A friend of mine bought 20 acres in FL some years ago that had been freshly logged. They removed everything, but the land had huge furrows in it. It was hard work w/ a medium dozer just to grade the sandy soil. SC is mostly clay. I didn't see any signs of big rocks on the land, but ya never know. I wonder if I can rent a stumpgrinder? They don't remove everything, but it would be OK for a pasture. I'm going to ask the realtor what the locals use, as there is a lot of clearing going on there right now.

 

Stumpgrinders can be rented but most of the rental units are small and will work your butt off. If you do rent one try to find one controlled by hydraulics and not the armstrong type that have handles like rototillers.

 

If you are going this semi-remotely then I suggest hiring a certified state forester. I will e-mail you more info. Have him mark trees to cut and sell, make suggestions about where to leave tops for wild life, what to chip, etc.

Where to have the trails and even house location (shade is always nice) depending on topo and streams. Your property is kind of small, so you might not end up getting paid, but, if you have a few nice veneer oaks, you never know! What you want to avoid is "high grading" except maybe a few veener logs to pay or break even on the job. You might be able to find someone to do it for free if you have a thing from the forester stating volume and expected price/board foot for the lumber.

Then put it to bid.

Have him/her check the progress, hand out the money according to progress steps outlined in the bid, make sure they pay you for timber removed, and do not cause unneeded damage, do not leave a huge mess, and do not pirate trees!

A good forester can have someone come in on seven acres, remove a hundred trees, and then in ten years you can actually have more "cords" per acre then you started with even after removing all those trees.

As for stumps, just hire a stump removal company to come in with a Bobcat grinder (flail) and have them do the whole site at once.

FWIW: I do lot clearings once in a while, so I know a bit about the business.

 

You might also consider renting a midsize excavator (backhoe on tracks). Excavators have low ground pressure and will not leave ruts like a dozer but are easily capable of pushing over trees and digging up stumps. A couple of years ago I decided to extend my backyard down to the creek and cleared off and leveled about 1.5 acres of dense new forest in a little over a week. I ended up having so much fun playing with the excavator that I constructed 2.5 miles of roadway in the back acreage for my kids and grandkids to ride four wheelers and motorcycles on.

If you find any rocks you can always use them to fill holes where you dug up stumps or stack them all in one place, dump enough dirt on top to fill in the gaps, and plant a few flowers to create a decorative rock garden.

 

I'm even considering getting one of those portable sawmills, and selling some rough-cut wood. A friend of mine has one (it's like a horizontal band saw) and it works great. It would be fun to use some of my own timber for something in the house, such as a rustic mantlepiece or something. I figured an excavator would probably be the best bet- I have a call in with my realtor to ask what the locals use. Then- I have to figure out how to get rid of all the stumps and unuseable trimmings. I think they push it in a pile and burn it in SC. I don't want to bury a lot of wood, as it just encourages termites.

 

Just so you know,..there is also a market for de-barked and cleaned up stumps within a certain size limit.

People with large yards use them to decorate and fill in space.

Around here such an item will sell for $200-$300... sometimes more..... depending on the size & shape.