Shearing Cedars

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BRYANT

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I 'm in the process of buying another 80 acres and about 40 of it has a lot of cedars and not been used for anything for the last say 60 years. I have a dozer but was wondering about shearing the cedars some are large and it is a lot harder on the ground , holes from roots , to push them with a dozer . how long will the cut snag take to rot away. A skid loader with a tree shear can cut them 1" below ground level.
Also I hate cedars but have noticed on the large ones if you leave a few and trim them up cows love to get under them in bad weather an when flies are bad. what do you all think of that ???
 
We have horrible cedar problems from the old timers not burning pastures forever. We have a turbo saw on the skid steer that does a good job of cutting them off flush with the ground.

I personally hate cedars and would kill every last one if possible, much better shade trees out there than a cedar that will keep spreading seed.
 
Our bigger cedars we left, and trimmed off the bottom branches. On a warm day, every cedar will have a cow under it, before the oaks. And, in storms, that is where you find the cows hiding out.
I hate them also, and we cut down all the new ones that pop up along the fence line or wherever, but the big ones stay.
 
Fire Sweep Ranch":27mchlx8 said:
Our bigger cedars we left, and trimmed off the bottom branches. On a warm day, every cedar will have a cow under it, before the oaks. And, in storms, that is where you find the cows hiding out.
I hate them also, and we cut down all the new ones that pop up along the fence line or wherever, but the big ones stay.
That's how we do it too.
 
The cattle absolutely love them. I think they instinctively know they repel bugs, and they must be good for scratching. Natural fly repellant?

I burned over a hundred last weekend, I think I have cut thousands on my little 60 acres. I used to cut with an axe, then switched to ruining many chainsaw blades by cutting them at ground level in the dirt. (I keep having links taken out since they stretch so bad) If you don't cut ground level you will be sorry, probably one of the slowest to decay.

Good thing about cedars is that once cut they don't grow back unlike locust.
 
Fire Sweep Ranch":72pr2o9j said:
Our bigger cedars we left, and trimmed off the bottom branches. On a warm day, every cedar will have a cow under it, before the oaks. And, in storms, that is where you find the cows hiding out.
I hate them also, and we cut down all the new ones that pop up along the fence line or wherever, but the big ones stay.


I'm pretty sure you are not talking about what Bryant is. Cedars in OK pastures are not red cedar trees.

Bryant, I have been told cutting them just pisses them off more. I thought spraying multiple years to kill to the roots then bulldozing was most effective.
 
Kell-inKY":2rsiws9z said:
The cattle absolutely love them. I think they instinctively know they repel bugs, and they must be good for scratching. Natural fly repellant?

I burned over a hundred last weekend, I think I have cut thousands on my little 60 acres. I used to cut with an axe, then switched to ruining many chainsaw blades by cutting them at ground level in the dirt. (I keep having links taken out since they stretch so bad) If you don't cut ground level you will be sorry, probably one of the slowest to decay.

Good thing about cedars is that once cut they don't grow back unlike locust.

Your tractor should jerk those easily, with just a chain. You drive, have somebody do the chain hooking. It works on a lot of our little crap trees to. Sshumate sasarus etc. I like it better than wearing out my chain saw.
 
AllForage":2kewqlfj said:
I'm pretty sure you are not talking about what Bryant is. Cedars in OK pastures are not red cedar trees.

The Okla. forestry Service calls them Eastern Red Cedars ?????
There is all kind of programs that help pay for removal, that is one reason I have a dozer, they are real easy to push out but the big ones leave a hole some times 7' around and 2' deep (est.) so I thought about shearing them ??
As for leaving some for the cattle its like some has said the cows and deer love them in bad weather and when flies are bad. But my Grand pa always said they were bad for cows eyes ??? Maybe just something the old timers figured out ????
 
BRYANT":1bvpvs94 said:
AllForage":1bvpvs94 said:
I'm pretty sure you are not talking about what Bryant is. Cedars in OK pastures are not red cedar trees.

The Okla. forestry Service calls them Eastern Red Cedars ?????
There is all kind of programs that help pay for removal, that is one reason I have a dozer, they are real easy to push out but the big ones leave a hole some times 7' around and 2' deep (est.) so I thought about shearing them ??
As for leaving some for the cattle its like some has said the cows and deer love them in bad weather and when flies are bad. But my Grand pa always said they were bad for cows eyes ??? Maybe just something the old timers figured out ????
One will drink about as much water as a cow every day too.
 
