Tree pullers for removing privet

[FarmerCharlie]

I have read some earlier posts here on tree pullers, and could use some advice for my particular needs--mainly eliminating privet ranging from 1 inch single trunk plants to larger ones with multiple trunks. Privet roots are not deep, but they can be extensive. Some of the larger ones can be twenty or more feet tall with several trunks. I have a JD 2130 75 HP tractor with a Woods 1020 loader and a grapple rake with two thumbs. http://i823.photobucket.com/albums/...ent/LiftingLog_P1000814_1000w_zpsc3b891d1.jpg Currently I use the grapple to push the privet over and then pull it up roots and all and drag it to the burn pile. With the larger ones I usually have to push several times at different heights and from different angles to uproot it, and sometimes even that doesn't work.

I have looked at two tree pullers that have fairly narrow pointed ends that look like they could do a pretty good job of digging to loosen the roots, which my current grapple cannot do. One of them has a pointed end with two movable jaws, and some of the videos show it apparently being used to dig at the roots (Starhill Jawz Star Hill Jawz tractor attachment specs). The other unit also has pointed jaws, but one is fixed, and one is movable (EZ-Puller https://www.clfab.com/EZ-PULLER.html). I would probably get either the Starhill 34" model at 550 pounds for $3368 or the EZ-Puller 34" model at 615 pounds for $2280. And I don't have any illusion that either will perform as well on my tractor as they do on the skid-steer loaders in the videos.

Does anyone have experience with either of these pullers? The EZ-Puller models are less expensive, and appear to be more stoutly made, but weigh substantially more. I also wonder if there is really a difference in having one vs. two moving arms for digging to loosen the roots. I imagine that the two arms on the Starhill Jawz would work much like the two thumbs on my grapple, in that they would tend to close based on whichever one was seeing the least hydraulic pressure.

I guess my real question is whether after I spend $2000 to $3000 for a tree puller, I might find that the old $1100 grapple rake worked just about as well.
Thanks,
Charles

 

[dfkrug]

Wow, that Jawz is pretty substantial. I am sure that other implements won't work as well as
one of these units intended just for tree-pulling.

I have never used one myself, but I have had very good performance pulling saplings with
my 4-in-1 bucket, and I have nowhere near the capacity of your FEL's 5175# breakout force.
The sharp edge bites into the trunk, and curling the bucket allows me to use the full breakout
capability. AND the 4-in-1 has other uses.

I guess it comes down to how many of these trees you have to remove. Trees have enormous
tensile strength and being able to push back and forth while you lift upwards is important.

 

[Poopdeck Pappy]

For privet or something else without deep roots, I would think that your grapple would work just as well as one of those pullers. But I can't tell much about your grapple from that photo.

 

[JimRB]

Would a toothbar added to your bucket help grub out half the roots? I have pulled privet with my little JD. I use a single shank on the back to grub out roots on the bigger privet. I would expect that since your tractor has 3 times the HP as mine it might weigh 2 times as much or more. I have issues with traction and would expect that a heavier tractor could bulldoze through privet. Skid Steer Bucket Bolt on Tooth Bar for Skid Steer Loaders, Skidsteer Buckets

 

[FarmerCharlie]

For privet or something else without deep roots, I would think that your grapple would work just as well as one of those pullers. But I can't tell much about your grapple from that photo.

This probably shows the grapple rake a little better. http://i823.photobucket.com/albums/zz159/FarmerCharlie/web/Farm/Equipment/2130_crop_zps2ee94090.jpg It's an unbranded one that I bought for $1100 at an auction in Montgomery. It works really great for cleaning up fields and building burn piles. The two thumbs can grip items of different sizes, since they close separately depending on the hydraulic pressures. The one thing I think the tree puller might be able to do better is to grip the tree firmly and then permit using the curl motion to rotate the privet up instead of just pushing it or just lifting it. I'm thinking that the curl motion might give more force to help break the roots away, but I'm not sure of that is really true. That's where I think experience would be a better teacher than my intuition.

 

[Xfaxman]

I think your biggest problem with that style puller would be being able to see the jaws.

Since you have a high capacity loader, you might want to look at this one that I have.

Buckthorn Puller - Custom built Skid Steer attachments to fit almost any need you may have.

View from the seat pulling a small tree.


A small bush.


A cedar tree.

