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Cedar and brush clearing

Eastern red cedar, hedge (Osage orange), locust, and brush move into Kansas pasture and take the grass. The contractors here clear it with skid steers, forestry mulchers, tree saws, and dozers. Some mulch the brush where it stands. Some pile it. A few also spray or burn.

Say which trees stay: shade at the creek, a windbreak, the homestead. Hedge and locust grow back if the stump is only cut. Big cedar is a machine job. A pasture of small cedar may be a spray or a burn instead.

Questions worth asking

• How thick is the cedar, and do you mulch it or pile it?
• Do you treat stumps? Hedge and locust grow back from a stump that is only cut.
• Can you clear the fence line without tearing the fence out?
• Are cattle still in the pasture, and where are water lines, wells, and tile?
• Are you insured, and who is on the crew?
• When can you start, and what happens if the ground is wet?
• If the piles will be burned, who handles the county burn rules?

HirePlains does not list prices. Cost follows how thick the cedar is, the slope, the rocks, and if stumps are treated. Get the acres and the work in writing.