Bucket mounted limb cutter.

[RSKY]

I mounted a bumper receiver on the top of the FEL bucket to put a trailer hitch. I can drive up and pick up the hitch on my trailers and move them around without getting off the tractor. For the past month I have used this to move around a 42' lift we were using to paint my daughter's house.... That is a story in itself! Anyway it is time to mow the CRP land and I am needing something to cut limbs that have overgrown the fields on about 150 acres on four different farms. While I have used a pole saw to do this that was ten years ago and I am now 63 with a new knee.

Getting to the point. I want to mount some kind of blade in the receiver on top of the bucket so I can rest the blade on a limb, lower the loader to put weight on the blade, and back up to slice the limb off. I don't intend to use this on a foot diameter limb, but something an inch or two in diameter. What I'm planning now is to weld a sharpened old bush hog blade to a receiver and try that.

I am not going to spend more than thirty dollars on this project!!

Has anybody done this before? Did you have any luck?

The tractor I will use is small, Kioti CK20. Anybody think I am wasting my time?

Any answers will be appreciated.

RSKY

 

[RSKY]

AND, I am not mowing 150 acres with a CK20. The large fields were mowed with a 1086 and 15 footer. CRP land will be mowed and disked with a 4600 Ford. All I want this for is going around the edges of the fields.

Didn't want anybody to panic.

RSKY

 

[stuckmotor]

Are you planning on using a blade with teeth to saw the limb off as you back the tractor?

 

[Leejohn]

$30.00, might as well forget that.

 

[RSKY]

My forks cost me less than $100. I intend to use an old worn out bushhog blade welded to a receiver. Sharpen the blade and maybe put a couple notches in it with a side grinder and hopefully I am in the limb cutting business. All I want is something to remove limbs from trees at the edge of fields. I usually use the edge of the bucket for the smaller ones and this attachment will enable be to cut a little bigger.

Anybody ever try this?

RSKY

 

[teg]

...but something an inch or two in diameter...

Just bump into it with the bucket should break those limbs off. Not sure the mower blade would make a cleaner cut and the top of the FEL is pretty weak... thus you might bend the top of the bucket.

 

[sandman2234]

Mount the sharpened bush hog blade with a hydraulic cylinder and use another one as a stop, basically making a shear. Put all of that on a 2x2 square to slip into the receiver and hook into your hydraulics to power the cylinder. Should be easy enough if you have any "stuff" laying around and have decent fab skills.
David from jax

 

[DieselBound]

Hungry Woodpeckers?

Yeah, shear/break them off. Save yourself headaches of what to do with a stuck, running saw, up in your loader bucket.

 

[Rocky Hoffler]

They make a chain saw that attaches to bucket can't recall name but it way more than 30 dollars also need hydraulics to operate use a pole saw and then use tractor to clean it up IMHO

 

[TractorGuy]

To answer your question I have never tried what you intend to try.

Maybe you could engineer a pair of limb loppers so you can tilt the bucket to make them open and close.

My makeshift answer for limb trimming is to tie wrap a cordless reciprocal saw to a long piece of aluminum T-bar. I put a tie wrap on the trigger to hold it on and hoist it up by hand to cut limbs.

 

[Xfaxman]

J_J's Hydraulic limb snipper: http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachments/141126-hydraulic-limb-snipper.html#post1635813

 

[RSKY]

The top of the bucket is not as strong as the bottom edge even though I have reinforced it with 1/4" plate. So I may mount it on the bottom lit where there are already holes drilled. I don't want any hydraulics or complicated expensive equipment to use once every three or four years. Limbs up to a half inch or bigger can be ripped off with the bucket. I hope to make something that will saw off or weaken a larger limb enough that the bucket can break it off.

All in all I would probably have to walk more than a mile carrying my gas powered pole saw to trim everything. And all I want is to remove enough larger limbs so the renters can get closer to the edges when planting their crops or cutting the hay.

 

[Rmart30]

I seen one where a guy mounted a chain saw on about a 6 ft piece of 2x2 tubing, and a bracket for it to slide into on the side of his bucket. Had a string and a pulley to operate the throttle from the seat.

 

[newbury]

<Snip>Anyway it is time to mow the CRP land and I am needing something to cut limbs that have overgrown the fields on about 150 acres on four different farms. While I have used a pole saw to do this that was ten years ago and I am now 63 with a new knee.

