grubbing with mini excavator

[RJG]

I have just purchased a Cat 303.5C CR mini excavator. I really enjoy it and the time just flys when I'm in it. One of my applications is grubbing 1"-4" thorn bush and other similar sized trees. I have tried using both my 24" digging bucket and my 36" tilting trenching bucket. I find that when I use the digging bucket, I end up pulling up lots of earth. I find that the trenching bucket works well when I tilt it and use just the edge to cut then pull up the roots. Problem with the tilt is that the thumb doesn't work with it and I also wonder if digging with the edge of the tilt will eventually damage it.

Any advice from the experienced 'grubbers' as to what is the best work tool for the job? Also, any usage techinques / tips would be really appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[ClearViewGroup]

its a soft touch thing to do...its hard to grub little stuff like that..but if you keep after it you will get the hang of it...its all about knowing when to roll the bucket and close the thumb...try to time it so that you arent putting more than just the teeth in the ground..you could buy a root grapple for it..but its not that hard to learn...just takes time

 

[RJG]

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll spend some quality time on it
I have been looking at something called a root rake but I wondered if the longer teeth would actually be able to pull up the brush effeciently. I guess patience and practise is the key as you suggest.

 

[Eagleview]

I made a rake for my 3.5 tonner for that exact purpose . I used Caterpillar 12E grader scarifier tynes and an old set of ears from a quick hitch . It worked perfectly , if i put it into the middle of a bush and made a small swirl with it . The plant would wrap around the tynes like spagetti on a fork and would just pull out of the ground with little soil on the roots .

 

[Taylortractornut]

What Iron horse said with the swirl works greats grubbing. just swirl and curl with the bucket. Its not good to use the corners of you grading bucket like that, I just fixed one from an old Case the county used like that. I use this with my PC50Komatsu alot. I have a rake i built but its rented out right now. Iron Horse I just traded for an old Austin Western grader that was a Military surplus. It was a parts machine I have a fella on Heavy equipment board that wants to look at the circle motor. I may make another rake with its scarifier. I like the straight tines on yours, I made mine curve from 3/4 plate I cut out on my pattern burner. I sift rock with it to. What brand is that hoe good looking rig.

 

[AKfish]

I made a rake for my 3.5 tonner for that exact purpose . I used Caterpillar 12E grader scarifier tynes and an old set of ears from a quick hitch . It worked perfectly , if i put it into the middle of a bush and made a small swirl with it . The plant would wrap around the tynes like spagetti on a fork and would just pull out of the ground with little soil on the roots .

Good job on your fabrication work! Looks like the "right tool for the job".

AKfish

 

[RJG]

That looks like a great tool Iron Horse.
The problem with my brush is that it is not as vine-like as yours seems to be and because of that, I don't think I can twirl them without them all just snapping. I have included a couple of shots of what I am dealing with - along with a shameless picture of my machine...
Do you think your type of work tool would also do the job in this kind of brush and if so, what technique would your suggest be best?
AMI sells a root rake that I can get through my CAT dealer.(AMI Attachments | MINI EXCAVATOR > Specialty > Rippers).

Thanks!

 

[Taylortractornut]

It works well on saplings like oak and hickory and other things. With the swirl I just put the bucket teeth o nthe base of the sapling and bend it over then ease to the side at the same time and hang it in the other teeth kind of binding the woody stem. It works wonders. Ijust cleared a 20 foot strip of mimossoa trees 100 feet long like this.

 

[RJG]

O.K. I think I get it - sounds like you are kind of weaving the sapling in the teeth.
Were you doing this with a regular digging bucket or a rake?

I tried what sounds like your technique today with my 24" digging bucket with very limited success. I had one pass that neatly pulled up 2 or 3 saplings at once - roots and all. I felt pretty smug about it. Then I spent the next several minutes trying to reproduce that success - but mostly resulted in either snapping the saplings about 2' off the ground or having them slide out!

Thanks

 

[AKfish]

Nearly made me "homesick" looking at your pictures - until I remembered I am home...!!

Looks like a mess of poplar/aspen trees. They all look small enough to be mowed with a bush hog type rotary cutter (I KNOW you want to use your excavator!)

Then a tractor with a shank ripper (scarifier) to start the cleanup of all the staubs and rootwads. (Meri-crusher).

Or a hydraulic rotary cutter off your dipper. Like the power companies and oil companies use to clean up right of way lines, etc. But you'll still have to deal with the stumps (staubs), roots, etc. Tractor with a ripper and a big, disc harrow.

Best of luck.

AKfish

 

[Eagleview]

That's way too much work for a mini excavator , it , or you will be worn out by the time you get done . A flail mower on a tractor would have that looking like lawn in one day . I only had these 3 photos on my putor . The two taken in the same spot were taken on the same day . The rear shot just shows how wide the cut is . It will cut material ,like yours , as tall as the tractor and 8' wide at about 1 mile per hour . Sounds slow but when you look at a swathe a mile long and 8' wide after an hour , it's pretty impressive . If you can't get one yourself , i would hire the job out . I would charge about 2K for what i can see and leave it looking like my photos . I'm sure someone over there would do the same . If you take into account the wear and tear on your digger , the amount of fuel you will burn , not to mention the time factor , it would be cheaper to have it done .

