Pulling stumps

[Anonymous Poster]

My new BX2200 w/ FEL is arriving in a few days. I have a few acres of scrubby woods I want to tame. I noticed a couple of posts where guys said they pulled stumps with their tractors. How big were these stumps and what technique did you use.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Have you done a search on the topic? The only useful info that I picked up on a search was about cutting a tree five feet up so you have a high "stump" to provide leverage when pulling it over with a chain.

I'm in the same position as you. About ten stumps to remove, cut off no more than one or two feet above ground level. They're close to the house, so this is really cleaning up to get ready for landscaping and to speed up lawn mowing.

These are close to the house. Has anyone tried digging the dirt out around the stump (by hand) and then using a Sawzall to cut the roots that can be reached? I think you can get Sawzall blades that are good for cutting nails on demolition jobs, so they should be able to deal with small stones better than my axe or small chain saw. Thinking about digging, Sawzall-ing and then trying the BX2200 FEL to lift the stump. If that doesn't work, chain to pull it out.

Where do I get decent reasonably priced chain locally? Landscape supply houses, tractor dealers, truck supply?????
Chain stores?
.......Rich S.

 

[RobS]

I recently pulled a couple dozen stumps with my 790. As was mentioned, I cut the trees as high as I could comfortably (and safely) hold my chain saw. The type of tree had a lot more impact than the diameter. I could pull 6" sassafrass without a hitch, but 4" oak and maple are a different story altogether.

I ended up using a variety of techniques. The smaller/easier trees I'd just pull. Some I could even dig with the FEL (my soil is pretty sandy). Others I'd push on with the FEL up high then try to lower it for more force on the stump. If it seemed like it would budge, I'd go back to pulling.

The biggest ones (6-8" oaks and maples) I'd have to dig. I was able to dig with my FEL up to about three feet down on two or three sides. Then I'd push from the un-dug side and finally pull from the dug side to finish the job. It wasn't pretty but I'm taking all the top soil out anyway for a driveway. Digging by hand would work, but would have taken a lot longer. I'd use an axe rather than a sawzall, just for speed.

In all I spent a couple of long days and a couple of short days doing the stumps and top soil removal. If I had anything bigger I would have called in an excavator and saved the abuse to my tractor. It was fun though, and I got a lot of experience in the process.

I've picked up several chains at Quality Farm, TSC etc. I end up with two for most pulls. You want a slip hook at the stump end so the chain tightens as you pull. I also use a slip hook at the tractor end as it hooks to my drawbar clevis easier. That leaves grab hooks to connect the two chains (I only used one of the two).

Hope this helps, and have a ball /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[rock]

I've pulled a stump or two out with my BX. Here is what I did.

I had two white pines with stumps about 8" in diameter. I cut them down pretty low, did some minor digging to get at the top level roots, cut them with my chainsaw and axe, looped a nylon tow strap around the stump and hooked it to my BX (Penny). I "doubled up" on the strap more to shorten the distance between my stump and tractor than to increase the strength of the strap. Penny pulled those stumps out like they were in warm butter!

A week later I did the same with some boxelder trees around 5" - 6" in diameter. Man, those trees were alot tougher to yank. My Dad happened to be visiting, so I'd give a pull, back off, and my Dad would chop some roots and we'd repeat the procedure. Eventually they too popped out.

A few weeks after that I wanted to yank the stump of a large "weed bush", maybe a lilac (I'm not the best forester out there). Since I had a bit more trouble with the boxelders I decided to try my 1/2 ton pickup insted. Used the same procedure and even had my pickup in 4WD-low. I was surprised how difficult it was. In fact, I have to say, I don't think my pickup did any better than Penny would have done!

I think next time I will leave more trunk and try the "pull over" technique. Makes alot of sense to me, increase the lever arm.

I was pretty impressed with the pulling power of the BX, as I am with just about any other job that I put Penny up to.

Have fun, keep us posted with your stump pulling techniques. The BX is a great machine!

-- Rock

 

[MikePA]

My Dad used to tell me stories of working on a road crew in rural Virginia in the 20s and 30s. They had plenty of stumps to clear and frequently used a tractor and a chain. He witnessed the chain break, whip around and decapitate someone. Be careful! Anticipate where the chain will fly if it breaks.

 

[RobS]

Good point and one I forgot to mention. Chain isn't too bad as each link can only store so much energy, but cable and straps can be very violent when they break.

One more technique I used with dubious regard for my tractor was the loader assisted pull. I was always traction limited when pulling so I'd lower the loader and use the bucket dump to apply additional pull. It really added a lot of extra tug for those tough ones /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[Jag]

I know one guy who lost a leg when a heavy nylon sling let go.. It does not matter "what" lets go as how much tension or energy is stored in it.

 

[FABEATS]

I RENTED A STUMP GRINDER FOR A HALF DAY AND DID ABOUT 20 STUMPS ON MY PROPERTY. THE STUMPS RANGED FROM ABOUT 4 INCHES IN DIAMETER TO ABOUT 10 INCHES. THE RENTAL FEE WAS ABOUT $150 AND I TOWED IT BEHIND MY TRACTOR TO GET TO THE STUMPS. BEST MONEY I'VE SPENT. I DIDN'T LIKE HAVEING TO USE THE AXE ON THE ROOTS WHEN I WAS TRYING TO PULL THE STUMPS WITH THE TRACTOR.

 

[huckflynn]

Isn't it a great feeling -- when you know you've got the right tool for the job -- and that the economics of a rental has really paid off.

I had the same feeling renting a tiller at $38 a day. It took me a couple hours -- and I let me cousin borrow it for the rest of the day.

