4ft tall and just cut 2 years ago.
Which combo unit is better . Just looking for the fastest way.





thank you tree care

 

[capetrees]

Deck mower out the front of a full sized skidsteer for sure. I've run them before and have had great success. I have one on my mini skid and it works great too. Looking at a disc mower online, it seems thats for cutting hay and lightweight stuff. The deck mower will mulch it all in my experience.

 

[sean donato]

That kind if stuff we used a brush hog in front of the skid loader.

 

[treecare]

Deck mower out the front of a full sized skidsteer for sure. I've run them before and have had great success. I have one on my mini skid and it works great too. Looking at a disc mower online, it seems thats for cutting hay and lightweight stuff. The deck mower will mulch it all in my experience.

Capetrees,
Thank you for response I saw the same thing. I agree Deck mower all the way. Also I was told to make sure skid-steer can handle the additional flo and make sure it can run 100% in hot temps. Can you recommend a solid skid-steer .
Treecare

 

[capetrees]

Capetrees,
Thank you for response I saw the same thing. I agree Deck mower all the way. Also I was told to make sure skid-steer can handle the additional flo and make sure it can run 100% in hot temps. Can you recommend a solid skid-steer .
Treecare

If you're renting, look for the flow required on the attachment and then match that to the machines output on the valves. Hi flow is offered regularly now. And the other recommendation would be to use ta track skidsteer. The stubs and branches will puncture tires.

 

[Seachaser]

Fire. Around here is the cheapest.

 

[ATpro]

What ever you do don't burn hardwoods like you have with the fire load you have. What I see in your picture is mostly pine, can the Gamble Oaks be segregated from the conifers or they all mixed in?

If segregated you can fire-lane around them to keep the fire out and burn the rest. If mixed in you can mark the trees you want to keep use a Deck mower to clear around those trees to mitigate any damage from fire.

The thing about burning hardwoods is if the fire get hot enough it can boil the sap, it will kill the tree or damage it causing the tree to rot and hollow out over time.
Not all hardwoods in a burn area will be affect but that is a chance you take if pre-clearing is not preformed.

There is a third option, do nothing, the fire load will build and you take a chance of wildfire wiping everything out but that is the chance you take.

The forth option is chemical target release with a herbicide like glyphosate, it will kill the understory with foliage and not affect the trees that provide the canopy. This may be the most cost effective method as you can spot spray along the most problem spots first.

 

[treecare]

If you're renting, look for the flow required on the attachment and then match that to the machines output on the valves. Hi flow is offered regularly now. And the other recommendation would be to use ta track skidsteer. The stubs and branches will puncture tires.

thank you capetrees iI did not think about looking at flow level. Is there a skid-steer you lean towards with deck mower

 

[capetrees]

thank you capetrees iI did not think about looking at flow level. Is there a skid-steer you lean towards with deck mower

At this point, theyre all the same regarding features. Kind of a Ford/Chevy/Dodge thing.

 

[treecare]

At this point, theyre all the same regarding features. Kind of a Ford/Chevy/Dodge thing.

I agree sir.

 

[ATpro]

Even if you use a skid-steer with deck mower you will need to spray in a year to retard regrowth.

 

[capetrees]

Even if you use a skid-steer with deck mower you will need to spray in a year to retard regrowth.

spray 50 acres in between all those trees he's trying to save.

Good luck with that

 

[ATpro]

spray 50 acres in between all those trees he's trying to save.

Good luck with that

No, you spot spray problem spots! Run the kid-steer with deck mower through and you will be doing it again in 6 years. If he keeps it clean around the hardwoods he wishes to keep he can burn it and save money by reducing fire load around his hardwoods. Like select cut you pick out the best hardwood trees to keep and make sure the fire load never gets to heavy for burning.

Doesn't take as many stems per acre of hardwoods so selecting the best is not a problem. The first thing he needs to do is inventory his property with a cruse and find out what he has left, then decide on a manage plan to follow.

 

[Todd727]

No, you spot spray problem spots! Run the kid-steer with deck mower through and you will be doing it again in 6 years. If he keeps it clean around the hardwoods he wishes to keep he can burn it and save money by reducing fire load around his hardwoods. Like select cut you pick out the best hardwood trees to keep and make sure the fire load never gets to heavy for burning.

Doesn't take as many stems per acre of hardwoods so selecting the best is not a problem. The first thing he needs to do is inventory his property with a cruse and find out what he has left, then decide on a manage plan to follow.

Don't wait 6 years. Run a brush mower on the skidsteer once a year and he'll get ahead of it.

 

[ATpro]

Don't wait 6 years. Run a brush mower on the skidsteer once a year and he'll get ahead of it.

And what would be the cost of that?
Can't throw good money after bad and you have to access the the value of what you have and any future yield. Looking at his pictures it looks like a lot of hardwood regeneration, not sure I would anything. Hardwoods will thin themself over time.

 

[capetrees]

I'm cutting a small field of oak brush in the near future. I'll get pics before and after. It was once covered with dense pines.

 

[ATpro]

Natural regeneration of a mixed wood lot when clear cut normally the pine will take over to start with but the hardwoods will take over in time if left alone. A lot of folks down here are going back to natural regeneration. The price of hardwood pup is higher than pine pup and things like gum will for the first 15 years compete well with pine and have none of the insect problems that pine has. Some folks are clear cutting their loblolly pine plantations and replanting with new generation long leaf pine. The advantage is it's provides better habitat for wildlife, you can burn early and often, which will keep the fire load down. For someone getting along in years and replanting a loblolly pine plantation would be of no benefit because of time restraints, giving new generation long leaf pine a 15 year head start in growth before passing it on to the next generation makes dollar scene along as ecological scene.

Clear cut 100 acres around the house few years ago for a wildlife plot and replanted new generation long leaf pine and put in 5 - 2 acre food plots and planted a grove of sawtooth oaks around the border of the foodplots. Can bush hog between the rows of sawtooth oaks and disk the border for fire lane when burning. I will never see the end product but managed well it will last for ever, the forest will regenerate itself over and over.

Sometimes starting over is just the right thing to do for the future generations of the forest and man.

 

[davidwyby]

masticator/mulcher. disc plow...get roots. see Florida land clearing on YT

 

[catbuster]

A deck mower will level it all but you’ll still have a pile of slash, but more skid loaders can run one. Probably the best option is a forestry mulcher on a high flow skid steer loader if you do it with a skid loader. You can get it all into the topsoil layer, unlike a deck mower or a disc mulcher.

Disc mowers are technically a mulcher but they’re a lot smaller and don’t do as good a job as a proper drum type FAE/Fecon style. The reason for this is the small disc can be run, again, by a smaller machine with less horsepower.

I liked an FAE head on a Cat 299 XHP when I was doing that type of work, and wanted to limit the footprint I left while still getting a decent production number. If I really wanted to get in there a 20-25 ton excavator with a big flail mower would knock that out in a hurry, but also make a mess underfoot. The least intrusive way to do that would be a 3-5 ton excavator with a flail mower, they have good reach and can reach into tight spots.

For mulching, Cat’s XHP package paired with it’s forestry guarding is hard to beat, Kubota’s big CTL is very good and ASV’s big machines have always been built for forestry mulching. Whatever you get, just make sure it has a lexan door, and maybe some extra guarding for your rad and lower track rollers so you don’t jump a track off.