Vibrator for pulling out bush honeysuckle?

[TreeDreamer]

I'm covered up in bush honeysuckle, especially along the creeks, roads, and edges of fields. It dominates the understory and doesn't let new trees grow through it. I've sprayed, cut, pulled by hand, even bought a Fransgard V5000 logging winch to pull them out. But everything is a lot of work. Some of them are big enough it is a hard pull with the logging winch or they just break off. Some clumps of 5 or 6 2" stems from a common root wad that are 20' high. Plus there's all that walking back and forth and crawling under in the briars to hook chokers.

So I've been daydreaming at work about some kind of hydraulic grabber, like a tree puller, to mount on the loader. Since most are along roads and fields, I'm hoping I could just reach in, grab it and lift/curl it out. I could rock and and forth but would likely get a facefull of tops. I know all of the bigger ones won't come out with the loader lift alone. So I considered a diverter on the 3rd function to put a cylinder on it to push against the ground for 15 or 20 tons of lift (similiar to a log splitter), one function of the 3rd function to clamp, one to push up.

Today I started wondering if instead of augmenting my miniscule lift, maybe 1500# at waist high after the weight of the device, it would be easier if I put a vibrator, like a truck bed or bin vibrator or better like a vibratory post driver/puller vibrator. If I could get a vibrator to vibrate the tree I'm guessing it'd be a huge help. If...

So a couple of questions, I have mid- and rear PTOs so I could rig a generator or additional pump to run a vibrator but I don't know what kind, air, electric, or hydraulic. Are there vibrators that just vibrate up and down instead of around a plane like the truck bed type? I'm guessing that a vibrator vibrating a honeysuckle parallel to the ground would be of little help, I think I need it vibrating up and down the trunk to do much good. Also, best way to mount it so it doesn't unduly vibrate the device/loader but instead puts much of its energy into the honeysuckle. And finally, do I vibrate where I grip it, and hopefully grip it low, or do I vibrate against the stump or root wad regardless of where I grip it?

Thanks,
Mark

 

[bcp]

Dozer with root rake. It vibrates.

Komatsu d20p with root rake - YouTube

Bruce

 

[Alan W.]

We had some of that invasive honeysuckle on our place. I found the best way to get rid of mine was to cut it off at the base then paint the cut stumps with straight 2 4-D amine. It has never come back from this. The stumps rot out pretty quick.

 

[Smokeydog]

What I have is Russian olive. The Danuser Intimdator grapple works great. I can pull roots without breaking off the tops. Works great for multiflora rose and hedge privet too. Uses not just the loader lifting power but the tractor force driving forward or back. Excavator teeth up front for bigger stuff. Handy for a small Kubota b26 but can handle big trees with the m59. Use other root grapples, piranha bar, and bush hog too and have their advantages. The Intimdator can work close to buildings, fences, under fences, over fences, road banks, next to trees with minimal soil disturbance. Sure has helped cleanup and maintained our property. Work force multiplier for an older farmer.

 

[Birdhunter1]

A trackhoe 12,000 lbs and larger is great for removing that stuff, pluck it, stack it, burn it.

 

[Dave M7040]

This style of tree puller/post puller with its own lifting cylinder will pull out stuff a loader powered one cannot budge.

Tree Grapple / Post Puller - TJ12UN-TRK-BF

Dave M7040

 

[WoodDuck]

We've been pushing a lot of bush honeysuckle out with a Piranha toothbar on the loader bucket. My bushes are big like you've described. Bush honeysuckle doesn't have a deep root system thankfully. If it's not a problem for you to push it back into piles, the toothbar is a fairly cheap route that works well, and doesn't rely so much on the FEL lift capacity. Hit the base of the bush up a foot or two off the ground so you have more leverage, drive forwards to uproot it, and back up to drop the bucket to snag the the root ball if needed. My experience has been that the drier the soil conditions; the better. If its fairly dry, the roots don't pull up much dirt at all. If its wet and gummy though, a lot more dirt pulls up with the root ball. I liked the tooth bar approach better than the grapple I tried. Although the grapple is great for piling them up if you need to after you rolled them out with the bucket. I've eyed that Danuser Intimidator before, I like the looks of it, but I think a guy might struggle a little more pulling stuff out with a compact tractor, than using a track loader with the Intimidator. It's also pretty pricey for me for the 10 acres or so I need to clean up. The tree grapple/puller with the lifting cylinder listed above is a novel approach, should theoretically be able to pull much more out of the ground with a lighter weight machine. Probably overkill for the shallow-rooted bush honeysuckle I have in my parts though. The tooth bar pushing/uprooting first, with the Wicked root rake grapple used next to pile it up to burn has been the most efficient method for me so far with the equipment I have available.
A guy could also look into renting or hiring a forestry mulcher to clean it all up in short order, I'm just not sure about it sprouting right back up from the roots left in dirt that don't get ground up by the mulcher. My plan is to brush hog and spray as needed to keep it in check once I get the property all cleaned up.

 

[RalphVa]

We had some of that invasive honeysuckle on our place. I found the best way to get rid of mine was to cut it off at the base then paint the cut stumps with straight 2 4-D amine. It has never come back from this. The stumps rot out pretty quick.