Huck

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Make sure that any such pulling is done with the chain attached below the axle line. It may seem obvious to use your drawbar but there are many stories of people attaching the chain or line to something above the axle line. In that case the tractor drives out from under the chain hookup, rotates around the axle and flips over backwards.
-Don M

 

[RobS]

Re: Pulling stumps/Chain Energy

I'm going to have to give this chain versus cable, stored energy some thought. Maybe runs some tests. Off the top of my head, a chain stores energy in discreet amounts (each link) and the energy dissipation in a failure happens in parallel, or each link quickly and simultaneously releasing its energy. A cable or strap stores the energy in the entire length as one unit. A failure releases all that energy in series, more like a spring allowing acceleration of the mass.

Subjectively, consider a cable come-along versus chain and an over-center binder. When releasing the tension on a come-along it feels like a big spring with a fair amount of cable released before it's loose. With the chain binder, it falls limp after very little displacement of the chain.

I know this subject has come up before on TBN. Maybe my seven year old and I can create a "science fair" project to get to the bottom of it. Any suggestions? It'll have to wait for a rainy day when I can't be out on the tractor though /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[BigE]

I have pulled a number of stumps, all though never had much luck just jerking them out. Takes one heck of a machine to pull a stump out of even small stature. I found the best way was to pull with a strap with constant pressure while digging to expose the roots and cutting them when exposed. A lopping shear works real well for the small roots 1" or less. I keep a old chain saw that I don't mind running in the dirt for the rest. Keep rotating around the stump pulling in different directions.
With little Kubota's you have to learn patiance.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Re: Pulling stumps/Chain Energy

<font color=blue>Off the top of my head,... a chain stores energy in discreet amounts</font color=blue>

A few years back, I got my Massey 135 stuck deep in the woods...going downhill...

My brother-in-law hooked up his Ford Bronco with a chain and attempted to pull me backwards. All was going well until he "stomped" on the gas to "jerk" me back...

The tow chain snapped midway... I heard a funny buzzing noise past my ear... the chain end hit the loader mount, bounced back and landed next to my right foot... a few more inches...Off the top of my head...

 

[Boondox]

Pushing stumps?

With Clementine (L3010 with attitude) I've had great luck pushing small trees over (up to nine inch diameter girth) by using the FEL about six feet off the ground and shoving. This works best after a good soaking rain and leaves no troublesome stump to deal with.

Of course not all trees are accessible, and sometimes it's just plain unsafe to try this due to slope, etc. But where I can get at it safely, the tree is toast.

Pete

www.GatewayToVermont.com

 

[RobS]

Re: Pulling stumps/Chain Energy

John, without a doubt the right tool for "Jerking" is the nylon strap.

I'm still noodling on the chain thing (up all night). I think it boils down to a chain being a series of short springs where a cable (or strap) is one long spring. Statically, it's the same, but dynamically may be a different story. More to come...

 

[skent]

When I was in the CG stationed in NY harbor, there was this lieutenant that wanted us to pull this old mushroom anchor out (it was visible during low tide and was a left over from a light ship) for use as a lawn orniment in front of his office. Two small boats, a 41' with twin Cat V8 diesels and a 40' steel hull with twin 6 cyl Detriot Diesels went out to try. I was on the crew of the 40 footer. We were using 1.5" double braded nylon, doubled up to each boat, pulling in the same direction. With both boats, (all four engines wide open) we didn't budge the thing, but managed to break one line going to the 41'. When it separated, it whipped past them and hit the coxswains cage (chain link fence attached to a 2" pipe/welded cage designed to protect the operator of the boat in just such an event) on our boat, the cage held, but had to be replaced after that. They ended up sub-contracting the job to a salvage company who used a crane on a barge to get the thing up.

Any time I have to do some serious pulling, I try to use the FEL and pull in reverse. That way I can see what the load is doing without turning around, and I have some protection in the event to a chain or rope breaking. I realize reverse traction is less, but if thats the case, meybe I should consider using something other than the tractor.

Steve

 

[ddl]

Re: Pulling stumps/Chain Energy

Robs
What is stored in any object is energy, in a spring the amount of energy depends on the spring constant. What causes the spring to bounce once released is the spring returning to its orginal position. A one piece spring can store more energy than a chain made up of links. In theory when pulling with a chain the total energy is the sum of the engeries in each link. A good chain, as tension is applied will not deform, thus stored energy is not as much. Since the deforming is the why energy is stored in a spring, either being streched or compressed. So make sure the chain you are using is high quality, as far as the strap, these were used on the farm alot in the 70's for pulling, after so many breaking and breaking out windows of the tractor cabs, farmer went back to chains. The worst was the stretch straps. Physics must be used and is never wrong.

Dan l

 

[MJB]

It may not be economically justifiable, but for pulling out stumps nothing beats a backhoe. I just pulled out about 75-80 stumps last night with my JD48 hoe. Most were in the 3" to 4" size but there were a few 6" ones. I was pulling them out so fast I was getting tired just moving back and forth from the backhoe seat to the tractor seat so I could move the tractor to the next stump./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif Did I mention that I love my backhoe?

Computers don't make mistakes.... What they do, they do on purpose.

 

[RichS]

Re: Pulling stumps/Chain Energy

When doing a lot of pulling and yanking, both with chain and strap, I have always put a blanket or something on the chain/strap. Did this many times when off-roading and getting someone unstuck. Things invariably break and not always the chain/strap. Something I read about quite a while ago in a 4wd magazine. Does take a second to throw it over the chain/strap but it does work. Just my two cents.

Rich S.