Locust tree update & using backhoe to tow

[Richard]

A while back, inquired about knocking locust trees over. The ones with the needles.

Yesterday, I took out about 10 of them and was VERY surprised at their root system. Seems the ones I had, had roots maybe 15/20 feet long like LONG rubbery fingers in the ground. Just imagine your tree roots being sections of 1 inch garden hose, long & rubbery. Never seen roots like that. Could have maybe doubled for a grade "B" horror flick. (Attack of the Tree Roots).

Trees out of ground now but how to move? I don't want to simply push with loader as I'm BOUND to run over branch somewhere and impale tire, soooooooooooo I backed up to the pile and with the trees in same direction, took backhoe and scooped trees up (maybe 5 inches diamater). I "folded" the hoe up with trees pinched between bucket & arm and proceeded to carry them to my burn spot.

Used hoe to extend out and drop them onto my burn pile.

Though the system worked VERY well and allowed me to keep some distance from the nasty needles, is that kind of treatment terribly detrimental to backhoes??

Seems to me that kind of abuse is less than some of the machine shaking abuse you can cause simply by using the hoe.

Thoughts??

Richard

 

[shade2u2]

When I've downed & moved trees (including Locust), I put a chain around them & drag them to where I need them. I then use the loader to push them into place on the burn pile - usually only a few feet at this point. This is somewhat a pain, dragging trees with a chain is probably the easiest on the tractor - avoiding scratches, etc.

 

[gator]

Richard,
I have a BH on my JD 750 and somewhere I found on the web (can't remember where) that when you move the tractor the back hoe should be folded and pinned (I have a hole through both dipper sticks that line up for that) to prevent undue stress on the cylinders of the BH. I have the holes but no pin, and am like you, I carry stuff with my BH and agree with you, digging seems like more of a stress on it than anything else does.

Wally "GATOR/w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

 

[Jag]

S22, Draging thoses things around is great if you do not have to follow the same tracks... If you do you get low tires.....

To all others, I will stay out of driving around with the backhoe loaded... I do it too, do not thank it is a good pratice.

Richard thanks for the up-date.. I will most likely be taking out 10-20 in the nest three weeks or so.... One group I can use the dozer on... Do you think I can push the big ones over with digging out the root system.

 

[Richard]

> I will most likely be taking out 10-20 in the nest three weeks or so.... One group I can use the dozer on... Do you think I can push the big ones over with digging out the root system.<


Jag,

I think I have to admit that if yours are like mine are (were /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif ) I would think a dozer to be WAY overkill, in that it seems to me it would have done much more ground damage (in MY situation that is) than I think it would have been worth.

I wouldn't think any problems, these things were wimps. As I had previously used Brutus to wrestle with full grown pines and cedars, I was ready for a fight. As it was, it was sort of a letdown.

Drive up, push over, scrape around some to try to remove & pull fingerous roots from ground, pick up & discard.

Richard

 

[Richard]

Another thought for you..

I spent maybe an hour total taking down my 10. That also included the time to make 3 trips (in 1st gear) up the hill to their demise site.

Did I say they were wimps?
Richard

 

[MossRoad]

I have about 10 acres of hardwood forest with locust trees mixed in. Some spots very thick with 12" trunks, 60-70 feet high. I used my FEL to push them over easily, however, like Richard found, the root system was incredible. They just wouldn't break, just kept pulling out of the ground, longer and longer. I ended up knocking over a few, cutting the roots with a chain saw, which got dull quickly due to sand, then dragging them out of the woods. I bought a 1/2" x 100' long used cable from a Wrecker service, put some loops in it and it worked great. Drive right past my brush pile and then slightly angle so that the cable pulls the trees right into the pile. Question: does the backhoe break the roots fairly easily or does it just mush them into the dirt like my loader bucket?

<font color=green> MossRoad </font color=green>

 

[Richard]

my experience was it yanked roots out of ground.
It broke the trunk of tree as I was pushing it over.
I also found the dirt on this side of farm is absolutly beautiful. Dark, "dirt" not a hint of clay. so ground was easily broken up as roots pulled out. Had I been by my house and closer to the clay deposit, I suppose they would have just broke.

I'm sure I didn't get 100% of roots. I tried to pull that which would pull, otherwise, I just might let inlaws deal with that part of this mess as I continue on to do the heavy work on some other areas.

Richard

 

[Jag]

Richard, thanks for your input, but let me tell my story... I finally got to cleaning up the trees and underbrush around a large 60 acre field. All the locust trees came out easy, easier then most all other same sized trees... But got the old grandpappy at the end of a little finger of woods that came out into the field... The tree was not more than 30 feet tall as the top had been broken off several times... My dozer was not going to push this one over without digging out a hole to cut the roots. It would haver made a much larger hole than I would want to fill or leave next to the field... Ended up cutting it down and pushing it into the big pile.. I was going to cut it up for fence posts till I ran one of the thorns through the side of my boot and had about 1/4 inch sticking in my foot. Had to cut out a lot of branches to cut the one that inpelled my foot, then cut the branch off and got out of the brush where I could pull the sucker out. Can not believe that the thorn came out, as they most offen break off. Did not measure the stump, but would guess that it was about 20x16 inches (it was not round). I hate those things....

 

[Robert_in_NY]

It is funny listening to you guys talk about tearing out locus trees as that is the main tree I plant in our pens. Our bucks will kill off most trees by rubbing on them but the locus will not die and it keeps things extremly cool under them. Except for the thorns they are great shade trees. I have tore out quite a few locus same with willows but used a Komatsu excavator to push them over, 36" willows do not stand up against a Komatsu. You do want to remove the roots as some will reroot and start growing if left in the ground.

<font color=blue>Robert Turk Jr.</font color=blue>
<font color=blue>Whitetail Splendor Deer Farms</font color=blue>
<font color=blue>Silver Creek, NY</font color=blue>