Homemade Single Shank Ripper (A.K.A. da Stump Killa)

[GaryInWA]

I have a Wain Roy quick coupler on my JCB backhoe which allows me to swap out buckets by just pulling a pin. I had some spare time on Sunday so thought I would fabricate a single shank ripper from some scrap steel I had sitting around that would work with the Wain Roy quick coupler. I use a Lincoln buzz box so I had to double and triple weld most joints to ensure they can withstand the forces that will be placed on them….7018 is my favorite type of welding rod

The piece I used as the ripper is a piece of 1 inch thick scrap steel that looks like a butter knife; it measures about 30” long and weighs about 100 lbs. I next had to build a structure to attach the ripper to so that it would work with the quick coupler; it had to have a piece of round pipe which is how the quick coupler grabs an attachment. It had to have a large 2” diameter bushing welded to some flat stock in which the pin could be inserted and thus lock the attachment to the quick coupler. Most all of the metal I use is between ½” – 1” thick and is very heavy duty stuff.

I used heavy duty angle iron to join the round pipe to the flat stock; the angle iron will also keep the attachment from sliding side to side within the coupler during operation.

I added extra bracing between the ripper and the flat stock it’s welded to so that the ripper wont bend to either side or forwards/backwards.

I took some pictures of the project during and after completion, I also took some pictures of the ripper in action….enjoy.

One picture is attached and there are more at: Yahoo! Photos - luvmud's Photos - Single Shank Ripper

It held up pretty well and took care of a stump although the tooth I welded onto the end of the ripper broke off during use, I found it in the dirt and may weld it back on although the ripper works fine without it.


My next project is to mount a 6 foot long bulldozer blade I have sitting around on a quick coupler so I can use it on my backhoe as grading blade....stay tuned for pictures and a writeup about it.

[srjones]

Very cool. Is that a dougfir or cedar stump?

[Renze]

MAN, that looks mean !!

Was that a fresh stump, or were the roots already rotten a bit ?
Do you just pull it blunt, or do you actually use it as a knife to cut the roots ?

I wonder how something like this would work on my frotnloader... i guess i dont have the breakout force like a backhoe has...

[MrJimi]

Gary, thanks for the idea, I think I will weld up a couple of leaf springs together and see what I can come up with?
Jim

[GaryInWA]

The stump was an old fir stump and it was old and rotten on the outside but very hard on the inside. I tried to split it in half by sticking the ripper on the top and pushing down but instead lifted the rear of the backhoe off the ground, so the stump still had some life although the end of the ripper is 1" thick...maybe I should sharpen it to a knifes edge so it will sink in easier.

I popped it out of the ground easily by just shoving the ripper into the ground and curling it upwards. I have dug a few old growth fir stumps out of the ground and they are no fun with a regular backhoe bucket, I actually had to chainsaw one down the middle so I could grab one half with a backhoe tooth and pull it apart...I am hoping this attachment will make it easier to either split them into pieces or rip them out of the ground without digging a huge hole.

It was a fun project, the idea was in my head and I just welded it together in a couple of days,t hooks up great to the quick attach and all the welds are holding up well Thank goodness there is a local scrap metal yard that has huge piles of heavy duty odd shaped metal pieces and they sell it to me for a great price......I did burn up my chopsaw cutting through some of the 3/4" thick metal though time to get a plasma cutter I guess.

GN

[MarkV]

Gary, looks to be very useful. We built a second home in the N. Georgia mountains seven years ago and had a difficult septic installation due to grade and rock. The fellow that did the work for us had a backhoe on the back of a JD dozer. He had built a very similar single shank for his backhoe to help chip away at rock. It worked much more effectively than a normal bucket for breaking up rock.

MarkV

[elalexander]

Gary. Great idea as well as project. I don't have a back hoe but have dug/pulled dozens of stumps out with hand and truck. Thanks for sharing a great idea.