So going to clear a path for the fence I'm wanting to build and took a walk around the main areas today just to have a look at the chore I got myself into.

So the front half of the land use to have a barbwire fence yet nature took it over I have full-grown mesquite trees that have to reclaim that area where the barbed wire fence used to be.

Now I want to keep the wood and season it to use for smoking and our fire pit. I have two chainsaws one I have to check to make sure it still works add gas and oil since it's been since 2011 last time it was used.

Another saw is a battery-powered saw that has three batteries for it and a quick charger. I have cut several trees before so good on that part yet!!

What's the best way to get the roots or the trunk out of the way? What is also the best way to season the wood?

Are there more tools than a chainsaw that would be useful? What do you use to clear a small brush that the chainsaw is too much for? I have a ton of Mormon tea around my house.

Im, sure there is something I'm not covering so please tell me! Thanks for the help!

For small brush I use a machete or a long parang. You can use a chainsaw just run the chain tight.  If you’re cutting hardwood like mesquite get a semi chisel chain. Be very careful about the steel in the wood. That can catch and cause kickback and that can kill you. If you don’t know what kickback is its where the saw catches on something and flicks up or sideways in the direction of the chain rotation instantly and doesn’t stop unless it hits something or you plan to continually second by second watch for kickback. You should make watching and preventing kickback all the time because it’s every bit as lethal as the same idea as muzzle discipline. DO NOT FUCK AROUND WITH THAT! Loose and the little stuff can get caught under the chain and throw the chain off the bar. For taking up roots it depends how big you’re talking. You can use a chain tied around the base and pull them out with a vehicle, a jack or winch or bulldozer if it’s big. A 4x4 truck would be a great option. Don’t jolt the line as it will likely break something and be dangerous and destroy something you don’t want to. Digging down helps dislodge roots. You can also just leave the roots and rent or borrow a stump grinder.

I've found a sawsall with a demo blade works good for smaller branches.

No clue beyond a small excavator to pull lots of root balls.  I just dig smaller root balls out by hand.  Dig around them, cut roots with the sawsall, pull with a come-a-long until it gives up and comes out.  Lots of work if you're doing many of them.  Sawsall blades are cheap compared to a chainsaw blade that is toast the first rock it hits.

When I take out things like shrubs or aborvitae I don't usually cut them off and then dig out roots, I'll wrap a strap around them a couple feet above the ground  for leverage and pull on them with a chain fall hoist or come-a-long until I think it's about to break or the hoist is hard to take up anything else.  Then I dig down on the offside and start cutting roots.  Cut a couple roots, tighten up the hoist, cut a couple more roots.  They come out,  eventually.

My property had trees everywhere.  I had to get ahold of a Kubota excavator to remove all the stumps once the trees were felled and removed.

If you're only doing trees along a fence line, a stump grinder might be more economical.

how big are these trees (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diameter_at_breast_height)
do you have a tractor?
how big is the tractor?
do you have any attachments for it?
do you have some chain and a brush puller/grubber? like this  or  this  
do you have a rental place nearby?
do you know how to use a mini-ex?
do you know how to use a CTL/skid steer?
etc
etc
etc

Man, that's a lot of time-consuming work by hand.

Rent a small dozer. (By small, I mean less than a D9).

Plow a no man's land perimeter, with all the upturned debris being pushed to the inside.

Install fence.

Cherrypick the trees in that upturned berm of debris thereafter, at your leisure.

rent a high flow CTL with a forestry mulcher attachment, you can turn an acre into chips in hours.

Best way to season wood is get it off the ground so condensation and water can’t ruin it with mold that would spread. You can use pallets to do that or use an old school way of having 2 parallel logs or thick pieces of wood laid like a train track to lift it off the ground. Cover it with a tarp or metal tin. Tie the edges down on a tarp. Make or hard for rain or snow to puddle on the top. Allow room for airflow between rows if it’s more than one row. If the end grain is exposed to the elements it is not preferable but so long as the rain can’t get on it and sit on it. A year of seasoning is minimum if it’s green wood. If it’s maple a year is fine. Maple rots very fast and us as useless as styrofoam to burn for heat after a few years. Perfectly seasoned wood is 2 years at least. When you pick up wood and its heavy for its size and has a thud sound that’s not seasoned. Seasoned wood has a light weight and almost has an echo or a ring when struck. Green, or unseasoned wood will always absorb sound when struck and be heavy.

If you don’t mind low stumps just cut the stumps very low. Make sure to use semi chisel chain for it because you’ll likely hit the dirt and semi chisel is made for dirty conditions. We cut them so low that you can run over them with a mower and not hit it. They also make a chainsaw attachment for a stump grinder that acts like a paddle wood chipper. It’s probably cheapest and easiest to cut them down, clear the brush, then have a rental of a stump grinder. Post some pics if you don’t mind.

