# Bull Dozer clearing.



## farmlifeusa (Mar 18, 2005)

Anyone have a clue as to how many acres of somewhat dense woods ( small pecans, small oaks, etc...) that a large bull dozer can clear per hour? I just bought 40 acres of wooded pasture that I want to convert 20 of it to open pasture and 10 of it into a hay field. Thanks!!!!


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## mtman (Sep 2, 2004)

depends on the size machine and the operator, we just had 7 ac. cleard and leveld then 2 roads made one 1 mile long and the other about half mile long took 34 hrs at 100.00 an hour and a lot of the trees were big


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## fantasymaker (Aug 28, 2005)

Thats sorta a "What mileage does a car get?" kind of question.Its going to depend on a lot. Ask your local contractors for bids. If you are thinking of doing it yourself plan on at least twice as many hours as they quote you to allow for thr learning curve.


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## Harry Chickpea (Dec 19, 2008)

If the issue is not the land, but the brush, there is a machine that is much better for the task. If forget what it is called, but it is used by developers. It takes the brush and top part of the soil, rips it up and leaves behind a level trail covered with mulch. You'll want to ask around to find one for hire.


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## cast iron (Oct 4, 2004)

Taking the land all the way to pasture quality can be a boat load of work depending on the nature of the land you are starting with. Digging the stumps out and dealing with the fallen timber is some times better left for the excavator rather than the dozer.


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## ElectricVette (Oct 3, 2008)

Recently I overhead a local forester talking about land clearing. He said the cost of land clearing was between $200 and $250 per acre. I'm not sure exactly what he meant by clearing, but I'm pretty sure it would cost a bit more to take woods to pasture.

When clearing for pasture I'm pretty sure you are going to want to have the operator use a root rake.

I've been considering converting some brush land to pasture as well. Please post what you find out.


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## cast iron (Oct 4, 2004)

ElectricVette said:


> When clearing for pasture I'm pretty sure you are going to want to have the operator use a root rake.


Yep, you can get them as attachments for the dozer blade.


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## hotzcatz (Oct 16, 2007)

We just had a three-quarter acre of five foot tall grass grubbed and it was $400. It took a small D4 dozer about five hours to do it. There's still an acre of grass to take down and a lot of dirt moving yet to do so my DH went out and bought me a front loader/backhoe so we can dig it up ourselves and not have to pay anyone else for the work. He says if we get all the work done and can't find anything else to use the machine for, we can sell it at least what we paid for it since we bought it used.


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## tomstractormag (Feb 23, 2007)

An excavator is a better tool for clearing land. It will remove stumps, rocks as it goes. he dozer is more of a finishing tool, make it look pretty.
There is also a grinder type tool used on a big tractor (looks like a whole tree chipper, but portable) that will grind anything in its path. It does leave the grindings behind like a mulch though.

Tom


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## PrairieOaks (Jan 22, 2009)

I would not use a dozer for land clearing, first we do not have deep soils in the wooded areas. With a dozer you will screw up most of the topsoil. What we have done, several year process is; sawlog harvest and sale, pulp wood harvest and sale and then used a forestry mower to clear the remaining brush and grind the stumps flush. This leaves the little bit of topsoil in place. Cost was about $22000 for 50 acres but with the income from the sawlog and pulp our net cost was about $8000 or $160/acre. Actual the pulp harvest ended up being sold for firewood as we are some distance from the mills and fuel cost was high at the time. Besides the topsoil issue the piles left by the dozer will have large amount of dirt mixed in with the trees and brush, can burn but will need to let the remaining pile stand for many years to rot down.