Getting to the point. I want to mount some kind of blade in the receiver on top of the bucket so I can rest the blade on a limb, lower the loader to put weight on the blade, and back up to slice the limb off. I don't intend to use this on a foot diameter limb, but something an inch or two in diameter. What I'm planning now is to weld a sharpened old bush hog blade to a receiver and try that.

I am not going to spend more than thirty dollars on this project!!

Has anybody done this before? Did you have any luck?

The tractor I will use is small, Kioti CK20. Anybody think I am wasting my time?

<snip>

RSKY

Yes, your wasting your time to try and do it for $30.
Since you are cutting branches up to 2 inches in diameter a hedge trimmer won't do, you need a chain saw on a stick.

I just bought an Echo PPT 280 w/ 4 foot extension, 28CC engine, 4 chains, 12" blade for about $600. I can reach out to 17 feet and get limbs. And I've cut through 8" of limb like butter.

So why not carry your gas powered pole saw on your tractor?

Or for YOUR use it reads like you should be able to wield a Harbor Freight 1.5 HP ELECTRIC POLE SAW running off either a small generator OR an inverter off your tractor. The pole saw is on sale for $70. It reaches out to 8' 10" and standing on your tractor you should be able to trim up to 10 or 12 foot high with ease.
/edit - how high does your FEL reach?

I think dragoneggs does similar.

 

[ferrari99]

What about mounting a bracket on your FEL to sit a telescopic pruner in then operate it from the seat.
Amazon.com : Fiskars Power-Lever Extendable Pole Saw & Pruner (7-14 Feet) : Patio, Lawn & Garden
Or get a pair of ratcheting loppers a mount them on the bucket with some light chain back to a lever or something to actuate them.
Amazon.com : CHILI Tools 16-Inch Pro Bypass Ratchet Lopper For Thick Branches, Heavy Duty SK5 Teflon Blade Featuring Sturdy Nylon Fiber Handle, Made In Taiwan : Patio, Lawn & Garden

Or like the hydraulic tree shears others are talking about, make a manual one if you put a big enough lever on it it will be easy enough.

Just my thoughts on the situation.

 

[bcp]

If I had to do this, without a powered cutter, I would make maybe an 8ft boom of 2in square steel, with an old 3-5ft crosscut saw blade mounted with a limited pivot on the end of the boom. Put the blade over the limb, with the limb at the near end of the blade, lower it a bit, then back up till the blade comes out of the cut. Don't push the blade, only pull! Repeat if needed.

Bruce

 

[Cataclysm]

Get you an old cross cut saw blade and mount it to the male part of a receiver hitch. Put that into your bucket mounted receiver hitch and trim away.

 

[RSKY]

I considered the crosscut saw and backing up but I don't think it would hold up. That's why I want to push instead of pull. Also less strain on the bucket cylinders. About every three or four years I do the walk around with a pole saw deal and trim the field edges. That is a LOT of walking because I do it on both my mother's farms, my father-in-law's farm, and my oldest daughters ten acres. The only FEL we have is on the smallest tractor. Have called three or four places and can't find an old blade. May have to come up with something else.

RSKY

 

[Stever00]

I mounted a bumper receiver on the top of the FEL bucket to put a trailer hitch. I can drive up and pick up the hitch on my trailers and move them around without getting off the tractor. For the past month I have used this to move around a 42' lift we were using to paint my daughter's house.... That is a story in itself! Anyway it is time to mow the CRP land and I am needing something to cut limbs that have overgrown the fields on about 150 acres on four different farms. While I have used a pole saw to do this that was ten years ago and I am now 63 with a new knee.

Getting to the point. I want to mount some kind of blade in the receiver on top of the bucket so I can rest the blade on a limb, lower the loader to put weight on the blade, and back up to slice the limb off. I don't intend to use this on a foot diameter limb, but something an inch or two in diameter. What I'm planning now is to weld a sharpened old bush hog blade to a receiver and try that.

I am not going to spend more than thirty dollars on this project!!

Has anybody done this before? Did you have any luck?

The tractor I will use is small, Kioti CK20. Anybody think I am wasting my time?

Any answers will be appreciated.

RSKY

My neighbor made him a simple one. Mounted it on long boom pole. Made some shear blades with hydraulic cylinder. Had problems with two opposing sharp blades. Finally made flat land on one with recess . this stopped his blade from bending. Similar to picture posted here. Check how large loopers are made. Very similar.

 

[RSKY]

I'm not planning on anything that fancy. No hydraulics, just a sharpened blade I can put down pressure on and back up or drive forward and slice a limb off. Not going to use it for heavy duty land clearing, just a few limbs on the edge of fields I am mowing.

RSKY