Hack-and-Squirt...

[BSK]

...is hard work! I only worked about 6 acres yesterday, but my arm and shoulder is so sore from swinging a hatchet that I can hardly move them this morning!

But I bet I killed over a 100 trees yesterday.

 

[richmanbarbeque]

Awesome! What's your mix? 50/50? How do you think spraying trees would do right now?

 

[BSK]

What's your mix?

1 part Garlon 3A to 3 parts water, and for ever gallon of that mix, add 6 ounces of Arsenal. Make hacks around the tree with no more than 2 inches between hacks. Squirt 1 ml of mix into each hack.

 

[BSK]

How do you think spraying trees would do right now?

Depends on what you are spraying. Most hardwood killers, like Arsenal, are best sprayed at this time of year (September and early October), when water is moving down into the plant's roots in preparation for winter.

 

[richmanbarbeque]

Thanks. I really need to do the same as you.

 

[ROUGH COUNTRY HUNTER]

BSK,what are you trying to accomplish

 

[Anonymous]

BSK,what are you trying to accomplish

Not BSK but this is done to select or cull unwanted trees from an area. Removing unwanted trees from an area allows wanted trees to get more nutrients, water, sunlight etc. Wanted trees maybe specific mast producers(whiteoak or persimmon for example). Or you may want to get more sunlight to an area to encourge new growth for browse or bedding. Basiclly it is just a way to specifically manage habitat.

 

[BSK]

BSK,what are you trying to accomplish

As JJS pointed out, I am trying to get more sunlight onto the ground. I recently had several 3-5 acre patches of timber thinned, but due to low market value, many trees in those designated harvest areas were not cut. So I am killing those trees in place instead of cutting them down (much less labor involved). And the purpose is to increase sunlight on the ground which will increase early successional plant growth as deer food and eventually increase thick growth that will provide escape cover.

Most of what I am killing are huge beech trees. A single old beech tree can have a canopy covering a 1/4 of an acre. Killing that one tree will open up a big hole in the leaf canopy and allow sunlight onto the ground and ensuing regrowth.

I was also killing out groves of 5-8 adjacent hickory and butternut trees to produce holes in the canopy.

Although I'm certainly not killing all or most of them, the species I'm targeting are beech, hickory, butternut, elm, sourwood, and a few maple. I am protecting oaks other than mountain chestnut oaks (which I have far too many of).

 

[DOC1187]

 

[fishboy1]

I have one of those mimosa trees growing into my drain field.

Can I hack and squirt the tree using undiluted roundup concentrate?

I want that thing dead to the roots before I have to install a new septic system.

 

[BSK]

Google Gly-4's label and see if it mentions whether it will kill mimosas.

 

[BowGuy84]

I really need to do this. Could you girdle with a chainsaw too? I have some whopper beech trees that need to go! Also have a lot of pole timber than I need a dozer to just flat level for me.

 

[BSK]

Yes, you can girdle trees, but it's not as effective as herbicides. I've seen several studies where trees survived being double-girdled. But girdling is best done in winter before spring green-up, and the tree should be double-girdled with each cut being about an inch deep and within 6 inches of each other vertically on the trunk.

 

[PickettSFHunter]

Ive girdled quite a few big beeches. I double girdle, about 50% have died that year, but I have had 50% go past that. Ive got one going on 3 years and its not dead but is in bad shape.

 

[ROUGH COUNTRY HUNTER]

great idea,so are you leaveing them standing

 

[BSK]

great idea,so are you leaveing them standing

Yes, they will die in place. If all goes well, they won't leaf out next spring.

 

[Hawk]

Google Gly-4's label and see if it mentions whether it will kill mimosas.

Tordon-RU will wax mimosas.

 

[fishboy1]

What about drilling the trunk and sticking a piece or 3 of copper wire in it.

Don't want to buy a jug of expensive stuff to kill one tree but I want that sucker gone!

 

[Crosshairy]

How long does it take for a victim of hack-n-squirt to fall over? It always seems like it takes forever for a dead-ish tree to fall.

I get rather impatient when clearing out land, and at first blush it seems like a real waiting game. Will you leave the trees on the ground afterwards for ground cover?

Sounds like rabbit hunting paradise down the road

 

[BSK]

How long does it take for a victim of hack-n-squirt to fall over? It always seems like it takes forever for a dead-ish tree to fall.

I get rather impatient when clearing out land, and at first blush it seems like a real waiting game. Will you leave the trees on the ground afterwards for ground cover?

Sounds like rabbit hunting paradise down the road

Every size/species of tree is different when it comes to how long it will stand dead before falling. I've seen big beech trees stand dead for many years, slowly going to pieces.

But then we aren't trying to "clear land." We are trying to get as much sunlight on the ground as possible while maintaining a good stand of young to medium-age oaks. We want the weed/brier growth the first 2-3 years of regrowth as wildlife food sources and then the worst possible tangle of sapling and briers as cover habitat for the following 5-6 years.