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I get more $ per acre to just mow lawns. I'd never consider that rate for brush clearing, not even if it could be done with my batwing mower on the tractor.

Ground clearing is not my line of work, but from what I have seen (and hired), a bulldozer or track loader clears ground faster than anything else. A 60,000 lb chunk of steel can just push the average small trees up like twigs. Track loaders are better at pushing trees over, but not nearly as effective at setting the blade low and sweeping the trees into a pile, roots and all. That being said, it can be materially unsafe to take out large trees with a dozer. Expertise is required to not end up covered with trees. Even loaders can screw up and have trouble.

If you have a bunch of trees too big for your dozer/loader, NOTHING can beat a large excavator for ripping large trees out of the ground. I watched a team of excavators wiping out large row of cottonwoods on a 2:1 slope once. They spent more time digging their way up the slope to the huge cottonwoods than they did popping each one out of the ground. It took maybe 5 minutes maximum to send over each tree, and the excavators could pass those trees around like twigs to the bottom, where one of the excavators would snap them into truck sized rubble and haul them off. It was quite an operation. The only time the dozer got any action on that job was to re-grade the slope when the excavators were done.

Depending on your time available and your situation, you might wish to consider a large skid steer loader with a tree shear attachment and a brush grapple. A good shear can take out trees up to 15 inches diameter, and then the brush grapple will handle moving the materials into a pile, The best ground clearing machine of that nature is a tree saw, but they are prohibitively expensive for a single use, and nobody "rents" the attachment.

I think it can take out trees up to 34" diameter, and leaves a consistently low stump. They even have a stump treatment option to prevent regrowth.
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<blockquote data-quote="pdqdl" data-source="post: 8252087" data-attributes="member: 22041">I get more $ per acre to just mow lawns.&nbsp; I&#039;d never consider that rate for brush clearing, not even if it could be done with my batwing mower on the tractor.Ground clearing is not my line of work, but from what I have seen (and hired), a bulldozer or track loader clears ground faster than anything else. A 60,000 lb chunk of steel can just push the average small trees up like twigs.&nbsp; Track loaders are better at pushing trees over, but not nearly as effective at setting the blade low and sweeping the trees into a pile, roots and all.&nbsp; That being said, it can be materially unsafe to take out large trees with a dozer.&nbsp; Expertise is required to not end up covered with trees.&nbsp; Even loaders can screw up and have trouble.If you have a bunch of trees too big for your dozer/loader, NOTHING can beat a large excavator for ripping large trees out of the ground.&nbsp; I watched a team of excavators wiping out&nbsp; large row of cottonwoods on a 2:1 slope once.&nbsp; They spent more time digging their way up the slope to the huge cottonwoods than they did popping each one out of the ground.&nbsp; It took maybe 5 minutes maximum to send over each tree, and the excavators could pass those trees around like twigs to the bottom, where one of the excavators would snap them into truck sized rubble and haul them off.&nbsp; It was quite an operation.&nbsp; The only time the dozer got any action on that job was to re-grade the slope when the excavators were done.Depending on your time available and your situation, you might wish to consider a large skid steer loader with a tree shear attachment and a brush grapple.&nbsp; A good shear can take out trees up to 15 inches diameter, and then the brush grapple will handle moving the materials into a pile,&nbsp; The best ground clearing machine of that nature is a tree saw, but they are prohibitively expensive for a single use, and nobody &quot;rents&quot; the attachment.I think it can take out trees up to 34&quot; diameter, and leaves a consistently low stump.&nbsp; They even have a stump treatment option to prevent regrowth.[ATTACH=full]1181838[/ATTACH][MEDIA=youtube]SnQVoE9AvzY[/MEDIA][ATTACH=full]1181835[/ATTACH]</blockquote>

[QUOTE="pdqdl, post: 8252087, member: 22041"] I get more $ per acre to just mow lawns. I'd never consider that rate for brush clearing, not even if it could be done with my batwing mower on the tractor. Ground clearing is not my line of work, but from what I have seen (and hired), a bulldozer or track loader clears ground faster than anything else. A 60,000 lb chunk of steel can just push the average small trees up like twigs. Track loaders are better at pushing trees over, but not nearly as effective at setting the blade low and sweeping the trees into a pile, roots and all. That being said, it can be materially unsafe to take out large trees with a dozer. Expertise is required to not end up covered with trees. Even loaders can screw up and have trouble. If you have a bunch of trees too big for your dozer/loader, NOTHING can beat a large excavator for ripping large trees out of the ground. I watched a team of excavators wiping out large row of cottonwoods on a 2:1 slope once. They spent more time digging their way up the slope to the huge cottonwoods than they did popping each one out of the ground. It took maybe 5 minutes maximum to send over each tree, and the excavators could pass those trees around like twigs to the bottom, where one of the excavators would snap them into truck sized rubble and haul them off. It was quite an operation. The only time the dozer got any action on that job was to re-grade the slope when the excavators were done. Depending on your time available and your situation, you might wish to consider a large skid steer loader with a tree shear attachment and a brush grapple. A good shear can take out trees up to 15 inches diameter, and then the brush grapple will handle moving the materials into a pile, The best ground clearing machine of that nature is a tree saw, but they are prohibitively expensive for a single use, and nobody "rents" the attachment. I think it can take out trees up to 34" diameter, and leaves a consistently low stump. They even have a stump treatment option to prevent regrowth. [ATTACH type="full"]1181838[/ATTACH] [MEDIA=youtube]SnQVoE9AvzY[/MEDIA] [ATTACH type="full" alt="1717520879199.png"]1181835[/ATTACH] [/QUOTE]

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