The eastern red cedar has both a male and a female tree. Leave the ones that do not produce berrys. Cut the ones that have berries. More species of bird and animal eat the red cedar berry than any other berry.
 
BRYANT":3qsqjsof said:
AllForage":3qsqjsof said:
I'm pretty sure you are not talking about what Bryant is. Cedars in OK pastures are not red cedar trees.

The Okla. forestry Service calls them Eastern Red Cedars ?????
There is all kind of programs that help pay for removal, that is one reason I have a dozer, they are real easy to push out but the big ones leave a hole some times 7' around and 2' deep (est.) so I thought about shearing them ??
As for leaving some for the cattle its like some has said the cows and deer love them in bad weather and when flies are bad. But my Grand pa always said they were bad for cows eyes ??? Maybe just something the old timers figured out ????

That is what we have, eastern red cedars. Birds poop the seeds all over and they grow like weeds.... But the older ones are nice for the cows. We have not had a problem with eyes, but they are all limbed up.
 
Well he'lls bells, I'm famisr with the cedars around Lawton OK. Sure don't look anything like the red cedar trees we have up here that grow in swamps. I thought the bad ones were in native range ranch type places. Oh well.

My understanding is that overgrazing over the last century has helped them spread. My friend has had good luck with spraying them by airplane.
 
I,m in cedar country been dealing with them all my life, as a child grandpa payed us a nickel a piece for the tiny ones we cut with loping shears. I have stumps on my place that i cut at ground level with chainsaw as a teenager, 30 years ago. They will roll right out with a chisel plow. I have some i cut 7 years ago i cant pull with 4x4 tractor and dodge 3500 4x4 working together. In rocky ground their actually easier to pull(shallow roots) than in deep soil.imo if you plan on cultivating the ground in next 15 years your better of with a large dozer than a shear. The best job i ever saw done the guy pushed them over with a dozer then used a skidsteer with,grapple to pile, but first he would shake the dirt off rootball into one of the holes he had made. A few passes with disc and pretty slick pasture.
 
AllForage":3der288a said:
Well he'lls bells, I'm famisr with the cedars around Lawton OK. Sure don't look anything like the red cedar trees we have up here that grow in swamps. I thought the bad ones were in native range ranch type places. Oh well.

My understanding is that overgrazing over the last century has helped them spread. My friend has had good luck with spraying them by airplane.

Damn old timers around here planted the damn things for wind breaks. Could have used Pine or spruce but they use &%$)#)&*%$) cedar. Takes a powerful concoction to kill them with a spray. Fire works best around here but you are very right that decades of over grazing helped their spread as there was nothing left to burn them off.
 
fenceman":1w1b9pdj said:
I,m in cedar country been dealing with them all my life, as a child grandpa payed us a nickel a piece for the tiny ones we cut with loping shears. I have stumps on my place that i cut at ground level with chainsaw as a teenager, 30 years ago. They will roll right out with a chisel plow. I have some i cut 7 years ago i cant pull with 4x4 tractor and dodge 3500 4x4 working together. In rocky ground their actually easier to pull(shallow roots) than in deep soil.imo if you plan on cultivating the ground in next 15 years your better of with a large dozer than a shear. The best job i ever saw done the guy pushed them over with a dozer then used a skidsteer with,grapple to pile, but first he would shake the dirt off rootball into one of the holes he had made. A few passes with disc and pretty slick pasture.
Cedar stumps around here can be pushed over and out of the ground with a tractor the year after they're cut. Not really that hard to uproot a live one if it' snot over 2-3 inches in diameter.
 
If you have the patience, they are a lot easier to deal with after they are dead. Put out some Spike or Pronone Power Pellets and let them do the work. Takes two treatments about 6 months a part most of the time. Two years later the wind will knock them over.
 
Here is the worst part about cutting a cedar off at the ground. I cut this cedar down about 25 years ago. It's sticking up about 2 inches. I've never hurt anything running accross it, but it'd been better if I'd have pulled it up. My little tractor just wouldn't do it at the time.
 

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