Cedar & Brush Control - Advice needed

Looking to improve a piece of property that has suffered from neglect for 20+ years and issue number one is replacing the fences and part of that will be tree removal.

I'm not in a position right now where I can hire a D-6 to come in and do it the easy way; so I'm getting a new chainsaw and exploring other options as well.

I'm curious as to what methods you guys use to kill/remove brush. I'm looking to....

1. Take an ATV mounted 40gal sprayer and spray all the fence rows and berry thickets with round up.

2. Come back after the weeds and tall grass are dead and chainsaw the larger trees that are in the fence rows.

3. Then while I'm at it, use the "Hack and Squirt" method to walk around and kill cedar and other undesirable trees.

The property is located in Oklahoma roughly 1-1.5 hours north of Dallas, in roughly the same area as the Choctaw Casino.

So what do you guys with experience in that part of the country recommend for any other options I have to remove and or kill these unwanted trees?

Any advice is appreciated - especially on what herbicide you would recommend for the hack and squirt killing of cedars and other unwanted trees?

DOW Spike 80 df, small amount around the root system.

Probably eastern red cedar and those are relatively shallow rooted, easy to push out with a rented tractor if that is an option. They are easy to kill if you cut them off at the ground as well, but the stump and roots can be there for years.

I believe remedy and spectracide, make a tree and root formula as well, might want to mix it with diesel. Even the grass and brush formula seem to work best if you add about a tablespoon of dish liquid per gallon of mix, even if it has surfactant, it helps break down the plant oils so the spray doesn't just roll off.

This^

Thanks western & quitshootin......

Western- That's works with what I was thinking; Kill the trees now and leave them standing so they are dead, easily identified and easy to push over at a later date.

http://texnat.tamu.edu/about/brush-busters/

If the cedar are large enough you may consider harvesting them for post. I would mix some broadleaf weed killer with the initial round-up spraying.

Let them dry out too much and they may break above ground level though. Large part of it will depend on how "clean" you want/need the fence line. If it is rural, you may get it clean enough just clearing it out to get to the fence, then you can start a PM program for watching and controlling new growth.

BTW, a pound of plain salt around a small tree will kill it in time generally and salt is cheap (though slow). My grandfather used powdered stock salt around wood post when I was little, nothing grew there for a looong time. I wouldn't want salt anywhere around steel post though.

How much fence are you trying to clear? I loved clearing cedar, no thorns and you don't have to spray it, cutting it kills it. Once you have fence row clear and new fence built remember what you went through and keep it clean

You could probably rent a smaller sized dozer for a few days for what your chainsaw would cost, again no idea how much fence you have to clear or how big the trees are, but you don't need a D-6 to doze a fence row.

We buy some stuff at the local ag store called "Power Pellets" you put them around the tree and the rain washes them in it kills the whole tree roots and all. Then we come back about 6-8 months later after all the leaves have fallen off the cedar and you can push them over with a small tractor. It's not as fast as renting a skid steer with a grubber attachment but it works very well. Once we get the fence line clear it's easy to go back down it with pellets every now and then to make sure there are no new trees trying to grow.

How much to the pellets cost? I have asked about them and have found them to be cost prohibitive.

Why? Round-up should kill anything out there, weed-wise/grass-wise, shouldn't it?

Yes it should, But then you have to consider spray coverage, are we getting all the plants wet enough. Contact herbicides are generally cheaper than round-up and some plants are very susceptible to them. I view it as a little insurance plus you will see a quicker kill on some species.

I had the same project on my road front. 1,400' of fence which I couldn't see because it had 5 to 10' of crap growing on both sides. First I shredded as tight as I could, but the tree canopy limited the usefulness. I then hit it with glyphosate three or four times last spring, summer and early fall. Foliage was such that one application would not penetrate, thus multiple applications. Took a pair of lopping shears to it starting in November. Used a chain saw if I had to remove something larger that was blocking progress and to raise the canopy. Finished repairs to the fence March of this year. Looks awesome and the fence works.

Long story short, a lot of manual labor, but worth it!

I've said this before and I'll say it again now. Be careful what you wish for. Clearing/cleaning fencerows is/was one of the large factors in the decline of Quail populations by removing normal nesting habitat. If you are going to manage the property for wildlife think about that. A nice clean fence line may be pleasing to the eye, but at what cost? Maybe take out the big stuff but start managing the smaller. Repair and replace as needed.

Good info everyone - thanks for sharing!

This is not the first time I've heard someone say add broadleaf killer (2-4d?) to glyphosate for insurance. Really? Anyone have experience with this being more effective?

Eastrn Red Cedar is not the same as Texas cedar none of the herbicides recommended so far are mentioned in the brochure http://www.weeds.iastate.edu/mgmt/2006/redcedars.pdf. Eastern Red Cedar is hard to controll chemically.

http://www.monsanto.com/products/documents/msds-labels/landmaster_ii_label.pdf

Monsanto makes this product and it is 11% 2,4-D with glyphosate. So yea alot of people knows it works.

Thanks Red Bluff. I guess this Landmaster II product would make for some really dead vegetation...

fire

or a chainsaw

I've just gotten a similar problem with needing brush removal. The strongest, cheapest thing I've found is one of these:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdaSirzTpcI

You can rent one of those for about $200/day, $600/week. For a little less, rent one of these:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biXo7Tmt1-M

You can rent those for about $65/day.

Other methods: diesel and strong herbicide. You can kill cedar by girdling it (cutting around the tree deeper than the bark) but the trouble with cedar is that it doesn't rot and will sit there forever.

The comment about the quail is interesting, and brings up a good question: Do you really need the fence row cut, or just doing it for looks? Other than needing more things to mow next year, why clear it?

Quail guys: drop off a couple hundred live wild bobwhites on my place and I'll let the road front fence line grow in. It's been 25 yrs since I've seen or heard quail in my parts...