I did professional tree work after college for a while.  The above comment about kickback is wise.. be careful! Honestly sounds like you may want to consider hiring a pro to do this for you.  What kind of saw do you have? A homedepot/residential saw won’t last if you have a bunch if hard woods to cut.  Plus your going to burn through chains.  I’d also recommend a small tractor or dozer to clear out the stumps/roots.  No other way around it aside from hiring a stump Grinder.  Once you factor in equipment rental costs you may be close to the price of having someone come in and do it for you.

I paid $100.00 per hour for a dozer to clear some fence lines.  I can promise you it's well worth it if you have several feet to clear.  

Forestry mulchers are nice too; had some of the piles from the dozer shredded last week.  $150.00 hour.   If it wasn't mostly cedar I'd burn them to save the coin.  

Smaller trees can be pushed over with a skid steer.  

Personally after seeing all three options I'd highly recommend the dozer.  It will also make the path relatively smooth.

We just got one of these to clear cedar brush.
The neighbors hired it done. Impassable brush land looks like manicured parks complete with fresh mulch around the stands of oak trees that are kept.

Edit: if you do have oaks to keep, the mulcher is the way to go because it doesn't disturb the oak roots.

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If you have to get the roots, excavator with a thumb. The minimum is a backhoe with a thumb or backhoe with a 4-way bucket. I cleared 4 acres last year with a Cat 420D backhoe with extendable boom and 4-way bucket. I would have loved to have an excavator but the backhoe was essentially free to use (it's my dad's).

Dozer will work too but I think an excavator is more effective. The guy that runs cattle behind me also runs an excavating business. He has every piece of equipment you could want, he has 10 CTLs (including a forestry mulcher attachment), he has a D8 dozer, excavators. He is getting ready to clear about 6 miles of fence line (part of which borders my property) and redo the fence. The piece of equipment he moved in: his big excavator with a thumb.



A skidsteer is not effective at getting the stumps too. If you can leave the stumps rent a CTL or skidsteer with a forestry mulcher. You'll have a small fence line cleared in a day, big one done in a few days.

All I have is my truck and a few chainsaws can't afford much else still need to buy the auger drill also. I don't have any place that rents near me and never have used any of that equipment.

Trees are not that thick at all had to cut one of the big ones up last fall had no trouble with it at all.

If you got a lot of mesquite you need to kill it with a herbicide before you try to cut it down or hire someone who does deep root removal. If you don’t, it will come back with a vengeance. Additionally, make sure you know where the property line is and don’t cut down your neighbors trees unless you want to buy them.

Personally, I set the fence back a couple of feet inside of my property so I have access to the other side for maintenance. Once you have it cleared you need to spray every year to keep it clean.  

Go down to your Kobota, Bobcat, or John Deer company as they will know someone who does that kind of work. Don’t overlook the Cedar eater people. Typically they charge around $2,100 per 10 hour day to mulch the property line. If you go that route be sure and have your herbicide ready to spray anything that goes green in the fence line.

Forestry mulcher on a skid steer is easily the fastest, most efficient way depending on tree size and terrain.  Most guys in my area charge $125/hour and they can flat clear the trees.  But it's all about how much your time and labor or worth to you.

Where in MO are you?  I'm up north east near Bowling Green.

I'm a big-time DIY'er; hardly ever hire anyone to do anything I can do myself.

I'd probably hire a guy with a dozer for this, though.  Time is too short to waste it grubbing mesquites.

Depends on if the wire from the fence is still in there... Wrapping that around a mulchers would be a giant pain I bet.

My understanding from his numerous previous posts about this is that there was no existing fence where he plans to do this. It's all new.

I'm down in the southeast.

The best way to get the roots is to use the trunk of the tree to tip it over and uproot it.  Then saw off the trunk and use a bulldozer to push up the root balls.  I am unfamiliar with mesquite and this approach may not be feasible depending on their root structure.  I just had 2 acres of Southern Yellow Pine cleared for a house and it worked like a charm.

Palm is correct that you need to be ready to spray. Mesquite cannot be permanently killed without chemical control. Read up on Remedy and Sendero. It’s a constant battle.  

If you are clearing for fence and truly cannot hire a dozer them just cut flush with the ground and move on. You’ll never get those mesquite roots out of the ground.

Your best bet is to save up to hire a dozer for a couple of days though to clear that brush. I’m a big DIYer and no way in hell I’d clear a whole, new fenceline like you have by hand. Ask around at local feed stores.  

Welcome to Texas.

I cleared my fence line from a bunch of yaupon. I bought a circular blade for my stihl weedeater.

I cleared about 100 ft of fence line about 5 to 6 ft wide in a few hours. yaupon trees up to 2 " thick.

It was a workout for sure.

After a couple weeks when the sprouts started coming out on the stumps , I sprayed brush killer on them.

That reminds me. I need to go check that fence row to see if it needs more brush killer .