Ripper Tool

[Matt W]

Finished this today and tried it out on cedar roots. Worked great!

More photos here YouTube - Devil's Finger
Matt

 

[PILOON]

Wow!
That looks vicous, sure would do serious damage to cedar roots.
Serious toothpick!

 

[IslandTractor]

Interesting ripper. That thing is LONG!!! Most rippers are the same length as a standard bucket or about 25 inches on a tractor BH. I would imagine that the extra length gives you a little better reach but the ripping power would be greatly reduced due to the long blade. Glad yours worked for you though.

 

[Willl]

Sweet Matt. :thumbsup:

Any of these rippers have a rough saw blade on them ?

Something to handle large roots, one could drag back and forth and maybe cut through ?

 

[Matt W]

Yeah Island it may be a little long. It was made from an existing tool steel scrap and I figured I could cut it off anytime if the length proves to be in the way. Problem was heating and bending on the thick end as the scrap was a straight taper. When the base and tooth are level coming to me vertical penetration is only about 13". Which is about what the bucket equals when buried. This machine is probably a lot lighter than yours and the bucket curl is weak by design apparently, but is seemed to do all I expected on the cedars as a try out. More experience could require a change order.

Willl my torch cut tapering the leading edge of the 1.5" stock effectively amounts to a saw like presentation.
Matt

 

[Jw5875]

IslandTractor,

Do you have one of these rippers' on your machine?


JW5875

 

[IslandTractor]

IslandTractor,

Do you have one of these rippers' on your machine?


JW5875

Yes. That is my tractor/ and Woods 90x BH in the photos I posted.

I designed the ripper based on larger commercial excavator drawings in collaboration with Michigan Iron and Equipment (Michigan Iron here on TBN). MIE then fabricated it for me. Cost was about $500 plus shipping which I thought was very reasonable for a custom made implement. It works beautifully. I ripped out about 100 trees ranging from 4" to 15" this fall in WAY less time than it would have taken to chainsaw then dig out the stump. No muss no fuss and the "hole" where the tree was is typically just about a foot deep and four feet around.

There is a thread that I started this fall that goes into more detail. I'm sure you can find it searching for ripper, michigan iron and my user name.

 

[Kays Supply]

I used my ripper today. I needed to dig in some frozen ground. My little machine couldn't scratch the ground with a bucket. I took my ripper and cut a few passes and then pulled it out with my bucket. Worked like a charm.