New here. I have recently created some new perimeter trails on my place. I have a lot of low ground and tag alders. Because of the low ground, I did not want to displace any soil from the trail and make it any lower or remove stumps leaving holes to collect water.
I have a 26hp Kubota with a box blade and grapple, and even with that lower horsepower, I inevitably just get bent shanks when I have tried to remove sapling stumps/roots. Maybe from snagging too many roots at once?
My tools of choice for trail building are:
- Chainsaw on the first pass for the big standing stuff (which I try to avoid) and deadfalls (I have many fallen dead ash).
- Greenworks pole chainsaw to reach in and cut the larger tag alder down low (to avoid branches in the face when I brush hog). I leave them high enough that I won't accidentally drive a tire over them but low enough to get the brush hog on them.
- Tractor with grapple to clear the stuff I have cut and the brush hog for the final cut, taking the little stumps down to ground level. Once I go over it with the brush hog, I don't really have tripping hazards.
- Stihl FS 56 trimmer with a 4 point steel cutting head for cutting anything 1" or less (for areas I can't get the tractor). This is an amazing combination that I call my shoulder mounted brush hog. It is crazy what this thing will cut with the steel blade. I am sure the way I use the Stihl amounts to abuse, but if I ever break it I would gladly buy another and do the same thing. It is that effective.
