The Best Ways to Clear Large Vines & Brush

Large vines and brush can hide your land's best qualities. Removing this ground cover will involve some expense and a lot of hard work but the effort will pay off when you have cleared the land for your purposes. The method you use to clear the land will depend on what kind of brush is present, but safety will always come first in this endeavor.

No matter what kind of tools you intend to use or the type of work you plan on doing, take some safety precautions before you begin to work outdoors. Always wear a hat or some kind of head covering to protect yourself from the sun. Apply sunblock to areas of skin that will remain exposed. Take safety goggles and a breathing mask out to work with you every day even if you are not planning on needing them.

If the area is truly overgrown, make a first pass with a backhoe or some other type of heavy machinery. These machines can save you a lot of backbreaking labor in removing trees and other troublesome growth from the land you are clearing. After going at the job with a backhoe or bulldozer, you will have to remove the debris left behind. Rent one of these devices if you are not going to do this regularly or cannot afford such a large purchase.

Heavy machinery cannot get every land clearing job done the right way. Sometimes you have to do it yourself with the help of power tools. A chainsaw is good for felling small trees and cutting the trunks of large bushes. String trimmers or hedge trimmers may be useful in taking care of details at the edge of the property after the initial clearing is done.

Even if you are using heavy machinery and power tools, clearing brush and vines always requires physical labor. Buy at least one saw, some pruning shears and clippers. The small shears will be useful in cutting vines before trying to unravel them from trees or other landmarks that you are not going to completely remove. Handsaws are useful for some branches at the edge of a parcel of land that a powered chainsaw cannot safely reach.