Thinning out the woods

[bearcat]

I’ve got a part of the farm that is pretty tough to access with any sort of vehicle. I can ask my neighbor if he’d let me back there through his pasture and I doubt he will have any issues.
This piece is located between the forks of a deep creek/ravine. Some of it is almost impenetrable. It’s made up of a mix of some large oaks, black jack oaks, cedar, elm and briars. I’d like to get back there and thin out the undesirable, but the lack of access presents a problem. The area is only about 10 acres. It would be a bear to do by hand due to the briars. What do you guys think about a mulcher to to get rid of the elm saplings and briars and then I can be selective and take down some other stuff by hand.

This area is more of a sanctuary. It’s the NE corner of the property. I’d just like to get some more vegetative growth going in here instead of choked full of briars, small cedar sms deigned elm saplings


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[Mennoniteman]

It sounds like a great plan. A mulcher would be ok to get a foothold in the wilderness, but IMO leaves something to be desired as far as a fast way of creating good access to do the chainsaw work. My favorite goto machine for projects like this is a CAT 953 or 963 loader with a good set of teeth on the bucket and a competent operator, just tilt the bucket forward an inch off the ground, and that machine will drive right briars and cedars like nobody's business. I'd open up some areas/ roads through the entire tract, if there's areas that are totally overgrown with trash i'd put it on huge piles for rabbit cover or to burn. And I'd tell the operator to steer clear of the oak trees and not damage any, because those are your seed trees. By uncovering some bare dirt in the woods through this method of scarification a unique process of regeneration is started that will get a vegetation regrowth cycle started that you would never see in lowlands that haven't had sunlight on bare dirt in a thousand years. Allen

 

[OkieKubota]

I have the perfect machine for that...

 

[SwampCat]

I prefer a mulcher if I am not going to work the area with a disk, tillage, or a blade and a dozer if you are going to plant it of blade it. A mulcher gets the vines and sapling whips no matter how small. A dozer will leave a lot of that type material. A mulcher does not disturb the soil or leave stump holes - but it does leave stumps below ground surface.

 

[bearcat]

I have the perfect machine for that...

I thought about you, but figured you were a little far.


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[bearcat]

I prefer a mulcher if I am not going to work the area with a disk, tillage, or a blade and a dozer if you are going to plant it of blade it. A mulcher gets the vines and sapling whips no matter how small. A dozer will leave a lot of that type material. A mulcher does not disturb the soil or leave stump holes - but it does leave stumps below ground surface.

That has been the argument I’ve been having with myself. Without a lot of experience with either, I’m having trouble deciding which direction to go.


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[SwampCat]

That has been the argument I’ve been having with myself. Without a lot of experience with either, I’m having trouble deciding which direction to go.


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If I was just cleaning out or opening up the woods - I would use a mulcher. If I was building a food plot or a trail where I was going to need to disk or use a blade for maintenance, I would use a dozer. If cleaning out an area to build a fence and all I wanted to do was bush hog or spray to maintain the fence - I would mulch

 

[deer patch]

That has been the argument I’ve been having with myself. Without a lot of experience with either, I’m having trouble deciding which direction to go.”.

Find some operators in your area that you would consider hiring for each piece of equipment and go look at there work then you will know which way to go. Most likely you will have to spray the briars with some kind of herbicide come spring to get rid of them permanently though.

 

[OkieKubota]

I thought about you, but figured you were a little far.


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Yes...a.little far...

 

[Mennoniteman]

I have the perfect machine for that...

@Double L

 

[MarkDarvin]

I'm not familiar with that type of landscape, but I can say this. There is no replacement for the ability to get to places on your property to work. Sometimes you need the heavy equipment to get a path opened up so you can get their quickly and get to work. You'll have to decide what works. After the fact, think about tire health for what you did, where trash piles may go if you pull that stuff out, etc.