 

[FarmerCharlie]

Would a toothbar added to your bucket help grub out half the roots? I have pulled privet with my little JD. I use a single shank on the back to grub out roots on the bigger privet. I would expect that since your tractor has 3 times the HP as mine it might weigh 2 times as much or more. I have issues with traction and would expect that a heavier tractor could bulldoze through privet. Skid Steer Bucket Bolt on Tooth Bar for Skid Steer Loaders, Skidsteer Buckets

The grapple rake does have teeth, but there is a reinforcing bar going across the teeth that would prevent the teeth from digging in very far. And there are probably too many teeth to dig in enough to do much grubbing. But putting a subsoiler type shank like you suggested on the back might be a good idea. Maybe I could rig one up on my box blade. As for bulldozing the privet, that does work on the smaller stuff, but not on the bigger twenty to thirty foot tall monsters I'm battling. Yesterday after my OP I went out to do battle again, and took a few pictures. My typical technique is to crash into the privet in third gear with the grapple open and at a height depending on my best guestimate of how strong the particular plant will be. If I am very lucky, it will give up and fold over to the ground with the root ball exposed. But more usually it just moves slightly, and I back off for another bite at a different height and maybe a different angle. After several bites, if I am lucky, the plant will be folded over, and I can lower the grapple and push on the roots to push it completely out of the ground. Then I grab it with the grapple and drag it backwards to the burn pile and stack it. But if I an unlucky, the plant just won't budge. Or if really unlucky, it will break off and leave a sharp stob poking a foot or so above the ground lying in wait to puncture a tire or try to tip the tractor over. But yesterday was a pretty good day. The first picture shows one privet thicket, including a mid-sized plant in the center of the image before attacking it: http://i823.photobucket.com/albums/...e/PrivetBefore_P1000816_1000V_zps3932350e.jpg
The second picture shows the same plant after the first push with the grapple: http://i823.photobucket.com/albums/...AfterFirstPush_P1000817_1000V_zpsef2f1e96.jpg Note the skinned bark starting about five feet up where the grapple hit the trunk, and note that the plant is slightly pushed over.
The third picture shows the same plant on the far right pushed over a little more. Note the bark is also skinned lower, because I hit it lower on the second bite. This picture also shows several more plants pushed over pretty well after similar second attacks. http://i823.photobucket.com/albums/...fterSecondPush_P1000819_1000W_zps5ff7e52b.jpg That is actually my typical technique--attacking a group of plants in a sort of assembly line fashion rather than just one at a time.
The fourth picture shows the same plants after a third attack, and shows them almost completely pushed over. http://i823.photobucket.com/albums/...AfterThirdPush_P1000820_1000W_zps96b0981f.jpg
The next step (not shown) was to push each one at the root ball to push it completely out of the ground.
The fifth picture shows dragging one of the plants backwards to the burn pile by gripping it with one of the thumbs on the grapple. http://i823.photobucket.com/albums/...etDraggingBack_P1000822_1000w_zps1f283c5a.jpg There is actually another smaller plant not shown held in the other thumb.
Finally, the sixth picture shows pushing the plant onto the burn pile, along with the smaller plant that was held by the other thumb. http://i823.photobucket.com/albums/...ftingToBurnPileP1000823_1000W_zps7c812968.jpg
Altogether the operation took about an hour and a half to remove about ten pretty large plants plus pull down some of the overhead vines. So far I have converted about three acres to native warm season grasses. I have about ten acres to go, and figure at this rate I should be done by the time I'm 100. With a good tree puller maybe I could reduce that to 98 or so.

 

[FarmerCharlie]

I think your biggest problem with that style puller would be being able to see the jaws.

Since you have a high capacity loader, you might want to look at this one that I have.

I think you are right about the view issue, and I have also looked at the Buckthorn extended puller. I worry that the hydraulics on my tractor (especially the curl) may not be robust enough to handle the extra torque of the longer extension. Have you found that to be a problem? I couldn't tell what machine you have your puller attached to, but it looks pretty beefy to me.

I have never had problems with viewing using the grapple, but do when using the bucket. I even thought about trying one of the cheap TV cameras I have left over from another project, but have not yet got around to that.

 

[FarmerCharlie]

For privet or something else without deep roots, I would think that your grapple would work just as well as one of those pullers. But I can't tell much about your grapple from that photo.

This is probably a better picture of the grapple. http://i823.photobucket.com/albums/zz159/FarmerCharlie/web/Farm/Equipment/2130_crop_zps2ee94090.jpg
It does work well for the most part, and it is very versatile. The tractor spends 95% of its time configured with the grapple rake on the front and the box blade on the back. Rarely does it ever see the bucket or the bushhog.

 

[JimRB]

I have something like this. Well home made but like these. Fred Cain Tractor Subsoiler, 3 point hitch My tractor does not have enough traction sometimes but grubbing out those privet roots sometimes helps. I have about 1,000 square feet more to go on my OCD project I have been working on for 8-10 years. Winter only when the poison ivy is not as annoying. Some, meaning 10-15 privets that need to go away. I do need to work on another area but the one neighbor probably isn't as interested in participating. The other would be even less.

I recently learned honeysuckle is an invasive foreign plant.

What I do not understand is Chinaberry. I don't know if I should hate it or not. The flowers fascinate me. Of course I like the smell of privet and honeysuckle but it overtakes all things native if not kept in check.