Red Cedar Carnage

[bwoods11]

Cedars are not as invasive in Minnesota, I’ve planted a bunch and the deer and pheasants love them . The best tree row combo is Plum, Crab/Chokecherry Spruce, Spruce, Cedar . Seems to be the ticket on my farm!

 

[356]

I have a skid steer and forestry mulcher reserved for next week to completely remove 9 acres of red cedars on my property. Once they're gone, they're gone, so I'm hoping you can give me any thoughts before I do something I regret.

For context, I've attached a satellite picture from 1990 and one recent showing how much the cedars have invaded the property. The areas I'll be attacking (outlined in red) have trunks 2-8" in diameter, with trees 15-25 foot tall. They're pretty narrow trees, because the trunks are super close together. Other areas of cedars have more mature trees - like 12"+ trunks that look like a lot more work to remove.

Some specific questions:

I'm planning to use that skid steer and forestry mulcher because it seems like it'll be the fastest, easiest, and leave the least mess behind. It is somewhat expensive at $5k/week to rent it. Would you suggest another option? Is there an implement I could buy for my compact tractor that would be efficient and give me something worth keeping? Bulldozer? I've looked briefly at those saws that connect to a 3-point hitch, but I'm a little nervous about the amount of dead trees I'd have to deal with. That'd be some huge burn piles, and I'm not an expert burner. Any other implements I should consider rather than renting the mulcher?

I'm planning to leave a row of more mature cedars at the edge of the open field as screening. The cedars by the field are more mature and would make good screening and would be more challenging to remove. Any reason to leave any other cedars here and there?

Any reason to bail on this project and leave the cedars? They're too dense to walk through. The ground is baron underneath. They seem pretty useless to me.

Thanks

Your story is much like mine. The 10 acres I had cleared was pasture land in 1990. When we purchased the place in 2017, it was overtaken by cedars. Some of the trunks were 24”. I hired their removal in April 2021. They were cut ground level, and I have not had any issues using the no-till drill. 9 acres was $3000 to remove, and was money well spent. I had estimates from $3000 to $20,000 for the job. I got the names of 10 contractors through the local USDA office and called them all. Only three came to the property and I ended up using one of them.

 

[buckdeer1]

Another option is in some areas you can sell the trunks for lumber and I know there used to be a cedar mulch company in Kansas that would take all the wood

 

[cbw]

I like how far out in front of the loader that shear sits. I haven't been able to find one like that online. Do you know the brand name or is that fabricated to be that way?

I don’t know the brand. I can look the next time I’m at the farm. I know we reinforced the shears after we got it. Here are a few more pics…

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[cbw]

Cedars are not as invasive in Minnesota, I’ve planted a bunch and the deer and pheasants love them . The best tree row combo is Plum, Crab/Chokecherry Spruce, Spruce, Cedar . Seems to be the ticket on my farm!View attachment 72450

Do you plant them as screening rows? Or interior for bedding? Or something else?


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[bwoods11]

Do you plant them as screening rows? Or interior for bedding? Or something else?


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Travel corridors mainly, but part of a block bedding. Close to cattails/dogwood for pheasant and deer cover . The eastern most row in most cases … NW prevailing wind.

 

[cbw]

Travel corridors mainly, but part of a block bedding. Close to cattails/dogwood for pheasant and deer cover . The eastern most row in most cases … NW prevailing wind.View attachment 72469

Nice. Which state are you in?


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[bwoods11]

Nice. Which state are you in?


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That farm is in West Central Minnesota. 148 acres.

 

[Oleo]

Thanks to everyone for weighing in on this. I really appreciate all the perspectives.

We had 10 acres of ERC similar to yours. We ended up getting EQIP money to cut and burn. We used a tree sheer on a skid steer last summer to drop them all where they lay. We will be doing the burn this spring. We left the edges for screening by your entry/exits. Plus left a few scattered for thermal cover.


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Thanks for the info on this. I do have a little bit of state cost share lined up for this project. I looked at your pictures - I'll be curious to hear how your burn goes. I think my cedars are a bit more dense than your project. I don't even know how to estimate, but I'm guessing there are thousands of trees in this 9 acres. I'm still thinking pretty hard on the right approach. It seems like cutting and burning would be a good approach, but that approach seems like it takes a week-long project and turns it into much much longer.

Has anyone had positive results from mulching?

Your story is much like mine. The 10 acres I had cleared was pasture land in 1990. When we purchased the place in 2017, it was overtaken by cedars. Some of the trunks were 24”. I hired their removal in April 2021. They were cut ground level, and I have not had any issues using the no-till drill. 9 acres was $3000 to remove, and was money well spent. I had estimates from $3000 to $20,000 for the job. I got the names of 10 contractors through the local USDA office and called them all. Only three came to the property and I ended up using one of them.

@356 What did you do with the debris after the contractor cut them all?

 

[bwoods11]

I’d take some carnage as well in Iowa. They are very invasive in the Loess Hills area!

 

[356]

What did you do with the debris after the contractor cut them all?

Most were moved into large piles on the edge by the contractor. On the plus side, this created great browse and bird habitat. On the downside, the piles invited at least one bobcat to find habitation on the property. In all fairness, I have not found any evidence of deer predation, but I can attest to a few less rabbits.

I burned one pile in year two, and they pretty much burned completely. The four piles that remain likely have 50 to 100 trees in them and are about 1/2 the size they were originally.

 

[bwoods11]

In my area of Minnesota, the invasive tendencies varies by soil and which part of the county. Northern part of our county, is more farm country and you don’t see many pop up on their own.

Southern part of the county, different soils, more hills and grass. They are starting to show up more in pastures and hunting properties.

 

[Spike_Horn_Shooter]

I think the plan to mulch may be the best option with a caveat, when you are done mulching, either try to get those chips raked up or less ideal, get some soil contact and about 300lbs of nitrogen in the ground.

I’d be concerned as well with nothing growing under that cedar mulch - I mean it’s quite literally used to keep things from growing in flower beds.

The tree shear might work, but from the pictures it looks like the density of trees is going to be a problem. Although a shear and an excavator with a thumb to pile up (and burn with snow on the ground) probably leaves the best end product and best chance for future regeneration.

 

[Oleo]

I did a half day’s work and cleared out about 1/2-3/4 acre. I started with my smaller trees, and it was still taking longer than I wanted and leaving a bigger mess than I wanted. Since I wasn’t getting the benefit of no-mess, I called off that rental and will do a dozer sometime soon.

I’ll post a pick of the progress soon.

 

[Oleo]

This was an area with smaller trees. Many were less than a few inches in trunk diameter, but there were 25 or more that were 6”+, and a few 12”. It took 5-6 hours to do this 3/4 acre. Probably 3-400 trees taken out, and I’m not missing them.

The trees were getting bigger, they had me on an 8 hour daily limit, and a tooth just broke off the muncher so it was shaking like crazy. With the mess it was leaving behind and the pace of progress, I decided to call it off and pursue another option. The equipment place said they’d work with me on the cost since I had a breakdown.

I suppose the nice thing about this mess is that it’ll be easy to pile up with a tractor. I’ll do that in hopes of getting some regeneration in this area.

 

[Catscratch]

Looks good!