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Clearing under trees

rlk

Bronze Member
GOLD Site Supporter
I have a lot of wooded areas on the farm. Most of the ground under the trees has a lot of briars, tall weeds, saplings, vines, and stuff growing under the trees. One area in particular is the far side of the pond. With all the undergrowth, this area is not very pretty. For some time I have wanted to clear the undergrowth, but I have been too lazy to tackle the job.

A while back I saw a video of a skid-steer with a mulching head that could grind trees, stumps, clear briars, etc. After a little research, I found someone locally with a skid-steer and mulching head.

Here is a video of the skid-steer clearing the undergrowth for me. In this part of the woods, he was able to clear about 2 acres in 3 hours.

Video

Continued in the next post.

Bob
 
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rlk

Bronze Member
GOLD Site Supporter
Here are before and after photos of the area in the video.
 

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rlk

Bronze Member
GOLD Site Supporter
You're probably wondering about the price. He charges $160 an hour with a 5 hour minimum. Since he was here for a couple of days, the 5 hour minimum was not a problem.

The teeth on the mulching head are worn so it did not mulch as well as I had hoped. When it ground a tree or stump, it left pieces 12 - 16" long and about 1+" thick. I'm hoping most of that will decompose in a year or so.

There are 200 teeth on the mulching head. Each tooth costs $200. That's $12,000 for a new set of teeth, plus however much time it takes to change 200 teeth.

I'm satisfied with the results. Now if I can just keep the undergrowth from coming back. I'll probably do a lot of spraying with a Round-Up like product. :)

Bob
 

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BigAl

Gone But Not Forgotten
SUPER Site Supporter
Man , that works really nice ! What a beautiful job he did .

I guy that worked for me has a big business now doing just that . His grinding head is much beefier . I think it weighs about 3000 pounds . Made from one piece of steel .
He just purchase a full size semi tractor and trailer grinder that can take full size tree stumps and grind them up up seconds .
He is always in demand .
 

EastTexFrank

Well-known member
GOLD Site Supporter
Bob, that's what I need to get done. I've been working on clearing my 2 acre "thicket" for about 10 years and to be honest, I'm not gaining on it but I am keeping it in check. By the way, my thicket looks about 10 times worse than yours. :yum:

I found a guy with one of those mulchers about 12 miles away and I reckon it will take him a couple of days. Thanks for the heads-up on the cost.
 

rlk

Bronze Member
GOLD Site Supporter
What's the damage to the roots on the trees you want kept?

There is little to no damage to the roots of the good trees. The mulching head barely touches the ground except when grinding a stump or grinding a tree that is laying on the ground. The video makes it look like it is disturbing dirt, but there was a very heavy layer of leaves and pine straw on the ground and that is what you are seeing the mulching head move.

The owner told me there are some much larger (more powerful) machines that will go up to 18 inches into the ground. Those machines are used when you clear cut a forest and to turn it into a pasture or yard.

Bob
 

rlk

Bronze Member
GOLD Site Supporter
He just purchase a full size semi tractor and trailer grinder that can take full size tree stumps and grind them up up seconds .
He is always in demand .

The local power company brought in one of those big grinders after they cleared the right of way for a new power line. Those things are amazing. There were 2 frontend loaders feeding stumps, trees, and limbs into that thing. It could grind the material faster than they could feed it.

I suspect your buddy has several thousand dollars wrapped up in that equipment.

Bob
 

rlk

Bronze Member
GOLD Site Supporter
You're probably wondering about the price. He charges $160 an hour with a 5 hour minimum. Since he was here for a couple of days, the 5 hour minimum was not a problem.

The teeth on the mulching head are worn so it did not mulch as well as I had hoped. When it ground a tree or stump, it left pieces 12 - 16" long and about 1+" thick. I'm hoping most of that will decompose in a year or so.

There are 200 teeth on the mulching head. Each tooth costs $200. That's $12,000 for a new set of teeth, plus however much time it takes to change 200 teeth.

I'm satisfied with the results. Now if I can just keep the undergrowth from coming back. I'll probably do a lot of spraying with a Round-Up like product. :)

Bob

Oops, each tooth costs $60. Sorry about the typo.

Bob
 
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