Tree farming...

G

ggoose

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Apr 30, 2014
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I hope I am posting this in the proper area...I am looking for suggestions for a friend. He is in the market for a machete or chopper to use to tree farm his small amount of acreage. Basically it will be used on brush and small saplings/branches of soft woods like pine, fir, and larch for general clean-up/fire prevention. He purchased, used, and returned a Gerber machete after the edge rolled with a few hours work. I'm not sure the geometry of a machete is appropriate for this type of use; perhaps more of a "camp chopper" or similar. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated. My due diligence search results suggest that a blade made from spring steel may be appropriate, though I find no consensus.

Thanks
gene
 
There are many great choppers available on the market. The ones that immediately spring to mind are: the Esee Junglas, the Ontario Rtak II, and the BK-4 from Becker.

In all honesty it sounds like your friend would be happier with a decent quality Axe or Hatchet and maybe a small folding saw like a Laplander. I think as far as performance goes, those tools would work better at those tasks.

Good luck, and let us know what your buddy chooses to go with.
 
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I would recommend that he pick up a Tramontina and see if it works for him. The edges on machetes roll fairly easily as they aren't run terribly hard, but Tram makes a heck of a lot better products than Gerber and they're cheaper, too. If he has issues with that, it may be time to look at a chopper, but those are pretty much universally worse at clearing brush as they generally have too much mass and not enough tip speed.
 
I'd go with a billhook, personally. Rinaldi and Falci make some very nice ones.
 
My favorite chopper is the Marbles Camp Cleaver, with a secondary 25 degree bevel on it, it sings (literally) through wood in seconds. However, while the Cleaver would work great on small saplings and branches, on brush, you would want something longer (though, at $15-20, you could easily buy it and a Tramontina machete). A word of warning, the sheath design is junk and you will quickly cut through the retention flap if you are not absurdly careful when opening it.
 
Count me among the masses with another vote for the Becker BK4.
But, do not over look the BK5. There is a 3 year review in the Becker subforum that shows it can Easily handle all your friwnd would throw at it.
 
As someone that worked as a forester for most of my life I will say don't even bother with a "knife" if it's real work. It is great fun, for a few hours, the first day, before you realise the job ahead of you. :p I would use a good heavy strimmer to just clear what needs cleared. Then go in with a wood working hand tool like a woods axe, billhook, camp chopper or even a 13" guide bar chainsaw saw for cleaning up any stragglers and thinning. :)

If you're just having fun chopping up his bit of wilderness with your mates that's fine, have fun, but there can a problem with leaving "spears" all over the place. Especially on a piece of land that will be worked on and so travled over regularly. You don't want "pointy sticks" all over the place or shin/thigh/waist high cut off sapling stumps, with jagged tops from the few chopps that it took to take it down, etc. Those can be absolutely brutal when dried out and hardened up. :eek:
 
Haze said:
As someone that worked as a forester for most of my life I will say don't even bother with a "knife" if it's real work. It is great fun, for a few hours, the first day, before you realise the job ahead of you. :p I would use a good heavy strimmer to just clear what needs cleared. Then go in with a wood working hand tool like a woods axe, billhook, camp chopper or even a 13" guide bar chainsaw saw for cleaning up any stragglers and thinning. :)

If you're just having fun chopping up his bit of wilderness with your mates that's fine, have fun, but there can a problem with leaving "spears" all over the place. Especially on a piece of land that will be worked on and so travled over regularly. You don't want "pointy sticks" all over the place or shin/thigh/waist high cut off sapling stumps, with jagged tops from the few chopps that it took to take it down, etc. Those can be absolutely brutal when dried out and hardened up. :eek:
Click to expand...

Truth. Although I'd swap out the strimmer for a scythe with a bush blade. A properly rigged one will take out green saplings thicker than your thumb without issue. I always make a point to...er...remove the points of stuff cut low using one or two quick paring/trimming cuts after completing a drop.
 
OK I work on a christmas tree farm and I agree with Haze get a good pair of shears, a nice chainsaw, some good loppers, and metal blades for a weed trimmer and that should do just about everything you need.
 
You may want to look at a "tree shearing knife"

My Dad uses them as light long-handled machetes for brush/trail clearing.

Also, this guy is awesome, probably a ninja:
[video]https://youtu.be/7fF_JWDyBZQ[/video]
 
Thanks for all of the suggestions; I have forwarded him the link to this thread and he can research your comments. My dad does this type of work as well and uses much of what Haze and snowboarder18 recommend. I made a chopper out of 1/4 inch by 18 inch D2 hardened to Rc 60 for my dad to use for this purpose, but he refused to try it because he doesn't want to risk damaging it. Uses it instead to carve turkey... No idea if it would actually work in the woods for any extended period of time, but several turkeys have succumbed :D .
 
Pole billook & loppers
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61e3t%2BAO8OL._SL1500_.jpg
 
Unfortunately slashers (pole-mounted billhooks) are pretty much unavailable on the US market at this time. I'll be fixing that soon, but at the moment those are nigh impossible for the average American to obtain. Great tools, though.
 
If you are managing a small tree plantation for personal use or as a hobby all that is needed is a light chainsaw and a machete. For felling large mature trees a larger saw will be required, and some means to drag them out of the bush. Depending upon the size of the wood lot(s) and your forestry operation a skidder and fellerbuncher or tree harvester will be needed to remove mature timber. It may sound like much but for small logging operations heavy machinery is the way to go.
 
For a small tree farm I would use a one-handed pruning saw or a small bar chainsaw. Take a look at a forestry clearing saw, it's a "weed-wacker" on steroids, for clearing brush around the trees.
 
I see no use for a "knife" here. I would go with a saw (folding or not, but short), a billhook and a machete. Get's you all covered. A folding hawkbill in your pocket will take care of the small vines and brambles hanging down or sprouting up.
 
I think I would go with the Condor Swamp Master machete in this case. I am not 100% sure of the need, but a semi-rigid machete seems to be about right.

Added: Try to avoid those "spears" all over the place. I have ruined a couple pairs of hip boots on those things. A small chain saw (trimming saw) would be quite useful.
 
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