This may sound off topic, but-- there is nowhere to post it and since I own a KLX 250S (yeah baby) I will ask....

My father owns about 32 acres of land all but 1 acre are wooded, from 1" to 5 feet wide trees. How would I go about getting this land usable for trails? I was there the other day and could only get 40 feet in and at a crawl, too much brush and stickers.
Anyone here with experience in making this thick wooded mess into a nice area to ride please let me know where to start.
What type of equiptmnet,time of year etc.....
This land may not seem like alot, but here in NJ--- ANY land is like GOLD!!!

I'm sure I need to just use a chainsaw and get busy!!!
Any ideas will be appreciated........
Dave

 

get alot of goats... no bull****... stake them in the ground with a 20 foot chain.....within a week or so theyll totally eat everything (that includes metal) that they can reach...... once theyve cleared their area pull the stake and move em to an uncleared spot.....
ok now for another way..... brush hog and a chainsaw.... keg of beer and a buncha friends.

 

Goats are a great idea, but finding someone to "loan" you the goats might be tough. The city of Albuquerque rents goats to clear the underbrush along the Rio Grande river. If I remember correctly, the city paid $33,000 to use the goats for one month (they came with a goat-herder).

 

Yeah, Goats are pretty much at a premium here in Jersey....$250 an hour, not including the Hotel room and bottle of Wine.........
So I'm just gonna get a chainsaw and get to work.
I knew there was no easy way, was just looking for some ideas since this will be my first time.....for trail clearing and/or renting Goats!!

 

OR...

Get a trailer and go to South Jersey where there's hundreds of thousands of acres of State Forest available for riding on... (just try to ride on Sundays during hunting season... Makes EVERYONE happy and safe....)

 

Albuquerque!!! Shoot, I'm in Roswell !!! lol.... I was just in Albq a couple of weekends ago..Dang Casinos. lol

Chain saw, some friends, maybe rent a back hoe.

 

I USED to do that. Now I think that we all need to learn to share the woods!

Let's just say the hunter that pointed the shotgun at me got my attention! The gun hunters are only there a short time each year, then it's all ours the rest of the time!

 

Uhhhggg I would clear it all for you for free, **** i love that kinda work...we got an arsenal of chainsaws, I HIGHLY recomend Huskavarna, they are VERY reliable and start VERY well. just fall the trees you want gone, and if you arnt going to use the wood check around, you local lumber mill or paper mill may tbuy it off of you. Considering you are going to be riding you have two choices for getting rid of the stumps, One: chain saw: slow and a little dangerous, you have to primarily dice the stumps and then fill them with some diesel, then they will burn out for about a week. OR you could go to homedepot and rent a stump grinfer for the day which also work VERY well and is much more safe and speedy. I recommend the useage of a Small truck or a quad to haul the stuff around.

OR you could try for your local paper mill to come, you can tell them what trees to take(mark with spray can) and they will fall the trees AND haul them off. and i am pretty sure they should pay a little for the lumber.

 

That's it. No rocket science about it. Map yourself out a trail with some cut-backs, a few straights, some technical obstacles, etc ... and get busy.

 

Thanks for replies, I just get a little nerveous because once I cut a path it's cut forever.........no changing it!!!

Gotta just map it out like ya said, straights--some woopties......some technical areas and than just maybe some burms.........

I've never walked it all, so hopefully some things will just naturally be there, others will just have to be made.

I've found some really nice trails over in Monroe Twsp, but all private Prop, need to get my own area.

Maybe I'll do like a little "How-To" with some before and afters if anyone is interested.

Dave