Brush grubber

[crazyal]

This weekend's plans have changed and on Saturday I'm going to be going to the other house to remove a number of dead bushes. I think most are less than 2" in diameter. I was just going to try and wrap a chain around them but a local farm store has a couple of versions of the Grubber in stock. They have both the standard and heavy duty version that clamp onto the tree and the standard version of the chain one that looks like multiple tire chains. Any opinions if one of these will save time? Normally I would do a little research but I'm most likely going to be short on time.

 

[Bill Groom]

I have both, and rarely use the clamp on. The chain works very well for me.

 

[jeff9366]

Run the chain over a tire wheel rim to change forward motion of tractor into vertical pull on bushes.

3/8" or 5/16" chain will slip on small diameter verdure. A smaller chain will grip.

 

[JPRambo]

I have the small standard clamp version. I used it to pull small 1 1/2" or less trees from the 3ph on my Kubota b7100 and it works but is a lot of off and on the tractor to hook up and remove from tree. Unless you have a good helper.

 

[s219]

I wouldn't necessarily use a brush grubber on bushes unless they have a tall trunk. The whole concept is effective when you are able to get leverage from running the gripper 16-24" above the ground. Then the horizontal pull easily pops out the roots like flipping the cap off a bottle. Vertical pull is not nearly as effective.

 

[crazyal]

These are 4' pine shrub/ trees. They have to be pulled up and there's no room to use a wheel as there's a wooden retaining wall they are up against. The only way to get to them is from the other side of the retaining wall. I don't think they will be hard to pull out of the ground with the tractor. Where most of them are I should be able to pull 4 or 5 without moving the tractor. I will have help but I'm thinking of just setting the brake and doing one at a time without getting on the tractor. I was thinking the chain would work well, maybe wrap it twice. I do have plenty of 5/16" chain but since I don't have a lot of the stuff I normally would have here (I would just use my backhoe and in one scoop they would be gone) and I don't want to spend time running around so I figured a few bucks on the way and have an extra option. If everything goes well it'll take a few hours.

 

[dlctcg]

I have the clamp-on version... worked pretty good for us (it will slip if not positioned correctly)... A good ground helper is needed to make it efficient (as JPRambo stated).... with one person it is tedious.. on & off the tractor.... unless you are really going to be able to pull them with just the 3PT & not move tractor... (but just might use chain or a strap then)

We finally broke down & purchased a tree post puller... so the Grubber doesn't get used much anymore.... but for years prior the puller it was....

We spend weekends pulling saplings on our property.... If you think it is only a few hours work... I don't think I would bother with the Grubber....

 

[Underdog57]

I bought the Super heavy duty one (BG 24) And it is a beast, but it is way too heavy ( 36# ) to be lugging around, it will wear you out. I'm thinking of buying the smaller one for pulling bushes out of the swamp, just don't know which one yet.
The one I have works good but is just too darn heavy!!!!

The BG 16 is 4' long and weighs 6.25# with 1/4" chain and the BG 19 is 6' long and weighs 17# with 7/25" chain.

I will probably get the BG 19.

Edit: these are the chain versions!

 

[Xfaxman]

Several years I bought the BG-20 Brush Grubber. It was the biggest one made then, weighed 35 pounds. Worked great, especially if you had a helper.

On the bucket:

Also good for pulling roots broken off when the tree was pushed over:

 

[i7win7]

I have both as pictured in post #1. Chain is best for anything under 1" BG-08 for 1 to 4" range, don't clamp trunk, place it around trunk and let it wedge/dig in.
I also have this for small hillside stuff BrushGrubber | Metal Handled Brush Grubber

But I prefer using this tool when possible

 

[RalphVa]

Run the chain over a tire wheel rim to change forward motion of tractor into vertical pull on bushes.

3/8" or 5/16" chain will slip on small diameter verdure. A smaller chain will grip.

Was gonna say this. Second this.

Ralph

 

[crazyal]

I'll probably get the BG-08. It's only 12 lbs so it's not going to be a workout. The next size up they have in stock is the BG-30. At 50 lbs and over $200 I think it's beyond what I would ever need. The only chain style one they have in stock is the BG-16. The description says it's for atvs and lawn tractors so I think I would damage it before reaching the limit of my loader. I did read about a few people bending the jaw style but I'm thinking they were probably yanking on it vs just pulling. Also some people were saying the chain style ones would have the chains spin so the smooth side of the chain ended up against the bush and would slip. If they had the BG-11 in stock I might of went that direction but anything larger than 2" I'd use my backhoe if at this house and there's nothing of that size at the wife's house. Plus once they get that size it's just as easy to wrap a chain around them.

