Pulling tree out with wheel & chain?

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I've got a number of scrub oak that I need to clear out of an area, and I'd prefer to yank them out rather than just cut them short as they sprout suckers madly and I prefer to avoid poisons.

I've managed to pull out smaller specimens with my tractor using a chain - up to a few inches in diameter - but when they get bigger than this it's not doable, as these scrub oak have crazy strong roots. these aren't anything like a pine tree, which while it's got a tap root there's not a lot else and they come out readily just being pushed over (besides, cutting those is permanent)

I've seen people use an old wheel so that there's an initial upwards pull, and I have questions before trying to find a reasonable wheel for this -

1 - I'm guessing the bigger the wheel, the better? I tried using a piece of steel I-beam I had, but it was too unstable and fell over to the side before I could get enough tension on it (working solo) to have it do any good

2 - has anyone had luck with this wheel method pulling scrub oak or something with similarly obnoxious roots?

There's way too many of them to dig out with the backhoe.

 

[MTGreen]

Have you thought of cutting them flush then painting the freshly cut stump with stump killer? If you paint the stumps immediately after cutting the phloem bits of the plant still have enough energy to suck the poison up and kill the roots so no sucker shoots.

 

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Have you thought of cutting them flush then painting the freshly cut stump with stump killer? If you paint the stumps immediately after cutting the phloem bits of the plant still have enough energy to suck the poison up and kill the roots so no sucker shoots.

It's always a consideration, but as I mentioned in the op, I prefer to avoid poisons.

Besides environmental and philosophical concerns, I'd also like to plant fruit trees and berry vines in the area.

 

[ponytug]

Great fun! It is an old, old technique for stump pulling. The older versions of the wheel used a post on a wood plate to keep the post from being driven into the ground; the chain goes around the stump, and up over the post to your oxen. Generally, the post started off no more than 45 degrees off of vertical for maximizing upward force. (Sine of angle and all that.)

So, yes, a bigger wheel is better, but the goal is to translate horizontal force to vertical lift.

Can you get a ripping shank around the scrub oak roots to even the odds a bit before trying to yank them up?

Can you tie your I-beam to the chain for solo work?

All the best,

Peter

 

[seville009]

 

[MTGreen]

It's always a consideration, but as I mentioned in the op, I prefer to avoid poisons.

Besides environmental and philosophical concerns, I'd also like to plant fruit trees and berry vines in the area.

Ah yes, I missed that bit. Apologies

 

[ning]

Great fun! It is an old, old technique for stump pulling. The older versions of the wheel used a post on a wood plate to keep the post from being driven into the ground; the chain goes around the stump, and up over the post to your oxen. Generally, the post started off no more than 45 degrees off of vertical for maximizing upward force. (Sine of angle and all that.)

So, yes, a bigger wheel is better, but the goal is to translate horizontal force to vertical lift.

Can you get a ripping shank around the scrub oak roots to even the odds a bit before trying to yank them up?

Can you tie your I-beam to the chain for solo work?

All the best,

Peter

The I-beam experiment was probably doomed from the start as I was working on somewhat of a side angle. I think if I welded a base to the I-beam to make it into an upside down T (maybe best to be an upside down "t" with a spike going into the ground?), it may work well enough - especially if there's a helper who can steady things while a bit of tension is added to keep it planted.

I've yet to get a ripper for the backhoe (Branson BH76; there's been a couple threads about getting rippers for it; maybe I'll contract with the welder down the road and have him make me one as my baby welder won't do that heavy of metal!) but that definitely sounds like a good start; I'm hoping to get at least some trees out without the backhoe being involved at all.. ideally it would be chain, yank, clear, repeat all day, I can fantasize can't I?

I'm kinda imagining getting an older big tractor wheel, possibly welding some bracing across on the inside if it's rusted up a bit, but honestly the I-beam/t-beam may be best as it's at least somewhat man-carryable.

I'll likely give this another shot after the next set of rains, if they every come, as I have doubts that the ground has absorbed enough moisture to make the yank possible. Blackberries are still holding tight.

 

[ponytug]

If you do the I-beam thing, I would weld a hinge mechanism to the base plate, and a hole for a lash point at the apex to tie/bungee cord your chain on, and something to support the chain as it goes over the I-beam so as to not stress the chain. The vertical portion doesn't need to be big. You can lift a foot at a time and get the job done. In my experience, once it starts, you are golden.

Have you considered what might happen if the chain breaks? Could you double up on cables? Use a marine rope?

All the best,

Peter

 

[turnkey4099]

The herbicide you paint on the stump will not effect anything else around it. By the time the flush stump rots out the hericide will be inert.

 

[i7win7]