Clearing land

[matsuki]

So as I mentioned in the Junk in your J-trunk thread, I'm trying to figure out the best way to clear some land. The lemur and I bought matching kusakiri and hacked the shit out of what we could last week...but as you can see below, it's not nearly gonna be enough.

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Some flatness....if you look in the background, you'll see how bad it was.

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Found the original concrete parking slab under a ton of jungle.....

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This is what we're dealing with....bunch of fallen trees/branches covered with all kinds of vines, grasses weeds, etc. (It's knee high in many places) in between quite a bit of standing trees.

So...besides taking a year to hack at it little by little, what options do we have in J-land? I have no clue what exists here and so far the only rental tractors I've seen have attachments that look like they're only meant to turn up/mix soil for farming??

1.) Forestry Mulcher? ...or even just a regular mulcher (Wood chipper?) to feed by hand? (and hopefully not our hands)

2.) Bush hog /flail mower?

3.) Bulldoze it?

[yanpa]

Have you thought about...

4) Goats?

Seriously. I saw an item on TV not so long ago about some family who had an overgrown slope which needed clearing and hired some goats to do it.

Some random links that 「ヤギ　借りる」 turned up:

http://www.i-turn.jp/ina-greenfarm-yagirental.html
http://alpenmura-yagi.com/farm/rental.html
http://j-net21.smrj.go.jp/establish/abc ... 10621.html

[matsuki]

Many in the USofA suggested goats but I didn't think it was feasible here...looks like I'm wrong. (though at the rental prices, seems like I'd be better off buying a goat or two...Greji, don't get jealous!) Would certainly make it easier to get at the trees/branches with a chainsaw and wood chipper but I wonder what a PITA it would be to keep moving a pen around. (or a rope/stake?)

[IparryU]

Many in the USofA suggested goats but I didn't think it was feasible here...looks like I'm wrong. (though at the rental prices, seems like I'd be better off buying a goat or two...Greji, don't get jealous!) Would certainly make it easier to get at the trees/branches with a chainsaw and wood chipper but I wonder what a PITA it would be to keep moving a pen around. (or a rope/stake?)

For goats you can just get something heavy and tie it up. what we would do on our farm is put a pole in the ground an tie a few of them to it to trim everything down.

you can also pick up their droppings and fertilize your garden. else, you can just sweep it to the side and it will biodegrade just fine. it doesn't smell (too much) as they are just eating greens and sticks, which is perfectly fine.

if it were me doing it. I would go along the perimeter with a hoe and break everything down a bit. that way you can keep the goat(s) in one area and just move a lot of the stuff closer until it gets to a part where you don't want to break everything down.

for that much... 3 goats could do the job in couple weeks. but I am assuming it is not that much space that you have/want to get through to build the shelter.

[matsuki]

Hmmm, goat power isn't sounding so bad. Will they eat all the dead weeds and shit as well? (and more importantly, anyone know if any of the vegetation there is poisonous to them?)

[Coligny]

Agent orange is still made, but knowing monsanto it's now certainly marketted as baby formula / pregger diet supplement. I should check if I could get bulk discount through the clinic former ordering channels...

[IparryU]

Hmmm, goat power isn't sounding so bad. Will they eat all the dead weeds and shit as well? (and more importantly, anyone know if any of the vegetation there is poisonous to them?)

Depends on the weeds, like if the greenery is growing from by a septic tank/sewer that leaks or has contact with the soil. That will get them really sick after a couple of days. If there is rotting wood, plastics/styrofoam, or anything that doesn't naturally decompose. Certain bugs are OK as long as they don't have hard shells. They could eat anything... really, but it isn't good for them and when they get sick, there is not a way in hell you are going to move them. so they will just lay in their shit an piss until they get better. also will stick really bad.

You also need to know if there are rodents there or nearby, cause the goats will eat their shit that is on sticks or in the grass and get sick.

[matsuki]

Coligny - if that shit was legal I'd probably already tried to burn this whole area by now.