Ron


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## ronbre (Apr 26, 2009)

why not hire a wood company to come in and remove the wood for you and pay you for it rather than clearing it all yourself..they have the machines to do it..and you get paid


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## kentuckysteader (May 28, 2007)

PrairieOaks said:


> I would not use a dozer for land clearing, first we do not have deep soils in the wooded areas. With a dozer you will screw up most of the topsoil. What we have done, several year process is; sawlog harvest and sale, pulp wood harvest and sale and then used a forestry mower to clear the remaining brush and grind the stumps flush. This leaves the little bit of topsoil in place. Cost was about $22000 for 50 acres but with the income from the sawlog and pulp our net cost was about $8000 or $160/acre. Actual the pulp harvest ended up being sold for firewood as we are some distance from the mills and fuel cost was high at the time. Besides the topsoil issue the piles left by the dozer will have large amount of dirt mixed in with the trees and brush, can burn but will need to let the remaining pile stand for many years to rot down.
> 
> Ron



Sorry for my being so dumb but what is the difference between sawlog harvest and pulpwood harvest. We have a couple of acres of trees that are leaning over or most of the way down (Ice Storm). These are smaller trees some 4-6" in diameter. We have shallow soils in these areas so I am looking for ideas on how to clear out what has fallen without impacting the soils too much.

Thanks!


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## ElectricVette (Oct 3, 2008)

kentuckysteader said:


> Sorry for my being so dumb but what is the difference between sawlog harvest and pulpwood harvest. We have a couple of acres of trees that are leaning over or most of the way down (Ice Storm). These are smaller trees some 4-6" in diameter. We have shallow soils in these areas so I am looking for ideas on how to clear out what has fallen without impacting the soils too much.
> 
> Thanks!


Saw logs are typically larger than pulp wood trees. Saw logs are used for making dimensional lumber, i.e. 2x4, 2x6 etc... Pulp wood is generally used for making wood pulp used in paper making. The size of the tree really doesn't matter for pulp wood as log as it's not too big.

Some sawmills now use Chip-n-saw type equipment where they can use the smaller logs, about the size of pulp wood, to make maybe one board or two and the rest is turned into chips.

Most loggers are not going to remove the stumps or tops after they harvest the timber.


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## Old Swampgirl (Sep 28, 2008)

Yep, have the loggers clear cut the acres you want done, they'll pay you, then use that money plus some of your own to get the finishing work done. It will cost lots to remove stumps, then remove debris, then dozer it.


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## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

If it's pasture do you really need the stumps removed right away or can you let them decay?

A friend who did a lot of clearing on his land said his bush hog could eat up any small tree that he could drive the tractor over so I'm assuming that meant trees up to 4".

You might get a logger to come in and buy the large trees with the understanding that they knock down all the rest too. Or sell the trees for firewood.


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## rambler (Jan 20, 2004)

farmlifeusa said:


> I just bought 40 acres of wooded pasture that I want to convert 20 of it to open pasture and 10 of it into a hay field. Thanks!!!!


If you want this to happen fast, it will cost a lot, esp that 10 acre hay field.

The pasture I'd get it down to stumps, fence it, and let it rot out naturally over time. Less cost, still pretty good pasture. It does take some to control the stump regrowth, etc. but depends what kind of 'woods' you are starting out with. It wouldn't need to be done 'perfect' tho, saving some money.

Getting 10 acres of woods cleared out to plant & harvest hay without wrecking your hay equipment will take a lot of pulling, leveling, and raking by several implements to get the ground in clean shape - without stumps, roots, and debris there to bother the mower & raking/baling equipment.

I'm assuming 'wooded pasture' is not heavily wooded to start with?

--->Paul


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## TnAndy (Sep 15, 2005)

Best way to use a dozer ( or excavator )to clear trees is* DO NOT CUT THE TREE.*....use the weight and leverage of the tree to push it over, and then cut it off the up turned stump.....but be careful, as this is an excellent way for a tree under pressure to beat the daylikes out of you. 

I prefer a large dozer over an excavator because the most excavators don't have the weight to do the job....they must first dig around the tree to cut the roots ( as a small dozer must ), then push it over. A LARGE dozer will walk up to a tree and push it over, and then you have the machine there you need to fill the stump hole in and smooth up...another thing an excavator doesn't do well.

Also a LARGE machine, while costing more per hour, is cheaper than a small machine costing less per hour. It depends on your tree sizes and soil, but bigger will do more work faster in most cases.....hire the biggest you can find.

Root rake is essential or you'll be plowing roots for years.


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