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[Hyndis]

Using bait might be the best way to clear the countyside of zombies.

Chain up a kitten someplace in such a way that zombies will try to eat the kitten, and be lured over some sort of trap. Pit traps generally work well. You could also use spike traps linked to a lever, and keep it repeating indefinitely.

Zombies will continue to pile in to try to eat the bait, only to be skewered by the spikes. Even if they are raised they just get skewered again and again.

Retracting bridges may not work for a pit trap if you have zombies of a very large size. Big enough creatures prevent bridges from working. Works fine for regular goblin sized zombies though.

Once you thin out the zombie numbers enough, then you could go hunting for the necromancer. Necromancers are completely helpless by themselves. A dwarf with leather armor and a copper axe is more than a match for a necromancer. They're just behind an army of zombies. If you can get the zombie army out of the way somehow, then the necromancer is trivial to defeat.

Necromancers can also be caught in cage traps, so there is that option.

[Loud Whispers]

Hm....

Well, as necro would have put it, MAGMAAAAAAA!!!

Either you're joking, you're deliberately providing malicious advice, or you don't know what you're talking about - magma will not harm zombies.

It does however absolutely fry the necromancer. Doesn't even need to be a flood, just enough to start a fire and let the grass to the rest. Then the zombies can be dealt with directly.

[acetech09]

Your best bet is a dodge-me trap. That way you'll contain the zombies in an area that won't be dangerous to your dwarves.

[Mr.Elendig]

Hm....

Well, as necro would have put it, MAGMAAAAAAA!!!

Either you're joking, you're deliberately providing malicious advice, or you don't know what you're talking about - magma will not harm zombies.

It does however absolutely fry the necromancer. Doesn't even need to be a flood, just enough to start a fire and let the grass to the rest. Then the zombies can be dealt with directly.

Or add water. Then make slabs from the obsidian and engrave them to memorize the event.

[GreatWyrmGold]

Hm....

Well, as necro would have put it, MAGMAAAAAAA!!!

Either you're joking, you're deliberately providing malicious advice, or you don't know what you're talking about - magma will not harm zombies.

It does, however, harm the necromancer. Once he's gone, the zombies are MUCH easier to deal with. Zeds are actually more fragile than normal creatures, in my experience; they just don't bleed to death and keep getting ressurected. Remove the last perk and make sure there aren't any dragon zombies or something, and your superiorly-armed-and-armored dwarves shouldn't have an issue.

[LumberingOaf]

Having read the responses here, I think the most practical approach is probably going to involve pits. I should have plenty of room to set something up under the entrance provided I don't hit the aquifer covering about a third of my map, and the wildlife in this region is rather tame, so there shouldn't be any problems with oversized zombies. The largest out there are the remnants of my own livestock, after all. I can bait the trap with one of my multitude of geese (only one cat and currently short on dogs). Frankly, I am not sure why I did not consider the pit option in the first place, it seems pretty foolproof, since even if a zombie gets reanimated, it is still safely contained.

If all goes according to plan, I can convert the pit with some fortifications to serve as a firing range. This may turn out rather well after all.

[celem]

When it comes to saving a caravan on a time budget you will have problems getting anything set up in good time.  As you mentioned these things like to happen before you are ready.

With a brace of good miners however you can dig a long twisting underground tunnel (1-wide is fine) and stop when you feel its long enough, add a bridge to seal the fort-side of said tunnel.  This tunnel should head away from the depot and edge you want traders to leave by.  Simultaneously dig an underground highway from depot to map edge, stopping a tile or two short of the edge, likewise add a seal incase of unpleasantness.

Heres the fun bit, cross your fingers and toes.

Breach the twisting path with an upramp, scramble the sacrificialbrave miner back to base as the zombies on the surface should now begin pathing down this corridor, thankfully they are as a rule slow as sin.  Once they are moving, breach the highway from the depot to the surface by the map edge with another ramp and the traders will bolt for the edge.  The idea here is that while your traders are not safe and are emerging onto a hostile surface, anything of threat should be on the other side of the map heading for the snaking path.  Once the depot highway is opened anything not well inside your snaking tunnel may well reverse direction since a better shorter path has been opened, but you probably bought enough time for the traders to hit the map edge.

Oh....hope you didnt forget the bridges, seal yourself up tight the minute the traders pass the lock on their escape tunnel.  Half measures or inopportune distraction here will likely result in a fort full of zeds.