Would you allow this person to operate your equipment or work on your site?

[FTG-05]

I know you're not asking me but I would sertainly think so. The higher up you can put your attatchment point the easyer it'll be on your tractor. Just be sure you're rope, or chain is longer then the tree is tall. ; ) or you can do like I did (in the vid above) and use a pulley so the tree falls away from you.

Actually, I was asking anyone, so thanks for responding!

But, now you've changed my question from "Can I (with the L4330)?" to "How should I?"

I was thinking of just using the FEL to push the trees over. I didn't realize that the Jeep with winch was you doing it.

So, some questions:

- How big was your tree(s) that you used your Jeep on?
- How big was you cable?
- How did you get the cable up the tree so high?

Biggest question: how safe is this? Looking at my pic, there is a large shop to the right of where I'm standing. If either or both trees "snapped back" and fell towards the shop, it would take out the front of the shop. Obviously I don't want that to happen.

Thanks for the comments, I hope this isn't a hijack.

Thanks,

 

[NS Gearhead]

That tree was about 8" at the base with a root ball probably 5' across. My winch is a 12,000lb Warn. The cable was only about 8' up the tree... or as high as I could reach. Next tree's gonna be 12" at the base and I'll get a ladder and put it a good 15' up.

I'd be worried that if you tried pushing it over with the FEL that the roots would come up under the tractor and get caught up.

I highly dought anything would snap back. Take your time setting it up... apply pressure... and if you're not happy with how it's looking set it up different, or it may not be the thing for you to be doing if you're not comfortable.

Hope this helps.

PS It looks like your tractor's more then heavy enough to get the job done. Just remember that the higher you tie off the more mechanical advantage you'll have and the easyer it'll come down.

 

[LD1]

I have pushed many trees over with the FEL. But its a big no-no according to the safety police here. You just have to be carefull. Push easy, dont ram it, otherwise stuff could break out of the top and land on you.

Once the tree starts to go, and the rootball starts to pop up, you can lower the loader to get farther away, as you dont need as much leverage now. And once you get it most of the way down, like about 45 degrees, you can use the loader to get under, lift and push on the rootball to pop it out.

But of course the safest method would be to chain as high as you can and pull. Just make sure you have enough chain, cable, or strap to be far enough away when it does fall.

 

[k0ua]

I have pushed many trees over with the FEL. But its a big no-no according to the safety police here. You just have to be carefull. Push easy, dont ram it, otherwise stuff could break out of the top and land on you.

Once the tree starts to go, and the rootball starts to pop up, you can lower the loader to get farther away, as you dont need as much leverage now. And once you get it most of the way down, like about 45 degrees, you can use the loader to get under, lift and push on the rootball to pop it out.

But of course the safest method would be to chain as high as you can and pull. Just make sure you have enough chain, cable, or strap to be far enough away when it does fall.

This is exactly how I have pushed over many trees with the FEL.. just remember to never push over a dead tree. Too much chance of the top breaking off and falling on you. Only push on nice juicy green trees. I only push on trees that are small enough to to actually push over safely, you have to use common sense. I have pulled over much larger ones with multiple 20 foot chains put together, just make sure as stated you are far enough away! It helps a lot to start the tree war a couple of days after a good soaking rain. The all night kind where the roots are really soaked good. A day or 2 later the top of the ground is usually dry enough to allow the tractor to operate but a foot or 2 down it is still pretty wet, This makes a tremendous difference in your tree pushing success. I am sure you have had trees that have fell over in modest winds after it has rained for a long period. The root system is so loosened up with the saturated soil that the holding power of the roots are not enough to resist even modest windstorms.

James K0UA

 

[FTG-05]

Ok, good stuff.

I didn't think about the rootball coming up when pushing nor the top(s) or other debris falling while pushing.

NC, size of your cable? I'm guessing 3/8" with a 12k lb winch? That's good, because I have about 75' or so of it, plus two old 5/8" century old logging chains (central FL cypress logging operations from back in the '20's or so).

What about wetting the rootball over night before pulling, better, worse or bad?

Thanks again for the help!

 

[NS Gearhead]

Yup, I think it's 3/8"

If I were to anchor my jeep to a tree, and use the snatch block at a nice straight line, I could get 24,000lb of force. : )

I'll video the next one and post it here;
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/projects/284063-property-line-trail-track.html

 

[Gary Fowler]

Actually, I was asking anyone, so thanks for responding!

But, now you've changed my question from "Can I (with the L4330)?" to "How should I?"

I was thinking of just using the FEL to push the trees over. I didn't realize that the Jeep with winch was you doing it.

So, some questions:

- How big was your tree(s) that you used your Jeep on?
- How big was you cable?
- How did you get the cable up the tree so high?

Biggest question: how safe is this? Looking at my pic, there is a large shop to the right of where I'm standing. If either or both trees "snapped back" and fell towards the shop, it would take out the front of the shop. Obviously I don't want that to happen.

Thanks for the comments, I hope this isn't a hijack.

Thanks,

If you have some mechanical means of ripping thru the tree roots, even if it is a few feet from the tree, it will make the tree much easier to pull over. Before I got my back hoe, I would use my box blade's scarifier teeth to sever the roots. I would start several feet back and work my way up till I hung a root that I couldn't break, then move on to the other 3 sides. After loosening up the soil and breaking all the roots that I could, I used the FEL to push them over. It works best when the ground is saturated with water, sometimes then all you need to do is push on it. Recently I pulled over a rather large pine (about 24" or more at the butt) after digging all the way around it severing the roots down about 3 feet. It came over so easy, I barely got the slack out of the chain. It had died from the drought last year. I used my 30 foot extension ladder to put the chain about 15-20 feet up the tree. Last time I did that the dead tree hung up in adjacent trees and successive tugs ended up breaking the tree trunk and much of it went backwards onto a nearby fence. So word to the wise, don't use too much force on it when pulling, just enough to guide it in the direction you want.
Also, I would not recommend taking down a large tree on windy days, especially if you want it to go in any direction other than the way the wind is blowing.

 

[LD1]

Recently I pulled over a rather large pine (about 24" or more at the butt) after digging all the way around it severing the roots down about 3 feet. It came over so easy, I barely got the slack out of the chain. It had died from the drought last year. I used my 30 foot extension ladder to put the chain about 15-20 feet up the tree.

Did you use the BH on that?? Thats cheating ya know :laughing:

A few weeks ago, I did put 300' of tile in a field for a guy cause it laid wet and he couldnt farm it. Well it was actually replacing a tile. There was an ash tree about 10' from the old tile. I knew thats why it wasnt flowing, plugged with roots. Anyway, he wanted me to take it out (cause it was just an obstical to farm around). There was also another ash tree on top of a knoll he wanted removed. Both were ~16"-18" diameter.

With the BH, digging a bit and then pushing with the hoe, it took maybe an hour and they were both out and the holes filled back in. A BH makes life SO much easier. I have taken out similar sized trees with my kubota and a homemade ripper shank to cut the roots. With digging, ripping, pushings, digging some more, it would have taken probably 4 or 5 hours to do both of those trees.

 

[drjay9051]

FOR SALE: John Deere 1023 riding mower. Mint condition.
This baby is like new. All maintenance inc. fluids done per specs. Never abused. Garaged. Treated like a member of the family. Has only seen light duty such as cutting the lawn. You won't find a finer example of this model.
Won't last. First come, first served!!

Yeah, right !!!

 

[drjay9051]

Duplicate post.