I have 45 acres that used to be a hay field. Mesquite has invaded. Maybe 75 percent is still clear but lots of small trees that make mowing tough, Questions. Do I hire a dozer or shredder? How much should this cost? After clearing, will diesel kill the stumps? The largest trees are maybe 6 inches around but most are 1 inch. I know someone here has dealt with this. Thanks.

ps Any recommendations near Corsicana?

Do not shred. You will need to grub or apply herbicide. Your mesquites sound small still being 1". Rent a skid steer and go to town. Should be easy grubbing with the wet year. Then can spot treat with sendero or remedy. Go to an ag supply store around you and they can help out

It's a non stop battle with mesquite. I spray every year and there is always dozens more the next year

Oh sweet 8lb 7oz baby Jesus do not shred unless you want to be in the mesquite bush business. Bulldozers are the most efficient and most expensive. Cheaper options are spraying and then clearing later. Speaking from experience, it's a never ending relationship you just get used to.

For spot clearing, a skid steer with a grubber is best to pull them out by the roots.

Use herbicide first (Sendero). Wait for the kill, then grub. Killing mesquite is a recurring event. If you grub without using herbicide, you'll be back sooner to grub again.

Other posters have already covered most of it. Based on the fact that you've got a hayfield and it's small trees I'd go w Sendero foliar or a skid steer rental and grub them.

You can get a 20-30 gallon tank w a demand pump and wand and knock that out in a few weekends If the trees are small (4-6 feet in height) and not so thick you can't drive through/around them.

Lot of mesquite killing experience on this board. I've spent a lot of time with my rear on the seats of atvs utvs and tractors spraying mesquite. Sendero is worth the money. You have to cover the entire plant but you don't have to mess w mixing w diesel like for remedy. Also, we use a surfactant and also mix in some blue dye because it helps you see what trees you've treated if your working the same area day after day.

Pushing w a dozer and raking w a brush rake, and grubbing w a skid steer or tractor are also good. We use a little bit of each of these most years. Multi prong approach to kill those sob's. We like those methods over aerial because we can really sculpt our thick and cleared areas and you get a better kill with these methods.

Aerial is fast and you see results quick but the 2 and 3 year resprout rate is a huge problem. What looks impressive 6 months out isn't nearly impressive 2-4 years later. Also, finding ideal conditions and a reputable applicator can be a challenge. Our local NRCS guru only recs aerial for ranchers wanting to increase grass yield on a property for 3-5 years to improve grazing habitat for cattle but who aren't in it for long term management. I thought that was an interesting perspective. Hope all that helps.

If you're going to spray them, wait at least a year (two is better) before you try to remove them. If you wait two years, they will be dry at the ground, and you can just push them over; no need to pull anything.

HTownAg98 said:

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If you're going to spray them, wait at least a year (two is better) before you try to remove them. If you wait two years, they will be dry at the ground, and you can just push them over; no need to pull anything.

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Guess after poisoning and waiting a few years, you could mulch/shred at that time?

BlueSmoke said:

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HTownAg98 said:

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If you're going to spray them, wait at least a year (two is better) before you try to remove them. If you wait two years, they will be dry at the ground, and you can just push them over; no need to pull anything.

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Guess after poisoning and waiting a few years, you could mulch/shred at that time?

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Yep.

BlueSmoke said:

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HTownAg98 said:

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If you're going to spray them, wait at least a year (two is better) before you try to remove them. If you wait two years, they will be dry at the ground, and you can just push them over; no need to pull anything.

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Guess after poisoning and waiting a few years, you could mulch/shred at that time?

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Controlled burn

After doing this for tens of years, with different products and tried and true procedures, what was told to me back in 1989 by an old rancher...Grub them down as far as you can and cut everything up and place it in the hole and burn it all. The longer you wait the less time you have to work the field and birds are spreading the seeds as you speak. I believe this is the best way but hard way. I have sprayed for people before and the time it takes to be done can seem like forever. And I have missed a 1/4 of a side on a tree and that 1/4 lives. As small as they are you could have these out and gone easier than most folks.

A six inch diameter mesquite has dropped a ton of seeds. Hundreds stay in the ground for quite some time before ever germinating. Multiply that by any number you want and you will probably be on the under. It is always a work in progress.

How tall are the tallest ones OP? And how thick are they growing? Thin enough to drive a small tractor or other spray equipment in between trees?

A large part of what I spray each year is also old cultivated fields that I helped keep cultivated when I was young. I get a little more under control each year with a John Deere 990 tractor with a 55 gallon PTO driven sprayer. But years ago my Dad converted to 100% cattle and quit farming. At that time the mesquites started growing and now some of them are pretty large and thick. Those are the hardest. The way I look at those is I spray the "fringe" each year to gain a few more feet into the thick stuff. Eventually I will break through back into the thinner growing area.

If I was going to start over from say 25 years ago, I would get a bulldozer and start making burn piles out of them all.

This year so far I have sprayed 767 gallons of Sendero and 150 gallons of Surmount. I am about finished for this year.

I just sprayed another 50 gallons of Surmount yesterday. As I get the mesquites under control there are areas where other brush, including cactus have taken over. That is what I use the Surmount for.....everything except mesquite.

So far, after quite a few years of spraying, I have not accidentally killed an oak tree with the Surmount. I have tried to stay away from any root zone. I think it helps to have zero rain for a few days after application as the Surmount loses a bit of its potency before it gets hit by a rain.

Just cut closet to ground as possible and spray the cut area that is left. Push to a puke and burn. Respray anything that comes back up.

