Backhoe Added a ripper to my Woods BH90x: Trees beware

[IslandTractor]

Glad to hear you will be ripping up the West Coast.

Based on my use so far I would probably have not bothered with the cut outs either as they were only to save weight and the ripper did not end up weighing as much as we feared. On the other hand the cut outs don't have any downside and look kinda cool as a Star Trekkie torture device for trees.

After I use it a bit more I'll consider welding on some of the reverse ripper teeth like IronHorse has as that might speed up getting through some of the flexible and larger roots.

 

[nickel plate]

Island, do keep us in touch on that modification if you decide to go through with it. I also want to ask you how long does it take you to change out the bucket to the ripper tooth and any helpful hints in doing so would be appreciated. From what Bob at M.I.E. told me he has gotten some recent ripper tooth orders. See what you've started?

 

[IslandTractor]

[QUOTE="nickel ] I also want to ask you how long does it take you to change out the bucket to the ripper tooth and any helpful hints in doing so would be appreciated. [/QUOTE]

I don't have good news for you. It took only about ten minutes to dismount the bucket but maybe 45-60 minutes with lots of cussing, whamming and bamming to mount the ripper. Everything fit but the combination of tight pin tolerances, heavy equipment and an awkward ripper shape doesn't make it easy to make millimeter adjustments in two or three dimensions. It is impossible to use the BH hydraulics for adjustments any finer than a half inch and that is not nearly close enough.

Best idea I have noted here is to get a slightly undersized pin to help get things started and then push that out with the proper pin. Having one of those tapered pins that ironworkers use would also be helpful. I finally ground a bevel of about 3/16 on each of my two pin ends so the bevel helps line things up once you use a mallet to persuade it to enter the bushing.

I really like the ripper but mounting it was a royal pain.

Glad to hear MIE is getting orders. They are great to work with.

 

[nickel plate]

Perhaps with the combination of my hydraulic thumb and the ripper tooth, it might help achieve some different efficiency results. Just speculation at this time.

 

[IslandTractor]

Perhaps with the combination of my hydraulic thumb and the ripper tooth, it might help achieve some different efficiency results. Just speculation at this time.

I was thinking about what I could do next time besides what I've already mentioned. One thought is to try to put the boom and dipper into full extension with the "bucket" dumped so that the mounting plate is essentially vertical. That would make it possible to put the ripper on the ground face down and it would be stable. I'll have to see if that helps. The key problem is needing to do minute adjustments while manhandling a heavy implement and then keeping the implement (ripper) stable while you try to insert the tight fitting pin. If the ripper is stable on the ground, and the mounting points are close to the ground so you don't need to try to balance the ripper upright, it might be easier.

 

[nebraskasparks]

That is a nasty looking device...no wonder it works well. You might want to paint the name "fang" on the side of it.

 

[IslandTractor]

OK, I got a chance to use the ripper on a big stump yesterday so I'll post on my results. Recall that previous use has been on whole trees where the "stumps" came out with the rest of the tree. This current project is a fairly large oak stump from a tree I felled last year. Photos of the stump below.

I started by digging on all four sides with the ripper. No problem getting through the roots at all. In this case the scoop plate (not sure what else to call it) on the upper half of the ripper was very useful as I needed to dig down about four feet to get to the last lateral roots. The scoop plate allowed me to bring up about the equivalent of two or three human shovelfuls of dirt each time. The trenches on each side of the stump got somewhat wider as I dug down as my technique to maximize the amount of dirt scooped included rubbing against the outside of the trench and that gradually enlarged it. By the time I was done digging around the stump the area dug was about three feet wide on each side of a four or five foot diameter stump ball.

I had clearly severed all the roots at this point but could not pull the stump over when chained and pulled with the tractor. Turns out there was enough dirt around the lower roots that I had to put a shovel attachment on a set of forks and dig about a foot or two of dirt out from one side. The ripper could not do that as it digs down and I needed to get under the stump itself. Probably could have done it with a hose as the soil is sandy. I did try at one point to tilt the tractor so the ripper was at an angle but that was not as efficient as using the forks/shovel.

After fifteen to twenty minutes with the forks shovel I used the ripper to test the stump again and it pulled right out. The stump was big enough that I couldn't lift it with the backhoe easily but I pulled it up over the lip of the hole and then drove the tractor forward to get it out. I then switched to the grapple to take the stump away.

Total time was about two hours with the ripper and 15-20 minutes with the shovel. This was the first big stump I had removed with the ripper and I think it would take less time in the future as I now know how far to dig down and that the ripper itself is as good at testing whether the stump is ready to come out as hooking up a chain and trying to use the tractor. For big stumps it seems necessary to be able to dig out underneath one side so there is no resistance from the ground when you try to pull the stump over.

Score one more for the ripper with an assist from the forks/shovel. :thumbsup:

 

[jmc]

IT,

If a guy didn't have that attachment, and he just used a normal bucket, digging a moat around that stump about a foot further out, and he spent 2.5 hours at it, do you think he'd get it out?

John

 

[IslandTractor]

IT,

If a guy didn't have that attachment, and he just used a normal bucket, digging a moat around that stump about a foot further out, and he spent 2.5 hours at it, do you think he'd get it out?

John

Yes, a standard bucket could do this too but there are some differences. I think the main benefit of the ripper is to take down full trees with minimal disruption of land. Because I had to dig down so far to unearth the stump I made a hole about the same size as if I'd used a bucket. However, it was a lot easier to rip through the roots with the ripper. I've done this same job with the standard 18" bucket and many of the thicker roots were hard to deal with. The ripper cut every root pretty much the first time it made contact. Still, the difference is not great. It does show that if you are out hunting trees and stumps you don't need to change back and forth between ripper and bucket.

 

[kattywumpus]

IT, I wish I would have taken a picture of a stump I remove about a month ago. It was so large once out of the hole it was taller then 6'. Yes, six feet! The only way I could move it was to chain it up and drag it with the tractor. With the backhoe, winch, and a sawsall with 18" blade I removed in a half day. After that I didn't have any energy left, I was wiped out.

I'm hoping the ripper will make it less of a chore since the primary issue is cutting the large roots. I think the trick will be developing the effective technique and it appears you’re getting there. I know from watching logging roads being built in northern Maine it a combination equipment and technique. It’s amazing how fast experience contractors can build a section of gravel road. I saw one job were the excavator operator was so good he used the arm of excavator to throw the stumps 50 to 70 feet into woods. I know one technique they used was if the tree was large was to leave a tall stump when then tree was removed with the harvester. This allowed more leverage when the operator grabbed the stump with bucket and thumb after cutting the roots on both sides of stump with the bucket. Next he would tilt the stump forward to snap the roots off in the back and then rolled it backwards to snap the front roots. Then the operator tossed the stump into the wood. Everyone kept their distance from his work area because every once in a while he released the stump too soon which result in stump bowling down the cleared area. I was told that once the bulldozer operator got too close and a stump bounce off the dozer. I can imagine bulldozer operator back out there quickly! Your posting reminded me of this.