Brush Grubber

   / Brush Grubber #1  

5030

Rest in Peace
Joined
Feb 21, 2003
Messages
28,967
Location
SE Michigan in the middle of nowhere
Tractor
Kubota M9000 HDCC3 M9000 HDC
Seems as though I have a ton of weed tree saplings that are too small for the chainsaw but large enough to yank out so I ordered the 'Brush grubber.. Anyone use one? Do they hold up? Gonna use it behind one of my M9's on the drawbar to yank them out. Got the 'heavy duty' model. Is it heavy duty enough for my 8K pound, 90 horse FWA Kubota or will I destroy it?
 
   / Brush Grubber #2  
Do you have any links or photos?

I've used root rake clamshell buckets, skeleton buckets, and long bottom grapples for that kind of work. I prefer the long bottom grapple because it keeps the potential skewers away from my radiator.

I had a lot suckers and scrub around the edges of my fields. I found that using a forestry mulcher to pulverize everything above ground followed up with a grapple and/or skeleton bucket to get out the roots works best. Trying to deal with the whole trees/brush at the same time just makes a big tangled mess and wastes a lot of topsoil.
 
   / Brush Grubber #4  
IMG_1855.jpeg

Hard to beat a chain and piece of pipe. Often use pipes on both ends of chain. Pipe bites the tree. If small trees are close, can pull several at a time. Easy to undo after pulling. Tried a grabber but didn’t work as well for me.

Spring cleaning around pastures and roads now before leafing out. Pulling encroachment trees, breaking off overhanging limbs and hauling off with Danuser Intimdator is pretty much hands free. A few trees and limbs will need to be polesaw cut.
 
   / Brush Grubber #5  
I made one of Smokeydog's pipe pullers. Simple & effective.
 
   / Brush Grubber
  • Thread Starter
#6  
My issue with using a chain is on the smaller trees, it likes to slip off and I want a positive no slip grip. I grind off the bigger ones with my stump grinder but the smaller ones are a PITA for me. I got the Green Manufacturing weld on grapple that I will weld on the top edge of one of my loader buckets (I have 3 buckets actually). Between the grapple and the grubber, I should be set, hopefully, that is, if the grubber don't fail. Last year I bought the Land Pride 3 point mount stump grinder and it does the job on the big stumps, especially with 90 PTO driving it. Storm damaged trees are an issue here in my woodlot. Gotten to the point where I cannot give away the wood so now I roast it.

Can probably use the grubber as a skid puller as well. Wasn't all that expensive either. Just over 100 bucks delivered.
 
   / Brush Grubber #10  
Last time I used a brush grubber I hooked, Lee drove, and Gary stacked the willows we pulled from along shore by the house. We cleaned up about 40' in just over an hour. Buckthorn, autumn olive, locust, and poplar cover a good acre or so and I'm constantly working on 'em.

Now I'm several times more productive, don't need a helper much less two, and don't have to get out of the seat until I jump onto the other tractor with the brush grapple. Anything over 4" dia is a bit tough to pull because my CUTs/FELs are on the light end for their hp.

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   / Brush Grubber #12  
I considered the brush grubber but the reviews were too mixed for my tastes.

I use the pipe & chain very successfully, usually pulling with the front loader bucket hooks.
I use it on anything smaller than about a couple inches - cleared an area that was very densely packed with scotch room which tends to slip easily but the pipe grabbed it really well; I find that wrapping a chain around bigger stuff a few times with a slip hook involved works well for bigger thins that have some bumps.

Would your massive Kubota ruin the grubber? My baby Branson would ruin it easily, if I hooked it up to the wrong thing. Your humongous titan of a tractor will do fine if you use it on the kind of thing it's designed for, but I don't know that that's what you're intending to do.
 
   / Brush Grubber
  • Thread Starter
#14  
I considered the brush grubber but the reviews were too mixed for my tastes.

