East Texas Pine to Pasture Conversion

[Pineland]

Did you finish picking up limbs, roots and sticks by hand or with a root rake?

How did you burn off the wood piles? After you burned the wood piles a few times, what did you do with the dirt in the piles with the burnt logs?

I am searching for some before photos of the upload portion so you can see how bad this area was in the beginning. This area has a sandy base that slopes to a very rich and fertile loamy area, which grew sweet gum and tallow trees. We initially started making large piles of logs with left over trees and got an initial burn with would reduce the pile any where from 50 to 60 percent. We would push the piles together and then burn again. Next we would condense two piles together and burn again, until we had single small but long windrow of very small sticks and debris but was mostly dirt. I used a drip torch to light off each pile and it paid for itself many times over by conserving fuel.

I would spread the dirt and ash from the piles until it was somewhat level and rerake if necessary. I have a root rack on both my tractor and dozer. But on the upland project most was done with a dozer root rake and a 30 hp tractor with a front end loader. Bermuda grass really took off in the ares where there were burn piles. I think I can count the number of times on one hand that we walked or drove in front of loader picking up sticks.

 

[apical meristem]

We initially started making large piles of logs with left over trees and got an initial burn with would reduce the pile any where from 50 to 60 percent. We would push the piles together and then burn again. Next we would condense two piles together and burn again, until we had single small but long windrow of very small sticks and debris but was mostly dirt. I used a drip torch to light off each pile and it paid for itself many times over by conserving fuel.

Yes, that is my experience too. What did you do with the big charred logs?

I have a JD650 6 way blade with a root rake and a JD850 with a 4 way. Both have limb risers (sweeps). I started out with just the 650. While that can get a lot done for its size (just under 100HP), the amount of work the 850 can do is much more satisfying. I have found that the 850 will take out stumps on wet ground pretty easily (in E. TX). With the 850 I make passes up to a point where the windrowed pile is made on either side of the pass. That way a pass is never wasted. This moves the big stuff out of the way. I follow with the 650 and the rake to get the roots and limbs left over. I usually need two passes with the 650 root rake to get it fairly root free. Then like you, I use a drip torch to start the piles. The piles burn pretty well but there is a lot of dirt leftover when they are burned down. I want to get a root rake for the 850 as well to pass through the leftover dirt piles to pickup the big logs and burt sticks left over to put them in a pile to finish burning.

There is a company in Gladewater that will put foam/rubber in tractor tires for a reasonable cost. It is better to bring the whole tractor over there because the tires will be extremely heavy when finished.

 

[Pineland]

We pushed the big charred logs into an adjacent windrow or pile and put a drip torch to it.

All of our tires are foam filled so no flats so far.

This tool does wonders.

 

[apical meristem]

We pushed the big charred logs into an adjacent windrow or pile and put a drip torch to it.

All of our tires are foam filled so no flats so far.

This tool does wonders.

Neat.

 

[Pineland]

Here are a few updated photos. The rain has slowed us down, but we continue to make progress.

 

[kciD]

thoughts on the toxins that will be present from the pine needles--- impeeding plant growth?

 

[Caustic Burno]

thoughts on the toxins that will be present from the pine needles--- impeeding plant growth?

Pines are a way of life in the thicket. There are huge regional differences on this board and hard for some of us to understand. If I had to worry about pine needles I wouldn't have a cow.

What you think won't work somebody else is doing it and making money.

 

[kciD]

thoughts on the toxins that will be present from the pine needles--- impeeding plant growth?

Pines are a way of life in the thicket. There are huge regional differences on this board and hard for some of us to understand. If I had to worry about pine needles I wouldn't have a cow.

What you think won't work somebody else is doing it and making money.

that wasn't my concern.. my concern is that pines are allopathic-- meaning for those Texans who live in the thicket-- and don't have access to a dictionary. "A method of treating disease with remedies that produce effects different from those caused by the disease itself." Basically, this is the same as Black Walnut-- which I'm sure Texans don't care about either.... Regardless-- these species of organisms produce a toxin-- which kills off all other plants living underneath it, or atleast hinders its growth like a growth retardant.

My question is to the level this allopathy has-- and it's 'life' in the soil after the pines and needles are gone. Will this hinder the grass growth, or will it be miniscule?

 

[Pineland]

I have piled and burned most or the pine needles on the ground and have not noticed any ill effect on any new growth.

