Fencerow Tag Team

[ScoutmasterRick]

I've been cleaning up some badly neglected fence rows lately. They're grown up with about 8-10 years growth of honeysuckle, saw briars, wild rose, and various and sundry trees. Some of the wild rose stems are as thick as my arm. I've been using the Husky 336 and Stihl FS 250 (with a 3 bladed brush knife) pictured below to do the work. They've been a pretty handy combo. If I run into anything that's too thick for Stihl I just grab the little Husky.

Here are some before and after pictures.

Before you can't even see the fence.

And after...

Every time the subject of brushcutters comes someone invariably asks, "Why not use a bush hog." Well, here's an application where a brushcutter trumps a bush hog.

 

[blsnelling]

That my friend is some real work. Lookin' good.

 

[wkpoor]

I had a situation last year where I had let an area next to my drive grow up for the last 10yrs. The stuff was up to the bottom of the power wires over 14' up. I ended ripping it all out by the roots using a root grapple on the the tractor when the ground was soft. Worked real good.

 

[computeruser]

From one FS250/triblade user to another, good work!! I've put more than a few hours in on the brushcutter in a honeysuckle/ailanthus/grapes mix, and that's serious work you did there. Well done.

 

[mimilkman1]

That looked like some seriously hard work, but hey your usin your favorite tools so it can't be all bad eh??

Kyle

 

[Bill G]

I honestly do not belive in shouting but I just have to.

DO NOT FORGET THE TORDON USE IT OR REPEAT YOUR WORK.

Bill

 

[2dogs]

Nice work there! I did that kinda work (as side work) for several years. Did you use the big yellow hoe too?

 

[ScoutmasterRick]

Nice work there! I did that kinda work (as side work) for several years. Did you use the big yellow hoe too?

Nope. I don't get to play with that toy. That belongs to the folks who are putting in the septic tank for my new house. In fact building the house is one of the reasons for clearing out the fence. The area in the preceding pictures is going to be my back yard in about a month.

Here is a partial view of my rode frontage. It was in about the same shape as the fence in the preceding "before" pictures. The photo shows about half of what I have cleared.

In addition to the brush we have cleaned up over 2 dozen grocery bags of bottles, mostly beer and liquor, along the road.

The work wouldn't be all that bad if it weren't for the wild roses and hawthorn trees. There's more rose bush to clean up, but the hawthorn has by far and away the worst thorns. I have to keep Slime in my tractor tires to keep the hawthorn from flattening them, and I had one flat in a steel belted radial truck tire due the hawthorn. I've had them go right through the bottom of my boot.

We have some swampy areas on the property that I can't get to with my tractor without getting stuck, and the FS 250 really shines there too. The little Husky is great for this type of work. Its light and maneuverable and having it along saves me having to switch back and forth between the circular saw blade and the brush knife blade on the 250.

 

[Ed*L]

Good job!

That's not easy work, been there, done that & still doing it.

It's suprising that the fence was still intact after you got it all cleared!

I'm currently cleaning up a fencerow on our property, there are 2 downed and half buried fences to remove. It's not any fun at all! I have figured out a sharp clearing saw blade is good for 3 cuts, then you will hit a rock or a piece of fence and dull it. After it's dull, you won't hit anything until you sharpen it.

Ed

 

[ScoutmasterRick]

Good job!

That's not easy work, been there, done that & still doing it.

It's suprising that the fence was still intact after you got it all cleared!

I'm currently cleaning up a fencerow on our property, there are 2 downed and half buried fences to remove. It's not any fun at all! I have figured out a sharp clearing saw blade is good for 3 cuts, then you will hit a rock or a piece of fence and dull it. After it's dull, you won't hit anything until you sharpen it.

Ed

The only repairs I have had to make to the fence are where I got careless and cut it myself, and one spot where someone cut all 5 strands of wire so they could sneak in and fish in my pond.

The 3 bladed brush knife isn't as sensitive to dulling as the clearing blade. Of course it won't handle nearly as large a tree as the clearing blade.

 

[computeruser]

The 3 bladed brush knife isn't as sensitive to dulling as the clearing blade. Of course it won't handle nearly as large a tree as the clearing blade.

