I know there are a few here who do some heavy duty logging and land clearing, but does anyone ever get into/asked to maintain the treeline along farm fields? I've noticed in my area (southern MN) that many fields seem to have tree lines that slowly encroach onto the till ground because branches stick out in the way of the farm machinery so they just till a little further out every season. I am just wondering if there is much of a market to maybe use something like a midi excavator and a flail mower and chop back the brush and saplings and lop off the offending branches and maybe a small dozer to pop stumps and scratify the ground for roots. I don't feel like most farmers have the equipment to really reclaim on a large scale. Also not sure how lucrative it is to reclaim a few rows with grain prices as they are.
I'm in the process of doing just this at public parks in the Town where I work. 30 years of uncontrolled growth was making the parks noticeably smaller and more difficult to keep mowed. This just compounded the problem. I bought a brush head for our Cat 304e and have started cutting back the undergrowth and encroaching upper branches. I'm gaining about 20 feet into the tree line in most cases. There's an occasional tree too big for the brush head, I send in the guys with chain saws for them. I've got a PTO driven stump grinder for our New Holland tractor for the bigger stumps. You'll have to talk around your area to find out about the market and whether that's something they'd be willing to pay for. When you're shopping for the excavator, check to see that there is a separate pump for the attachment, in hind sight I wish I had. I can't raise the boom while the tool is running, it starves the boom for pressure.
I don't know the size of your trees, but I think you need a full size hoe. I use a 200. There are still a few hedge rows around here. They have been untouched for 40+ years. 30 years ago new little trees grew up at the dripline of the hedge. Those trees are now 6" hackberry and mullberry. Then there was another new round of trees at the dripline 20 years ago, etc. Bottom line, the hedge row is now 30' each side of the property line. I just take the track hoe and thumb and pull the dripline trees and use the bucket to knock down any limbs that are more than a couple of feet from the property line. Some complain it looks horrible, and yes it does for a year or so. Kinda looks like a tornado or ice storm went through. But the trees steal moisture and sunlight, and the tax man charges the same for the useless land near the trees as he does in the center of the field.
Rent a skidsteer with a forestry mulcher, or hire someone who has one. Would only need to do it every five years or so, so probably not worth it to buy one
We do the same as @terex herder , though we use a 160 class hoe. I wouldn't go smaller than that as taking down big trees can become a chore for it. I bought my property in 2016 and have been working on clearing the property lines, little by little as I can afford it. I only have a quarter of it done though as it was severely overgrown, up to 100 ft from the property line. Previous owners were hunters, not farmers, and focused on providing habitat instead of maintaining the field. I'll get it straightened out before long, just going to take time.
Ugh. Thanks for this info. I am kinda eying a used Cat 308 or similar sized machine. I guess I kinda assumed anything newer would be set up with running something more than a thumb off the auxiliary hyd in mind. I better do some research. How does it effect the swing on your machine? Not being able to boom up with the attachment running would be maddening. I sort of would like to avoid a full size machine right now. I am looking at getting a smaller machine and cutter to maintain/reclaim my own property and would sort of like to get into doing some work part time. Trying to think of what I could do that wouldn't be real demanding as far as when it needed to happen as I I don't think I am ready to jump into anything full time. Cleaning brush on ag land could be done evenings and weekends. Trying to feel out if its possible to work part time and afford the insurance to be legit and upstanding.
Brush/tree mulchers are very expensive to own and operate, and, flail mowers are very slow and limited in the size of material they can mow. I would find a good nearby rental place and rent this machinery as needed. You can price your cleanups based on rental costs and you do not have to spend a lot of money up front. I have been doing this type of clearing on and off since 2007. You do not want to own this type of equipment, I can guarantee that.
Around here there's a couple of guys with 200class shovels, with large dedicated hydraulic power pacs to run the mulching heads. They do it for cheaper than I ever could given they do it 5 days a week, year round. That said, i've been looking at a smaller mulcher head for my E85, but the lack of hydraulic horsepower in a machine this size keeps me from pulling the trigger.
I've done a lot of this years ago, not much lately. I use a PC200LC6 with a 300 hp powerpack to drive the cutterhead. Anything over 5"-6" diameter is pushed over to uproot and everything back to the origianal tree line is cleared to 20'-35' high. I have no size limitations and stumps are just another part of the tree so the uprooted trees get mulched just the same. The most important thing is to keep from discharging chips and chunks into working fields that are growing anything besides pasture. Most of my farmers kept a buffer zone that they could keep bush hogged and drive around the fields after I did my part. I was told it kept from scratching expensive equipment, increased airflow to fields and increases sunlight, netting in increased production. I feel that there has to be a more efficient way of doing this other than kicking a mulcher sideways. It's hard on the bearings. Also, it is faster to take out a single tree 10" diameter or smaller than to take the time to try to limb it unless you can keep razor sharp teeth, which I can't in all of the rock that I encounter. I've looked at different attachments over the years to work this with but I've found nothing tough enough to handle what I want to get accomplished in a day. Shears are too slow, most blades are too flimsy and I want a single, do all machine. Right now, the hoe is still my best option for these jobs. No good farm pics on file right now but here is some roadway/elec row work from a couple years ago. No uprooting on this job, just cut and mulch to grade where possible on this rocky outcrop and make it CLEAN for the subdivision - no rough work on that job. Note - bucket truck had finished up the high trims and I mulched the trimmed materials.
That is one slick setup @treemuncher . We've never looked into a mulcher unit, but we're only doing our own fields. Also, anything over 6" is hauled home for firewood.
We just completed six properties for a local landowner that we have worked on for about 3 months. For these areas, he wanted us to get all stumps and as many roots as possible from the trees and brush. We used a rented excavator and CTL with a brush grapple on it. About 13 years ago, we did some of these same areas with a rented Forestry mulcher, but the owner did not maintain the areas. The nice part about renting, is you can select the equipment for the specific conditions, or the specific desires of the landowner. If you don't have the right machine, just rent it. I have done this type of clearing for about 25 years, and have never bought any machinery, except for a stump grinder. Here is a place we just finished with the excavator and CTL. It was originally going to be just cleared around the fences, but the landowner liked it so much we did the whole 25 acres on this place.