I like watching those big mulchers work and they leave a nice path

Mesquites and forestry mulchers are typically a bad combination.

Here is my dozer with a rake and the excavator with a grubber. I use the rake to clean up and pile the brush after grubbing it with the excavator. The rake by itself doesn’t work well for digging out mesquites. At least it hasn’t for me.

You can do it anytime of the year. I have cut literally thousands of miles of right of way. Mesquites are easier to get out of the ground when the ground is moist. How wide and how long of shooting lane are you wanting? I know several operators in that area but unless you are doing something extensive it is going to cost more to get them there than to do the work.

I would recommend and excavator with a grubber vs a dozer. I own both and have cleared quite a bit of mesquite at our ranch. With the excavator you get the roots and the mesquites do not come back near as bad. A dozer shears them at the surface a lot of the time and they grow back with a vengeance. A decent sized excavator can clear a 50’ wide swath in one pass.

How wide and how long are you wanting the lane? A forestry mulcher is going to be the quickest and cheapest and all you have to do is spray the regrowth. Everyone has their own opinion on how to go about it but we own dozens of dozers and excavators along with 8 mulchers and If it were my property I’d mulch it and spray unless it’s super rocky. If you opt for the mulcher don’t waste your money on a puddle jumper skid steer with that style project, go with a large dedicated machine. A large 300 plus hp machine should run around $3-3500 a day and can cover a lot of ground in a day.

The best time of year to do it would be mid winter when most of the leaves are gone so the operator can have a better visual of what’s going on but can be done anytime if needed.

How high is your shooting position over the area you want to shoot into?

10 feet

Pick good directions where clearing minimal brush gets you furthest. What kind of brush? Lots of scrub can be shredded. It would take a little sweat but hand clearing is doable.

It grows back with a vengeance...

Thanks for all the replies. It is a lease and landowner is ok with cutting lanes. I am going out there tomorrow and going to reevaluate to see if topping and/or cutting by hand and get the job done. Its all mesquite so nothing huge.

Topping will leave it as cover, which is one of the reasons they are in your area to begin with. You have to see them to shoot them, sure. You also don't want to remove their reason for being there.