Chainsaw to cut saplings?

[kentuckysteader]

If you don't have access to or want to pay for brush hog, what kind of equipment would work best to clear 3-4 acres of 1"-2" saplings?

I just don't think a chainsaw is the right tool ...


As Always, Many Thanks In Advance!!!

[MELOC]

http://www.forestry-suppliers.com/pr...ge.asp?mi=1763

i want one!

[Cabin Fever]

Don't use a chainsaw...there is too much potential for kickback!

My sggestions are (1) purchase a brush cutter with a straight shaft, "bicycle-style" handlebar, and circular saw carbide-tipped blade. Or (2), rent a walk behind brushcutter such as the DR brushmower.

[Michael Kawalek]

Hi KS
It's only safe if you can put a "brushbar" on your particular saw. Cutting brush and thin stuff is dangerous with a regular parallel bar. A brushbar has an egg shaped bar that prevents the chain from coming off while cutting brush.

[suitcase_sally]

Goat???

[Jenn]

I've never used the beaver blade that came with my DR trimmer- sort of afraid to. I'd actually do those 3 acres with a bow saw if they are really saplings but I have more fear of chain saws than I do need to get things done quickly.

Or have someone with a back hoe push them all over.

[SouthernLiving]

If you have a quality string trimmer (like a Stihl or Echo) you can probably get a brush blade for it. The blade does very well on sapplings up to about an inch. Just rev the engine up and tap the tree with the blade; it slices right through. Go back and get the larger trees with a chainsaw.

[mistletoad]

We have cleared a couple of acres using a combination of things - limb loppers, a bill hook/brush ax, a machete, hatchets and the Stihl with a sawblade. The first acre was cleared completely without the Stihl. Even now it is the last tool we bring out. Mostly the boys go in with a machete and clear the lower branches and then DH or I go in with the bill hook. This leaves us with a nice area of punji stakes but they rot out pretty quickly.

[-TWO-]

A larger saw (385 Husky, MS660 Stihl) with a long bar (30" to 32") works as well as anything. Work a 2' swath, back & forth, wishboning the "buggy whips" as you go. I've slashed & thinned 100's, maybe 1000's of acres this way over the years, averaging 10 to 15 acres a day. Run your chain a little tighter then normal & set your oiler on max. Rich your mix a bit (a 16th turn to the left on the high speed screw will do). Use full comp. chain & leave the rakers high.

[Red Dog Farms]

Did do the DR or walk behind brush cutter, can be alot of work depending on thick the brush is and on how level the ground is. Alot of back and forth movements, mower sliding into holes or small dips, lot of cuttings flying in the air. Tough on shoulders, arms, and legs at times. For me, seeing the ad of the young lady all nicely dressed up walking behind the mower as if she was on a picnic was not truth in advertising. 8>)

Do you have access to someone who has a small tractor with a backblade or loader? I have used the corner of my backblade and chains on the front loader and drawbar to pull out the saplings. I hate the pungi sticks you get, rough on the feet if you step on them and bad for tires. One neighbor did borrowed a batwing mower for a field as you describe, he had to replace the tires on the batwing when he was done. Pulling them out means they also will not grow back.

Just a thought...

PS Using the brush hog on back of my 8N or the larger rotary cutter on my H sometimes the sapling, depending on the length did not get cut that much. Would bend over, scalp the side of the sapling, cut off part of the top and the sapling at times would spring back up.

[Old Swampgirl]

I've successfully cleared sapplings & brush with my really old Troybuilt sickle-bar mower.

[mamita]

we took out saplings by digging them out with a maddox. one year my hubby wanted to clear a specific area, so he dug out five a night. some were a bit larger, and it was exhausting work. BUT....over summer, the job was done. I know you're doing a larger area, so you need something more. lol that was all we had on hand. and NO...some jobs we would never do again. (so often we think of so many things we're forever happy are behind us)

[just_sawing]

The solution is called a forestry mulcher
I run a 322 John Deere with a bradco mulching head. With this I am on tracks where I have low pressure on the land. I take everything 8" and down and shred it into mulch which builds the soil instead of taking away.

[English Oliver]

I have an 18" Husqvarna I use to cut saplings. Here is a pic of one I cut today.



"O"

[MELOC]

(voice of billy bob thornton)

mmmm he's just a little feller'.

[Nette]

I would use my little Stihl pole saw to do it. If it kicks back, you're far enough from the blade to be pretty safe. Mainly that's what I'd use because it's the only kind of chainsaw DH will let me have.

[big rockpile]

I had a Walk Behind Brush Cutter that had a Big Buzz Blade on the front.It worked great.

big rockpile

[agmantoo]

I use a Robin weed eater with a cheap table saw carbide tip blade affixed. I buy the China blades at a surplus outlet and use my drill press to bore the mounting hole larger. Enlarging the hole is easy and the existing hole will be the guide. No balance problems either. I can shear the sapling close to the ground in one fast whack.

[PyroDon]

do you have a tractor?
Ive had good luck using a V drag made of "I"beam by bolting sickle bar sections to the "I" bean the sections act like a saw cutting large weed and small saplings off at ground level

[RedneckPete]

Fence it in and turn a dozen goats and a dozen hogs loose.

By the end of the summer you will have a clear pasture and several freezers full of pork.

Pete