First, this is a great thread and I've learned a lot about what works, what doesn't, and the amount of time, effort and money each approach takes!

I've got about 40 acres on the Cumberland plateau in Jackson county. The land on the ridge is flat to rolling, and the soil is mostly weathered sandstone, then a yellowish clay before getting down to rock at about 36". My land was clearcut 10-12 years ago and is now mostly hardwood regrowth: poplars, maples, oaks, poplars, sweet gums, poplars and a few shortleaf pines. And poplars :-) The only open areas when I bought it were the old logging roads, and it was completely impassable with blackberries everywhere. From a clearing saw to a walk behind brush cutter to a bush hog, I've been able to clear some of the old roads. I also cleared about a half acre field with pushing over the small trees with the front end loader.

Anywhere I clear will inevitably have old red oak and maple stumps, big ones. Before reading through this thread, I assumed I would need to eventually deal with all those stumps so that I could pull a disc through the areas I was planting. Now, I love the idea of just getting the stumps low enough to bush hog over (most are 3" high at most and the termites are hard at work on them as we speak).

My throw and mow question is how would you convert early stage forest to fields, using a small tractor (Kubota 25hp with FEL)?

I could cut the small trees to ground level and mow around the large stumps. There are a few bumpy spots and old ruts from the skidders that I'd like to smooth out, I just hate the idea of going from good soil, covered in trees, to plowed up soil with little OM, trying to go back to good soil. I don't have a disc yet, but I will probably get one to chop up small roots on new ground and to make firebreaks for burning. I'm not a quail hunter, but discing the old roads every 4-5 years would keep a little bare ground and I do like hearing them sing.