Tractor Logging - Using Tractors for Clearing Trees and Wooded Lots
Tractor Land Clearing - Clearing Lots, Trees, and Logging with a Tractor
More and more it is becoming common for land owners clearing their own lots by buying a tractor. If you own or plan to buy land in Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Colorado or Utah, you might well discover that house lots, ranch land, and other land and properties provide a great opportunity to build and grow, and anyone can increase property value by upgrading the property with your own tractor.
Not only does clearing one’s own land save money, clearing and cutting your own timber can also provide tractor owners a great source for building timber and firewood, it can also produce added income. Mills and lumber yards are generally willing to pay higher prices for cut timber located near a road than for standing timber. As many homesteaders already know, there are many other added benefits to doing one’s own logging. When you log and leave some on your property, you start a fresh new earth life-cycle. Timber logs enrich the surrounding soil so that plants and tree saplings can take root. The decomposing wood becomes a healthy eco living space for plants and animals who also will come to rely on your logs as a food source. Besides providing important shelter for insects, they can also provide shelter for young trees from heavy deer and livestock feeding. Cut wood retains moisture in shady areas, promoting natural growth. Clearing land with a tractor, or “Tractor Logging”, also reduces the negative environmental impact of where larger skidders can cause land damage or adverse soil compaction. Tractor logging can produce large amounts of firewood from personal consumption or sale. It is also an effective way to meet landowners’ goals of clearing a lot for a home, barn, workshop or opening recreation areas. Tractors are a relatively low capital investment to buy compared to the increased value of your cleared land or the cost of hiring a contractor to do the work. Larger, full-time professional loggers are often unable to cost effectively clear land for small jobs.
Tractor Land Clearing Basics
First, create a plan. Land clearing can take a few hours or a multi-day job depending on the size and scope of the project. Select an area on your property that is suitable for the purpose. A UTV will make marking the area for clearing much easier. Taking the correct precautions and creating a solid plan will make mastering land clearing techniques a breeze. Second, you must have the right tools for the job. Front End Loader Tractor, Chainsaw, Axe, Shovel. Before we discuss how to clear land with a tractor, you need to make a plan. If the area is small and uncomplicated, you’re in a good position to clear the land yourself.
To handle a wide range of trees and log sizes, a tractor for logging can be small or large, which is dependent upon the size of your clearing job. With that said, a four-wheel drive (4x4) is a must. Four-wheel drive tractors give some real benefits to landowners, as these machines are smaller to physical size and cost less than conventional logging machines and offer a great alternative to hiring contractors. Since most four-wheel drive tractors are manufactured for ranch, field, orchard and other agricultural purposes, they also serve as great large rough terrain logging machines. You'll want to make sure that the tractor has ROPS (Roll Over Protective Structure), a heavy duty barbecue guard for hood and radiator protection, and additional wheel weights to handle heavy loads. Additional equipment, including fire extinguishers and tire chains, is also recommended. Brackets and logging slashes can damage tire valves that cause flat tires, but your tractor dealer can provide wheel protection to solve this problem. Small, maneuverable four-wheel-drive tractors create an opportunity for woodlot owners to do more of their own forest management work. Since these types of tractors are primarily designed for agricultural use, however, several modifications should be made to increase safety and efficiency before heading into the forest.
Trees are best felled with a chainsaw. Loggers delimb (cut branches off flush) and the tops of the trees that cut off the tree bole near the top at a point where the tree's diameter falls below a certain level. Whenever possible, the trees should be felled with butts directed towards the landing, or the location where the trees will be skipped. After a few trees have been felled, removed and topped, pull the trees to the tractor. Then the tree ends up with a three-point hitch and skips the trees to the side of the road. We measure and cut tree-length stems at the roadside into the required log lengths.
When trees are felled in the direction in which the logs will be moved, it makes logging with a tractor much easier. The actual log skidding consists of two steps - accumulating or gathering (bunching) the individual pieces which make up the load, called a "turn", and transportation of the load to roadside. In cases commonly used with small tractors, the work of transporting logs and pulpwood to roadside follows. The tree is cut (directionally felled), limbed and bucked to length. The cut to length material is bunched into piles of suitable size. The bunch size depends on the ground and terrain conditions (dry, frozen, steep slope, flat ground) and product size. The best bunch size will be determined as you develop operating experience. The accumulation of piles will make up a load. In the case roadside piles, they are usually loaded onto a truck and delivered to a mill. In the case of a small tractor, bunches should be oriented for easy access to the trail and should be of best size for dragging in a trail. One tractor logging method is called “Shortwood” logging. In shortwood logging, trees are cut in shorter lengths near the stump, and are skidded in shorter lengths for easier handling.
