Crushing Bracken

[muddy42]

I stalk roe in forestry - mature and restock. The bracken is a real pain - head high during the rut and noisy underfoot. I cut some with a quad and flail mower, but some of the paths are too steep, wet or rutted up by forwarders. The quad is 4wd with good tyres and will get up fine. To a certain extent just driving the quad around knocks the bracken down. But this got me thinking about crushing it properly. I know you can get a proper roller crusher but these are expensive.

I have some massive heavy chain that could anchor a battleship and some old car tyres. Plus I have an old tow hitch, various bits of 5mm iron and I weld badly. I was thinking of bolting three tyres together in a triangle and towing this behind the quad. Id add some wood or iron for weight. The triangle shape would deflect off any stumps and avoid it getting stuck. Plus it would concentrate on the centre area which gets missed by the wheels.

Has around done something similar?

 

[Mike1979]

One of our neighbours spent a couple of years heavily "bruising" bracken on some ground and had some good results. Its a shame Asulox is banned as that was about the only "guaranteed" way for effective control.

 

[lochty]

If the materials are free, what's to lose? I'd say cracking on...

 

[jall55]

I stalk roe in forestry - mature and restock. The bracken is a real pain - head high during the rut and noisy underfoot. I cut some with a quad and flail mower, but some of the paths are too steep, wet or rutted up by forwarders. The quad is 4wd with good tyres and will get up fine. To a certain extent just driving the quad around knocks the bracken down. But this got me thinking about crushing it properly. I know you can get a proper roller crusher but these are expensive.

I have some massive heavy chain that could anchor a battleship and some old car tyres. Plus I have an old tow hitch, various bits of 5mm iron and I weld badly. I was thinking of bolting three tyres together in a triangle and towing this behind the quad. Id add some wood or iron for weight. The triangle shape would deflect off any stumps and avoid it getting stuck. Plus it would concentrate on the centre area which gets missed by the wheels.

Has around done something similar?

I just cut if with the hedge cutters or even silky saw - do it maybe 3 times over the same patch each year as it comes - really knocks it back

 

[muddy42]

I just cut if with the hedge cutters or even silky saw - do it maybe 3 times over the same patch each year as it comes - really knocks it back

Thanks, but I have probable 2 miles of path to clear.

 

[jall55]

Thanks, but I have probable 2 miles of path to clear.

Fair play - that actually wouldnt take that long with a hedge cutter - i perhaps did 20 miles last year without being daft about it

Just watch out for the wasps !

 

[VSS]

I stalk roe in forestry - mature and restock. The bracken is a real pain - head high during the rut and noisy underfoot. I cut some with a quad and flail mower, but some of the paths are too steep, wet or rutted up by forwarders. The quad is 4wd with good tyres and will get up fine. To a certain extent just driving the quad around knocks the bracken down. But this got me thinking about crushing it properly. I know you can get a proper roller crusher but these are expensive.

I have some massive heavy chain that could anchor a battleship and some old car tyres. Plus I have an old tow hitch, various bits of 5mm iron and I weld badly. I was thinking of bolting three tyres together in a triangle and towing this behind the quad. Id add some wood or iron for weight. The triangle shape would deflect off any stumps and avoid it getting stuck. Plus it would concentrate on the centre area which gets missed by the wheels.

Has around done something similar?

Yes, it will work.

 

[muddy42]

Fair play - that actually wouldnt take that long with a hedge cutter - i perhaps did 20 miles last year without being daft about it

Just watch out for the wasps !

SD never ceases to amaze me, 20 miles! I have a hedge cutter a strimmer and I do cut about 1/2 mile with the strimmer. But its long hot exhausting work and I have better things to do

 

[Mike1979]

SD never ceases to amaze me, 20 miles! I have a hedge cutter a strimmer and I do cut about 1/2 mile with the strimmer. But its long hot exhausting work and I have better things to do

Madness comes in many forms...you should see how much pest control he does ... 1 man conservation army

 

[jall55]

Hhahahah
Im quite lucky too - the really hard jobs i get some help - and drag the wife along

got 8 men after 2 stoats tonight hhahahah

 

[Mike1979]

Hhahahah
Im quite lucky too - the really hard jobs i get some help - and drag the wife along

got 8 men after 2 stoats tonight hhahahah

Good man. From what I see its excavator driving that you really need help with

 

[jall55]

Good man. From what I see its excavator driving that you really need help with

HAHAHAHAH

 

[Sol]

Keep in mind roe deer like cover they can access quickly If you mow it all down the particular spot may not be as desirable anymore for mature animals, you for sure still want too leave plenty of bracken with some portions that allow for shots.

One of our most successful areas Is like this behind the hill your usually on (more open, but loads of 20m patches of bracken) there's a reason the deer love it and we keep taking 6 pointers off it.

 

[distantcamera]

When I was a countryside ranger we used to knock the heads off of bracken as it unfurled early in the growing season. This meant that significant amounts of the stored energy used for the early growing was lost to the plant as it hadn't yet got large enough to effectively photosynthesise and had used most of its energy producing the early growth. It really did weaken the areas of bracken that we worked on significantly. I think if you were to use your quad in the early growing season in the way that you've described that you would have a large impact on the ability of bracken to grow. We were working by hand only. Just remember that without the bracken you'll find that your soil structure will change a lot and you may not find it pleasant riding on the quad after a while.

 

[kes]

Any benefit from a couple of strategically placed high seats ?

 

[Greenmist]

I've done it with a 6' length of telegraph pole chained and dragged by a quad, found it quite effective, I think if you used an old railway sleeper it would be better, I actually have a redneck harrow I made from eight tyres in a 3-2-3 formation, its used mainly for smoothing areas of field after horses.

 

[muddy42]

I've done it with a 6' length of telegraph pole chained and dragged by a quad, found it quite effective, I think if you used an old railway sleeper it would be better, I actually have a redneck harrow I made from eight tyres in a 3-2-3 formation, its used mainly for smoothing areas of field after horses.

Yes thats a good idea, I might have some telegraph pole. I could even make it roll with the right chain connection at each end.

 

[long_range_rob]

I've done it with a 6' length of telegraph pole chained and dragged by a quad, found it quite effective, I think if you used an old railway sleeper it would be better, I actually have a redneck harrow I made from eight tyres in a 3-2-3 formation, its used mainly for smoothing areas of field after horses.

Reminds me of J Clarksons home made handbrake on Top Gear Africa special

 

[jall55]

When I was a countryside ranger we used to knock the heads off of bracken as it unfurled early in the growing season. This meant that significant amounts of the stored energy used for the early growing was lost to the plant as it hadn't yet got large enough to effectively photosynthesise and had used most of its energy producing the early growth. It really did weaken the areas of bracken that we worked on significantly. I think if you were to use your quad in the early growing season in the way that you've described that you would have a large impact on the ability of bracken to grow. We were working by hand only. Just remember that without the bracken you'll find that your soil structure will change a lot and you may not find it pleasant riding on the quad after a while.

Thats what i do

 

[Greenmist]

Yes thats a good idea, I might have some telegraph pole. I could even make it roll with the right chain connection at each end.

I think dragging causes more damage than rolling, if you do decide to roll, fix some angle iron to the pole so you get a decent crush, a partridge keeper friend of mine had breeze blocks on old rope, it was very effective but I'm unsure of the longevity of the system