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.