Prescribed Burns - how to get started?

[ajtxwi]

I would still maybe try and get a skid steer in with a cutting head into the sections you can, it gets a LOT of work done without killing your back, the rest??
yrs back I would have suggested maybe try and find some younger kids willing to work, and hire them to do selective trimming for you ( I used to spray paint things i wanted cut and removed and had kids do work for c ash)

but these day's, kids don;t like doing manual labor much and if they did the costs wouldn;t be any cheaper than hiring a professional to do it, sadly, kids ain;'t the same as they once were in most places any how, too many spoiled one if you ask me!
that said, if you don't have maybe invest in a good brush trimmer, and use that to be more selective
time consuming, cutting and stacking, but will help get rid of a bunch, but key on many of the things you want gone will be following up on cuttings with spraying before they make new berry's and seeds
as that's the killer on them things, birds eat em and crap em out all over making things spread

took me several yrs to get a 20 acres section working alone, but in the end I was very happy I spent the time stacking and burning piles
in winter time with snow down I will admit I did get a little help now and then from my sisters smaller kids, as I would let them have cook outs in the snow which helped lure them into some work , plus kids seemed to like building fires and adding wood to them L, would; even try and get them a l;ittle extra motivated by making games of it, as to who could build the biggest pile and such, LOL
but kids will be kids, enthusiasm doesn't last all day long that's for sure, but hey, they had fun and I got some help, so win win, got to take them as they come some times!

AT hunting camp, we make it more of a work deal, where members HAVE to put in X amount of time, in order to hunt the following yr, so that works too maybe if you let others hunt your land!
but could be some idea's for you on how to get some help!

I like your ideas about recruiting family and friends (with incentives if possible) but understand this can be difficult. In the end - every little bit helps (over 20 years) / it does not have to happen all at once. I also like your idea about using a brush trimmer (have been considering all of the tools). Just picked up the property about six months ago and admit, it is a new adventure and trying to decide what to purchase and maintain will be interesting.

 

[MRBB]

well all I can tell you about getting HELP is, this, when we first started our one hunting club, we had about a dozen guys, over the first few yrs we quickly found out what guys talked and what guys showed up when work was needed to be done at about the 4 th yr mark, we(the main guys) drew a line in the sand for the rest, that if they didn;t do there share of work, they either had to get some ether to do, or start adding a LOT of extra cash to the projects to make up for lack of labor, or in some other way!, we were willing to work with folks to a point!

as if not,, they were not allowed to use the property
some took it as being a bunch of crap and ignored helping or holding there end up, and we quickly got rid of them(harder when some are family, but we still stopped them from hunting) and to be honest things went so much smoother for us once we got rid of the slackers
our crappy l;and when we first got it, started shaping up into a pretty nice quality piece of land, , none of us had very deep pockets, but we worked together and that lead to just a lot of things getting done, as I can attest to the facts, when HARD work needs doing, having a bunch of hands working together, over just a few, makes it so much easier and the end results show it!
almost everyone ends up happy

IMO< its really important WHO you let use your land, as having BAD /lazy or?? folks on your land will make you miserable over time as your hard work , will benefit them too, and that sucks when they haven't earned any of it!
I strongly suggest that if you JUST got this land, have a nice sit down with the people you plan to allow to use it and get them and you on the same page, set up some work weekends or dates, and SEE who shows up, you'll find out soon who the talkers are and who the helpers are!

 

[PatinPA]

what about just renting a good forester mulcher and run it over the things you want gone?
then go in and spray the roots to get things to die, other wise it will just come back again
even if you burn that stuff it won't kill it off, and odds are it might even make it grow back stronger as the post ash from the fire residue will help it come back!@

so, maybe have a look into what rentals are in your area, or companys that do the service for a fee!

I've never worked with a forestry mulcher. Is it capable of taking care of piles of branches? I'd really like to clean these up but aside from physically piling them up to burn, I'm not sure how to get rid of them.

They're 1-2 ft thick in the bigger piles. Nothing will grow through it and the deer won't walk through it. I finally am getting some cover after 5 years since timbering but they won't bed in a lot of it because it looks like this.

 

[Howboutthemdawgs]

I've never worked with a forestry mulcher. Is it capable of taking care of piles of branches? I'd really like to clean these up but aside from physically piling them up to burn, I'm not sure how to get rid of them.
View attachment 39272View attachment 39273
They're 1-2 ft thick in the bigger piles. Nothing will grow through it and the deer won't walk through it. I finally am getting some cover after 5 years since timbering but they won't bed in a lot of it because it looks like this.

They would eat that stuff without even slowing down.

 

[Howboutthemdawgs]

Where you see the dirt was tree just like the right and left a couple hours prior.
With that said I would still rather run a fire in an area you are wanting to get some regrowth and stimulate the seed bank. This was to open some ground to plant.

 

[PatinPA]

Where you see the dirt was tree just like the right and left a couple hours prior.
With that said I would still rather run a fire in an area you are wanting to get some regrowth and stimulate the seed bank. This was to open some ground to plant. View attachment 39274

There are two houses fairly close by, within 200 yards. Not knowing what I'm doing, I wouldn't want to risk it. The one house is downwind and they still have all of their half dead hemlocks. If they were to catch fire, I think it would be pretty bad.

I would love to be able to mulch it all up though. It's mostly coming back in with junk black birch, but there is some green briar and a lot of poke weed. I'd like to replant in some spruce for cover.

The yellow is what I would like to mulch and hopefully establish into bedding. You can see the proximity of the houses here.

