How to cut through BIG tree roots?

[AndyMA]

How about somethng like this.

That's a good looking shear, but it doesn't appear to be suited to a small hoe.

Andy

 

[Dougster]

Richard at Bro-Tek got back to me and offered to price one up if I give him dimensions for the mounting points. I'll do that this weekend and post an update.

I'll sure be interested to see what you think of that thing. I asked essentially the same question here (about stump/root removal) ages ago and was basically told to keep digging farther and farther out until I could rip the root out. Made sense where feasible, but I still carry a nasty chainsaw just in case. I also carry a "Bosch Brute" type jackhammer... but haven't had an opportunity to try it on a root yet.

My biggest concern about something like this is the time it takes to remove the bucket & thumb and install this hook... and then replace the bucket & thumb after the root was broken so I could use the bucket+thumb to pull out the stump. Repeat for the next stump... etc, etc. A customer would never pay me for that time. Having two machines on-site might be a different story.

Dougster

 

[LarryRB]

I can't count the stumps pulled in the last 30 years, however, working for a contractor part time, many of those years, he always demanded a 12' bucket on the hoe when pulling stumps or roots, On my L48 I have the 12 and 24 for this exact reason. A 12" bucket doesn't put anywhere near the stress on the crowd stick like a 18/24 or larger bucket woud when snapping roots or pulling the stump

 

[Dougster]

I can't count the stumps pulled in the last 30 years, however, working for a contractor part time, many of those years, he always demanded a 12' bucket on the hoe when pulling stumps or roots, On my L48 I have the 12 and 24 for this exact reason. A 12" bucket doesn't put anywhere near the stress on the crowd stick like a 18/24 or larger bucket woud when snapping roots or pulling the stump

But here's a question for you Larry: Which is likely to be faster on your average 12"-16" stump... a 12" bucket without a thumb... or an 18" bucket with a hydraulic thumb? Sadly, Bradco's thumb does not fit below an 18" bucket.

Dougster

 

[MarcusCarr]

I dug around the roots with the backhoe, pressure washed them, then filled the hole around the stump with water to soften the ground. After the water had all soaked in, I cut the big roots with a chain saw and push the top of the stump with the loader bucket. Works pretty well.

I don't care for the stump grinder option much, because I will eventually forget where the subsurface stump are and hit them with an attachment.

Marcus

 

[john_bud]

I'm imagining a sub-soiler with the leading edge sharpened and serated. When you snag a root, pull up with the 3pt and "saw" thru the root.

Maybe getting a competent welder to lay on some hard-surfacing rod in globs and use an angle grinder to shape them into a saw tooth?

Just thinking....
jb

 

[Corm]

Here's another vote for the Sawzall. Those nail cutting blades hold up real well. It is fast, cheap, and the battery operated ones enable you to carry and use it anywhere. It would be fun to have some sort of attachment to your backhoe that would enable you to cut those big roots right from the seat, but really, using the Sawzall is the best, most economical way to do it. Like you I struggled digging stumps with my backhoe for awhile, until I tried using the Sawzall. It really works well

Corm

 

[3RRL]

The sawsall is a great idea. Wish I had a battery operated one.
I used an axe. Only chopped those that I couldn't rip out with the backhoe. It's hard work but pretty fast. Just need a little room to swing. You don't need to go all the way through either. Sometimes a notch will be enough for the backhoe to break the rest. But I'm stubborn too.

 

[Chuck K.]

After digging up several medium size pine trees and having the same problem as you I purchased a Ripper Tooth from Richard at Bro-tec. for the BH75.. Installing it was simple only took a couple of minutes. I was some what skeptical when I first started using it, I would cut through the upper layer of roots but had difficulty finding the deeper ones because the ripper tooth removes very little soil. After getting use to it the remaining roots where cut much easier. I then pushed over the whole tree, cut it up and hauled to the burn pile. The real beauty is how little dirt is dug up meaning less time filling back in..
Years ago (much younger) I dug up a massive pine tree by hand for my folks lake house and tried the chainsaw tatic and as mentioned above the chain will dull unbelievably fast, sand/dirt simply destroys the edge on it.
Good luck on your project..

 

[irwin]

I used a cordless sawzall with a 12" pruning blade, buy a bunch of blades you'll need a few. I'd still be working on this stuborn stump without it.



I also used an 8 ton bottle jack along with my 6 1/2 foot backhoe, and a 3 ton come-along. Used a 3 foot prybar (looks like long screwdriver with bent blade) to pry the rocks from the roots so I could get the sawzall at em.

here's a link to the post.http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/projects/103544-backhoe-8-ton-jack-3-a.html?highlight=stump