Stupid Tractor Tricks

[john4nh]

Hey Dan

One other thing that I might offer. When back filling use your back-hoe. You can control the amount of dirt you bring in your (moat) if you bring in a foot or so at a time. then with your bucket you can pack the dirt. Bring it back past your natural grade, and this should help with your stablization problems. The other thing that will help is not swing your bucket to the left or right, when you get a bucket of dirt extend straight out and dump. You can continually do this by pushing the previous dumpe dirt while at the same time dumping.. I will be the first to tell you iam not experienced on these smaller but very capable machines but the basics or the basics..

I admire your project it sounds kinda long term but very do able.. Not wanting to be overly intrusive in your project but in this area the rule of thumb for building on disturbed soil is two years.. I have been on construction jobs where we would bring in 6" of fill and roll the hell out of it with cats. We would do this to bring it to the desired elvation, then they would get samples. Only to find out it was not compact enough.. Just a thought if this may or may not effect your proposed building site..

Good Luck Dan wish we lived closer, Ive also got a 3pt stump grinder that I havent yet tested its durability

John

 

[Harv]

EJB -

Believe me, the first lesson I learned from that episode was to always lift from the center.

I will also be a little more diligent about being in the seat whenever I work the loader controls. When I think about it, if I had been in the seat I probably would have noticed the tilt a lot sooner. Good thing, too 'cuz I probably would not have had my seatbelt on -- the brake was set and I wasn't going anywhere, so what could possibly go wrong? /w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif

<font color=blue>experience is a tough teacher...it gives the test first and the lesson afterwards...</font color=blue>

That says it all...

 

[Anonymous Poster]

The problem is that you are going about this all wrong, if the stump is too big and you have a nice hole around it, then throw in a bunch of scap wood and light a fire. And don't forget the hotdogs.
Most of my AllMost's have been while backing with the loader full and going over a big rock with one of the rear tires. Of course the rock or dirt pile is always on the other side from where I'm looking.

 

[dmccarty]

Grrrr, my answer did not make it and then my browser died.... 8-(

I'm very curious how your Stump Eater works out.

I have read a few things on soil compaction and my actual house site will not have much ground disturbance. There are a few 36+inch oak stumps near the house but they wont bother any foundation work. One of the builders wanted to build a pad for the house but after reading a book someone had mention on TBN and the Army's Field Manuals I realized that getting 95% compaction rates is very hard to do. It requires experience, heavy equipment, test tools, and the right moisture content. After seeing what has to be done I'll just pay for a bit more foundation wall. I just don't see the contractor doing the compaction correctly. Getting a 90% compaction is supposed to be easy, getting 95% is supposed to be real hard.

I hope my truck is out of the shop today so I can work on the tractor Friday. I really want to try out some of these ideas.

I think we moved the thread from Stupid Tractor Tricks to Tractor Stump Tricks!

Thanks,
Dan

 

[MChalkley]

Harv - I enjoyed reading about your escapade quite a bit more than you enjoyed having it, I'm sure. I've done similar things, as far as lifting from one corner of the bucket goes. As for using the loader while standing beside the tractor, remember: You should always be wearing your seatbelt when operating the tractor, and especially when using the frond end loader - and it's awfully hard to wear your seatbelt when you're not in the seat! /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

In the Stupid Tractor Tricks category: I was pulling a HUGE pine tree stump and root ball (6' across) out of a hole I'd dug with the backhoe, but since I couldn't get it out by myself, I had a friend pulling it with his Kubota while I lifted it with the FEL. We had it about half way up out of the hole when the chain he was pulling with slipped off the root ball. Guess what happened?!?! Boy, was I ever glad I was wearing my seat belt that time! In a split second the rear wheels were about 4 feet off the ground and I was looking down into the hole. We tried a different approach after that...

MarkC

 

[TWINKLE_TOES]

I have hesitated to add to this topic for fear of being nominated for a Darwin award to have my genes removed from the gene pool for the sake of mankind. If the rest of you can "fess up" I guess I can too.

I have a home built mower that I tow behind a small David Bradley tractor. It is made from three 5hp Briggs rotary cutters stacked three abreast. The tongue weight is quite heavy and I used a 1 in bolt as a post for the hitch. The tongue dropped over the post. Initially I would put a nut on the bolt to assure the tongue stayed in place. It had never shown in tendence to come free, sooo.... by and by I stopped using the nut.

One day I was mowing down hill in a big hurry and the tongue began to bounce. It popped off and the frame of the trailer caught on the rear Ag tires... I looked back and all I saw were three blades whirling in front of my nose. My whole life passed before my eyes./w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif I bailed over the front of the tractor (a feat I could never repeat). The tractor has a kill feature and stopped. No blood shed no damage other than a few tire cuts. Now I put the nut on the hitch before I put the nut on the seat./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Al

 

[Thomas]

Well Al,
I did back into a sheep fence with a rotortiller going years back,/w3tcompact/icons/blush.gifand what a mess!!/w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif
Not sure who was most /w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif the sheep or myself.
No damage to the tiller but to a while to cut the fence free also make repairs.

Yep I guess I got the dumb..dumb award that day. /w3tcompact/icons/tongue.gif


Thomas..NH /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

 

[dmccarty]

SUCCESS! Gibralter has been DEFEATED!



