Box Scraper Want to uproot scrub trees and vines

   / Want to uproot scrub trees and vines #1  

skiprt

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Apr 5, 2011
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Tractor
Mitsubishi MT160D
My Mitsubishi MT160D normally pulls a finishing mower. Would like to find a box scraper to uproot scrub trees and vines. It has a three point hitch but no hydraulics on the front. Perhaps I can only use a blade. Whatever.
 
   / Want to uproot scrub trees and vines #2  
You don't describe the size of the trees you need to uproot. There are simple devices that can be built for the 3PT hitch that can uproot trees or you can just use a chain and leverage device to pop them out. A grapple on the FEL can do likewise if your loader is strong enough. You can even use something like a boxblade to push stuff over and rip up root systems. Mowing with a bush hog consistently will virtually always result in the replacement of vines and brush with grass in a year or so if you do nothing else at all.

You would need hydraulics on the front only for a grapple and even that can be done with lines run from rear remote hydraulics. I presume your 3PT is working and has hydraulics so you can use a box blade without any further modification.
 
   / Want to uproot scrub trees and vines #3  
Please shed some light on the chain & lever buseness. Sound like something I could use. TC 29, no loader. 2" trees??
Thanks,
Neil
 
   / Want to uproot scrub trees and vines #4  
I have not had too much luck with using a box scrape for uprooting stuff. It tends to just slide right over them. You may get some success but it will be hit and miss. A grapple is ideal, and the previously mentioned "grabbers" will work but only if you have just a few to uproot. It isn't effective if you have lots to do. Too much climbing up and down from the tractor to hook up and release, in my opinion.
 
   / Want to uproot scrub trees and vines #5  
My Mitsubishi MT160D normally pulls a finishing mower. Would like to find a box scraper to uproot scrub trees and vines. It has a three point hitch but no hydraulics on the front. Perhaps I can only use a blade. Whatever.

Wrap a chain around them & drive forward until they are free.
 
   / Want to uproot scrub trees and vines #6  
Please shed some light on the chain & lever buseness. Sound like something I could use. TC 29, no loader. 2" trees??
Thanks,
Neil

The chain is obvious, just needs to be strong enough, long enough and terminate with a chainhook on the working end and be secured to your drawbar on the other. The lever part is simple and can be done in a number of ways. Perhaps the simpliest (though not most convenient) is to use a section from a large log, say two feet in diameter by three feet long and place it next to the tree to be removed lying down. The chain is then wrapped securely two or three times tightly around the tree to be removed, then led over the log to your tractor drawbar (drawbar please, not 3PT or anything attached to the 3PT or the safety police will get you). You then just pull with the tractor. The log effectively changes the direction of the force from horizontal to more vertical and therefore pops the tree out of the ground. Roots and tree structure resist lateral forces (wind or straight pulling with the tractor) better than vertical forces (falling up to the sky) so it makes it easier to get the tree or stump out.

Other devices can be substituted for the tree section. A sturdy metal frame built like an "X" will work fine if strong enough and if the feet have pads to keep it from slipping and digging into the soil. Check out this thread: http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/build-yourself/129506-tree-puller-hard-get-trees.html Something like that would be great for you as you don't have a FEL bucket to carry around the log.

If you do use the tree section as the pivot point you can just carry it around with you in the tractor's bucket with the chain as you move from tree to tree.
 
   / Want to uproot scrub trees and vines #7  
I have not had too much luck with using a box scrape for uprooting stuff. It tends to just slide right over them. You may get some success but it will be hit and miss. A grapple is ideal, and the previously mentioned "grabbers" will work but only if you have just a few to uproot. It isn't effective if you have lots to do. Too much climbing up and down from the tractor to hook up and release, in my opinion.

Driving forward does seem to cause the box blade to slide over these things. Try lowering the box blade to right at ground level, or even just a tad lower, & back into them to rip them out.

The goal is to sort of pinch the sapling/ vine between the box blade & ground in order for the box blade to get the needed grip on the sapling/ vine.
 
   / Want to uproot scrub trees and vines #8  
The chain is obvious, just needs to be strong enough, long enough and terminate with a chainhook on the working end and be secured to your drawbar on the other. The lever part is simple and can be done in a number of ways. Perhaps the simpliest (though not most convenient) is to use a section from a large log, say two feet in diameter by three feet long and place it next to the tree to be removed lying down. ...

IT - How about a 2' long piece of a 6"x6"?
 
   / Want to uproot scrub trees and vines #9  
I have not had too much luck with using a box scrape for uprooting stuff. It tends to just slide right over them. You may get some success but it will be hit and miss. A grapple is ideal, and the previously mentioned "grabbers" will work but only if you have just a few to uproot. It isn't effective if you have lots to do. Too much climbing up and down from the tractor to hook up and release, in my opinion.

There are also one piece solid steel wedge type "grabbers" that attach to the 3PT and allow you to back the tractor into the tree where the wedge cuts into the tree so when you then raise the 3PT it pops the tree/sapling out. There are a number of these devices sold commercially and they could be built by anyone with a simple welder. Some fancy versions are sold as Bobcat attachments called Mequite terminators or something like that and those would be nice and convenient if you have a strong loader. Most CUTs have stronger 3PT than loader lift or breakout though.
 
   / Want to uproot scrub trees and vines #10  
IT - How about a 2' long piece of a 6"x6"?

It might tip over if used upright and is probably not high enough if used horizontally but the idea is fine. Maybe if you cut a V wedge on one end to guide the chain and put a 2x6 on the bottom it would resist tipping over. A couple of 4x4's bolted together in an X as a bipod would certainly work. See the link I added to the earlier post for a really nice steel homemade version. Anyone with even a 110v flux MIG or any stick welder could make one of those in an afternoon out of some schedule 40 pipe and a few pieces of scrap metal.
 
 
 
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