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Clearing neglected 15 acres- how to remove root balls.

Started by rvander1, March 19, 2017, 10:45:21 AM

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rvander1

Hi,
I'm a farmer, not a forester.
I'm working to recover 15 acres of farmland that was let go about 20 years ago- no drainage maintenance, then not planted or brushoged for about 20-25 years.  The land is a jungle of brush and thorns with thousands of pulpwood saplings--most 1-6 inches in diameter.  The 4-6 inch saplings are too close together- so I can't brushog the land.  the hedgerows have become very wide and I'm taking these back too.  There are some trees near/in the hedgerows that are 12-20++ inches in diameter.  I had someone come by who processes hardwoods for firewood, and he said there wasn't enough hardwood for him to bother, and certainly no real lumber. 
I have been taking out all the trees and large bushes with an excavator with a thumb. I bought a root rake that goes on instead of the bucket for the saplings so  I can take out 3-6 of them at a time.  Most of them come out of the ground roots and all, and I'm stacking all this up to burn it.  However, a significant number of these bushes and saplings snap off- leaving the root systems underground. I've cleared about 5 of the 15 acres.   
I can't figure out the best way to get rid of the hundreds/thousands of small root balls (6-12 inches) that are still in the ground or scattered on the surface.  I've tried using my relatively small 3pt chisel plow-- and that scratches most of them up to the surface, or at least loostens them up.  There is way too much of this stuff to use my disc-- it would just get clogged up with these root balls every 10 yards.

I need advice on how to get the land cleared of all these root balls.
Thanks in advance for advice.
Bob

red

Where are you located ?  Seems like a big job and will take a while.
Honor the Fallen Thank the Living

Maine372

would letting it sit fallow for a year let those small obstacles rot enough that a disc would chew it up?

Magicman

Kinda  what I was thinking.  Spray the stump sprouts, etc. with Garlon and let it "rest" for a year, but I do not know your time table or urgency.
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sawguy21

Turn some pigs loose, I have never seen anything tear up ground like they can. :D Seriously, is a large tractor with a ripper or scarifier an option? I have seen them used on cut blocks to prepare for planting.
old age and treachery will always overcome youth and enthusiasm

Ox

Something big with good clearance and traction with a single shank ripper.  It'll take some time but will turn those roots out.  Then you'll need a root rake/rock bucket sort of thing with a grapple to pile up to burn.   It sounds like a job I could do with running the machinery even with my bum crooked back.  Where are you located?  Click on your name, then find where to edit your profile to your general location as it helps us help you.  :)
K.I.S.S. - Keep It Simple Stupid
Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without
1989 GMC 3500 4x4 diesel dump and plow truck, 1964 Oliver 1600 Industrial with Parsons loader and backhoe, 1986 Zetor 5211, Cat's Claw sharpener, single tooth setter, homemade Linn Lumber 1900 style mill, old tools

rvander1

Quote from: red on March 19, 2017, 11:05:57 AM
Where are you located ?  Seems like a big job and will take a while.
Hi Red,
I'm located in Gorham, a small town in Western NY--

rvander1

Quote from: Maine372 on March 19, 2017, 11:21:59 AM
would letting it sit fallow for a year let those small obstacles rot enough that a disc would chew it up?

I cleared a few other acres with similar root ball problems and it took 2 years for the root balls to rot, and even then they kept getting stuck in the scrapers on my farm disc with 22 inch discs 9" apart.
--but I'm not in a hurry-- so rotting will definitely be part of the plan.

rvander1

Quote from: Ox on March 19, 2017, 11:56:23 AM
Something big with good clearance and traction with a single shank ripper.  It'll take some time but will turn those roots out.  Then you'll need a root rake/rock bucket sort of thing with a grapple to pile up to burn.   It sounds like a job I could do with running the machinery even with my bum crooked back.  Where are you located?  Click on your name, then find where to edit your profile to your general location as it helps us help you.  :)

Will edit my location.  I'm sure you could do it, but money ---cash crops (all I do) are at a 13 year low--
I'm getting the idea: rip them out or cut them up with forestry ripper, disc, then ??York-type rake??

mike_belben

Every dozer guy occasionally needs an excavator and every excavator guy occasionally needs a dozer. 

