# Should I use fire or axes to clear a forest?
**URL:** https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/should-i-use-fire-or-axes-to-clear-a-forest/26108
**Category:** The Bunker
**Created:** [March 18, 2021, 9:39pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/should-i-use-fire-or-axes-to-clear-a-forest/26108 "2021-03-18T21:39:59Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Bio](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Bio)
#### Post date: [March 18, 2021, 9:40pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/should-i-use-fire-or-axes-to-clear-a-forest/26108/1 "2021-03-18T21:40:00Z")
I’m trying to get rid of a patch of trees blocking the road and I’m wondering what would be the best way to get rid of them without resorting to have to make a battering ram vehicle.
Does burning a tree get rid of (some) of them or is faster to get rid of them manually?
If it only converts them into dead trees, are they more brittle or just as hard as a normal tree?
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### Author:  [@ThinkSome](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/ThinkSome)
#### Post date: [March 18, 2021, 9:55pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/should-i-use-fire-or-axes-to-clear-a-forest/26108/2 "2021-03-18T21:55:45Z")
electric chainsaw is 6 minutes to fell the tree + 6 minutes to remove the stump. It is how I had been clearing paths through the forest. But it is still time consuming and exerting.
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### Author:  [@PALU](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/PALU)
#### Post date: [March 18, 2021, 10:29pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/should-i-use-fire-or-axes-to-clear-a-forest/26108/3 "2021-03-18T22:29:28Z")
There are two ways I’ve used:
1. Fire. Walk from tree to tree along the path and set each one on fire (without trapping yourself in the fire) along the future “road” with a sufficient width to get all vehicles through (I think all standard vehicles but one fit in 7 tiles), although it’s easier if you have one additional free tile on each side (and you need room to turn, if the path isn’t completely straight). After using up a bunch of lighters to set the trees ablaze you’ll have to spend a lot of sessions near the trees to keep them burning in the reality bubble. I’ve used foraging and wood cutting for that (again, beware of fire spreading), as well as manual hauling of loot from my vehicle on the other side of the forest to my camp.
2. Use the base camp order to log each forest tile you want your road through. After a few logging sessions it will be completely cleared and you’ve got a pile of logs in your camp.
3. Use the base camp order to clear a forest tile. I’ve never used that one.
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### Author:  [@ThinkSome](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/ThinkSome)
#### Post date: [March 18, 2021, 10:45pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/should-i-use-fire-or-axes-to-clear-a-forest/26108/4 "2021-03-18T22:45:18Z")
I’ve used the NPC clear trees order, it’s very very slow. First, you cannot give them electric chainsaws because the battery is only good for one cutting. Secondly, NPCs are very slow in general, they seem to take double the time that I need to complete a task.
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### Author:  [@PALU](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/PALU)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2021, 8:05am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/should-i-use-fire-or-axes-to-clear-a-forest/26108/5 "2021-03-19T08:05:49Z")
That’s the opposite to what I’ve seen with companions ordered to cut wood. They produce an impressive number of logs in a comparatively short time. Also, companion work is “free”: While they’re working on that your character can do important stuff such as eliminating zombies and bringing back stuff to the base.
The only reason I’d have my character cut a path through the forest rather than let companions chop it down is because I want to keep the rest of the trees outside of the corridor, for some reason.
Regarding chainsaws: They’re essentially useless, as cutting with them takes the same time as using a hand saw, racks up the same fatigue as using a hand saw, and uses up battery charges on top of that. There’s a need for logic that allows using different tools for tasks to take different amounts of time and cause differing amounts of fatigue depending on the tools used, but that’s not implemented currently.
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### Author:  [@GiggleGrassGatherer](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/GiggleGrassGatherer)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2021, 9:14am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/should-i-use-fire-or-axes-to-clear-a-forest/26108/6 "2021-03-19T09:14:56Z")
> [@ThinkSome](#):
>
> I’ve used the NPC clear trees order, it’s very very slow.
> [@PALU](#):
>
> That’s the opposite to what I’ve seen with companions ordered to cut wood.
Cutting wood order time depends on the (overmap)distance between the cutting place and the camp. Maybe that’s why your experiences are different?
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### Author:  [@PALU](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/PALU)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2021, 9:40am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/should-i-use-fire-or-axes-to-clear-a-forest/26108/7 "2021-03-19T09:40:27Z")
Could be. I think my tree cutting order have been at a distance of about 3-10 tiles, so fairly close to the base camp. Also, I didn’t use the clear order (although that should logically be faster than repeated logging, since there’s no hauling of logs back).
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### Author:  [@ThinkSome](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/ThinkSome)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2021, 12:20pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/should-i-use-fire-or-axes-to-clear-a-forest/26108/8 "2021-03-19T12:20:37Z")
I have no base camp, I just used the zones.
PALU, I am using the latest git version of CDDA, updated cca every month. Chopping down a tree takes my character 50 minutes with misc repair kit (contains wood saw), 50 minutes with wood saw and only 6 minutes with the electric chainsaw.
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### Author:  [@PALU](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/PALU)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2021, 1:23pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/should-i-use-fire-or-axes-to-clear-a-forest/26108/9 "2021-03-19T13:23:39Z")
Ah, yes, directly ordering companions to cut trees in a zone takes a long time (and it also screwed up my companions to get them to require me to give them food every time I wanted them to teach my character anything, despite the [standard] mod for no NPC needs).
It seems they’ve changed the logic for tool usage then.
