Purchased Dougherty Turbo Saw (3 point) - First Experience with Video

[Piston]

Is you L4610, HST transmission? If so, I think you could cut most any kind of tree. We have a L4610, and looked as some of these saws, but decided to build our own. We have cut stumps at ground level that were up to 48" diameter. This is where a bigger blade helps. Ours is a 48" blade and will only cut about 19" deep in a single cut. Sometimes we have to cut as deep as possible, then use a chain saw to cut some of that off so we can reach deeper. While more HP is almost always better, we are happy with ours and we do have a 105 HP gear tractor, which we have not tried it on. One other thing, I don't know about the store bought ones, but ours can sometimes sling a lot of chips toward the operator. (we have a cab)

Yes, my 4610 is HST. That's very encouraging to hear that yours operates the saw very satisfactory.
If you guys keep talking and posting pictures of these saws, I may just end up taking the money I have set aside for a new trailer and buying one of these bad boys!!!

Chris,
What was the difference between the Turbo Saw and the Briwn Tree Saw? I looked online and aside from the price, they look extremely similar.

I'm curious why you said you'd love the Brown if the price a bit lower?

 

[Piston]

<img src="http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/files/attachments/379928-purchased-dougherty-turbo-saw-3-a-dsc_0152-jpg"/> I purchased a turbosaw about 2 years ago and have used it on a 30 HP pto John Deere 3038e. It is a load for the tractor and strains the tractor getting the saw up to speed. It cuts trees up to telephone pole size easily. I do not have rear hydro so I cannot use the grapple. If a larger tree leans towards the tractor it will bind the blade and stall the tractor. I have cut about 500+ eastern red cedar. Sizes from 1/2" to about 20" stumps. On level ground you can cut the tree at or slightly below ground level. I have not rotated the teeth yet, but about 1/2 of them are chipped by hitting I believe metal in fence lines. (a couple of electric fence posts, imbedded barb wire and woven wire, and a couple pieces of scrap metal.) I get hit by wood chips when cutting trees, and the ROP has saved me from a couple of trees that fell on the tractor. I found it safer to cut larger trees with a chainsaw at 1-2' above ground and cut the stump with the turbo saw.

That's impressive that your tractor handles the saw pretty well! Oh, and that picture is pretty impressive! Do you guys have any pics of the saw in action? I sure would love to see some more pictures of it and I'm sure others would as well.

I'm still interested to hear if any of you have used the saw on trees such as oak, maple, hickory or other more eastern hardwoods?

 

[ArmyPair2]

That's impressive that your tractor handles the saw pretty well! Oh, and that picture is pretty impressive! Do you guys have any pics of the saw in action? I sure would love to see some more pictures of it and I'm sure others would as well.

I'm still interested to hear if any of you have used the saw on trees such as oak, maple, hickory or other more eastern hardwoods?

Chris does have a part 4 just open up part 3 and where it says subscribe just above and to the right you will see 13 videos and click that. From there you can see part 4 I got to watch the vid's he does a good job.

 

[LouieJunior]

This is a wonderful thread!

So Gym, since you don't have hydraulic supply at the rear, why didn't you purchase the other model turbo saw (the one without grapple for $1000 less)?
I have a grapple on my loader, so I would probably transport the trees using what I already have -- even though I have rear hydraulics. Maybe the grapple helps bend the tree away?? Were you able to drive your tractor out of the pinches, without damage to the saw, after binding the blade and stalling? I have an extra chain saw for the occasions when my saw gets pinched -- but I don't have an extra tractor!
My JD4105 is about the same HP as yours and I, like Piston, am now thinking I might like to have one of these. My trees are mostly soft maples, poplars and willows.



Above is a photo of an area just cleared of dense willows using a hand held (with harness) brush cutter.
Lots of these areas on my property and the Turbo Saw might make this task a pleasure.

 

[christophercale]

Yes, my 4610 is HST. That's very encouraging to hear that yours operates the saw very satisfactory.
If you guys keep talking and posting pictures of these saws, I may just end up taking the money I have set aside for a new trailer and buying one of these bad boys!!!

Chris,
What was the difference between the Turbo Saw and the Briwn Tree Saw? I looked online and aside from the price, they look extremely similar.

I'm curious why you said you'd love the Brown if the price a bit lower?

Regarding the saws, I don't think there is really much difference at all. I ended up going with the Turbo Saw because there was a dealer close to me that was able to get my unit pretty quickly. I could just have easily bought the Brown.

