7 years later, it's finally happening = my rifle range project

[Jim Timber]

We closed on this land in May of 2011, and were under contract at this point in the year back then just waiting for the hunting lease to expire. I already had plans for this when we made the first offer, but you never really know what you're going to get on the ground when you're basing your whole outlook on LiDAR topographic imagery of what the grade is under the trees. This is one plan that's coming together, albeit a little later than I'd expected.

I've had a logging crew working on a harvest the past two weeks, and we're still waiting for the second crew to come in and chip the slash; which will be sold to the power company to use for cleaning the flames of their trash incinerator (straight garbage doesn't burn hot enough to get clean smoke).

I'm not sure if it'll be more cost-effective to rent a dozer and clear this when the ground thaws, or if I'll use my stump grinder on the tractor to chew them out. I also have a food plot and some area that's been cleared for conifer planting, but that one doesn't need to be de-stumped for the long-term success of the project.

https://youtu.be/pYCmIl8otuw

Feels pretty damn good being out there and knowing that my 700+ yard personal range is close enough to taste.

[hardcase]

Just an opinion from a former real-estate developer (also known in some circles as a land rape artist) the best tool for stumps is a big track-hoe with a thumb on it that can be used to load the stumps on an all wheel drive dump truck used on site. Track-hoes get minimal dirt. If the land is steep, a bulldozer (not a front end loader) works well. Around here the loggers use there hoes to drop the stumps into a big a$$ wood chipper and bury the chips on site make a gentle hill rather than pay truck time to haul them off. The chip site just needs to be recorded on a plat map with the county so no future owner will try to build on it.

On land clearing. A logger does not have to deal with the extremes of EPA land management, at least in NC, that can be quite extreme and expensive. You can do just like the state agency tells you but a local can fine you (usually some recent college graduate). Very frustrating. Even a rain can shut you down. Politics. I'd check with your state offices plus your logger should know.

[Jim Timber]

I'm zoned Ag, so I can pretty much do whatever the hell I want within reason. The neighbors whined to the county when they heard I intended to build a rifle range, but on paper (per my sustainable forestry management plan) it's a "wildlife clearing" and there isn't a damn thing they can do about it. Rifle range just happens to be another use for the opening, where the critters will get the most benefit when looked at over the course of a year.

The logger has a "whole tree" chipper coming that's supposedly 600HP and good for up to 28" stems. Stump removal wasn't part of our contract, but that's not an issue for me since I can rent nearly anything Caterpillar makes from an outfit that's across the street from the nearest gas station (9 miles away). I also have my own 60hp (at the PTO) stump grinder which works pretty slick on the oaks and everything else (we don't/didn't have any hard maple).

This is grinding out about the same size stump as is average out on the rifle range.
https://youtu.be/84kD27uKFy8

The question is cost vs time. My tractor burns a hair over 3gal/hr at full power and PTO rpm. I run the grinder at 1900 rpm so it's at peak torque when it pulls down (which ends up bending series 7 PTO shafts if my clutch is set too tight on the grinder ), and it doesn't burn the full 2400 rpm fuel rate. The other factor is I have some other projects I could use a D6 on if I had one here, and I also could use an excavator for digging out my pond deeper/bigger. So I just need to look at the cost/benefits and go from there. A stump every 10 minutes (giving time to drive up on them - grinding only takes about 6), means this job might be better left to my tractor than outside gear. I don't need to build on the land afterwards, I just want to be able to mow it.

[bearcatrp]

Why not a controlled burn?

[Jim Timber]

Oak stumps don't burn for crap when they've been dead and dried for a few years. These trees will do their darnedest to regrow as soon as the ground hits 60F this spring.

All the tops (slash) is being removed as part of the logging. I get $5/ton for that stuff. Actually, it could end up exceeding the proceeds of the oak logs we pulled out. There's a lot of slash from these trees. Last count I had, we were at about $9600 from the aspen bolts alone (the major part of the sale). I don't know how many loads of red and white oak we hauled out, but it's over 2 (I witnessed those).

[hardcase]

Only negative I see about using your pto stump grinder is getting the chips spread enough so grass, etc will grow. For all practical purposes, it is landscape mulch, the same type some (not so good) landscapers use. The chips need time to decompose. That is why dig a hole, put them all in one place under eight feet or so of dirt. The wood chipper can be set up beside where the hole will be. Use a pan to make several passes with dirt and plant a wind barrier on top.

[Jim Timber]

Since my grinder spits the chips outward instead of pulling them under the machine (which is actually a better design, but I didn't know that when I built it), there is no concentration of anything. Chips get flung up into the wind if there is any, and sent 20-60 feet from the force of the cutting alone.

I've decided I will be grinding these after all, just because of the logistics of handing that much stump debris and the fact that there's no dirt moving needed for anything other than the berm(s) at this point. If I dug them out with an excavator, I'd have holes to fill. If I pushed them out with a dozer, I'd have bare ground to re-seed. If I grind them below grade, I just need to top off the hole with dirt and the existing grass will fill in over the rootball as it rots. If the pothole later becomes an issue, I just add more dirt.

[bearcatrp]

Oak stumps don't burn for crap when they've been dead and dried for a few years. These trees will do their darnedest to regrow as soon as the ground hits 60F this spring.

All the tops (slash) is being removed as part of the logging. I get $5/ton for that stuff. Actually, it could end up exceeding the proceeds of the oak logs we pulled out. There's a lot of slash from these trees. Last count I had, we were at about $9600 from the aspen bolts alone (the major part of the sale). I don't know how many loads of red and white oak we hauled out, but it's over 2 (I witnessed those).

Wouldn’t burn either if your making money from it.

[Jim Timber]

I'm not making money off the stumps. The only people who make money off them is in removals. Or the rare occasion you can turn it into a cool table and find someone willing to buy that.

My forester says the chipping crew is behind right now and he doesn't have any idea when they'll be out. We're supposed to have some more mild weather this week so I might go back up for yote hunting and some habitat work even if they're not going to be present. There's trees in my swamp I want to remove while there's still ice to slide them on.

[Jim Timber]

They finally finished up last week and now I'm just waiting on warmer weather to melt the snow (then dry the ground out) so I can get to work.