 

[TexasBred]

thoughts on the toxins that will be present from the pine needles--- impeeding plant growth?

Pines are a way of life in the thicket. There are huge regional differences on this board and hard for some of us to understand. If I had to worry about pine needles I wouldn't have a cow.

What you think won't work somebody else is doing it and making money.

that wasn't my concern.. my concern is that pines are allopathic-- meaning for those Texans who live in the thicket-- and don't have access to a dictionary. "A method of treating disease with remedies that produce effects different from those caused by the disease itself." Basically, this is the same as Black Walnut-- which I'm sure Texans don't care about either.... Regardless-- these species of organisms produce a toxin-- which kills off all other plants living underneath it, or atleast hinders its growth like a growth retardant.

My question is to the level this allopathy has-- and it's 'life' in the soil after the pines and needles are gone. Will this hinder the grass growth, or will it be miniscule?

Without using a he77 of a lot of big words "NO". (Please see pics of previously cleared land)

 

[kciD]

I saw those pictures-- and there wasn't anything growing worth bragging about.

The speed of rot- from pine needles-- should have been gone in a year-- what did that pasture look like in one year?

 

[TexasBred]

I saw those pictures-- and there wasn't anything growing worth bragging about.

The speed of rot- from pine needles-- should have been gone in a year-- what did that pasture look like in one year?

You're either blind or I'm hallucinating. Please observe black cattle in grass knee deep on page two of this thread.

 

[JSCATTLE]

I saw those pictures-- and there wasn't anything growing worth bragging about.

The speed of rot- from pine needles-- should have been gone in a year-- what did that pasture look like in one year?

You're either blind or I'm hallucinating. Please observe black cattle in grass knee deep on page two of this thread.

Looks like sir loin found a new I p address ...

 

[kciD]

I saw those pictures-- and there wasn't anything growing worth bragging about.

The speed of rot- from pine needles-- should have been gone in a year-- what did that pasture look like in one year?

You're either blind or I'm hallucinating. Please observe black cattle in grass knee deep on page two of this thread.

I saw pastern deep grass-- that took 2 years to establish--- When establishing cool season grasses-- a good enough stand to graze should be there after a year...

While I admit this looks good-- how many cases are the same?

 

[kciD]

I saw those pictures-- and there wasn't anything growing worth bragging about.

The speed of rot- from pine needles-- should have been gone in a year-- what did that pasture look like in one year?

You're either blind or I'm hallucinating. Please observe black cattle in grass knee deep on page two of this thread.

Looks like sir loin found a new I p address ...

who the hell is sir loin?

 

[TexasBred]

I saw those pictures-- and there wasn't anything growing worth bragging about.

The speed of rot- from pine needles-- should have been gone in a year-- what did that pasture look like in one year?

You're either blind or I'm hallucinating. Please observe black cattle in grass knee deep on page two of this thread.

I saw pastern deep grass-- that took 2 years to establish--- When establishing cool season grasses-- a good enough stand to graze should be there after a year...

While I admit this looks good-- how many cases are the same?

Who said anything about cool season grasses?? Indeed this does look very good and in this case it is the only case that matters. Others don't matter.

 

[ANAZAZI]

Looks like sir loin found a new I p address ...

who the be nice is sir loin?

Never mind them. Just tell us how you feel about corn gluten and wet destillers grain?

 

[kciD]

We feed a **** ton of Corn gluton.. and dry DDG.. Love both products for what they offer to the table. Have no experience with wet DDG-- other than when I was at the U-- we mixed it w/ straw to feed the old cows in the winter.

I can take a ration of 1/2 DDGS and 1/2 SBMP-- and really put the weight on one in 2 weeks... love that high fat content...

 

[TexasBred]

We feed a be nice ton of Corn gluton.. and dry DDG.. Love both products for what they offer to the table. Have no experience with wet DDG-- other than when I was at the U-- we mixed it w/ straw to feed the old cows in the winter.

I can take a ration of 1/2 DDGS and 1/2 SBMP-- and really put the weight on one in 2 weeks... love that high fat content...

Why do you need some an excessive amount of protein?

 

[Pineland]

This photo shows the volunteer growth after the initial clearing. Although its nothing to brag about, its more than we had over the drought in our pastures this past year. In our timber areas where we have intensive wildlife management practices including scheduled control burns for our deer population we had a tremendous amount of forage that got us through the drought when we were running out of options.