When using tractors for logging, trail quality is a key factor. The smoother and straighter the trail, the higher the travel speed and productivity and results in far less the operator fatigue. When skidding, the more log surface area in contact with the ground, the greater the skidding resistance. The length and number of pieces are best determined for each operation based on tree weight, length. sweep, and ground conditions. Two years of trials with a 21-horsepower tractor showed that a turn of 6-8 logs, 22-30 feet in length worked very well. A base rule of thumb for determining the ground skidding capacity of small tractors. based on observations at the University of Maine was 0.01 cords per horsepower. This means that a 16-horsepower tractor could skid 0.16 cords per trip or in six trips deliver one cord of wood to an average distance to roadside.
Clearing Land, Trees and Brush with a Tractor
Always make sure that the load is aligned with the middle of the tractor; otherwise the tractor might tip on its side while pulling the log in. Adding weight will give your tractor greater traction and stability while working in the woods. Skidding logs with the tractor drawbar is how most land owners log their land.
A tractor winch is a tool to consider for larger tractor tree clearing jobs. A PTO winch or hydraulic 3 point winch will greatly reduce the time it takes to do the job. While a tractor logging winch will increase the skidding capability of your tractor, it is not necessary for most tractor forestry jobs.
If you're using a winch, you're going to want a counterweight on the front of your tractor to retain the power of steering and traction. This may take the form of a suitcase weight, or if you have a front loader, it may act as a counterweight. If you need extra front-end weight, consider front wheel weights. Adding weight will give your tractor better footing and solidness when working in the forested areas. Another option is a rear ballast weight box, which can also serve as a handy holder for chainsaws, choker chains, and tools. Tire chains help increase the traction of snow, ice and mud. V-bar and studded ice chains provide excellent winter performance and are also available for small sub-compact tractors. Traditional double-ring chains are designed with overlapping cross-chain rings that are large enough to prevent the chain from slipping through the tires. They offer outstanding self-cleaning action and are long-lasting. Often overlooked is the importance of protecting tire valve stems that are susceptible to log, rock, and slash damage.
Using Your Tractor to Level and Grade the Land
Start by removing smaller debris like rocks, fallen tree limbs, and brush with your front end loader tractor. When clearing land with a front end loader, be sure to mark all trees and vegetation you want to keep with ribbon. Use a chainsaw to fell any unwanted trees and use your tractor to haul them away.
Leveling then grading is the last step in learning how to clear a tractor ground. Extract all tree stumps by digging your shovel to roots. Remove the stumps with a backhoe, or in the alternative you may use a heavy-duty chain and the tractor. Fill any holes left from removing rocks and trees. Use the loader to clear away fallen trees, rocks, debris and brush. Clear debris, rocks, stumps and boulders and move into a large pile. your bucket loader. Use the backhoe attachment to do any necessary digging, such as digging trenches to bring water, for example, or dig any large boulders you can't lose with just your chains. Re-attach the bulldozer blade once you've cleared up and leveled the soil to prepare the land for farming or any other project you've planned.
Other Tools, Methods and Ideas for Tractor Land Clearing
To get rid of brush and weeds a multitude of tools are available including a brush mower or root plow. Brush mowers and custters take everything down up to medium-sized trees and turn it into small pieces to spread across the land. With bigger trees, a stump grinder cuts tree stumps level with the topsoil so that they may decompose over time.
The best tool for the removal of stumps is a tractor backhoe. Alternatively, you can mulch the stumps with a tractor stump grinder, and spread it across the land to improve the soil. The cut and grind method follows that last thought process: everything becomes mulched.
Using a tractor to push trees over which is also known as tractor bulldozing. Pushover land clearing is exactly what it sounds like: you push over large growth with huge, expensive machinery. This leaves the roots intact. Bulldozers work efficiently in small and intermediate sized areas compared to specialized land clearing equipment. Again, it just depends on the space and budget you’re working with. This technique involves pushing over large brush and trees. The holes that remain are then taken care of by the bulldozer (if that’s what’s used for the pushover) or a backhoe. The drawback of this method is that it can destroy your topsoil. That may be unavoidable, however, if you have a ton of giant trees. Not only will the large trees become a problem for your project — so will its roots. When choosing the pushover method, keep in mind that bulldozing may decrease the value of the wood from your trees. If you’re working with valuable hardwood, this may not be the method for you.
Pulling trees down is another method that involves large anchor chains and tractors. You attach chains to whatever matter needs to go, attach the chains to the tractor, and pull it awThe first cut-and-grind cycle is as follows. The brush and weeds will go first. This can happen with a variety of tools, such as a brush mower or root plow, depending on the available space and equipment. Big equipment then gathers up trees and places them in a pile. This way, transferring them and storing them later is easier.
It is important to keep in mind that with every technique, there are limitations. We are here to help! Contact the Tractor Pro’s at Team Tractor Ranch for more information or help. Give us a call at 602-734-9944 or visit www.TeamTractor.com
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