Thanks AKfish .

 

[RJG]

That is exactly the park-like setting I'm after. When it comes to economics, I would certainly agree that it would be cheaper to have it done - but fortunately I never studied economics!
Last year I hired out about 10 ac of clearing. They did it with a bulldozer and the results were close to yours but with more ground damage. Looks like the flail mower would do the trick.
I have a bush hog but I find it complains bitterly in anything over 1" and I have acres of the larger stuff. I also have quite a bit of terrain that I just can't ride over with my tractor.
How does a flail mower compare to a bush hog in terms of clearing ability?
...really appreciate all this input from everyone...

 

[AKfish]

That is exactly the park-like setting I'm after. When it comes to economics, I would certainly agree that it would be cheaper to have it done - but fortunately I never studied economics!
Last year I hired out about 10 ac of clearing. They did it with a bulldozer and the results were close to yours but with more ground damage. Looks like the flail mower would do the trick.
I have a bush hog but I find it complains bitterly in anything over 1" and I have acres of the larger stuff. I also have quite a bit of terrain that I just can't ride over with my tractor.
How does a flail mower compare to a bush hog in terms of clearing ability?
...really appreciate all this input from everyone...

I don't have any experience with flail mowers. Most of what I've learned about them is here on TBN from posts from Iron Horse and IslandTractor. They seem to be an ideal "compromise" mower between the rough cut capabilities of the bush hog mower and the finish mower.

But, I haven't heard anyone claim they'll handle 3"-4" brush. I think if you've got heavier brush than say 1"-2" - you need to look at a good HD brush hog type mower.

LandPride, Woods, and others make some pretty stout mowers. They're real heavy and take some real PTO HP to run. The older model John Deere 509, 609, 709 are heavy duty and the 6' - 609 is recommended for a 60-70hp tractor.

Several of the rental outlets here have the HD mowers available for $150-$200 for an 8hr rental.

AKfish

 

[WestshoreConstruction]

Get someone in there with a mulcher and it will all be gone, will look better than the flail mower and cost alot less when you figure your time etc.

 

[RJG]

That all makes perfect sense. Heavy duty version of a bush hog on a tough tractor as per AKfish, or the ultimate dream of a FECON as per WsC or the pro approach of Iron Horse with a custom-built arsenal of tools.
I could hire it out - but just where the heck is the fun in that?

So, if I pull out the stuff that is too big for my cutter with my mini-x and then rotary-cut the rest with my existing medium duty cutter I could get the job done. I would however have fields of stumps to trip over and then watch the brush grow back in a month.

Question remains though - how to get rid of all the left over stumps? (don't forget my bias towards my new mini-x!) Would a root rake do this?

I have also heard of a FEL tool called a brush brute with specialized V teeth that gets driven into the stocks of brush then lifted - roots and all. I would bet that a mini-x custom tool like this would do a nice job pulling up the small stuff for areas I can't get to with my bush hog.

 

[AKfish]

I would however have fields of stumps to trip over and then watch the brush grow back in a month.

Question remains though - how to get rid of all the left over stumps? (don't forget my bias towards my new mini-x!) Would a root rake do this?

This will get 'em up out of the ground - Land Pride Scarifiers

And your landscape rake will attach at the rear of the scarifier. I've never tried to hook my rake up to it, though.

There's always quite a bit of dirt and root balls in the mix; so, I've always just let 'em sit on the surface for a while to dry out and then burn 'em in a pile.

I've got the 77" model and it pulls just fine behind my JD 110TLB.

AKfish

 

[RJG]

Thanks AKfish. My box scraper has scarifiers that I'll set low and give it a shot.
Thanks again for all the help everyone - much appreciated.

 

[Eagleview]

Ive just found a better picture of the rake i built . Not only can you use the swirl method , but also a simple raking motion . With larger trees , i used to push them over with the top back edge of the rake . Once down i would hook onto the bottom of the trunk and lift up . The weight of the tree would act as a counter balance and the roots would let go before the tree tried to stand back up (i use a slightly different method now). The tree can then be picked up with the rake by driving along it's length to it's middle and lifting with the rake . It can be then swung around to a burn pile . If your soil is not rocky , you may find it easier and better to use a rotary hoe on your tractor to turn all the small stuff into the soil once the larger trees are taken out .

 

[RJG]

That is one nice looking rake. As duplication is a sincere form of flattery , would I be far off thinking that the tool is about 24" wide, tines about 20" long, each tine is about 1" wide and there is about 3" of gap between each?
I found a local shop that can help me build one to my specs, I mean, maybe your specs All of the commercially available rakes I have found seem to have very large gaps between the tines and I'm suspecting that having more tines & therefore less gap between them like yours is the ticket.

 

[Eagleview]

Feel free to copy it , your dimensions would be correct . I have since sold it so can't check . It really was a handy tool , it could also dig a hole , grub out rocks and backfill root ball holes left after the tree was removed . Check out Ebay for 12E Cat scarrifier tynes , they have replaceable boots so your not wearing the tynes down .