Posthole Digger Post Hole Digger vs Bucket Spade for Pulling Small Trees

[rd_macgregor]

You didn't specify what kind of trees, but at 5" and less, it shouldn't matter much. I have pushed and pulled over living trees bigger than that, mostly spruces, but including some birch and maple. The softwoods here tend to have much shallower root systems than the hardwoods, so are easier to uproot.

When budget permits, I hope to have the local metal shop fabricate a 3PH root ripper. That would relieve some of the stress on my tractor (which I have pushed beyond the breaking point a couple of times in the past) by loosening a tree's hold on the grounda and making tree removal much easier.

 

[FreedomFamilyFarms]

The tractor is rather light even with loaded rears. Leverage will be key to pulling. I think I'll give pushing them over a try, followed by a good pull from up high. That may prove difficult in the woods. I'd imagine I'll have a pretty good idea of where to go after that. No PHD for now. Thanks everyone.

 

[CobyRupert]

Just don't do this:
(Classic: Oldie but a goodie)

 

[4570Man]

You don't have enough tractor do do it in any kind of timely manner. If there's more than a few I'd rent a machine.

 

[teg]

You don't have enough tractor do do it in any kind of timely manner. If there's more than a few I'd rent a machine.

I agree with this ^^ a buddy of mine rented a track hoe for the week and he finished what he needed done and dropped it off for me to play with... a dozen or two trees later and in very little time, I had a big mess that my tractor took care of after returning the hoe!

 

[TractorGuy]

These are very small trees, less than 5" DBH. Soil is a solid clay. We did occasionally get the PHD stuck when using it to loosen dirt around stumps and yes, we kept a box of hardware store bolts and nuts as shear pins. The stumps and the tractor were much larger back then. It sounds like that approach may be overkill for this use case. I'll see what I can do to just push em' over with the loader. Any tips appreciated.

I think your tractor with a loader should be able to push 5" trees over with no problem. I have pushed similar size trees over with my little JD without a loader. I have pulled larger trees over with a rope. When I did that I was able to tie the rope to the tree I was pulling and wrap it around the trunk of another tree so I could pull to the side of where I wanted the tree to fall. You don't want to just tie onto a tree and pull it down on you.

Those days are gone now since I bought a backhoe.

 

[4570Man]

I think your tractor with a loader should be able to push 5" trees over with no problem. I have pushed similar size trees over with my little JD without a loader. I have pulled larger trees over with a rope. When I did that I was able to tie the rope to the tree I was pulling and wrap it around the trunk of another tree so I could pull to the side of where I wanted the tree to fall. You don't want to just tie onto a tree and pull it down on you.

Those days are gone now since I bought a backhoe.

I guess that depends on the soil and the tree, but it ain't happening here. My Kubota L3240 base tractor weighs twice what his tractor does. After you add in the weight of my backhoe, loader, and loaded tires it outweighs his by a significant amount and I couldn't push over 5" trees with it unless they were maple trees in a swamp.

 

[mardenm]

I would suggest you pick up a ouple of pulleys, a good static rope, and set up a 5:1 .mechanical advantage to your tractor. This would be safer and easier on your equipment. Of course it's easy for me to say because already have the pulleys. Take a look at this video to see what a little leverage can do for you
Mechanical Advantage vs. Straight Pull Stumpin' - YouTube

 

[FreedomFamilyFarms]

I would suggest you pick up a ouple of pulleys, a good static rope, and set up a 5:1 .mechanical advantage to your tractor. This would be safer and easier on your equipment. Of course it's easy for me to say because already have the pulleys. Take a look at this video to see what a little leverage can do for you
Mechanical Advantage vs. Straight Pull Stumpin' - YouTube

Exactly the advice I was looking for. Thanks for posting!

 

[jemclimber]

What I do to rip out ash trees is hook up my subsoiler and cut a square around the tree to break the roots. Sometimes if the tree isn't cooperating, I use the forks or just one fork in the middle to further break the stubborn root. Then I use a chain to pull out the stump. On the bigger trees I'll first cut it off 6-10' high so it doesn't fall on me when I'm pulling it over. Smaller trees I push over with the FEL. With my tractor, I've used this method on ash trees 10-12" in diameter.

My ash are all dying from EAB and I'm trying to reclaim a field which is why I want the roots out.