Reclaiming hill with gorse

ihatewinter

I have a field with about 5 acres of gorse. It's on a very steep hill. What would be the best option to get rid of them. I can't walk through them as they are so thick. Burning isn't an option because there is an habitable house about 50 metres away in the next field.

I cut and sprayed all gorse on the flat sections of the field as they were sporadic. All the fence lines are cleared and cut back as well so really want to get rid of this section as well

Another thing is that it is very very steep

AntrimGlens

How steep? Would a track machine work on it? We've cleaned quite a few bits of mountain of whins in recent years with different methods. Chainsaw and grazin 90. Cut the bushes close to the ground and drill the butts with a cordless drill and squirt in grazon 90 or 'people' used to use diesel.
Tractor and power washer above the clumps of whins and barrels of pre mixed spray and spray over the tops of the clumps. Get better reach with pto washer than lance of the sprayer.
Track machine with grab type thing and pull them out by the root, shake the soil off and pile up and cart away if you can't burn.
Quad bike and sprayer or knapsack with long lance.

Connemara Farmer

All good options above.

There used to be an ad on Donedeal for a remote controlled flail on tracks, worked on slopes up to 55 degrees I think.

Limestone Cowboy

Mulcher and treat the stumps straight after cutting then spray any regrowth in a years time.

merryberry

OP what advantage is having those few extra inaccessible, difficult to manage, acres to u? What do u plan to do with?

AntrimGlens

Limestone Cowboy wrote: »

Mulcher and treat the stumps straight after cutting then spray any regrowth in a years time.

LC, was it whins you were mulching as I thought it looked more like scrub and bushes in the pics?

Only problem Id have with mulching whins or gorse is that mulching scatters the material everywhere and if whin seeds or needles get spread they will take root very easily and you end up with whins growing in a different place in a years time, also happens if you burn them as they get carried by the wind, thats why I prefer to cart away or pile up and burn in one place if its not easily accessible.

Username John

I'd be of the same opinion as Antrim - get in a digger, clear the place, pile all the bushes up and brun em (or throw em into some glen or something)

The only issue with this is
1) Soil depth - the sil must be ok to be growing furze, but is there much depth of soil? Pulling em out like this would pull up a good bit of soil.
2) Cost - a digger would be about 500euro/day (guessing) and 5 acres would take a few days to clear...

I did something similar last year, but it was briars rather than furze, but got in a digger, got it cleared, waiting for regrowth, sprayed that, then put in grass seed.
See here for pics.

gozunda

ihatewinter wrote: »

I have a field with about 5 acres of gorse. It's on a very steep hill. What would be the best option to get rid of them. I can't walk through them as they are so thick. Burning isn't an option because there is an habitable house about 50 metres away in the next field.

I cut and sprayed all gorse on the flat sections of the field as they were sporadic. All the fence lines are cleared and cut back as well so really want to get rid of this section as well

Another thing is that it is very very steep

Some physical considerations

Soil type and geology

If the soil is very shallow on the underlying rock you may have serious problems with soil loss where the scrub is removed and the soil is subsequently left bare. Cultivation may exacerbate this problem especially if the soil needs rotavated etc

The roots of the gorse are most likely helping to anchor the soil especially where you say the hill is very steep.

How exposed is the hill on terms of wind and rain? This will be a factor in quickly reestablishing grass cover.

Tbh it sounds like the costs of reclamation may not be equal to potential returns from that piece of land. Best do your calculations of costs as a first step.

keep going

My rule is briars or ferns =earth, furze=rock

Limestone Cowboy

AntrimGlens wrote: »

LC, was it whins you were mulching as I thought it looked more like scrub and bushes in the pics?

Only problem Id have with mulching whins or gorse is that mulching scatters the material everywhere and if whin seeds or needles get spread they will take root very easily and you end up with whins growing in a different place in a years time, also happens if you burn them as they get carried by the wind, thats why I prefer to cart away or pile up and burn in one place if its not easily accessible.

Ya it's mostly briars, blackthorn and hazel in the pic. I know he has done a good bit of work on furze as well though.

Green farmer

Don't try and burn the furze. Fire causes the seed pods to pop and cast the seed over a greater distance. They can then stay dormant in the ground for 40 years apparently.

ganmo

after for the burning/cutting spread a bit of urea, and keep doin for the next few years
furze is kinda like clover

ihatewinter

Thanks for all the replies. I hadn't thought of the tracking machine.

The soil is shallow and the whole field dries very fast in summer. It is very sandy, not much stones in it, only about 10 massive boulders in it. It's only heathland not permanent grassland.

I'll phone a few lads next week and get them to come up and have a look at it. See what prices I'm looking at.

The reason I want to reclaim is that I'm getting no value from it now. Plus I worried about cross compliance and the payment schemes.