I use the pipe & chain very successfully, usually pulling with the front loader bucket hooks.
I use it on anything smaller than about a couple inches - cleared an area that was very densely packed with scotch room which tends to slip easily but the pipe grabbed it really well; I find that wrapping a chain around bigger stuff a few times with a slip hook involved works well for bigger thins that have some bumps.

Would your massive Kubota ruin the grubber? My baby Branson would ruin it easily, if I hooked it up to the wrong thing. Your humongous titan of a tractor will do fine if you use it on the kind of thing it's designed for, but I don't know that that's what you're intending to do.
What I'm intending on doing. Pulling from the drawbar, steady pull. Was watching the Grubber website and posters on there were pulling it with their loader buckets, that made me cringe. Good way to wreck a bucket. According to their website, the harder the pull, the tighter it bites in.
 
   / Brush Grubber #15  
Would your massive Kubota ruin the grubber? My baby Branson would ruin it easily, if I hooked it up to the wrong thing.
I was excited to try them, but that changed with actual use.

With one person using a brush grubber is not very effective. On and off the tractor a lot.

The ones I tried either slipped a lot, or broke if I applied too much force. I don't use them anymore.
 
   / Brush Grubber #16  
its the on and off the tractor with anything that wastes time.

If the pipe and the slot in the pipe are sized right to the chain and the hook, my experience is it will pull tight to the brush. Dont be sloppy making the cutout for the hook.
 
   / Brush Grubber #17  
What I'm intending on doing. Pulling from the drawbar, steady pull. Was watching the Grubber website and posters on there were pulling it with their loader buckets, that made me cringe. Good way to wreck a bucket. According to their website, the harder the pull, the tighter it bites in.
I think if you pull so hard that it's going to wreck the bucket, you're going to bust that grubber.
Most plants pull out fairly easily, upwards, though not so easily if you pull sideways. It's almost like their designer didn't expect gravity to reverse...

Check the reviews? A couple years ago when I looked into it, it seemed like most people using it were using an ATV/UTV or small tractor, and still broke it.

YMMV; let us know how it works... and how long it works. The rest of you, I'd advise just using the chain & pipe - you can probably make ten of those setups in case you actually break a chain, for the same price.
 
   / Brush Grubber #18  
I’ve had one for about 5 years and it works really well. However if you have a lot of brush/saplings to pull you really need a second person because as others have said, the on and off the tractor is not very efficient.
 
   / Brush Grubber #19  
My issue with using a chain is on the smaller trees, it likes to slip off and I want a positive no slip grip. I grind off the bigger ones with my stump grinder but the smaller ones are a PITA for me. I got the Green Manufacturing weld on grapple that I will weld on the top edge of one of my loader buckets (I have 3 buckets actually). Between the grapple and the grubber, I should be set, hopefully, that is, if the grubber don't fail. Last year I bought the Land Pride 3 point mount stump grinder and it does the job on the big stumps, especially with 90 PTO driving it. Storm damaged trees are an issue here in my woodlot. Gotten to the point where I cannot give away the wood so now I roast it.

Can probably use the grubber as a skid puller as well. Wasn't all that expensive either. Just over 100 bucks delivered.
Wrap the chain 3 full wraps downward to ground level, attach hook on bottom end to open chain near top wrap. This forces the chain to tighten as its pulled. Too large chain size works poorly.
I have 8'- ¼" chain for pulling trees up to 4" dia. I carry on the tractor all the time. Ya never know when you'll come on a downed limb/tree while brush hogging or mowing.
 
   / Brush Grubber #20  
Wrap the chain 3 full wraps downward to ground level, attach hook on bottom end to open chain near top wrap. This forces the chain to tighten as its pulled. Too large chain size works poorly.
I have 8'- ¼" chain for pulling trees up to 4" dia. I carry on the tractor all the time. Ya never know when you'll come on a downed limb/tree while brush hogging or mowing.
That's what I've always done, but even a 1/4" chain doesn't work well on stuff smaller than 1" or so, which is why I was looking into the grubber myself. The' ol pipe & chain trick works great down to about 1/2" at which point I find it usually breaks whatever it is in half, but most things that small can either be cut or yanked out by hand.
 
 

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