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Sustainusfarm
Member
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# Posted: 23 Mar 2014 23:45
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Hi all, I have pine tree stumps approx. 8-12" across and spaced every 6 ft in all directions spread over about an acre. Any ideas what would be the best way to have them removed so I can replant a native prairie??
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bldginsp
Member
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# Posted: 24 Mar 2014 00:06
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Do you need to remove them?
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MtnDon
Member
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# Posted: 24 Mar 2014 00:52
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Stump grinders can cut/grind/shave them down to below ground level. Takes a while with a lot but we've done s number that way.
Too bad the trees are not still attached as pushing over the whole tree works well (with something like a skidsteer, small dozer...
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Don_P
Member
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# Posted: 24 Mar 2014 07:27
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I've cleaned up with a tracked excavator... and if you don't have to run one for a living they are great fun to play on. Look around for any other projects that need doing and rent one for a week. You can also dig a deep hole and bury the stumps.
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turkeyhunter
Member
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# Posted: 24 Mar 2014 07:41 - Edited by: turkeyhunter
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let them rot on their own...3 years they will ne gone.
plant your trees , as planned. They way you do not disturb the land.
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PatrickH
Member
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# Posted: 24 Mar 2014 07:43
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Used the bobcat in the picture,some chains,cables,VERY big come-a-longs,axes,shovels the little machine is not very heavy so there is still alot of labor involved if the stumps are big you will want to rent the biggest excavator they have and after you get them out some are so heavy they just tip my bobcat. I have spent 8 hours to remove one stump some can be difficult, Bib bobcat with forks also work but I have also used pick-up trucks dig around the stump and just start jerking on it with the truck It'll come out.
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bldginsp
Member
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# Posted: 24 Mar 2014 09:03
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Pine stumps in a moist climate may rot fairly quickly, but on my parcel in Northern Cal. there are fir stumps from logging in the 1980s that are still hard. I've thought of drilling into them and pouring in that 'stump rot' stuff to accelerate rotting.
Stump-Out:
http://www.gemplers.com/product/160363/Bonide-Stump-Out?gclid=CJvwjcGdq70CFRFp7Aodyw8 AIg&sku=160363&CID=25SEPLA&ci_src=17588969&ci_sku=160363&ef_id=Uf6MtgAAAbiY5EN1201403 24130214s
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MtnDon
Member
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# Posted: 24 Mar 2014 09:56
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Quoting: bldginsp Pine stumps in a moist climate may rot fairly quickly, but on my parcel in Northern Cal. there are fir stumps from logging in the 1980s that are still hard.
NM. Dry with wet periods but more dry than wet. We still have some large hard stumps from the 50's. Pine-Fir
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MJW
Member
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# Posted: 24 Mar 2014 10:00
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Our place was logged a few years ago and we have many stumps here. We wanted several removed so we hired a guy with a backhoe and he spent HOURS per stump digging them up.
Not a good experience.
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CabinBuilder
Admin
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# Posted: 24 Mar 2014 10:30
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I cut 'em at the ground level and leave...
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bldginsp
Member
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# Posted: 24 Mar 2014 14:07
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I stopped cutting stumps low to the ground with my chainsaw after I screwed up 2 or 3 chains- the dirt seems to have the ability to climb up the stump just to spite me.
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Sustainusfarm
Member
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# Posted: 24 Mar 2014 22:41
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I have stumps that were cut 15 yrs ago and they are as hard as can be!
Yes I would like to remove them to plant an orchard and small fruits...I would consider leaving them but they are so close together that they really get in the way no matter how I lay out the orchard...I think my best bet will be to use a bulldozer and then drag them into a fence row to keep the goats in someday....
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bldginsp
Member
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# Posted: 24 Mar 2014 23:12 - Edited by: bldginsp
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The goat fence won't work- they'll just eat their way out.
There are a lot of orchards in the Calif. central valley which I drive through on the way up to my place, and they periodically rip out all the trees in an orchard before planting a new one. They do so with very large dozers with rippers on the back. A ripper is a huge tine that sticks in the earth like 2 feet deep as they drag along and rip up the stumps. Amazing what diesel fuel will do. I doubt you'll be hiring a D9 to do the job, but if there is one in the neighborhood...
Cat D9-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caterpillar_D9
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MtnDon
Member
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# Posted: 25 Mar 2014 00:16 - Edited by: MtnDon
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This would do....
Komatsu 575a
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bldginsp
Member
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# Posted: 25 Mar 2014 08:33
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Yes Don, it would, but there wouldn't be anything left when it was through
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Just
Member
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# Posted: 25 Mar 2014 09:31
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the price around southern Ontario is about $1500 a acre to clear and windrow stumps. Hire the largest dozer or track hoe in your area ,the bigger the cheaper .
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MtnDon
Member
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# Posted: 25 Mar 2014 09:44
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Quoting: bldginsp but there wouldn't be anything left when it was through
You'd have a strip mine.....
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LDamm
Member
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# Posted: 25 Mar 2014 12:58
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Rent a forestry mulcher.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpgPsQIq7_w
I knew a guy in western WI that had one if your interested.
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gsreimers
Member
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# Posted: 25 Mar 2014 17:29
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LDamm, that was incredible. Might be a little tough to get out to the property I have on an island, but man, could we clear a building site quick.
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Sustainusfarm
Member
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# Posted: 25 Mar 2014 19:21
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Good ideas...I'll get right on those! Lol. I did get an idea though...I have a friend with a stump grinder! I could use all those tChips to better my pure sand soil! Thx
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OwenChristensen
Member
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# Posted: 26 Mar 2014 19:25 - Edited by: OwenChristensen
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I don't know about that. Wood chips are a pain when they get rotten. I don't have any better ideas. I own a 55 year old pine plantation. Fifteen years ago an ice storm took down several hundred trees, about two percent of the total. For several years I thought about clean up. Then I found thousands of little seedlings growing, so I tried to forget about it and not mess with it. Now most of the logs and stumps are getting quite rotten and I have a new shorter forest. I'm sure glad I let nature take it's course.
Gary, I'm sure most of your soil is rotten wood, what's a little more? You could dig a hole in the bed rock and bury it.
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du6988
Member
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# Posted: 27 Mar 2014 10:13
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I have had good results from cutting the ends out of 55gal. drums and placing over the stump and start a fire. It holds the fire right where you need it. On a pine stump it should take it to ground level pretty quickly. Of course I've never had to do as many as what you are looking at. Good luck
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Sustainusfarm
Member
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# Posted: 29 Mar 2014 12:39
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Well its official...the stump grinder will be doing his work as soon as the snow is gone but the ground is still frozen...less damage that way. He will be doing it all for $500 and the opportunity for he and his family to stay a weekend this summer and have me wait on them like it is a 5 star resort! His words not mine... looks like I will be a cabana boy for a weekend...at least I don't have to do stumps!
I will save the chips and incorporate them into the sandy soil as I have noticed that everywhere I have chips worked into the soil the plans grow much better because the chips hold moisture. Along with that I will be burying 8-12" pine logs 24" beneath the soil surface and create some hugulgarten beds to plant blueberries, raspberries and asparagus. Ill do an update on that separately later this year....Thanks for the ideas...
Owen, I still have many dead standing trees from the beetle infestation two years ago...I plan on leaving them stand until they fall on their own as I also see many new trees sprouting up now that the area has a bit more sun.
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