Please post your experiece with clearing Trees from a land lot!!

[Goose and Fig]

When we first moved her we had a neighbor with a dozer clear out a little area for an RV and a small garden. The next year he cleard out more for our barn. Instead of burning the stumps & rootballs, he pushed them 1/2 way over the side of a ravine. Now we have a house-size pile of crap that we can't burn because it will torch the woods, and we can't pull it up without flipping a tractor.

It looks soooo crummy! I think the only way to get rid of it is to bury it with several dump trucks full of top soil.

We've done a bit more clearing the past couple years on our own and gradually. A few trees at a time, cut them up into fire wood, take the stumps to the ground, and let the grass/pasture take over. It's much better that way- and the spots near the edge of the woods get more light and grass is already string to grow there.

If you hire a logging company they will leave you a huge mess. It takes years for land to recover and be useable pasture. We are in prime logging country and I see it all the time. Not pretty!

 

[Bec]

We would like to clear all the smaller trees/ brush and leave most of the large ones (Which isn't that many). We are planning on doing it a little at a time, there is already a good acre of grass that could work for them (The horses) as we chug along into the woods.

I am not 100% on this one, but we are in the thinking process!

 

[mamagardener]

I don't know about where you live, but around here comapanies will pay you to be allowed to clear your land. They sell the lumber for a profit. They also will take the whole tree out stump and all.

 

[wildorchid053]

if you do it, save the wood for your wood stove or fireplace.. then later have it dozed if you can get between the trees you have left.. that way the stumps will be removed and the co. can dig a pit and bury them for you..if you leave the stumps to rot you will end up with pits that the horses could break a leg in. that is how we ended up doing it

 

[hollyclyff]

We had ours cleared a couple of years ago. No one was interested in it for the lumber because it was such a small tract, so we paid $$$ to have it cleared. The clearing was done well and the land was left in good shape - no stumps or anything. But if you plan to use the land for pasture, you need to allow plenty of time for the grass to really get well established before you put animals on it. If I were looking for land to buy for pasture, I would give strong preference to already cleared land, but I wouldn't necessarily turn down wooded land if everything else was right. We just dealt with what we had because we didn't want to move.

Also, if you have it mostly cleared, but want to leave a few big, nice trees, be prepared to lose some of them from root disturbance during the clearing. We had to have four big trees taken down a year later after they died and I think we will have to have a couple more taken down before it's all said and done.

 

[bkreugar]

This is all so interesting to me.We bought 7 acres and a 2300 Sf house in 2003.We had looked for like 3 years for a place I could have my horses.some of the acreage was cleared , most not. So I had ALWAYS had in the back of my mind to have it cleared and use the money from the timber for a barn. We have a converted building as a barn right now and it is usable but not really workable.

Last week one of my neighbors that abuts my property and a logger came and asked about my property lines.I am QUITE clear on them and have a FRAMED copy of a survey we paid WAY WAY too much for. Anyway when they told me this logger was going to do his (he has lass than 2 acres) I asked if he would be interested in mine.He said yes. I had had no interest in anyone else doing it as my tract is less than 10 acres.So I amnow doing as much homework as i can to see what a good price would be.I have heard they can rob you blind.

Anyone want to give qoutes? Even if it was years ago?

 

[speckledhen]

Interesting subject. Would like to have my bottom 3 wooded acres semi-cleared, leaving a "fringe" of trees around the perimeter.