IPU - No sewage at all, sure there are rodents somewhere but not the NYC sewer type. The only other worry I have is if there are bears in the area (there are monkeys...ran into a family of them last week) which I can't really get a straight answer about.

[Coligny]

That's why it might be better to call contractor to do this kind of shit...

If not, first you break your back then you're stuck with the junk...

[legion]

goats with flame throwers attached to their heads

[Coligny]

goats with flame throwers attached to their heads

Brilliant...

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[Russell]

Coligny - if that shit was legal I'd probably already tried to burn this whole area by now.

Isn't there a more regular way to burn everything down?

You know, not by Agent Orange, but by matches.

And what is that big white pipe next to the stairs? For pumping up the cooling water to the local nuke plant?!?

[wagyl]

This FG http://kazenotanifarm.com/wp/ not so far away from you Choko and he gets rid of goats from time to time: warning to you, though, he gets rid of the goats which are rugged individuals and which are too much trouble for him to handle in his herd.

[Russell]

Yay, goat cheese!!!

[Coligny]

And what is that big white pipe next to the stairs? For pumping up the cooling water to the local nuke plant?!?

Mountain small river artificial bypass flow thing ?

[wagyl]

Yay, goat cheese!!!

Puts hair on your chest and a hairy taste in your mouth.

[yanpa]

Yay, goat cheese!!!

Puts hair on your chest and a hairy taste in your mouth.

The Mrs. had some for the first time in the UK and loved it.

[yanpa]

And what is that big white pipe next to the stairs? For pumping up the cooling water to the local nuke plant?!?

Mountain small river artificial bypass flow thing ?

Water supply from a dam?

[nikoneko]

Tough to say without being on site but looks like the rake actually is going to be the most used tool. Rake it up and anything that won't come around chop it up with the Japanese version of a machete, your friendly neighborhood 鉈 （なた）.




I RABU NIWA-SOJI!! （笑）

[nikoneko]

Oh and another word that may help is 鎌（かま）a sickle. They make tons of kinds of natas and kamas for just this type of thing.

[Coligny]

And what is that big white pipe next to the stairs? For pumping up the cooling water to the local nuke plant?!?

Mountain small river artificial bypass flow thing ?

Water supply from a dam?

Don't you take that at the bottom of the dam ?

[yanpa]

And what is that big white pipe next to the stairs? For pumping up the cooling water to the local nuke plant?!?

Mountain small river artificial bypass flow thing ?

Water supply from a dam?

Don't you take that at the bottom of the dam ?

I assume so... I also assume if my theory is correct it would mean the bottom of the dam is above the point from which the photo was taken.

[Coligny]

Nobody in their right mind would buy land downhill from a dam in Japan...

Maybeeee...

[yanpa]

Nobody in their right mind would buy land downhill from a dam in Japan...

Maybeeee...

Well, maybe the dam is in the valley on the other side of the hill

Or maybe Choko has wised up and installed a lemur escape chute

[yanpa]

Nobody in their right mind would buy land downhill from a dam in Japan...

Maybeeee...

You must be new here.

[Russell]

Nobody in their right mind would buy land downhill from a dam in Japan...

Maybeeee...

You must be new here.

In fact you're saying that there are lots of people not in their right mind...

[Coligny]

We all are...

[Yokohammer]

Oops ... late to the party.

Choko, you should have a couple of these in your arsenal (たて鎌）。

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It's a blade that you use sorta like a rake. It's amazing how fast you can go once you get the knack.
Not so good for heavy undergrowth, but fine if it's just weeds and stuff.

[Russell]

Then again, rainy season will start soon.

Giving those little nitty gritty plants plenty of incentives to grow back to where they were.

Choko needs a permanent solution.

Did anybody notice that concreting things over is a national pastime here?

[Yokohammer]

Then of course there are chemical solutions.
If you just want to clear the place and not grow anything on it later, weed killer would be a viable option.