Does anyone have a recommendation on a cedar clearing person/company? Also, for those that have done it before extensively, I would love to hear your suggestions on the best way to do it (hand, cedar eater, dozer, combo, etc.). Thank you.

Where are you clearing?

I think the answer to dos and donts of cedar clearing depends on your goals. If you are clearing land with hopes of having it tillable then dozing is the way to go. Push up the roots but have the operator take their time and do a good job of backdragging. If you aren't interested in tilling/plowing then I would recommend using a skid steer with clipper attachment. Cuts the trunk level with the ground so there's no protruding stump and it also causes very little disturbance to the dirt/ground around it. If you are wanting to promote grass growth I'd clip the cedar and let it lie for several years. That gives the ground some cover and keeps wildlife off it for a while. I'm not a big fan of the eaters/mulching. Cedar chips have some toxicity in it and can impact the vegetative growth under it. On the flip side, if you're wanting instant park like look the mulching might be the way to go for you. Alternatively you can use the skid steer and then stack the cut trees to burn. If you're in the hills I'd recommend the severe slopes be done by hand to help lesson the impact of erosion. Most people just want it gone as quickly as possible and that's ok. I try to use the methods that help promote the most grass growth afterward.

Clearing cedar on your property is a LIFELONG endeavor. It never ends.

If you are clearing dense thickets of large trees, the best method is to use a tracked bulldozer to push everything into piles to be burned later. Believe it or not, this is also the cheapest method in the long run. If you are clearing moderately sized trees and/or bushes, you can hire some help and use chainsaws, creating smaller piles to burn later. You can also rent a Bobcat for this type of work if the area isn't too rocky. Burning the refuse is the best option, and it adds nutrients to the soil. If you are in an area where you cannot burn large piles of brush, then you can rent a Vermeer chipper and a dump trailer to grind the refuse. This makes great material for mulching your roads to prevent grass/weeds from growing and to smooth out the rocky spots, and it will last for several years. Once you have finished the initial clearing, you will need to maintain the area forever. This can be done with a good pair of heavy duty loppers or any number of manual methods.

Good luck, and welcome to the club.

Hope you're not in Travis County. Cutting down a cedar is a capital offense there.

How many acres? Lots of options depending on how many $ you want to spend and your long term goals.

Thanks for the responses - very helpful. We are in the Hill Country - near Harper. The ranch is about 3,000 acres but ~1,000 acres will need to be cleared. It's a mixture of hills and flat land. Mulching the roads is a great idea. Any state/federal subsidies available for removing cedar?

...and to answer a previous question, it does not need to be tillable.

Booyah said:

---

Thanks for the responses - very helpful. We are in the Hill Country - near Harper. The ranch is about 3,000 acres but ~1,000 acres will need to be cleared. It's a mixture of hills and flat land. Mulching the roads is a great idea. Any state/federal subsidies available for removing cedar?

---

Cedar is relatively easy to push/pile up if conditions are right (adequate soil moisture). I've done it with a small Bobcat (643/S150) , a backhoe, and a caterpillar D-3.

Right after a good rain they pile up easy with any of the three, but with that much to clear, a bulldozer will pay for itself, and you'll never regret it. You can buy one for a less than $20K; use it for a year, and maybe get most of your money back to boot!

Summer reclamation burn?

There's a company around Junction that takes cedar and steam/CO2 distills the wood and bark into oil. Cedar oil sells for like $100-300 per gallon.

Just thought I would throw that out there. Maybe you could recoup some of your expenses selling a few trailer loads

agincs93 said:

---

There's a company around Junction that takes cedar and steam/CO2 distills the wood and bark into oil. Cedar oil sells for like $100-300 per gallon.

Just thought I would throw that out there. Maybe you could recoup some of your expenses selling a few trailer loads

---

What you're talking about are cedar logs. That is the only thing worth hauling to that plant. (I've done it)
I presume that the vast majority of the OP's "cedar"/ash juniper is scrub not fit for anything but a fire.

Contact Luke Tillman in Junction. (210) 216-9304

He can do any type of cedar removal you want and is very good at it. Any type of cedar can be hauled to the Junction cedar mills but it should be cut and left to dry for five years minimum in order to get decent money for it. And you won't make great money even at that. They are paying around $50-$100/ton.

Quote:

---

Any type of cedar can be hauled to the Junction cedar mills ...

---

Of course, but the only practical thing to haul a long distance, in terms of making economic sense/worthwhile for the effort expended, is the most dense and easy to handle, and that does not include branches and/or shrubs. That's the point I was trying to make to the OP.

Old growth cedar for sure, but that's better used for posts, etc., no?

Cedar Beetle land clearing. Trey is an Aggie and the best in the business.

www.cedarbeetle.com

Booyah said:

---

Thanks for the responses - very helpful. We are in the Hill Country - near Harper. The ranch is about 3,000 acres but ~1,000 acres will need to be cleared.

---

Booyah,

I've hired in hydro axe mulchers (both large and medium sized) to do land clearing, but having a 1,000 acres to clear staggers me.

Anyway, let's say a big hydro axe can clear and mulch 6 acres per day. OK, figure 166 days to complete the job, at $2,500.00/day. Damn, that's real money.

I'm a big proponent of hydro axing since there's nothing left to haul or burn when they're through, but maybe a dozer pushing the stuff into giant burn piles would be the way to go in this case. You sure can't count on that cedar rotting away in our lifetimes, and I don't care how young you are. ;-)

Now, if cost isn't an issue, just search for hydro axe operators in your area. Heck, for that big of a job, I'd say anyone in the state would look at it. I'm in Central Texas, and have used ROW Contracting, but I know Cold Creek in Buffalo also runs the big Barko hydro axes. In the Austin area, there is McDaniel and a few others, plus one who takes out giant billboards on I-35 between Austin and Waco advertising the service. Their name escapes me at the moment, I'm afraid.

We clear land with munchers, dozers or an excavator with a grubber attachment. That's probably the most affordable way to go with 1000 acres. Just pile and burn. You'd need to call my husband. I'll pm you his number.

We used to cut, pile and burn but there would inevitably be a burn ban around when it was burn time. Be prepared to wait a while for that third step if that's ok with your plans.

BoerneGator said:

---

Quote:

---

Any type of cedar can be hauled to the Junction cedar mills ...

---

Of course, but the only practical thing to haul a long distance, in terms of making economic sense/worthwhile for the effort expended, is the most dense and easy to handle, and that does not include branches and/or shrubs. That's the point I was trying to make to the OP.

Old growth cedar for sure, but that's better used for posts, etc., no?

---

Exactly correct, BG. From a time/income perspective you are always better off hauling the big stuff. I just wanted them to know the mill will take regrowth cedar but they won't pay you as much per ton unless you've allowed it to adequately dry over several years.