Release spray on longleaf pine

[wmrussel]

I'm looking to do a backpack spray on 55 acres of longleaf pine I planted this spring.   I'm meeting with a man to take a look at my stand, today.  I don't have a lot of experience with longleaf, so I'll be learning as I go.  Any input/questions are welcome.

[Riles]

I've seen Oust used on longleaf in the grass stage. Does a number on grass and blackberries, don't think it suppresses hardwoods. The stand still had problems with brown spot needle blight. It hadn't been burned.

[Tom]

The herbacide of choice around here, for release,  has been Arsenal.

[wmrussel]

I've decided to hold off spraying until next year.  I have a lot of hardwood competition and will release with a broadcast spray.   Then I'll run a headfire through it.  I'll let y'all know how it goes next year.

[SwampDonkey]

We used Princep in spring on fields before planting red pines. The seedlings were bare root 1-2 stock. They were nice trees from DNR, but we can't buy them any longer.

[WDH]

55 acres is a lot to do for a release treatment with a backpack sprayer.  If I remember right, you are near Montgomery, AL?  We (my company) has large scale forestry operation at Pine Hill, AL, south of Selma and west of Camden, AL.  If you are interested, I could check with our local resources to see if one of our hardwood release contractors is interested in doing the job for you.  We generally do release with a ground application using a skidder.  Seems like the cost is about $70 -$80 per acre including the chemical, but I am not dead sure about that since that is not my area of expertise.  Of course we get a real good price on the chemical since we buy direct and use a whole bunch of forestry chemicals.  Generally, chemical release contractors can acquire the chemical cheaper than you can. 

[SwampDonkey]

Contractors get around $120 per acre for site prep/release with ground spray equipment under our government silviculture program. The base rate subsidy is $188/acre, from that government staff and marketing board staff get up to 20% for admin. Most contractors want a minimum of 10 acres per site. The problem on private lands, the parcels are small compared to crown/public lands. ;) I think it's $110/acre for trees, planting, spray and site prep to the land owner. They don't pay the full brunt of the costs, just a little less than 20 %.

cheers

[wmrussel]

I'm planning on doing a broadcast spray in the late summer/early fall of '08.  I've been told it's safe for the longleafs at that age. 

[Phorester]

One person backpack spraying 55 acres will just about kill ya, especially it there's any appreciable amount of brush, which there probably is if it needs a release spray.

Aerial, equipment mounted, or a big ground crew would certainly be the way to go.

[PineNut]

Local forester started out here with a backpack but gave that up very quickly. Next he tried a homemade spray on a farm tractor. That was better but not very satisfactory. He is now using a spray rig on a skidder and is well pleased with that. Of course aerial is a preferred method when conditions are right for it.

[customsawyer]

When you start to do your release let me know and I will help all I can as that is one of the ways I make my living. For starters know what kinds of hardwoods you are wanting to control and that will also help you to decide what types of chemical you will be using. If you are going to use Aresenal you will want to wait until late fall like close to Oct. as it will give you the most amount of time for the buds to harden off some DON'T TANK MIX aresenal in a release over long leaf unless you like the idea of replanting. Waiting that late you will loose some control on things like persimon but than will be better than harming the long leaf. The cherry will have lost there leaves as well but aresenal will not have much effect on them. Don't use a surfactant and make sure that you don't overlap your pattern as aresenal is soil active and will get to hot in the areas that are overlaped.
I might be speaking out of turn but if you have a hardwood problem in a area that was just planted it should have been taken care of long before the planting.

[routestep]

 If you don't have to spray all in one week/month/year I guess you can spray 55 acres, but I wouldn't think it would be easy. That will be a lot of back and forth walking with a can on your back. I hired a forester who brought in a helicopter to spray thirty acres of thick and hilly underbrush with about ten years of raspberry growth. I think it was the only way to go.

[SwampDonkey]

I've done an acre before with a back pack and I tell ya you ain't gonna do no 55 acres with a back pack sprayer. I tank only covers about 1/10 of an acre when broadcast. If you do band/strip coverage probably 1/5 of an acre. That's gonna be a lot of trips to the refill site. ;)

I used the spray as a site prep. There was an area that really was not that hard to plant and most the first trees never took. I suspect they were dead trees before they got planted. Anyway I replanted it myself and I had 99 % survival after 5 years.  8)

[wmrussel]

Don't worry, y'all.  I'm planning on contracting out the spraying.  I do the gps, cruising & marking of sales and contract out most of the rest of the work.