This is what we do here with oriental bittersweet. Get yourself a dauber. Online, they're called "Blackthorn (or buckthorn) Blaster". They're just a plastic bottle with some shoe-polish-like dauber on the end in place of the cap that it's shipped with. Just cut and IMMEDIATELY daub. No spilled "paint" and the like.

Can also get a flail mower and go after them. Then daub or spray the greenery that comes back from the roots. The neighbor next door used a Cat with a flail mounted on front.

Web site for the dauber: landscape-restoration.com/product/

Ralph

 

[jmc]

Mark, welcome to TBN.

I'll just chime in with this tidbit- I've heard that operating a hydraulic jackhammer is hard on heavy construction equipment because the frame has to take all that impact as well. Granted that your vibrator is no jackhammer, but a compact tractor is no brick outhouse.

 

[TreeDreamer]

Thanks guys, building another storage barn now so will have to wait for spring but I like the looks of that Intimidator. I have a lot of honeysuckle growing in with trees I don't want to damage, it looks like it might get in and pick off ones and twos without touching other trees.

 

[DJ54]

I pulled literally thousands of honeysuckle, willow whips, and many other small trees/scrub using either a backhoe, or larger excavator. But, not by raking them out, rather by sticking the teeth back through a gob of that stuff, slightly side swinging, then curl the bucket enough to wrap said plants around the teeth, then pull the stick back, pulling out whatever. Just imagine pushing your fingers back through some weeds/grass, partly closing your fingers wrapping them around your fingers, then pulling out. Same thing, only different. There is little damage to the surrounding ground surface, just where the major roots are. The best part, hardly any dirt to contend with, if you're making a burn pile. You're mainly limited by your bucket width, reach, and operating speed. Takes a bit of practice for the right amount of side swing, and curl, but usually full curl after it breaks lose to hold on to it. Most times, uncurling the bucket, it drops off. Works best in the Spring when the ground is soft, and dirt is more mellow.

 

[jmc]

I'm looking forward to trying that, DJ54.

 

[DJ54]

I'm looking forward to trying that, DJ54.

It's a pretty darn slick way to do it, if the ground conditions are right.

 

[two_bit_score]

We had some of that invasive honeysuckle on our place. I found the best way to get rid of mine was to cut it off at the base then paint the cut stumps with straight 2 4-D amine. It has never come back from this. The stumps rot out pretty quick.

Not as sexy as buying and using an "Intimidator" but as effective if you want to kill the roots. Unless you kill roots you have to make sure you get all the roots out with whatever you use to pull the bush up with. I've had good luck with it overtime but you have to paint it on almost as soon as it's cut.


TBS

 

[Richard]

I'm looking forward to trying that, DJ54.

I agree with what DJ54 said. For anyone who's owned or operated a backhoe, I have got to think they have done this.

I was digging something and a sapling was in my way. It was about as thick as your thumb. Every time I would take the bucket over to dig whatever I was digging, this stupid little annoyance was in the way. So, I gingerly took the teeth of the bucket down to it.... "wove" the sapling between the teeth of the bucket and simply plucked it out of the ground. dropped it over to the side & continued on whatever my project was.

I don't recall exactly what I was digging (but I've plucked many things like this over the years). It is easier to pluck & toss it than to dig it out (I have a 2' bucket which is over kill for a 1" sapling)

 

[Smokeydog]

The piranha bar sure is a cost effective way to clear brush. Faster than a grapple. Right weather pulls out all the roots with minimum ground disturbance. Not as good at carrying debris. Then spray. 2-4-D is good as it kills broadleaf but not grass.

Receiver hitch carrier secures the tank. Tried using bucket with blocks or tire but could never really secure the tank enough with straps. Two wire QD for 12V power. Hose and wand to seat. Now feel safer spraying road side ditch/fence line than using 4-wheeler in traffic.

 

[TreeDreamer]

Well I bought a Fransgard logging winch with 10,500# pulling force and it did a fine job of pulling honeysuckle, it was just slow and labor intensive. Then I bought a Danuser Intimidator tree puller and it does a fine job of pulling them that is much faster for the growth along roads, fencerows and field boundaries. But I still have to use the winch to get further into the woods without damaging the trees I want to keep or the soil. Based on past cutting with a chainsaw but not using pesticides, it will regrow but easier to control small sprouts than the interconnected canopies of large honeysuckle. One exception to pulling, I cut off honeysuckle on creek banks to have a few more years of holding the soil together until I get new growth of more desirable trees.

Mark

 

[two_bit_score]

Well I bought a Fransgard logging winch with 10,500# pulling force and it did a fine job of pulling honeysuckle, it was just slow and labor intensive. Then I bought a Danuser Intimidator tree puller and it does a fine job of pulling them that is much faster for the growth along roads, fencerows and field boundaries. But I still have to use the winch to get further into the woods without damaging the trees I want to keep or the soil. Based on past cutting with a chainsaw but not using pesticides, it will regrow but easier to control small sprouts than the interconnected canopies of large honeysuckle. One exception to pulling, I cut off honeysuckle on creek banks to have a few more years of holding the soil together until I get new growth of more desirable trees.

Mark

What pesticides were you using?