It took me three to four hours and a busted thumb but the Gibralter Stump is in the burn pile! It took so much time filling in the moat and trying to get a stable position with the tractor and stabilizers. The ground is very wet and the dirt I have been digging is super saturated. Of course the moat was filled somewhat with water which made any attempt to get the tractor stable an interesting proposition. I ended up having to put cordwood under the stablizers to firm everything up. I was putting some wood on the ground when my hand slipped off and smashed my thumb into part of the stabilizer. Big Ouch. 8-(

Once I got the stump dug out I had to get it out of the hole. Usually I can get the FEL under the stump and push/pull or flip it out of the hole. Gibralter Stump was to big for this. The other technique I have used is to lift the stump with the FEL and move forward at the same time. That would get the stump out. But with this Hole to China I had dug I could not drive forward. So out came the chain. I got it around the stump, opened the 4n1 bucket, and attached the chain hook to the back edge of the bucket and just pulled the stump out nice and easy. The FEL was low to the ground and not lifting. I just used it to hook the chain.

Marc's story was real timely!

This pine tree has three to four mini tap roots. They are major roots about 8 inches in diameter that move out from the stump but they are buried 3-4 feet under the ground. This is what made the stump so hard to get out. The oaks have big roots but they are right at the surface.

I was going to attempt one of the big oaks Saturday but the forcast was for a big snow storm Saturday and Sunday so I had to stay at home for part of the day cleaning out gutters. But the time I got the property it was raining, which was not even forcast, and I had other things to do that did not justtify moving the tractor. Hopefully next weekend I'll finish getting my burn pile ready to go and go after some major oak stumps.

I THINK that the right technique is to back in close, dig under the stumps and THEN move out to break the roots. The oaks will be interesting since they have shallow roots that are mainly on or near the surface. They are just BIG and I don't know if the back hoe will break them. Course I'll find out!

I had to cut down one dead tree and two leaning trees. NOT fun. Got the saw pinned not once but twice. I really dulled a chain getting one tree down and the stuck bar freed. The dead tree fell 90 degrees from where I had originally intended. It eventually went were I wanted it to go but this was not fun. The bent over trees were even worse since as you made the final back cut the tree would shatter and split up the trunk. As it split the "board" would flip backwards. NOT NOT NOT fun. I'm glad that stuff is done at least at the house site.

I a couple Fruit Of The Loom moments getting these trees down.

The dead tree did break in two on the way to the ground. The pieces all fell to the same place but it broke about 2/3s of the way up the trunk.

I took pictures of the Gibralter stump. I should have the prints back today and scanned tomorrow. I put an axe in the picture to provide scale.

Thanks for the help....
Dan DeStump'n Man McCarty

 

[Richard]

CONGRATS on the Stump of Gibralter!!!

Kind of wants you to thump you chest at it doesn't it??

I just finished downing all the dead pine trees on my land that were within distance of hitting the house. Found that for those in question of cutting or pushing down, I could do BOTH. /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif I cut my felling angle and instead of finishing my felling cut, I left a little wider hinge whilst I jumped upon Brutus who had previously been strategically placed with the hoe waaaaaay up on tree, engine warm and ready to thrust. Jumped in saddle and was able to drive the offenders over. I had two that had specific lean towards house. One thing I learned (to get me into comfort zone), was that pre-setting Brutus was important. Too close and hoe may not fit in space allowed, too far and might just bend tree rather than completely push over, so prior to any of the trees, I spent some time jostling Brutus around so he would be ready for action.

What I found when the last one was over was a GREAT sense of relief. I gazed upon roughly 7 fallen pines and found myself thinking (almost aloud) "There, take THAT you S.O.B.'s" /w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif

Guess your S.O.G. will still probably be with you for quite some time 'coz as you probably know, you aren't going to burn it in a days time.

Bring on the moat shots!

 

[dmccarty]

I understand that sense of relief. After getting two leaning trees and one dead trees safely on the ground I was very, Very, VERY happy. Standing up straight trees are easy to cut down, famous last words, compared to dead or leaning trees. NOT fun at all and I don't have a house to hit!

Actually the most dangerous thing I did this weekend was having to climb up on the roof to clean the gutters using a step ladder instead of my good one. My wife, who always admonishs me to be careful on the property, lent the good ladder to her aunt but did not tell me. So the only thing I had was the step ladder. That was not fun either! I figure it would be really ironic if I fell and killed myself while cleaning out gutters after playing with tractors, stump, backhoes, FEL, rotary cutters, and chainsaws.

BTW, during Hurricane Floyd my father in law had one tree that fell into another tree. The second tree held the first and both were leaning over his house. There was NO way to cut these things down without hitting the house unless you had a crane. Which is what he had to do. Get a crane in there to hold the trees as they cut them up and lowered them to the ground. The thing that really stunk about the whole deal was that his insurance company would NOT pay for the tree removal. He had to timber some acreage to afford the removal. A dishonest man would have shot a off a couple of limbs and the trees would have taken out the corner of his house. THAT they would have paid for the damage. Go figure. 8-(

I usually laugh it up when the tractor does something awesome. Pulling up S.O.G. was one of those times! Course that balances out the cussing!

I have a growing pile of stumps that are going to have to be delt with. I have a few more burn piles near/on the actual house site that I'm going to try to start burning this month. Not really looking forward to the job but it is better to do it now than in the summer.

I have read and been told that there is a market for pine stumps. If anyone knows who wants to buy some pine stumps, I'm selling! Hopefully by this time next year I'll have LOTS of pine stumps sitting in a pile drying out.

Later...
Dan