When I was referring to the Brown, I was talking about the Tree Cutter (the ones that look like a shredder). Yea, I'd still love to have one of those ALSO! A couple of videos on YT show those bad boys cutting through 3 to 6 inch stuff like butter.

 

[My Gym]

I have cut a variety of trees along very old fence lines. Black walnut, mullberry, Hackberry. The cutting ability of the saw makes the type of tree unimportant. The issue of importance is the shape of the tree. Very strong low branches prevent you from reaching the trunk of the tree with the saw. Tall trees put a lot of leverage on the cut and bind the saw blade,stalling my low Hp tractor.

There were three reasons for buying the unit with the grapple. I could add rear hydro for my tractor for about $1200, if I found it necessary. I do not own a grapple and saw the benefit of the grapple on the saw. Re-sale: Grapple unit would be easier to re-sell. I paid about $5000 for the unit. I figured I could buy the unit, use for 2-3 years until I run out of trees and sell for 2/3- 3/4 of what I paid for it. The turbo-saw is over 800 lbs and extends quite a ways from the 3-point. I found that with my light weight tractor, I could not have used the grapple on the saw to any effectiveness anyway.

I really like the flush cut with very little disruption of soil and grass. There is nothing to trip over and no sharp points on the cut stump. I have had fields mowed with drum mover for hay that have had a couple hundred stumps and no problems.

The cutting angle of the saw and adjustment of the 3-point is worth discussing. If the blade is not close to level at the cut it will bind and heat the saw. It is necessary to have the tractor, the saw and stump on a level plane to get a flush cut. Un-even ground requires changing the cutting angle to get precise flush cuts.

Regarding regrowth. My biggest problem eastern red cedar does not regrow, but some of the others do. The beauty is that you have a field that you can mow, hay etc immediately with out hitting anything. Because you have ground level (hidden) stumps, it does prevent you from row cropping or cultivating until the stumps rot.

There are several videos on you-tube showing operation of the unit. What I have not seen is close-up shots of cut trees. if you watch the videos of the orgional post and think about the number of stumps that are under his cleared areas. You cannot tell that they are even there. It is a fast and cheap way of clearing brush and small trees with little disruption of soil and plants.

 

[christophercale]

Here's a video that I made of the saw in action. I won't give Stephen Spielberg a run for his money, but you'll get my drift...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X97ref4ZQuw

 

[My Gym]

Same concept on a serious level

 

[christophercale]

Same concept on a serious level
View attachment 379962
View attachment 379963

Man, I'd love to operate one of those bad boys just for one day! Talk about big toys for big boys! HA HA!!! :licking:

 

[cre10]

Meow

 

[christophercale]

Meow

View attachment 379965

Drooooooool...... :licking:

What an awesome rig....way out of my price range! :hissyfit:

 

[Piston]

That's a really good point MG. I have been looking for over a year on craigslist off and on for a Turbo Saw. I keep hoping to come across one but haven't yet. I did see that there was one for sale in TX a month or two ago, way too far from me but the posting was already deleted. I imagine the resale would be pretty good on these saws as it's hard to find a used one. I'll keep looking for the time being but eventually I have a feeling I'll have to bite the bullet and buy new.

I believe this would be one of those implements I would never sell. My only concern at this point, is my land is very hilly, not incredibly steep, but almost none of it is flat. I wonder if I'd come across a lot of issues using it on hilly property.

 

[Piston]

That's a really good point MG. I have been looking for over a year on craigslist off and on for a Turbo Saw. I keep hoping to come across one but haven't yet. I did see that there was one for sale in TX a month or two ago, way too far from me but the posting was already deleted. I imagine the resale would be pretty good on these saws as it's hard to find a used one. I'll keep looking for the time being but eventually I have a feeling I'll have to bite the bullet and buy new.

I believe this would be one of those implements I would never sell. My only concern at this point, is my land is very hilly, not incredibly steep, but almost none of it is flat. I wonder if I'd come across a lot of issues using it on hilly property.

 

[My Gym]

I have been a bit **** about flush cuts so the fields could be used for haying. to get a very flush cut the blade angle to the ground is important. I have tried to get the areas putting green smooth. If I were doing a lot on hilly land and had rear hydro, I would get a hydro top link to adjust on the fly. It is also important how the blade angle changes raising and lowering the 3-point.

I too looked on Craig's list for a used turbo saw and the only one I found was virtually at price of new (just a savings of sales tax and shipping) with no warranty. I found a dealer that had one on display at an AG show. Purchased at the show and saved delivery.

