# To leave the trees... or not to leave the trees... That is the question LOL



## dressagesweethart (May 19, 2011)

So, I have a little bit of a problem and we can't really decide what to do about it. My husband and I bought this property in May that has a TON of trees... ridiculous amounts of trees actually :evil:. 

Anyway, we... well I would love to get an outdoor arena up in the near future and we're having some difficult trying to decide what to do with the TREES! My husband has a place where he's cut down a lot of the trees down to stumps. 

The question is whether or not we can just cut those things down as far as we can, put some Tordon stump killer on them and then put a base down for the arena that gets rock hard (limestone is the state mineral of MO after all haha!) or if we're really going to have to dig every single one of those trees out of the ground (HUNDREDS of trees :evil???


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## Phly (Nov 14, 2012)

The roots and stumps could cause isusses. For clearing, we cut the trees off apx 5' from the ground. About as high is comfortable to run the saw. And it leaves enough leverage for the excavator to pull out of the ground. Which is what I'd suggest, hire a good operator and let him pull the stumps. A good operator with the correct machine should be able to pull a stump every 20mins. Depending on size.
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## MissColors (Jul 17, 2011)

Phly is right. Thats how we do it when we do tree removal. Another thing you could look into is having someone come out and do stump grinding. Leaving dead stumps in the ground can some times attract termites which is the complete opposite of what you want and it can help keep just in general other bugs around. Let alone kill everything else around it from all the nitrogen the decaying trees will be putting back into the ground.

Vacate the stumps!


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## Darrin (Jul 11, 2011)

If you don't remove the stumps they'll rot and leave holes behind for parts of your arena to settle into. Even worse it can bridge then collapse leaving a hole for your horse to find.


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## tim62988 (Aug 30, 2012)

how large of diameter are the trees? and what equipment do you have at your disposal?

honestly it might be easier to find a different location on the farm and remove/add dirt to level it out

if they are small enough you might be able to push/pull them out


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## dressagesweethart (May 19, 2011)

Most of them are not very big. However, there are some VERY large ones (which we're trying to avoid having to deal with them at all and just keeping the arena away from them all together. The biggest ones that have been cut down so far are about 6" in diameter which I think is a pretty good sized tree.

There isn't really anywhere else on the property where we can put this. We've looked for a flatter spot but no luck besides the pasture that we use for hay (NOT going to cut that any smaller than it already is). The rest of the property has a creek running though it and MANY more trees. I feel like this was the worst property choice for horse people now but it really didn't seem that bad when we purchased it :-(


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## Phly (Nov 14, 2012)

Lol 6" trees are baby's  that be a easy clearing with a machine. Weve pulled stumps/trunks 36" across. Heck you could have that dozed in a few hours.
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## Northernstar (Jul 23, 2011)

All of your beautiful trees sound like a dream! What a_ wonderful_ purchase!! Each one has taken more than our lifetime to get as big as what you're describing._ Each leaf provides oxygen so we can breathe, and shade from the hot sun in summer...._. I hope you'll take a step back from wanting to eliminate these hundreds of trees, and find a different locale for the arena


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## kntry (Nov 11, 2011)

I agree, 6" is baby. I just cleared about 3 acres of huge Pines to expand the pasture. We left all the hardwoods. I'll have to wrap them with chicken wire to keep the horses from eating the bark but it's worth it. 

We used a large track hoe to push over the biggest trees, most well over 80' tall. The smaller ones, we used our bobcat and pushed them over. We dug a big hole and are burning the tops and roots day by day. The bobcat covers up the holes.


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## Chevaux (Jun 27, 2012)

Hey, OP - got some pictures of the areas you're thinking about? I think you're quite lucky to have a bunch of trees. When we got our place, not only did we have to build all the buildings, we had to plant all the trees as well so they are all very precious to me.


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## dressagesweethart (May 19, 2011)

Wish I could, the only other choice is our hay... or the house lol. I guess I was exaggerating a little when I said hundreds haha. This place we picked had quite a few but I can't even begin to explain what the rest of the property looks like, it's like living in a jungle. There are some big ones out there for sure.... I think if they were 36" across we would have given up by now hahaha!


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## dressagesweethart (May 19, 2011)

I think someone else may have cleared some of the area we chose already because it was pretty bare. It's directly behind the barn... I'll have to remember to get some pictures tomorrow... I'm at work right now :-(


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## Hidalgo13 (Dec 24, 2010)

Yes pictures please!


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## tim62988 (Aug 30, 2012)

I would be guessing that a bunch of 6" trees are a result of that area being logged off within the more recent past (not sure where you are from/how fast trees grow) but a stab in the dark maybe 10-20 years for hardwoods

depending on how the rest of the property is you might actually want to take some of the other trees too. Talk to a forester to see what will be best for the trees/property. if they take out some of the older larger trees then the young small ones will have a chance to take that taller/older tees place


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## MissColors (Jul 17, 2011)

dressagesweethart said:


> Most of them are not very big. However, there are some VERY large ones (which we're trying to avoid having to deal with them at all and just keeping the arena away from them all together. The biggest ones that have been cut down so far are about 6" in diameter which I think is a pretty good sized tree.
> 
> There isn't really anywhere else on the property where we can put this. We've looked for a flatter spot but no luck besides the pasture that we use for hay (NOT going to cut that any smaller than it already is). The rest of the property has a creek running though it and MANY more trees. I feel like this was the worst property choice for horse people now but it really didn't seem that bad when we purchased it :-(


It is what you make it.  photos please.
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