Removing trees

[herofan]

I posted a while back about cutting around cedars trunks to kill them so they would be lighter in weight and easier to handle if I cut and removed them. They are roughly 20 feet tall and some 40 inch trunks. There is probably 50 or more in a row on a hillside.

What about dozing them down? Would that be a fairly simple and fast job for an experienced dozer operator, or a bigger job than I might think?

Is there anything I could spray them with to kill them, or are trees that size beyond killing with a herbicide?

 

[Kingfisher]

They bulldoze em around here

 

[Aaron]

Backhoe, plain and simple. Put the bucket half way up the tree and push. Leverage will rip the roots right out of the ground, and if the machine has a thumb, can quickly put them in a neat pile for you.

 

[herofan]

Backhoe, plain and simple. Put the bucket half way up the tree and push. Leverage will rip the roots right out of the ground, and if the machine has a thumb, can quickly put them in a neat pile for you.

My problem is not so much getting them down; I could saw them down with a chainsaw, but they are just big enough that they are a dread to fool with. Maybe they are even bigger than i described. I don't have a backhoe, and my tractor is a 45 horse, small by today's standards. I'm sure it will drag them off if they were cut down, but it wouldn't be like the Hulk snapping a twig.

I also don't know what to do with them. I hate to have the woods lying full of dead cedars. I suppose I'll just decide to let them stand, even though they are annoying when bush-hogging.

 

[skyhightree1]

Consult a local tree service company... They will be glad to remove it for you... You just gotta be prepared to pay them. I have been in the tree service business and being a certified arborist get these kinds of questions all the time. If you do not have the equip. to do something safely and efficiently let a professional handle it.

 

[skyhightree1]

This was around the farm

 

[tripleBfarms]

Call the logging crew. There is a market for cedar just like hardwood. The shares wont be as good, but even if they cut them and you got nothing, all you would have left is the tops to pile up and burn. Where in Ky are you?

 

[Bez__]

Fellow can go to work with a chainsaw and "man" them out.

I figure that's what a real man does.

But .....

I often wonder why we have to kill everything in a field.

Guess I figure that even a tree has a use - even if we can't always see it.

For sure we would not be breathing air without them.

Your alternative is to go around them.

Just because we can does not mean we need to kill everything that might be in our way.

You might think on that.

Bez__

 

[herofan]

Fellow can go to work with a chainsaw and "man" them out.

I figure that's what a real man does.

But .....

I often wonder why we have to kill everything in a field.

Guess I figure that even a tree has a use - even if we can't always see it.

For sure we would not be breathing air without them.

Your alternative is to go around them.

Just because we can does not mean we need to kill everything that might be in our way.

You might think on that.

Bez__

That's a good point. The thing about these is that they seem out of place. They are growing in a row on a hillside in a pasture field. I can remember when they were not there. My grandfather or dad got the idea to let them grow there, and now my dad can't even remember why aside from it might prevent erosion, which wasn't a problem there anyway, and even says he wishes they hadn't let them grow there. They just seem so unnecessary in their current position.

 

[stocky]

Like TripleB said. Cedar sticks have gone back up in price and several people are cutting them around here. You can probably get someone to cut them on the shares and you get 1/3 of the money. Even if they did not give you a share, you would be rid of them and they take everything 4 inches in diameter and larger, so you can bunch up the branches with the tractor and front end loader and pile them and burn them. If you don't know anyone who logs cedar, ask around, someone will know, or put an add in Craigslist. 50 trees that size will be worthwhile for someone

 

[hurleyjd]

My guess is that your grandfather left them there to provide a windbreak and shelter from the cold wind. He was thinking of the future when he left them.

 

[dun]

I have only 2 issues with cedars in the pasture. #1 they are horribly invasive, #2 the are water theives.

 

[herofan]

I have only 2 issues with cedars in the pasture. #1 they are horribly invasive, #2 the are water theives.

That is true.

I assume a dead cedar will be much lighter, even if only dead for a year or so. I moved some newly cut cedar brush by hand last year, and the branches were heavy. I had to move a few of the same ones about a year later, and they were very light compared to when they were green. I assume the foliage adds greatly to the weight of a cedar.

 

[denvermartinfarms]

I wouldn't want the stumps. So I would get them dozed. Try to find someone who wants the logs because they are big enough to be worth some money. But get them tipped over and then cut the logs out.

 

[cowgirl8]

I've been watching my grandson all weekend, but he goes home today. I'll get a picture of the best tree device anyone can have. Out of all our tree cutting machines, the one without moving parts is the best. We ran to west texas to get this doohickey. Husband is using it right now, so, later i'll get some video of it. Been wanting to make a youtube of it one day. Its pretty amazing, no parts to break and does many things.....

 

[TexasBred]

I wouldn't want the stumps. So I would get them dozed. Try to find someone who wants the logs because they are big enough to be worth some money. But get them tipped over and then cut the logs out.

Cedar stumps rot off from any roots in no time and you can push them up real easy.

 

[denvermartinfarms]

I wouldn't want the stumps. So I would get them dozed. Try to find someone who wants the logs because they are big enough to be worth some money. But get them tipped over and then cut the logs out.

Cedar stumps rot off from any roots in no time and you can push them up real easy.

I know, I still don't like stumps. Since we have always owned equipment I probably have a different view, compared to someone who has to hire a dozer at 100$ or more an hour. I do realize that.

 

[Bigfoot]

If they have a lot of red in them, cut them for fence post. You could carry the bigger ones to a band mill, to be quartered. If you got two 8' logs from each tree, and quartered them, it'd be 400 fence post.