 

[JonBoyHunter]

Just thought I would add. 3 weeks ago, I purchased the BG-08 grubber. We bought property and were starting to clear out around a pond. Lots of 1-4" locust, birch, and pines mixed in with a ton of clumped brush of some kind. Wasn't sure I wanted to spend the $50, but gave it a try. After 30 minutes of me running the grubber and my wife on the tractor, we could see the pond finally. After about an hour, I couldn't believe the pile of ripped out trees we had. We started getting into the clumping brush and while it was working, the grubber had to be put on individual shoots, or I gad to dig down a bit to try to get onto the root. I chatted for 30 seconds with the wife and we both agreed we needed to buy the chain grubber. We paused for an hour, then got back to it with the chain grubber. Other than being a bigger pain to take off the trees once ripped out, it worked much better on the small stuff. For a couple of weeks we have switched back and forth, but but over all very impressed with both. We only ran into one 4" locust that I had to use the backhoe on. Everything else popped right out.

Bottom line, we got both and would do it again in a heartbeat! Great product and a huge time-saver.

 

[Underdog57]

Just thought I would add. 3 weeks ago, I purchased the BG-08 grubber. We bought property and were starting to clear out around a pond. Lots of 1-4" locust, birch, and pines mixed in with a ton of clumped brush of some kind. Wasn't sure I wanted to spend the $50, but gave it a try. After 30 minutes of me running the grubber and my wife on the tractor, we could see the pond finally. After about an hour, I couldn't believe the pile of ripped out trees we had. We started getting into the clumping brush and while it was working, the grubber had to be put on individual shoots, or I gad to dig down a bit to try to get onto the root. I chatted for 30 seconds with the wife and we both agreed we needed to buy the chain grubber. We paused for an hour, then got back to it with the chain grubber. Other than being a bigger pain to take off the trees once ripped out, it worked much better on the small stuff. For a couple of weeks we have switched back and forth, but but over all very impressed with both. We only ran into one 4" locust that I had to use the backhoe on. Everything else popped right out.

Bottom line, we got both and would do it again in a heartbeat! Great product and a huge time-saver.

Which version of the chain grubber did you use?

 

[JonBoyHunter]

Which version of the chain grubber did you use?

BG-16. $59.99 at Tractor Supply. My 3033r with loaded R4s and backhoe didn't even phase it.

 

[Underdog57]

Thanks a lot, I think I will try that one. I want to pull bushes out of the water and was hoping the smaller one would work without being too small.

 

[caver]

I have the clamp style as well and it works well up to a certain size. The downside is you need a helper or it's constantly getting on/off the tractor.

 

[crazyal]

We spent about 5 hours yesterday pulling small trees next to the house and cutting down a couple large pine trees. Out of pure luck we had a 12" chipper loaned to us for the afternoon (they rented it for the day but were finished before noon) so we did more than planning to take advantage of it. Over all I would say the bush gubber worked out very well. There was 7 of us, my on the tractor, one putting the grubber on the trees, one with a chainsaw cutting off the root ball and 3 dragging the tops to one running the chipper.

The spring on it wasn't too strong and once open it was very easy to hold it open with one hand. Because there were mostly cedar trees in a hedgerow wrapping a chain around them was kind of difficult but with the grubber you reach in and get a bite. Some of them I was able to easily just raise the loader and pull them out. A few that had the roots intertwined I had to pull sideways. I think the grubber slipped off maybe 4 or 5 times on about 40 trees. On two I had to wrap the chain around them as the grubber just didn't want to get a good enough bite. Over all I'm happy with it. The others that it slipped off of I think it was still in the learning process. Common sense kind of says put the two round teeth pads on the fattest part of the tree but it seams like putting it a little deeper so once you start pulling and the teeth start to bite in you are pulling it into the meatiest part of the tree. The directions say not to jerk it, just pull. I can see how jerking it would bend it as once it bites into a tree it really bites in.