Knocking over skinny pines -- methods?

[cattoon]

I've pushed over similar size trees with an L2800 4wd, not much trouble at all. I just push with the loader elevated and as they loosen up I move it down the tree and keep loosening it up. When they start over I push at the base/roots and roll them out. Should take longer to clean up the trees than get them down. Sometime I have to push from a couple of different sides to loosen them up.

 

[motocephalic]

plowing snow is much harder on the FEL all day long than taking down a few trees in my opinion

good way to tear up your tractor, and or loader.

 

[sixdogs]

Just cut them down and rent a stump grinder on the stumps. Safer, easiest option and you're not tearing up any equipment.

I'm going with the above as the best option. You could also cut them down and then just chain saw the stump a half-inch off the ground. I do that a lot.

Other considerations would be what kind of floor is going in? If it's gravel, no big deal. If it's concrete and you rip a stump out you better compact the ground thoroughly or you could have concrete problems.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I have taken out trees using my Yanmar 4220 the same way as the video with no damage to the FEL. Pushing with the bucket blade flat to the tree is no different than pushing into the dirt. I sometimes had to use the box blade scarifiers on larger ones to cut the roots on all sides. While starting about 3-4 feet from the tree and letting the scarifiers go as deep as possible, then working in toward the tree till I couldn't break the roots. I did this on all sides, thus loosing up the top 6-8" of soil and cutting the larger side roots, making it much easier to push over the tree. Just use caution when the tree starts over that the roots don't upend under your tractor which could damage the radiator or grill. As Cattoon says, pushing from all sides will loosen up the trees taproot. Many times it is much easier to push over from one direction than another, it all depends how the roots grow as they always seem to favor one side of the tree with larger roots and the tree is much easier to push over from the side with fewer roots.

 

[Gary Fowler]

Just cut them down and rent a stump grinder on the stumps. Safer, easiest option and you're not tearing up any equipment.

If I were putting in a concrete slab, I wouldn't want any roots or chips left in the ground to weaken the slab. Either uproot it with FEL or get a backhoe to dig it up, then compact the soil well when filling in the hole. You for sure don't want to leave any roots in the ground to root and have soil settle leaving a hollow spot under your foundation.

 

[k0ua]

Get your rigging equipment fastened on as high up as possible and try and pull them over after a heavy rain or something else that saturates the soil.

I have pulled over many trees using this method. Wait 2 days after a good rain, when the top soil is starting to firm back up, to give traction to the tractor, but down below is still wet, and get a long chain, ( on your size of trees, I would put 3 of my 20 foot chains together, and get a downhill pull if possible, put the chain attachment up about 7 or 8 foot on the tree, and gently pull them over. Sometimes you have to pull from different directions.

 

[juddspaintballs]

If I were putting in a concrete slab, I wouldn't want any roots or chips left in the ground to weaken the slab. Either uproot it with FEL or get a backhoe to dig it up, then compact the soil well when filling in the hole. You for sure don't want to leave any roots in the ground to root and have soil settle leaving a hollow spot under your foundation.

I've been in the stump grinding and tree removal business for 13 years now with my dad and have ground out stumps for foundations and slabs numerous times for people. Never had a problem yet and I suspect we never will. When the roots rot away, they don't leave a hollow spot and vanish into thin air, they become part of the surrounding soil. You'll have bigger issues trying to fill the massive hole with compacted soil after ripping a root ball out of the ground, and that's even if your equipment can get it out of the ground. Then you have the problem of finding somewhere to put the root ball because the only way to get rid of it is to bury it, let it sit out somewhere for decades until it rots away, fail at trying to burn it because it's so wet and will be for many years, or find someone with a big tub grinder to grind it to mulch.

Even if you do want to push the stump out of the ground, I still say to cut the tree down first. You can leave the trunk 6' high or so for leverage, but trying to push a tree with canopy over with a machine that small is dangerous. It would be far safer to put a rope up high in the tree, stretch it out so a tractor or truck could put light tension on it, and use a chainsaw to cut it down knowing it's going to fall in the direction you want. Let's say you're trying to push it over, you get the roots loosened up, and a light breeze comes along: the tree is going in the direction of the wind whether you want it to or not, even if its path is right on top of your head. Removing trees is dangerous and a 7" round, 35' tall pine is no small plant.

 

[Egon]

So laying slabs and foundations and building roads over vegetable matter is good practice?

 

[dave1949]

So laying slabs and foundations and building roads over vegetable matter is good practice?

I'm guessing that what really happens is a garage slab bridges the voids of soft material, not good, but something a reinforced light duty slab can get away with--within limits. To be done correctly, the organic layer of soil should be removed everywhere under the slab and replaced with compacted material like sand.

James, good idea on the rain, for two trees he could use the hose to saturate the soil around the tree.

 

[juddspaintballs]

Ripping the tree out of the ground or grinding it out, you're still going to have roots under there. Grade and compact like normal and take out any remaining roots you find while grading, but what's below that you never see will never be an issue. Depending on the size grinder you use, you can get 12 to 18" below grade easily and that's more than enough to put down a packed gravel base and 6" slab without ever worrying about the roots below.