I have about 50 acres that I would like to plant coastal in. I have about 150 cedars in this pasture that are approiximately 6-8 ft tall. I have talked to a guy that has a skidsteer with shears that will charge $70/hr. I will finish the stacking and burn. The other option is a skidsteer with a mulcher on it for $100/hr. No stacking and burning.

My question is this....Has anyone had experience with the mulcher and the amount of "mulch" it leaves on the ground? They tout the benefit to the soil, but I think too much mulch would hinder grass growth.

Anybody have experience?

I've been along some river bottom areas that have been extensively mulched and there is a lot of material on the ground, but after 1-2 growing seasons there herbs are growing nicely.

I wouldn't think that much mulch would be good for a coastal pasture.

(EDIT: I just reread the numbers. 3 trees per acre, relatively small... that's not very many. I think I'd mulch)

Mulch it into your pickup a load at a time and let kids shovel it out into flower beds.

But seriously, a good dry cedar pile is a fun, FUN thing to burn.

[This message has been edited by Sean98 (edited 2/17/2014 2:11p).]

With that few trees per acre, a mulcher will work nicely.

And $100 per hour is less than you can rent a Bobcat mulcher and do it yourself, at least in my area.

[This message has been edited by crag (edited 2/17/2014 6:47p).]

and even with thick, dense woods, a 6ft wide mulcher can clear about an acre every 8 hours.

What else is growing in the pasture, and how do you expect to plant coastal?

Whether you use a shear or mulcher, you are going to end up with some stumps that are great for breaking plow points.

If it were mine, I would push the cedars out (stump and all) and burn them.

You will be amazed at how fast they will burn. Just make sure to follow all the rules (burn permits, time of burn, etc).

The best thing you can do is get as little soil in the piles as possible, as it will keep the roots from burning well.

I would push them all one weekend. Then I would wait a couple of weeks to go back and stack them to let the exposed soil dry out around the roots. Then, when you go back and stack them, you will find a lot of that soil around the roots will fall out. This will keep you from having too big of holes to have to backfill. Plowing to prep for coastal will solve most of your other issues.

Have you talked to your coastal sprigger yet? I strongly recommend doing so, because I don't know of one that would touch a field that had cedars mulched or sheared in it.

The pipeline co mulched their right of way on my hunting ranch. What a mistake for me. For 2 or 3 yrs, I worried that the mulch would float (after fast rains) to the perimeter fences and create a blowout. I was always removing the mulch from the low spots.
It's not barbed wire, it's net.

[This message has been edited by Ovalo (edited 2/17/2014 7:57p).]

Good thing you're not in Travis County, where cutting down a cedar is a capital offense.

Just sold my skid steer mulcher last year. Expensive little bugger to operate. Cedars cut very easy compared to elms and oaks like we have here in cs. $100/hr is cheap so I'd go with mulching. We charged $140/hr and still didn't make enough to keep it going.