Make friends with the owner of a D8 + root rake.  Otherwise consider making a single tine for your excavator.  You could work your way in a circle with the bucket or rake, then switch to the tine when you get back.  Maybe chisel plow or york after.  Or bottom plow it all over, let the roots dry in the sun then york it all to recover maximum soil.
Praise The Lord

Ox

In a few years those root balls will be much easier with an excavator.  Somehow I missed that you had one when reading earlier!  You basically have the perfect machine that I would want for this job.  :)
K.I.S.S. - Keep It Simple Stupid
Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without
1989 GMC 3500 4x4 diesel dump and plow truck, 1964 Oliver 1600 Industrial with Parsons loader and backhoe, 1986 Zetor 5211, Cat's Claw sharpener, single tooth setter, homemade Linn Lumber 1900 style mill, old tools

tawilson

I'm surprised the root rake on the ex won't scoop them out.
Tom
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Woodmaster 725

rvander1

Quote from: tawilson on March 19, 2017, 12:34:59 PM
I'm surprised the root rake on the ex won't scoop them out.

I got the ex root rake just to get out those root balls, but the tines are 9" apart, and unless they catch the root ball just right--slides right buy it most of the time :(

Gearbox

If those root ball are under 9 inches they will rot fast . Spray , wait a year then disk with a Offset Athens .
A bunch of chainsaws a BT6870 processer , TC 5 International track skidder and not near enough time

thecfarm

rander1,just want to welcome you to the forum. That 15 acres will take some time. I am clearing a grown up pasture too. A little older,but some areas are the same age too. But I don't have the equipment you do. So I only have a couple done. I also only do what I need for firewood. I do know keep the suckers off from the stumps and in a few years grass will come back and in 5 all looks good. Just keep at it.
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

rvander1

Quote from: Gearbox on March 19, 2017, 01:25:43 PM
If those root ball are under 9 inches they will rot fast . Spray , wait a year then disk with a Offset Athens .

"Spray" -- are you talking about spot spraying the root balls or sapling stalks? --They're everywhere.
--What kind of "Spray"/
Thanks in advance,
Bob

Gearbox

A bunch of chainsaws a BT6870 processer , TC 5 International track skidder and not near enough time

ScottAR

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_DG8RWtAUA    Probably expensive for a one time use. 

weed killer, time and a Rome disk would do the job. 
Scott
"There is much that I need to do, even more that I want to do, and even less that I can do."
[Magicman]

krusty

Fence it in with an electric strand and let 10 pigs loose in there. Nothing will root it up as good as them.....plus you get to eat the pigs at the end of the season!

NWP

Plant it in corn after you get it cleared as good as possible. A corn head would be above the small roots and leftover stuff when you harvest it. Do that a couple of years and it should all be able to be disked.
1999 Blockbuster 2222, 1997 Duratech HD10, 2021 Kubota SVL97-2, 2011 Case SV250, 2000 Case 1845C, 2004 Case 621D, John Deere 540A, 2011 Freightliner with Prentice 120C, 2012 Chevrolet, 1997 GMC bucket truck, several trailers, and Stihl saws.

mike_belben

Id have welded in secondary tines or even rebar horizontally as a tap root cutter (think soil screener) without thinking twice.  Torch it out later if a new type of work comes along.
Praise The Lord

red

Honor the Fallen Thank the Living

Farmerjw

The most effective would be goats along with the pigs.  Goats love the brush and will eat it down and keep new growth eaten, the pigs will do the plowing.  Organic meat, might make more profit over the next two years than the crop yields after that ! 
Premier Bovine Scatologist

Ed_K

 If you can't find a Rome plow / disk, take the root rake off your excavator and use the bucket and teeth and hoe the roots out just like you'd use a garden hoe. Then use the root rake to rake the roots into piles to burn.
Ed K

Neilo

For small stumps, use a rock picker pulled by a big tractor

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