Clearing land

[tn droptine]

Finally will have my land paid off and own it free and clear here in a few months. End of next summer, I plan on clearing out a portion of my woods (nothing too extreme, just a mid-woods plot).

Questions that I have:

Is it more beneficial for me to leave trees standing for when I have a dozer come in to clear, or would it be better for me to fell them with my chainsaw as I am clearing out the brush/saplings beforehand?

What would be a good width for the clearing? I plan on having the plot run along the small creek that runs thru my woods and want it wide enough that sunlight will reach the plot, but I don't want it too wide that the deer will avoid it during daylight hours. Plot will be approx. 250-300 yards long.

 

[Boll Weevil]

Just finished up a project like this on the farm and used a trackhoe to push the timber over rootball and everything. Removed the marketable sawlogs/pulpwood next, and then pushed the rest up into piles to burn once it dries down good. Dressed it up nice with the dozer and box blade and will plant it this weekend. It's far easier to push over whole trees than remove stumps.

I'd maybe be a little less concerned about it being too wide and deer not using in daylight hours and more focused on simply making it a good, high-volume food source. If it's back in the timber they won't hesitate to use it at all hours of the day.

 

[PickettSFHunter]

Don't cut the trees first. The extra weight at the middle to top of the tree really makes a tree easier to push out than a stump.

 

[Football Hunter]

Don't cut the trees first. The extra weight at the middle to top of the tree really makes a tree easier to push out than a stump.

I agree x2

 

[timberjack86]

Don't cut the trees first. The extra weight at the middle to top of the tree really makes a tree easier to push out than a stump.

x1000! Unless they are really valuable. Messing up the bark on a prime walnut will dock the price at the mill.

 

[tn droptine]

Don't cut the trees first. The extra weight at the middle to top of the tree really makes a tree easier to push out than a stump.

x1000! Unless they are really valuable. Messing up the bark on a prime walnut will dock the price at the mill.

Pretty sure I don't have anything real valuable out there - the place was select cut about 8 or 9 years ago, so standing trees it is

Thanks for the help all!

 

[BSK]

And don't worry about leaving some standing trees in the plot. The loss of acreage and soil moisture to those trees is not worth the benefit of leaving them standing. Since plot acreage is limited on the property, maximize every square foot that you can.

 

[WDS]

Unless you have a dozer guy that is extremely good, preferably with and excavator with a thumb so he can shake all top soil out of the stump, leave a few trees and cut the rest. Deer will b more comfortable coming out into the plot, but growing trees in a plot will prevent any good plot growth on the drip line of said standing tree. Lime like hell and start with buckwheat to leave a good phosphorous residue. too late this year obviously, but I highly rec. buckwheat. after that , wheat and purple top turnips ....... natural plow. mix some DER in that turnip/medium red clover /winter wheat mix and you should be fine. get pH up, then add Will ladino and a tad more medium red clover.

I have had best longevity on white clover utilizing Will Ladino. I have had poor success with high dollar clovers ( Imperial Whitetail, ect) than anything. Get the pH correct, and you will succeed. I am blessed to have a farm where I can experiment heavily. Any cleared ground is planted. BSK can vouch for this.

Try the above and you will be Happy, Happy, Happy !

I would be glad to share my blends I utilize. Just PM me.

-WDS

 

[tn droptine]

Unless you have a dozer guy that is extremely good, preferably with and excavator with a thumb so he can shake all top soil out of the stump, leave a few trees and cut the rest. Deer will b more comfortable coming out into the plot, but growing trees in a plot will prevent any good plot growth on the drip line of said standing tree. Lime like hell and start with buckwheat to leave a good phosphorous residue. too late this year obviously, but I highly rec. buckwheat. after that , wheat and purple top turnips ....... natural plow. mix some DER in that turnip/medium red clover /winter wheat mix and you should be fine. get pH up, then add Will ladino and a tad more medium red clover.

I have had best longevity on white clover utilizing Will Ladino. I have had poor success with high dollar clovers ( Imperial Whitetail, ect) than anything. Get the pH correct, and you will succeed. I am blessed to have a farm where I can experiment heavily. Any cleared ground is planted. BSK can vouch for this.

Try the above and you will be Happy, Happy, Happy !

I would be glad to share my blends I utilize. Just PM me.

-WDS

I'm def looking forward to this new plot - I won't be home to do anything with it until the end of next summer, since I am going to be there while the dozer is working.

I don't really want any trees in the plot, since the plot will be so long and narrow, just one tree in the wrong spot could block line of sight to quite a bit of the plot. I plan on going in and clearing all of the underbrush and saplings with the chainsaw, and leaving the larger trees standing for the dozer to knock down.

I've been plotting for about four years now, really excited to design and create a whole new plot :grin:

 

[BSK]

I LOVE long, narrow plots. Although plant production is generally not as high as a large square or circular plot (because of the soil moisture loss and shade of trees along all the edge), but they can be the best producing plots in extended dry weather, and they are definitely utilized more by deer during daylight.

 

[tn droptine]

I LOVE long, narrow plots. Although plant production is generally not as high as a large square or circular plot (because of the soil moisture loss and shade of trees along all the edge), but they can be the best producing plots in extended dry weather, and they are definitely utilized more by deer during daylight.

My plan is to clear on each side of the small creek that runs through my woods (creek itself is only calf-deep and about 3 ft wide or so). Ideally, I want to clear about 15ft on each side of the creek to give me an overall width of about 30-35ft for the plot, and I plan on making it anywhere from 200-300 yards long.

The only concern that I have is the plot will be running generally NNE-SSW so the amount of full sunlight will not be as great as a plot that runs E-W. But hopefully with the width I will at least get quite a few hrs of mid-day sunlight.