Advice on how to clear land

[hillbilly willie]

I'm looking at clearing 28 acres of land. The land was clear cut about 9 years ago, but has grown up in oak/sweetgum regeneration. I'm planning on planting a fruit tree orchard and need it to be cleared decently well. What is the best reasonable way to clear the land on a budget, and what equipment would be adequate? I was looking at possibly buying a used Komatsu D21/D20 dozer to clear the land with, but I'm afraid it might be too small for this task. Would a small dozer like that be way to small? Also looked at renting. A John Deere 550 is $2600 for a 40 hr week to rent here in Louisiana where I live. I've attached some pictures of the land. (For the pics where there is a powerline right of way, the part I will clear starts where the taller brush begins at the edge of the powerline right of way.) Any advice on the best way to go about doing this? Also, any clue on how long it would take to clear if I hired this to be done by an operator with a Cat D6 and root rake?

 

[Hoowasat]

Ask the local fire department if they need a location to test their brush-fire skills. Methinks a dozer is your best bet.

 

[Big Natey]

Whatever option you choose, if it's cheap it certainly won't be fast.

 

[Mustang71]

When I was a kid the guy next door let his leaf fire get out of control. He cleared 2 acres of wooded fields fast. It was all dirt by the time it was out. I think buying a dozer would be a good idea. Clear it at ur leisure.

 

[ATH]

Option 1: Drip torch. Check with local regulators to see if that is even an option. If so, it will probably involve hiring a crew with a certified burn boss.

Option 2: Forestry mower (also called a "Fecon mower")

The thing I don't like about a dozer/root rake is how much you will tear up the soil/degrade the soil structure and increase compaction.

 

[Jed1124]

How big are the trees? Brush attachment on the front of a large skid steer can take 5-6" trees. Chops them up good too.

 

[hillbilly willie]

Jed, almost all of the trees are less than 5 inches in diameter. I'll check into that brush attachment.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

550 is a small dozer. I'd look into a 750 or 850.

Fecon head on skid steer is a better way to do it.

 

[laxin213]

Another vote for a forestry attachment on a big, high flow skid steer. Look them up on YouTube


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[ArtB]

.....might be too small for this task.....

Depends on how much time you have.

I once cleared 10 acres of 5-10 YO alder and salmonberry but left the old big stumps (4 ft D Fir) as is with an old JD440 (5 ton machine) with root rake. IIRC took me about a day per acre. At that time could pile and burn (in the rain in November, would never have tried to burn except in the Mossyrock rain). Root rake only needed for the berries.

If you do have the time, a small dozer would likely be nice in an orchard in the future.

However, maybe even better:
I also have a bobcat 835, but never have had a brush hog attached to know how well they work.

Looked for videos, take a look at brush hog attached to skid steer, might just do your job.



For long term buy, the skid steer wiould be even better in an orchard than dozer.

 

[ropensaddle]

If they were a bit smaller goats are pretty dogone good at clearing it up. And at the end of the job they become bbq

 

[Jim Timber]

If they were a bit smaller goats are pretty dogone good at clearing it up. And at the end of the job they become bbq

Pigs too.

 

[Trx250r180]

You could maybe find an older 450-550 dozer for 6-9k use it for the job and resell it when you are done if have the cash to tie up ,my neighbor suggested if i needed something more than a week to buy the machine i need and resell when done ,most of the time can use it for free that way as long as no breakdowns .Using the dozer will have a huge pile of debris to get rid of ,not sure if can burn where you are at ,that's a lot of material too feed a chipper with .

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

You could maybe find an older 450-550 dozer for 6-9k use it for the job and resell it when you are done if have the cash to tie up ,my neighbor suggested if i needed something more than a week to buy the machine i need and resell when done ,most of the time can use it for free that way as long as no breakdowns .Using the dozer will have a huge pile of debris to get rid of ,not sure if can burn where you are at ,that's a lot of material too feed a chipper with .

10-15k for a decent 550 would be a great deal. 2000s models still selling for 50-75k

 

[Frogfarmer]

28 acres is a good size track of land for a novice to clear. A dedicated forestry machine will literally mulch everything down to ground level or just below and return most of the debris back to the earth making a decent bed for planting. These are expensive machines but should clear a couple acres of thick nasty brush a day. I doubt anyone will rent you this kind of machine so you will be paying for an operator too. A large track loader like a 963 cat working with a track hoe would be my next choice. Again large machines that are not normally rental for a novice. I'm sure a small dozer could complete the job but it is going to take a lot of man hours. I would expect to pay a grand an acre for someone to come in and do the job start to finish. A large 60,000 lb dozer with a rake might clear 5 acres a day but you are going to have quite a mess to clean up afterwards. I've cleared alot of land and each job presents different obstacles.

 

[moresnow]

28 acres in a skid loader? Gulp, not for this guy. The novelty would be worn off very soon. That's dozer work. Bigger the better. As long as it isn't swamp ground! You may as well get some quotes from locals in the buss. It will guide you on whether to purchase, fuel, maintain and operate your own machine. Also consider that one significant breakdown on any dozer or excavator can be catastrophic on the o'le wallet.

 

[ropensaddle]

Ahh such a waste to doze it just buy an old chipper and cut and chip it

 

[Jim Timber]

^^^ 10hp DR ought to do it, right?

 

[ropensaddle]

^^^ 10hp DR ought to do it, right?

Can you say mulch

 

[Jim Timber]

Seems like you should be able to get a crew to come in and take it for you if you're just going to chip it all up. Maybe not that small though.

The outfit cutting my sale has a 28" chipper - whole tree goes in with a loader. Something like 400hp. Power company buys the chips to get trash hot enough to burn clean at the incinerator.