Clearing brush and saplings

jeepinmatt

jeepinmatt

#1 WEBWHEELER
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Mar 24, 2005
Location
Stanley, NC
My parents have 30 acres west of Lenoir, and dad and I have been cutting in some dirtbike trails on it. It is covered in undergrowth and saplings from 1/2" to about 2 1/2". Everything so far has been done with lopping shears, machetes, or bush axe. While it works, it seems like there has to be a better way that is faster and doesn't require as much backbreaking. Anybody got any good ideas, short of a bulldozer (we don't want to push over trees or make wide trails YET).
Thanks in advance.
 
bush hog
bobcat
bunch of goats?
 
When I needed to clear some space to park cars on land I used to own, I used the bush-hog on my tractor. I backed it slowly into the rough stuff, and let it chop it all down. I used a chainsaw to cut down any trees that were too big for the bush-hog - I cut the stumps flush with the ground. The bush-hog will cut some decent size trees though - I cut pines up to 2.5-inch diameter, just backed into them slowly and WHACK-WHACK-WHACK the tree layed down and all that was left was a shredded stump.
 
I've done trail clearing on new hiking and bike trails and dealt with the same stuff. Weedeater with a saw blade attachment works best, with a helper or two following behind to toss the cuts off to the side. Cut 'em off flush to the ground, loppers and stuff will leave spikes that I'd hate to wipe out on.

We tried to have 3 or 4 crews, spaced about 1/4 mile apart. By the time you got your 1/4 mile done, it was definitely time for a break.

2nd choice is a bobcat, but you're gonna stir up soil that way.
 
Rent a bobcat with a forestry mulcher. It might cost a couple hundred bucks for the weekend but you'll be able to get all of your trails done at one time instead of trying to slash and hack at it for weeks on end. They come as small as five feet wide and they leave a real nice path when theyre done. No stumps sticking up to cause wipeouts or puncture tires.
 
...or let some of the big rigs in and they'll just knock it down!
 
BigBody79 said:
DR-Trimmer/Mower. The infomercials make it look good enough
Click to expand...

I looked into those last night. Might be worth a shot, but at $2700, I can do a lot with hand tools

The problem with bushhog/bobcat/rigs/etc, is that it is mountainous terrain and heavily wooded. It is mostly too thick or steep to ride the 4wheeler (atv) through. I'll look into the sawblade weedeater. Dad actually just bought a weedeater with a chainsaw attachment 3 weeks ago, so it could become the general clearing saw.
 
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