Excavator v. Skid Steer for Hobby Farmer?

[Suburban Plowboy]

I wonder why more folks don't either cut the stumps off flush to the ground, and/or burn them in place. Since you seem to be allowed to have burn piles where you are, can't you have multiple burn piles on top of stumps?

Too bad the old way (dynamite) is rarely allowed. In the 40s and earlier, I am told, you could buy it at your local hardware store.

The problem at my property is that they cut stumps flush with the ground. Nothing for machinery to pull on, but plenty to look bad and catch mower blades. They take eternity to rot, which is funny, because the trees themselves rot fast.

Burning on top of them doesn't do any good.

Dynamite sounds like fun, but using it a foot from my asphalt driveway and withing shrapnel range of my house seems like a bad idea.

 

[Suburban Plowboy]

How many trees are you talking about? What is the largest dia at ground and the average dia of the entire group of trees. Do you know the tree species since some have roots that spread out at ground surface and others have tap root that goes almost straight down? What kind of soil are these trees in. Clay only, sand with clay, sand only. All these make a difference as to what equipment is best to remove trees.

The number of trees depends on the weather. There are maybe 15 I would like to get rid of now, but if a bad thunderstorm or tropical storm comes through, the number goes up fast.

Thanks for the safety tips.

What about undermining trees and then using straps to pull them over from a distance?

 

[M59]

The problem at my property is that they cut stumps flush with the ground. Nothing for machinery to pull on, but plenty to look bad and catch mower blades. They take eternity to rot, which is funny, because the trees themselves rot fast.

Burning on top of them doesn't do any good.

Dynamite sounds like fun, but using it a foot from my asphalt driveway and withing shrapnel range of my house seems like a bad idea.

If you have a bunch of stumps already cut at ground level then small dia ones, under 6 inch, can still be pulled with thumb on backhoe or dug around to break some roots and then plucked up. You will learn the process quickly. Notice I am not saying TLB or excavator since both have thumb on hoe capability.

Since you are paying the bill, tell tree cutter to cut at 4 feet above ground.

 

[Suburban Plowboy]

I only wish my problem stumps were that small. I rip those out with a subsoiler.

My goal is to quit hiring arborists. The people who built this place left a lot of time bombs on the property. The trash oaks here grow very fast and look nice, but after a few decades, they rot and fall over, so the original owners of the house should have left at least 50 feet of clear ground around everything. They didn't do that. The house is 22 years old, so the oaks don't have a lot of time left.

The more I learn about this, the more I think there is no way to avoid paying people. I have a number of oaks within 15 feet of my shop, and I have several that are close enough to my house so the tops would hit it if they fell the wrong way. If they were farther out, only the stumps would be problems. Where they are, the ones by the shop need to be felled away from it, and the ones by the house have to be felled away from it or be topped before I cut them so they can't reach the house when they fall.

I would say the trunks on the problem trees range from one to two feet in diameter.

 

[M59]

The number of trees depends on the weather. There are maybe 15 I would like to get rid of now, but if a bad thunderstorm or tropical storm comes through, the number goes up fast.

Thanks for the safety tips.

What about undermining trees and then using straps to pull them over from a distance?

I would never undermine a tree of any size over 30-40 feet tall and then attempt to pull it over. Trees are top heavy and if you undermine it may choose to go where you don't want to to go. I have seen a light breeze act on a fully leafed out tree and push it uphill. A tree in full leaf is a big sail.

My preferred course of tree removal depends upon tree location relative to things that could be damaged.
If near house or other expensive things then tie tree off by placing strong rope ( capable of at least 1000 Lbs WLL tension) high in tree for leverage and placing some tension on tree so it now has a pre-determined direction to fall in when notched and cut with chainsaw at 4 feet.
If away from expensive stuff then notch, cut, fell, and dig out stump.

I have attached pic of Siberian Elm. My hand is 8 inches from finger tip to wrist. The long dim on this tree, 4 feet off ground, was over 40 inches. 8 feet of trunk was over 3,000 Lbs. Total weight on tree was 18,000 Lbs.

ps. I have also seen the tops of trees snap and come down on top of person / equipment when the tree top or branches are weakened or dead and they snap due to pushing and pulling. Instant widow maker.

 

[Xfaxman]

The Kubota has been marginal for moving rocks because it has a low lift capacity. It can't dig narrow holes, so removing dirt around rocks and stumps is not practical. It would be neat to have a machine that would dig around these things in a hurry.

How big are the rocks?

I popped this rock out without digging around it:

 

[Suburban Plowboy]

I'll repost a photo I put up in another thread.

 

[Xfaxman]

I am guessing that is about half the size of the one above.

I have a 5k crane scale. Tried to measure lift power, but the scale goes to overflow if over 5001 pounds:

 

[paulfun9]

And it is small enough to park in the garage:
View attachment 753882View attachment 753883View attachment 753884

You would make a good salesman!

Janet

 

[M59]

xfaxman,

Thanks for the pic of the crane scale. You just provided an answer to a problem I have been trying to solve.