If you have a need for it, your neighbors probably do too. It is not an item that you will use every day. You will quickly run out of trees and have other things to use the tractor for. It would be a good item for shared ownership.

 

[KSCOHunter]

CAUTION. I purchased a turbo saw and was generally pleased with the results. To be fair, I was cutting large cedars and was probably pushing the limits of the saw. However, after about 30 hours, the saw was binding a lot and I tried to rotate the carbon blade tips. I heated the tips as instructed on the web site and found them essentially impossible to unscrew. The Dougherty rep said that they changed the design to include specially made lock screws to keep the tips from coming loose. News flash...They indeed do not come loose...ever. My advice is to assume you will get about 40 really good hours and then the saw will be a great boat anchor. I am going to do my best to return the saw. I know...good luck.

 

[Piston]

CAUTION. I purchased a turbo saw and was generally pleased with the results. To be fair, I was cutting large cedars and was probably pushing the limits of the saw. However, after about 30 hours, the saw was binding a lot and I tried to rotate the carbon blade tips. I heated the tips as instructed on the web site and found them essentially impossible to unscrew. The Dougherty rep said that they changed the design to include specially made lock screws to keep the tips from coming loose. News flash...They indeed do not come loose...ever. My advice is to assume you will get about 40 really good hours and then the saw will be a great boat anchor. I am going to do my best to return the saw. I know...good luck.

Do you mean that the saw was binding because something was bent? Or because your teeth were too dull and it wasn’t cutting well, and therefor binding in the tree?

So the issue you are having is that you can not get the teeth off to rotate them?

 

[My Gym]

The cutting teeth are wider than the disc on a turbo saw. If the saw is binding it is not the teeth. I have owned a turbosaw for 4 years. It is like a chain saw, if you are having to back hard or it is not making wood chips as it cuts. Then the teeth are bad. I rotated my teeth because nearly every one was chipped by hitting T posts, electric fence posts, and inbedded barbwire. Yes the teeth are put in tight. I bent and broke 3 allen wrenches changing only about 1/2 of the teeth. I ended up using an impact wrench, and an impact grade allen socket with a propane torch to heat the locktite.

If the saw binds. It is because you are cutting at an angle and wedging the blade into the cut. If you are cutting large trees and the tree falls twards the cut. The tree will pinch the blade , stall, and bind the blade. Adjust your top link on the 3 point so that you are making a level cut. On larger trees make sure the tree lean is away from the saw. Or!!! Increase RPM and backup faster.

 

[christophercale]

My experience pretty much matches that of poster "My Gym". The only exception being that I had no problem backing out the bolts on the teeth to rotate. Yes, they were very tight. I had to use an allen socket and socket wrench to gain enough leverage to back out the bolts. I rotated my teeth 3 times before deciding to get a new set.

When I ordered the new teeth, I also ordered new bolts and lock washers. This is where I encountered my first problem. The bolts would not seat tightly enough to hold the tooth firmly to the blade. I spoke to a gentleman at Dougherty and he stated that they had changed the lock washers. I told him that they did not work for me and that I needed the old style lock washer. He sent the old style lock washers to me, and all was good after that.

Regarding the binding, I've had that happen also. Primarily with dull cutting teeth, or when I was coming in at a weird angle, or if the tree was large and pushing down on the blade after cutting into it deeply.

What I started doing on larger trees (12 inches or more), is I'll raise the saw up to where the PTO shaft is almost level with the ground, then make a first cut through the tree and use the hydraulic grapple to push the tree backwards as it's being cut. After the tree falls, I'll lower the saw to the ground and lop it off at ground level. For me anyway, this makes the ground level cut much easier and reduces binding.

 

[Piston]

For you guys that have had the saw bind, can you simply pull ahead and pull the blade right out of the cut without issue?

Of course I’m thinking about a chainsaw binding, and how difficult that can be to get out of the cut. I assume this is much different than what one experiences using the tree saw???

 

[christophercale]

For me anyway, when the blade binds, I'm usually going full throttle on the tractor and I race to disengage the PTO. At least on my tractor, the PTO will continue to rotate at full speed while the blade is firmly locked up in the tree. Thank goodness for the slip clutch on the saw.

I've always just been able to pull forward to disengage the blade from the cut in the tree. I have not had a situation yet where I could not pull the saw away from the tree. Now, having said that, I'll end up locked in a tree next time I go out cutting.