Agreed. I've been amazed at how much abuse the tri-blades can take and still cut nicely. I've hit all kinds of crap - steel, concrete, tombstones (oops, sorry), and barbed wire - and they just keep on going. Granted they won't cut the same woody stuff as a true CS blade, but they do a damned good job on lighter woody (ailanthus, sumac) species up to 2" with the right touch.

 

[2dogs]

Nope. I don't get to play with that toy. That belongs to the folks who are putting in the septic tank for my new house. In fact building the house is one of the reasons for clearing out the fence. The area in the preceding pictures is going to be my back yard in about a month.

Here is a partial view of my rode frontage. It was in about the same shape as the fence in the preceding "before" pictures. The photo shows about half of what I have cleared.

In addition to the brush we have cleaned up over 2 dozen grocery bags of bottles, mostly beer and liquor, along the road.

The work wouldn't be all that bad if it weren't for the wild roses and hawthorn trees. There's more rose bush to clean up, but the hawthorn has by far and away the worst thorns. I have to keep Slime in my tractor tires to keep the hawthorn from flattening them, and I had one flat in a steel belted radial truck tire due the hawthorn. I've had them go right through the bottom of my boot.

We have some swampy areas on the property that I can't get to with my tractor without getting stuck, and the FS 250 really shines there too. The little Husky is great for this type of work. Its light and maneuverable and having it along saves me having to switch back and forth between the circular saw blade and the brush knife blade on the 250.

That is a great backyard! Do you have any pics of the hawthorn?

 

[ScoutmasterRick]

That is a great backyard! Do you have any pics of the hawthorn?

I don't have any good pics of the hawthorn right now. I'll be going out there tomorrow and Friday, and maybe I can get some good shots of it then and post them.

 

[Just Mow]

Nice work,,,,
Around here we use a KM130 with the pole saw attachment, then we put the 0/90 degree gearbox and adjust it so you can walk the fence line and clear out everything. Faster than the trimmer and no bending down with the saw.

 

[stihl 440]

Nice

Nice work there!:greenchainsaw:

 

[brncreeper]

Looks good! One fence line I took out was neglected for 30 plus years. Many of the trees and grown into the woven and barbed wires. The 3120 with 404 chain took them nicely (wire and all) not even a broken cutter. I did mess up one chain though, the tree had a steel fence post in it!

 

[ky-homelite]

Looks really good! I've got a 250 too, that thing is a workhorse for sure. I finally had to break mine out this spring, but haven't had to put the blade on yet.

 

[Urbicide]

Looking good. It looks so easy, doesn't it? I agree with Bill about using a good herbicide to prevent re-sprouting. I have had good luck with Garlon 3A on multi floral rose. Herbicides seem to work best on it when the new growth is still fresh and tender. A friend uses a cocktail of 5% Tordon K (restricted use here), 20% Garlon 4, and the rest a basil dye & diesel fuel. I like using either a 40 tooth or an 80 tooth scratcher blade on my trimmer. You can't really sharpen them but they cut woody stuff like crazy.

 

[Bill G]

Looking good. It looks so easy, doesn't it? I agree with Bill about using a good herbicide to prevent re-sprouting. I have had good luck with Garlon 3A on multi floral rose. Herbicides seem to work best on it when the new growth is still fresh and tender. A friend uses a cocktail of 5% Tordon K (restricted use here), 20% Garlon 4, and the rest a basil dye & diesel fuel. I like using either a 40 tooth or an 80 tooth scratcher blade on my trimmer. You can't really sharpen them but they cut woody stuff like crazy.

If you use Tordon on the fresh cut stump there will be no regrowth and generally no suckers. After years of using it I know it well. As for others I am sure there are good ones out there but I use what I know works and is cheap. That is why we plant RR beans and Liberty corn. Years ago we used Vietnam brush killer on fence rows but I am afraid to crack open the jugs now.

Bill

 

[ScoutmasterRick]

As promised, here are a couple of pictures that I took of one of our hawthorn trees.

Here is a close up of one of the thorns.