 

[Howboutthemdawgs]

There are two houses fairly close by, within 200 yards. Not knowing what I'm doing, I wouldn't want to risk it. The one house is downwind and they still have all of their half dead hemlocks. If they were to catch fire, I think it would be pretty bad.

I would love to be able to mulch it all up though. It's mostly coming back in with junk black birch, but there is some green briar and a lot of poke weed. I'd like to replant in some spruce for cover.
View attachment 39275
The yellow is what I would like to mulch and hopefully establish into bedding. You can see the proximity of the houses here.

Yeah I can see that being uncomfortable. You could probably spend a couple hundred bucks on having a guy come out and mulch and it would really go along way. I would probably follow up with some kind of herbicide once it started greening up because that mulching won’t necessarily kill your junk.

 

[MRBB]

I've never worked with a forestry mulcher. Is it capable of taking care of piles of branches? I'd really like to clean these up but aside from physically piling them up to burn, I'm not sure how to get rid of them.
View attachment 39272View attachment 39273
They're 1-2 ft thick in the bigger piles. Nothing will grow through it and the deer won't walk through it. I finally am getting some cover after 5 years since timbering but they won't bed in a lot of it because it looks like this.

yes a mulcher head or a better yet a full blown forestry cutter will destroy them piles without breaking a sweat!
and YES I also agree a fire has the added benefit of adding potash and such to the ground after it gets rid of the top surface which both adds nutriants and gets sunlight to things in the bare ground

BUT running a mulcher or forestry head, will also get rid of a LOT of the leaves and matter on the ground , which will also speed up the process of getting new growth started, it just won;' t have the bonus of the potash from the fire residue left behind after wards!
if you can rent something like this, you'd be amazed what it can do in a short period of time and where all it can go
if you have soft or swampy land, wait till it freezes and you can get more places
many rental places rent by the hour, half day ,. full day week and so on!
pretty much any of these types will get you a LOT of work done in a short time, from the cab of a machine, and they are pretty nimble on being able to select what tree's MAYBE you want to also get ruid of, and others you want to save, by allowing you to sort of control what you run them over!
but brush piles like you got, NO issue's at all, they will come out in tiny pieces really Fast! Haha!
but a few video's to look at maybe and get a better idea on options!

 

[PatinPA]

Yeah I can see that being uncomfortable. You could probably spend a couple hundred bucks on having a guy come out and mulch and it would really go along way. I would probably follow up with some kind of herbicide once it started greening up because that mulching won’t necessarily kill your junk.

Would something like this work? There is a nearby rental place that has one.

https://www.mowersdirect.com/Billy-Goat-BC2403H-Lawn-Mower/p8081.html

 

[MRBB]

also, keep in mind, that AFTER you go thru an area with a brush cutter, you many times can also throw on a bucket and push a lot of the debris remains away from the site and into piles and placed where you want them, exposing more soil, same rental places that rent the machine can ad a bucket for a fee

but there are also company's that specialize in clearing brush like this, in case your not interested in running the equipment yourself
a skilled worker can also some times get a LOT more done in less time, but from your pictures, your land doesn't look that challenging to clear, as it doesn'rt look like its has steep slopes and off camber angles!

just if you rent, get the most HP machine they offer, it saves time on how much faster it can keep things going on the cutters!, smaller machine will still work, but they need to go slower thru things, taking more time to cut up larger / thicker things!

 

[MRBB]

Would something like this work? There is a nearby rental place that has one.

https://www.mowersdirect.com/Billy-Goat-BC2403H-Lawn-Mower/p8081.html

yes they do work, but let me tell you what, there rather intimating to work with, we have one of the DR cutters like that(Think its 24hp motor model one , we also have the snow blower option too, we use that more))
it eats thru things pretty aggressively, but it gets old fast walking behind it, and crap flying all over near you!
not to mention it gets tiring to wrestle after a few hours of using it, but yes it will eat them pile up , ours chews up things to about 3 inch thick or more with relative ease!
for smaller projects its OK< for larger area's I would spend my money else where!

if you rent one of these , make sure you have good safety gear, fast shield,, ear muff, chaps gloves and I'd even wear safety glasses under a face shield, things fly like crazy out of cutter end and ricochet off things and come back at you at times

 

[PatinPA]

yes they do work, but let me tell you what, there rather intimating to work with, we have one of the DR cutters like that(Think its 24hp motor model one , we also have the snow blower option too, we use that more))
it eats thru things pretty aggressively, but it gets old fast walking behind it, and crap flying all over near you!
not to mention it gets tiring to wrestle after a few hours of using it, but yes it will eat them pile up , ours chews up things to about 3 inch thick or more with relative ease!
for smaller projects its OK< for larger area's I would spend my money else where!

Ok thanks. It's probably only about 3-4 acres. It's on a grade but not too steep. I'd think they could blow through it pretty quick with a big machine. I'll have to see if I can find a brush clearing company around here.

 

[MRBB]

Ok thanks. It's probably only about 3-4 acres. It's on a grade but not too steep. I'd think they could blow through it pretty quick with a big machine. I'll have to see if I can find a brush clearing company around here.

you can also try talking to some larger landscapers, they might have access or know folks that do it, (many have cutter heads due to many jobs they do and invest in them)
but if you don;t see rental places offering rentals, they might be able to help you either doing or finding someone that does, same with asking any local timbering company's, as many land owners want the toppings cut up and they either do that work too, or have people that do it for them, , as true brush cutting companys are not super popular in PA,, yet many other businesses have the cutters but don't advertise doing that, as there main income is from other things, !