Land clearing

[K9kodi]

Hey all!

Well life happens and I’ve become part of the family farm legally.

We are actively pursuing more land which boarders ours.

There is a 350 acre piece we are working on obtaining and it’s mostly wooded. Healthy balance of hardwoods and pines.

I understand the philosophy of clear cutting and such, as the farm we have now has specific areas cut and going through the regrowth process.

My question here is mainly pertaining to clear cutting and making the land feesable for fields.

Is this even possible? Will a logging company do this? If this property comes through, I’d like to make 25-35 acres of fields, but knowing the little I do, I’m not sure how to go about this.

 

[Nine Banger]

Logging company will leave stumps and unusable material and ruts.

You will need a big azz excavator and a dozer or a site work contractor.

You'll need a 3 point or pull behind sprayer to treat the fields while the early successional forest tries to come back the first 2-5 years.

 

[fatlander]

I don’t know any logging outfit that does this, but I’m sure it exists. I’d imagine be a lot more expensive than procuring your own track hoe and dozer. Loggers make their money reselling the timber they purchase from you. Clearing land to the point of being tillable is going to cut into them moving on to their next timber block. Every farmer I know that buys timber land has it logged then does the work with their own above mentioned equipment, whether they own the equipment outright or rent it.


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[Nine Banger]

Something to look at:

If timber value is low it maybe better in the long run to forfeit that and just push the trees over with the roots on them.

You're using leverage to get the stumps out instead of digging them up which is a huge chore.

We do this here because the road system and traffic eats the profit before anything gets to a mill.

 

[WDO]

I guess depends on where you’re located, but there are outfits that do this. A farmer back in GA where I’m from used clear land to make fields. I doubt it’s cheap though.

Like mentioned above, I don’t think most loggers will want part in the grade work and pulling stumps. You’d probably have to log it, then have some else grade it.

 

[KenLee]

If clearing for plots, wildlife prefer narrow strips vs big fields

 

[doc holiday13]

depends on location and age of the woods. If you don't have a great stand of trees sometimes you break even if you're lucky. If its an old set of trees you might make a few bucks. I'd start by finding any mills within a few hours of you; then call them and ask they can provide a few sellers you can call to evaluate your plot

 

[K9kodi]

Yes it’s mainly all mature woods.
I’d say if it’s 350, 300 acres of it is wooded, uniformly.

And old growth. I know I could make money in the timber aspect, but wanting some fields for Christmas trees and hidden fields for plots

 

[Coopsdaddy]

You won’t make what you think and if you do it will look like s bomb went off in there.
Own 120 of rolling timber for many years.
Don’t use a logging company unless you have a very clear contract.
They will leave it looking horrible.
You are better off doing small sections yourself.
Everyone wants wood but when you offer it even for free there’s very few takers.
You can also start timber stand improvement by hack and squirt.Look up Craig Harper cocktail and use that mixture.Use it exactly!
You can easily kill as big a tree as you want depending on how many hack and squirts.
That will open up the forest floor to sun and new growth.New growth equals forage,sometimes better than fields depending what’s in the fields.
You can do a lot with a 32 oz squirt bottle and a hatchet/small chainsaw.
If takes time and effort but if you do a small section at a time it starts to add up.
Use a skid steer with a hi flow drum head to start with and take out the smaller timber first.Dont waste time hand cutting all that.
It’s the cleanest method.
You can take some pretty big trees out with it.

 

[Weldor]

See if you can locate a local Forester, he will most likely have the info you need for the timber and companies available in your area.

 

[K9kodi]

It’s not about making money, more so not coming out of pocket to have it done. If I broke even on it I’d be okay, sure id try to come out on top, but that’s the goal.

We clear cut another piece a couple years ago and got some nice grants for the replanting and it covered all and then some.

I was mainly speaking on the aspect of making land tillable after the fact. That’s new to me

 

[Speaks]

Loggin land will not make it tillable, if you want that need to have them pushed over with an excavator.....

If you log it expect to keep it knocked down for 20 years before even thinking about making it tillable.

 

[K9kodi]

I understand logging land will not make it tillable.
I have logged land, I also know it’s not tillable.

My question was around what it takes to make logged land tillable. In the big picture I understand it’s removing stumps and slash, but just as there is a process and companies that log, my inquiry was to if there are the same type of companies that would get it to tillable.

 

[Pony Soldier]

It's tough to make recommendations without knowing the land and climate. I would stake it out with flagging and or spray paint. The best habitat is along margins. I would select the field portions where you have the best fine forage. Then I would clear out the smaller trees and remove the topsoil from where you plan a burn pile so you can reclaim it quicker. Then I would find a logger to cut the saleable timber.

Then I would have the stumps removed with an excavator and burned in your burn pit after 1-2 years of drying. The regrading and planting can start after stump removal. At the end, topsoil your burn pit and finish seeding. There is nothing quick about any of this.

I didn't have any big trees and lodgepoles have shallow roots so I left my stumps about 18" high. That left me leverage so could push them over with my dozer and then move the stumps with my tractor.

Once the trees are cut any excavation companies should be able to move the stumps with an excavator and a wheel loader.

 

[K9kodi]

Okay. Nice. Thank you

 

[doc holiday13]

It’s not about making money, more so not coming out of pocket to have it done. If I broke even on it I’d be okay, sure id try to come out on top, but that’s the goal.

We clear cut another piece a couple years ago and got some nice grants for the replanting and it covered all and then some.

I was mainly speaking on the aspect of making land tillable after the fact. That’s new to me

Lots of strategy. A small forestry mulcher for a 1 or 2 day rental can cut your main path of travel then a 1 week rental with a mid size excavator with thumb and a chainsaw.

Pick the sections you want to clear.
Put up flagging tape to mark your boundaries
The mulcher will clear out all the 0-5" trees. A mulcher can chop bigger, but if you're not an experience operator don't do it. It can get risky on bigger trees
Go in after and drop all the trees too big to mulch. Limb them and cut into 7-10' sections
have excavator delivered. stack tree sections pile up the limbs, and dig out stumps

 

[fatlander]

I don’t think there are many, if any, logging companies that are knocking down 300+ acres of timber that also offer clearing land to tillable. Those two endeavors are so different, and it’s such niche clientele who’d want both, that no one is doing both. There are boutique “land management” companies that cater to deep pockets doing habitat improvement for hunting focused properties.

If it were me, I’d sell the timber then decide if you want to pay a site contractor or rent the equipment yourself.


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[K9kodi]

Fortunately id never timber 300 acres. Just looking to timber 20-50 and make 10-30 tillable, not all one field either.

 

[Nine Banger]

Fortunately id never timber 300 acres. Just looking to timber 20-50 and make 10-30 tillable, not all one field either.

I'd get a couple bids from small site work crews. I bet they will be around 10K/acre to get you tillable. You'll forfeit the timber cost in extra work created by the logger. No one will give you a bid on the site work until the logging is done if you do this with a logging activity and then a site work activity.

Or buy an excavator for $100-200K and make it a hobby for the next 10 years.

 

[K9kodi]

I was hoping if there was any profit from the timber id forfeit that that them to just pull stumps hahah. Oh well.