How to go about removing brush (lawn, Honeysuckle, trees, vines)

[RedneckRebel]

I have about a half acre of growth (see attached pic) that I want to clear out. The brush stands about 10-12ft tall. I was wondering what is the best way to go about clearing it out. Any suggestions?

[leastprime]

small dozer, tractor with bucket, chain saw and small lawn mower with cart.

[Coldjensens]

Hydro axe would be quickest.

Brush hog.

If you could cut enough of a break to section off an area a controlled burn would certainly work, but may be difficult to control, depending on what is on each side and inside the thicket. You really need to know what you are doing and need a permit form the fire marshal.

Tie some goats out there, they will chew it up in no time. (But not if you are doing a controlled burn)

You can even chip away at it over time with a pair of long handled brush cutters. That is how I cleared part of the back part of our property. Well that and a chainsaw when needed. The front was cleared with a hydro axe, but in the back, I wanted to pick and choose what went and what stayed.

[Ghengis]

what is your desired end result? If you are intending on converting it into a mow-able lawn some type of dozer will be needed to remove shrubs to below soil level and grade area. If you are just looking to improve the view you could rent a DR Brush Cutter (or similar) and cut all but the largest (>2") diameter growth to within 3" of the ground.

[MrRational]

Originally Posted by RedneckRebel

I have about a half acre of growth... The brush stands about 10-12ft tall.
Any suggestions?

That's a LOT of ground to work (~70feet x 300feet?)

You'll find that the trucking costs to dispose of what you cut will add up to more
than what it will cost you to hire someone with all the equipment to do the cutting.
Don't forget the stump grinders too.

[P47P47]

Originally Posted by Coldjensens

Tie some goats out there, they will chew it up in no time. (But not if you are doing a controlled burn)

Preferably, goats with no noses.

[Coldjensens]

The hydro axe leaves nothing to dispose of. It is all ground to mulch. However there are stumps and roots. You either need a root ripper or a dozer to get those out. However I did not see a lot of trees in your picture.

Our grader got so frustrated after the hydro axe, he got a root ripper and pulled out the remaining trees/roots, but we had a lot of small trees (like maybe 100).

[luv4horses]

I used a brush cutter attachment on my tractor. You can hire someone to do it for you and it will take less than an hour.

[RedneckRebel]

Thanks for the suggestions. And sorry ittook so long to get back to everyone.

We started clearing the land about a month ago. The main things we been using is a brush hog, and a chainsaw. We have been burning everything we cut down, andit all has been working great so far.

But we are running into one problem. There are these heavy vines that are invading everything, we are able to cut most it it down, and even mulch up a good portion with a brush hog. But some of it grows parallel to the ground with a million roots, and its too low to the ground for the brush hog to get to it. (See pictures attached )

So far we bave been cutting it up with the chainsaw, but i hate do that, because the dirt dulls up the chain pretty bad. (Plus its slow going)


Is there anything yall can think of that more effective?

[phaneuf]

I did the same thing with two acres... bush hog for smaller staff, loppers for larger stuff, and chainsaw for the thickest stuff. There was a problem with vines, too... lots of climbing/creeping honeysuckle, poison ivy, muscadine grapes, and woodbine. I found just running over it with a high-powered push mower cleared it all away and broke down/mulched up some of the branches left behind. The mowers can be quite powerful. They will try to come back from the root, but persistent mowing finishes them off.