Forest Mulching

[Jerry-B-WI]

Has anyone here had any forest mulching done? I'm thinking of having some done for new food plot areas and just some general clearing to keep pinch points from growing shut.

 

[hillrunner]

How heavily timbered of area are you wanting to mulch? How large of trees?

 

[SwampCat]

Mulcher leaves the stump in the ground. If you plan on working the area with tillage equipment, I would not use a mulcher in that area. If you have a road or trail that you blade or smooth with something subsurface - you may have problems. But, a dozer will leave stump holes and also a dozer will usually take at least some topsoil.

 

[TWIG]

Mulcher leaves the stump in the ground. If you plan on working the area with tillage equipment, I would not use a mulcher in that area. If you have a road or trail that you blade or smooth with something subsurface - you may have problems. But, a dozer will leave stump holes and also a dozer will usually take at least some topsoil.

Agreed. This sounds like a job for an excavating company. Don't agree with the dozer part but a decent operator on a hoe or mini ex is all you need.

 

[Ruffdude]

Has anyone here had any forest mulching done? I'm thinking of having some done for new food plot areas and just some general clearing to keep pinch points from growing shut.

Will you mow it to maintain it in the future? Typically just mowing it and providing the opening in a forest setting will release the native seed bed and you'll see benefit from that.
I don't think we could actually work the ground (maybe we could but we haven't tried) but tossing some additional clover seed onto some sunny openings surely would not hurt.
These are what we deem "hunter walking trails" and get mowed once annually typically in early September. We found that we needed the mulcher to "treat" them twice one year apart before we could take a tractor and bush hog onto them without losing tires. The second pass a year later just pulverizes the dead ground level stuff from the year before.

 

[ruskbucks]

I used one to clear out a 3.5 acre food plot. It worked unbelievable. The area was mostly tag alder and aspen. After I knocked the trees down I drove up to them and back dragged the brush, it would turn them into wood chips. The aspen and alter are soft woods and with in 2 years the chips and roots were mostly all gone. I plowed the field in summer and had a good food plot that first year. It is worth the money to get one.

 

[Howboutthemdawgs]

Did it 2 years ago on some places. It’s now a healthy foodplot.

 

[Jerry-B-WI]

Sorry I haven't gotten back sooner fellas. The land was logged about 3 years ago and most of what I want mulched would be the tops that were left behind. I'm not worried about working around the stumps, it's the same as working around the tree that was there.

I won't be able to mow to maintain like Ruffdude is doing, can't get the tractor that I don't own back to some of the spots I'd like mulched.

Two spots I'd mulch for putting in food plots , a third would be for planting more fruit trees. The rest of the spots would be for trails. It's not much fun dragging a deer through 75 yards of logging slash to get to the trail where you can use the 4 wheeler and trailer to get back to the cabin.

Wisconsin also has what they call Young Forest Program. It's a management program that's aimed at getting browse at head level for the deer. I might consider having some tag alder mulched in the swamps for regeneration of young shoots for browse. There may also be some cost sharing available.

 

[yoderjac]

If it was pines, I would not worry all about stumps. With T&M techniques, which are better for soil health anyway, you should have no problem. Two years after we timber pines, I can remove what is left of the stumps with a tractor loader with no problem.

 

[SwampCat]

I have ground that was mulched six years ago and will dang near break your neck if you catch a blade on one of the stump remnants

 

[ruskbucks]

Sorry I haven't gotten back sooner fellas. The land was logged about 3 years ago and most of what I want mulched would be the tops that were left behind. I'm not worried about working around the stumps, it's the same as working around the tree that was there.

I won't be able to mow to maintain like Ruffdude is doing, can't get the tractor that I don't own back to some of the spots I'd like mulched.

Two spots I'd mulch for putting in food plots , a third would be for planting more fruit trees. The rest of the spots would be for trails. It's not much fun dragging a deer through 75 yards of logging slash to get to the trail where you can use the 4 wheeler and trailer to get back to the cabin.

Wisconsin also has what they call Young Forest Program. It's a management program that's aimed at getting browse at head level for the deer. I might consider having some tag alder mulched in the swamps for regeneration of young shoots for browse. There may also be some cost sharing available.

My forester recommended a cost sharing program for me thru the ruffed grouse society in WI. It was to cut my mature tag alder to regenerate it which benefits grouse and woodcock. I want to say it was $400 a acre they would pay, but it was for upland tags. They were not interested in the tags in the wetlands. It sounded like a decent amount but you have to put that money towards the forestry mulcher and operator/ forester. He said it would be a wash, maybe have a little money left over to cut some trails, plots, etc.