It doesn't sound like you need to grub yet.

Chop up and send a load to me every 6 months.

I will invite you to the bbq

Question about why not to shred them. I've got a bunch of 2-3 footers and was going to hit them with the shredder when I mow.

Mesquite are notorious for growing back thicker with more sprouts if you cut or shred them.

10-4, thank you.

You have purchased 767 gallons sendero, roughly over $100k?

He's talking about total gallons of diluted chemical sprayed on trees. Half a jug of Sendero stock solution will mix 50-70ish gallons of diluted chemical to spray.

Herbicide for sure.

If they are 4-6' or less in height, go with Sendero.

If they are 6-10'+, try Velpar or Velossa. You just squirt 1.5-3 mL at the base. Something like 1.5-3 mL per 1" in diameter. You can buy a syringe gun deal with a long nozzle and squirt it right at the base. Just be caution that there aren't any desirable trees around you want to keep. That stuff can leach out and kill your oaks/pecans if not careful.

What's your Surmount recipe? Just follow the bottle? You add surfactant or dye? As we have talked about before offline, we are 2-5 years behind you on our current reclamation.

That's not how it's written

Surmount 1 % with 1/2 % MSO.. exactly the same as Sendero. The label hints at using 2% for tough to kill stuff which I have. But I tried it and the tough to kill stuff still requires a second check for resprouting so I think it's a waste to go any stronger than 1%.

SanAntoneAg said:

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Question about why not to shred them. I've got a bunch of 2-3 footers and was going to hit them with the shredder when I mow.

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2'-3' mesquites are easier to kill especially if they are single stems. If you're wanting to get rid of them now, the stump treatment method will work great on that.

+1 on basal spray (stump method) using diesel + remedy.

If you spray it where it enters underground, it's a guaranteed 100% kill for small mesquites. Trick is to make sure you get all the runners and not miss any. You do have to do it on foot to get best results. I like to yank on the tops to make sure where they exit the ground.

Sendero is great but you need good foliage and they can't be making beans. Basal you can do at any time.

In the minority here, but I hate to use herbicides unless all else fails. In your case you mention shredding so must have use of a tractor. If it is 60hp or more get a three point grubber from Jones Machinery, they use to run about $900 a few years ago and are perfect for reclaiming pastures that have mesquite up to 3-4 feet tall. I have patiently cleared many an acre using one and it works extremely well. 6-8 acres a day is easy. Pulls out the whole root and it is one pass. I have taken out some big old growth trees that were cut at ground level years ago and re-sprouted by attacking from multiple sides and ripping out side roots. All it takes is a little time but in the end you have chemical free soils, no mesquite and no personal exposure to herbicides.

txrancher69 said:

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In the minority here, but I hate to use herbicides unless all else fails. In your case you mention shredding so must have use of a tractor. If it is 60hp or more get a three point grubber from Jones Machinery, they use to run about $900 a few years ago and are perfect for reclaiming pastures that have mesquite up to 3-4 feet tall. I have patiently cleared many an acre using one and it works extremely well. 6-8 acres a day is easy. Pulls out the whole root and it is one pass. I have taken out some big old growth trees that were cut at ground level years ago and re-sprouted by attacking from multiple sides and ripping out side roots. All it takes is a little time but in the end you have chemical free soils, no mesquite and no personal exposure to herbicides.

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To each their own but the time investment and money required to do it your way would result in a Texas where there was nothing but brush country. Love them or hate them, herbicides (applied basal or foliar) are a far superior control option in most cases where density is medium to high and the size of trees is not unmanageable. And grubbing won't get any more effective of a kill and leaves the pasture with plenty of holes for animals to step in. All it takes is for one root branch to stick in the ground and it will be back the next year.

Basal treatment will have almost 0 impact on retention of herbicide in soils because it is a spot application. Foliar won't hurt anything as long as you're not going to come back and plant a garden or forest there in the next several years - and that's only if you apply it way too heavily.

Here is what I would do. With 45 acres that is still 75% clear, I think you have a real chance of pretty easily getting this handled with little effort and expense.

I would take orange paint and mark every since mesquite stump/stick/tree/bush, etc. Then, I would shred it to the ground and IMMEDIATELY follow that up with herbicide treatment at the stiffest rate you can afford to achieve an 80-90% kill rate. Then I'd do it again the next year when I can see the results.

Tex Aggie said:

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That's not how it's written

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So you think he's sprayed 38,350 gallons of solution? He must have a hell of a mesquite problem... Or should I say had?

Many thanks!

I generally do not use dye. I work in a pattern, mostly a straight line, and then do not go back to that area for a week.

I do keep dye on hand and use it on rare occasion, usually with a backpack sprayer and spraying an area with lots of small mesquites so I can go back to that same area immediately to spray what I missed the first time.

I am too much of a tightwad. The dye costs about as much as herbicide per ounce.

With Surmount on mixed brush I don't go back to the same area for over a week because it takes quite a bit of time to show the sprayed area, especially Texas Persimmon and Mountain Laurel. Those are also two of the toughest species which many times need a second application but sometimes you cannot tell it until re-sprouting happens. If possible I wait a lot longer to check the area after the first application..... preferably a month.

Sendero is working well for us in Bandera county. Spray foliage between mid May and mid June.

OldAg68 said:

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Sendero is working well for us in Bandera county. Spray foliage between mid May and mid June.

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Perfect..... many mesquites here are turning yellow and a lot of the very small ones have lost 80% of their leaves so spray season is over for mesquite as far as I am concerned also.