brush cutting old timber land

[MapleLeafFarmer]

I appreciate that, and I will where I can...but these are THICK briars, after about one foot in I'd be bleeding profusely (I've tried). I can see through some sections, but the pine straw that's built up over the many years is likely covering things so I can't see. That's my dilemma.

If you can't walk into it without bleeding will the light duty tires on a LX stand up to the task?

In the long run it may be cheaper to hire someone with the right equipment to make the first pass and then you can maintain going forward.?

 

[Elliott in GA]

Having cleared several acres of 5 foot tall weeds, multiflora rose, brambles and very sparse small trees (2-4 inches) with my LX and rotary cutter, I would offer the following advice. Set your cutter height high; mine is at 5 inches but you might want to start with 10 inches due to the stumps. Backing in slowly is the way to go for most areas, but you can also make 1/2 passes around the perimeter. Finally for the really thick stuff, use your grapple to claw down and drag out (using float) the brush. I did this with a 15 yard by 75 yard patch of multiflora rose that was too dense to back in, and then you can grind up the brush piles with the cutter. I used my Stihl Kombi with the pole saw attachment (no extension) to slice off the occasional tree to be chipped; the pole saw keeps you out of the briars. Take your time - do it while it is cold and good luck.

R4 tires held up without any damage.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

That string netting HAD to be easier to remove than a 'forever' length of barbed wire I snagged 3 years ago helping a neighbour !!!

While 1 acre is small, rent the forestry mulcher or pay someone for the day. Done right the first time makes it EASY to keep 'groomed' later on.

 

[Norman]

If you can't walk into it without bleeding will the light duty tires on a LX stand up to the task?

In the long run it may be cheaper to hire someone with the right equipment to make the first pass and then you can maintain going forward.?

R4 are considered light duty? I have done a ton of work on 5 acres of woods on my current property with no issues, I would expect they'll be fine here too. The key for me is to go really slow in hopes I see something before it becomes a hazard and slow enough that if I don't see it the damage will be minimal.

 

[jaxs]

If you didn't already own the tractor and cutter I'd try to discourage you buying them for this project. As it stands I suggest you put the cutter on and try it. I expect the futility will quickly become apparent. 25-30 horsepower isn't near enough to chew it up and spit it out of a 5 foot cutter. A rental skid steer with mulcher can handle it or there are walk behind brush cutters you can rent or if you will have similar projects in the future,buy. We once cleared a riverfront campsite of briars with an electric hedge trimmer enough to get in with chainsaw for larger stuff. I sometimes powered 120 volt trimmer with inverter on boat batteries and others with a genny. We held trimmer close to ground for couple arm's length sweeps then above head height to drop briars to ground then take a step and repeat until a path is clear. From there we could walk along path cutting at ground level then return cutting above head height. Doing it in 1-2 hour sessions on each visit I viewed it as working out and the experince became quite pleasant. Several understory plants were saved with this process. One acre certainly isn't too large of area for a hand trimmer but if I planned doing much more and needed it done faster I might opt for a walk behind.

 

[MapleLeafFarmer]

R4 are considered light duty? I have done a ton of work on 5 acres of woods on my current property with no issues, I would expect they'll be fine here too. The key for me is to go really slow in hopes I see something before it becomes a hazard and slow enough that if I don't see it the damage will be minimal.

I would say yes that the R4 on the LX is considered light duty when used as you described and compared to what the forestry mulchers use, tracks, no flat tires, etc... that logging and commercial tractors use.
R4's are HD for an LX with a loader in typical farm yard environments but I figured your adventure is far from a typical farm yard project.

Given your comments on how thick and the size of patch you are looking at and that you couldn't walk even 1 foot into it I would worry about sidewall punctures, etc.

Thats where my 'heads up" concern came from. I wouldn't try it given what you said with R4's on a LX as tires can be expensive not only all the other possible dangers but heck YMMV and if you are up for the adventure I go for it. I just wouldn't do it.

 

[Flintknapper]

Speaking of hidden items:

Ran into this today when mowing around an old abandoned barn. No telling what else is in the tall grass around there.

I've never spent much time around the 'barn' in the 35 yrs. I've lived on this property. Might get around to tearing it down one of these years.

Thankfully, the bucket on the FEL found it before the rotary cutter did.

 

[Norman]

Well, I had huge success and a great time getting there. Took me 7 1/2 hours and cost one bent stabilizer for the lift arm. I decided to put the grapple on instead of the bucket and glad I did. I was able to roll it over to help push brush down while simultaneously feeling for hidden stumps or debris and it worked great. It also was huge to help get downed trees out of my way so I could keep cutting. My LX2610 was flawless and did incredibly well as usual. I have a very heavy duty 5 foot Sidewinder brush cutter that’s probably 50 years old, while backing into some thick brush a little too quickly I hit a low stump and that’s when I bent the stabilizer. The Sidewinder was unphased. It’s only nemeses was the chicken wire that got caught up and immediately stalled the cutter and tractor. Thankfully it only took about 15 minutes to cut it out and get back to work. Pics of the land never really show what it was really like but here’s one along with my chicken wire choker. Also a pic of an 18 foot dovetail with LX, grapple, and cutter in case anyone wants to know how well it fits (the wheel just hangs off the back a bit…and of course everything was secured for travel…I just wanted to avoid that debate).






 

[Elliott in GA]

As I noted in my post, clawing down brush with the grapple really makes the job doable.

Glad you had success with only some minor issues. Like you, I have been very pleased with my LX. I spent a couple of hours on Friday digging up and loading about 10 tons of sand/gravel from a creek bank for my BIL. It took him more time to transport (about 250 yards) and dump the sand/gravel than for me to dig and load it.