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### Author:  [@BenJoneWert](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/BenJoneWert)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2021, 1:42pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/should-i-use-fire-or-axes-to-clear-a-forest/26108/10 "2021-03-19T13:42:38Z")
Use the military hammer of the car to repair it when it is damaged. Use the high-power engine to impact at full speed. Collect the dropped articles with the shovel. It is very effective
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### Author:  [@GiggleGrassGatherer](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/GiggleGrassGatherer)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2021, 2:14pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/should-i-use-fire-or-axes-to-clear-a-forest/26108/11 "2021-03-19T14:14:07Z")
Just… wow. I don’t remember ever seeing vaunted google translator failing _that_ hard, and multiple times in just three sentences to boot.
At least “it is very effective” presumably translated as it should.
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### Author:  [@ThinkSome](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/ThinkSome)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2021, 2:36pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/should-i-use-fire-or-axes-to-clear-a-forest/26108/12 "2021-03-19T14:36:06Z")
I’m building myself a ram-vehicle, yes. Decided to build a 10-long 3-wide amphibious ferry, with bike racks on its sides and with nothing but easily repairable (welder) frames for the first 4 tiles at front. Should make a decent ram.
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### Author:  [@ThinkSome](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/ThinkSome)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2021, 4:12pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/should-i-use-fire-or-axes-to-clear-a-forest/26108/13 "2021-03-19T16:12:29Z")
There might be another way: heavy sledge hammer (80 bash) + perhaps the temporary strength bionic?
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### Author:  [@zantanzuken](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/zantanzuken)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2021, 4:37pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/should-i-use-fire-or-axes-to-clear-a-forest/26108/14 "2021-03-19T16:37:54Z")
cut down trees with axe to seperate out trees you dont want from forest, then burn the rest, making sure it doesnt spread in the wrong direction.
… fire is great for removing trees, but… fire might be -too- good at removing trees.
i believe what BenJoneWert was saying was, keep a welder on your car and bash trees down, repairing it as you go, then go through the area you bashed down and use a shovel to remove the stumps.
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### Author:  [@ThinkSome](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/ThinkSome)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2021, 6:56pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/should-i-use-fire-or-axes-to-clear-a-forest/26108/15 "2021-03-19T18:56:52Z")
You can remove stumps with a shovel?! I’ve been doing it with the electric chainsaw.
And yes, I’ll use the ram + NPC zone repair once the ram vehicle is ready
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### Author:  [@zantanzuken](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/zantanzuken)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2021, 7:08pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/should-i-use-fire-or-axes-to-clear-a-forest/26108/16 "2021-03-19T19:08:27Z")
i mean you can use the same axe you chop the trees down with, i just assumed thats what they were trying to say via google translate.
… i’d assume shovel on stump would just remove it, instead of yielding a small amount of wood as well, but if the goal is just to remove them entirely…?
Edit: yeah shovel doesnt work on stumps. ¯\_(ツ)\_/¯
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### Author:  [@Valase](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Valase)
#### Post date: [March 20, 2021, 6:40am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/should-i-use-fire-or-axes-to-clear-a-forest/26108/17 "2021-03-20T06:40:26Z")
> [@Bio](#):
>
> I’m trying to get rid of a patch of trees blocking the road and I’m wondering what would be the best way to get rid of them without resorting to have to make a battering ram vehicle.
The base camp method already mentioned by others is probably the fastest (as in; time your character invest iteslf). But depending on how large that “patch” is (only 4 trees?) and/or if it’s not considered a forest (as in; just a special field tile), you might want/need to burn it. Fire burns the tree completely (at least in my tests), but might leave a pile of ash that can be cleaned with a shovel.
Unless it changed, you can make an effective firebreak by just surrounding the tiles (including diagonally) you want to contain the fire within with 1 unit of water per tile (drop/unload it from a bucket/jerrycan) before you start the fire. You can’t drop water on trees, but you can on bushes and plants.
* * *
> [@GiggleGrassGatherer](#):
>
> I don’t remember ever seeing vaunted google translator failing _that_ hard, and multiple times in just three sentences to boot.
I once had a word (intruder) pop up in an English RPG that I wasn’t sure if it meant what I thought it meant. So I’ve copy-pasted the sentence into Google Translate to check (whole sentence just to make sure it gets the context).
The sentence was: “An intruder breaks down your front door. What do you do?”
I’ve got my answer, but not without a good laugh… it basically said (translating it back): “An intruder vomits in front of your door. How do you do?”
Yeah, still a long way to go…
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### Author:  [@zantanzuken](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/zantanzuken)
#### Post date: [March 20, 2021, 12:13pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/should-i-use-fire-or-axes-to-clear-a-forest/26108/18 "2021-03-20T12:13:38Z")
definitely dont need the shovel for ash, just gotta pick em all up.
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### Author:  [@PALU](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/PALU)
#### Post date: [March 20, 2021, 12:42pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/should-i-use-fire-or-axes-to-clear-a-forest/26108/19 "2021-03-20T12:42:47Z")
You don’t even need to pick the ash up, as it won’t block vehicles from driving over it. You can, if you want to, and I’ve done it (mostly) on the “roads” to make it clearer where it’s safe to drive.
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### Author:  [@Valase](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Valase)
#### Post date: [March 20, 2021, 1:46pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/should-i-use-fire-or-axes-to-clear-a-forest/26108/20 "2021-03-20T13:46:27Z")
> [@zantanzuken](#):
>
> definitely dont need the shovel for ash […]
If it’s just `wood ash`, then yes. But this method sometimes leaves `pile of ash` which, as stated, needs a shovel to get cleared.
I mean, I’ve tried it and seen it. You can’t just pick it up.
> [@PALU](#):
>
> You don’t even need to pick the ash up, as it won’t block vehicles from driving over it.
That’s why I’ve explicitly stated that it “can be cleaned”, not “has to”.
I just wanted to remind that it might lead to “cleanup” work, depending on one’s playstyle.
Driving over ash (not `pile of ash`) will destroy the ash anyway, so the road’s going to be clean soon enough.
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