Idea's

lastborn · Apr 10, 2012

I have a Kubota B3200 w/ FEL. I have 3 acres of pasture that bradford pear trees are taking over it. They are 2 to 3 inches at the base. Is my tractor big enough to pull these out of the ground using a chain? I tried a Ford 1210 and it did not real good. If you have ever dealt with bradford pear trees you already know they have needle sharp thorns the size of 16 to 20 penny nails.{ real flat tires } I could hire someone with a Bobcat and a brush cutter to take them out but, I think it would leave me with the thorns to deal with. what would you do?
Can I pull these with my tractor?
thanks

Dr_Zinj · Apr 10, 2012

I have a Bobcat CT230 that I can pull 3 - 4 inches trees out fairly well. It's a bit heavier than yours, so I probably get better traction for this sort of thing; but a good weight box and tire chains can balance that.
(Been doing that the past couple weekends.)
Get a chain long enough that when the tree comes down, it won't hit you or the tractor. Also keeps you far enough away to avoid driving over the trees and punching holes in your tires.
Get a chain strong enough to not snap.
Inspect the chain before use and don't use it if links are damaged.
(A snapped chain under load can ruin everyone's day.)
Wear gloves, and long sleeved shirts or a jacket against those thorns.
If you have someone helping you, don't pull until he or she is way the heck out of the way.
Set the parking brake before hopping off the tractor to hook the chain. You don't want it rolling away, or over you, or stalling out the engine if you have a seat switch.
Take the parking brake off before you start pulling. If you're in low range, you'll move even with the brakes on and that's NOT a good thing.
Don't get a running start and jerk; you can break things that way. (See snapped chain above.)
You can get the tree rocking to work it out. An HST works nicely for that.
Don't pull the trees out until you know what you're going to do with them afterwards.

Ken45101 · Apr 11, 2012

Bradford Pear with thorns? I've never seen that. It sounds more like honeylocust.

Anyway, 3-4" trees are going to be hard to pull out with a chain unless you break some roots first. They are a shallow rooted tree (if indeed Bradford Pear) and that will help. Can you dig around the base with your loader (a tooth bucket helps)?

As for the thorns, the safest way to remove trees like that is with a tracked machine. We had some honeylocust in a pasture and I had a contractor with a bulldozer clear them out when he was here for other work.

Ken

john25mm · Jun 8, 2012

I have a few hundred crab apple trees about that same size in SE Ohio. My techinque is to raise my FEL up fairly high and push against the tree till either the root ball starts to pop out or the trunk touches the grill guard. I may have to back up and lower it down and repeat. Once the root ball is starting to come out I lower the bucket to just above the ground and push the root ball out. My tractor is a bit bigger than yours Kubota L5450 so youmight have to repeat but this works well for me up to about 6" to 7" size.
Good luck