The 30 acres I recently bought has a 4+/- acre field that is the best location for a large food plot on the property. Problem is it was a pine thicket about 6-8 years ago and is full of stumps. The previous owner cut them to the ground so he can brushhog over them. I was able to remove about 5 after I purchased the property with a mattock, chainsaw and my tractor, but that was a ton of work. My plan is to rent a John Deere 50g for a weekend and having my bro-in-law (heavy equipment operator) work from daylight to dark getting as many out as possible. I will be there with the tractor and blade moving the stumps once he pops them out. I believe most will come out in pieces because they are pretty soft, just not soft enought to break up with a disc. Just looking for input on the positives and negatives of this plan. Hiring a guy with a large excavator is over $100 an hour, so that is out. Thanks for the advice.
VV
There are two alternatives that can work. One is the path you are on now. The key is preserving top soil. When he extracts the stumps, be sure to shake them off well and get as much dirt back as you can. If it is all pine, it should not be a problem. They decompose fast compared to hardwoods. I think I personally might opt for the second alternative. I did pretty much what you are doing with some small 1/4 acre sections of planted pine. The pines were only 6' tall or so and were not a problem. The problem was that hardwoods had be clearcut prior to the pines being planted. There were huge hardwood stumps 10 years old or older that were just beginning to decompose. I cut the roots on all sides with backhoe before I could tip them over. It took me a weekend to clear 1/4 acre and they left gaping holes a couple feet deep.
Over the years, I have evolved from traditional deep tillage to minimizing tillage. My 2 bottom plow now just sits and rusts. I do a combination of min-till setting my tiller so high that only hits the top inch or less, no-till with a small drill, and throw and mow. So, if I were in your situation today, I would opt for method 2, let nature take its course.
I would not worry about the stumps. I would soil test and lime accordingly. I would plant crops like buckwheat and winter rye that tolerate poor pH and infertility for a few years. You would be amazed at how quickly pine stumps decompose when cut close to the ground. As long as you can bushhog it, I would use throw and mow techniques. My conversion to minimizing tillage with a goal of total no-till came from watching some of "Ray the soil guy" videos. The demonstrates the damage we do to soil health when we till and the principles behind no-till. They are focused at farmers with large equipment, but the principles hold. Crimson and Camo has taken many of those principles and applied them to food plots with small equipment in his threads on here. So, in the long run, I would let nature take care of those stumps.
I did a lot of damage to my soil with tillage when I did not know better. Many are still recovering. As I've moved toward no-till, I'm finding my input requirements like fertilizer drop. I'm building OM from the top down which preserves and feeds the microbiology in the soil an improves nutrient cycling. Smart choices of crop combinations that feed and attract deer while scavenging nutrients and forming OM using a good balance of legumes that fix N and grasses that provide C is the key. We end up with lower cost, lower input, more sustainable food plots that support deer.
Thanks,
Jack
