Looking for Tree Removal Ideas

[Britt]

I want to reply to the several good suggestions - thanks guys.
Vernon's new bucket suggestion seems good to improve the agility. The 6' bucket I have now is sometimes difficult to get positioned right on the trees depending on the slope. I had some difficulty finding the web-site for Markham Welding - Vernon if you have some address, please advise.
MMM - Thanks for the technique tips. I'm still working on my own method. The real problem I have is the bush hog is not strong enough to chew up the trees without snapping the shear pins. My tractor is 50HP, so I may need to take Arkansas' advice to upgrade the cutter - I knew upon purchase that I was maybe under duty on the hog, but since it was my first experience, I thought I would see what it could do. Gabby - If all else fails, I'll hit 'em with the saw.
I'll post any updates. I'm taking this weekend off, so next weekend I'll be back at it.
Thanks again.
Britt /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[JerryG]

Markham Welding

 

[Richard]

I'm VERY near Axley Chappel, sounds like you're closer than I'd thought

Makes the "transporting" of Brutus less of an issue.

Still kinda sounds to me like a dozer might be faster/better for you?

I've got a huge dozer too...one of those bazillion horsepower Komatsu's that will move the earth on a single pass... and then I wake up /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[texbaylea]

Britt

You can reach Markham Welding at www.markhamwelding.com. It is rare to find a literal URL isn't it? Look for the grubber bucket in the menu list on the left.

Vernon

 

[shu]

cleared several dozen mesquite trees off the back 5 acres a year ago. some of these were over 1 foot diameter at the base. root removal was not important as i just wanted to get a cleared pasture, not plow and plant. after a while i arrived at the following method:
..1. chainsaw the branches down to where you can get a good approach to the tree;
..2. grub dirt from around the base of the tree (g.i. folding entrenching tool works well for this) to get wood exposed as low as you can;
..3. cut into the trunk from 3 or 4 sides with the chainsaw; angle the cuts down as if sharpening the trunk to a point;
..4. when trunk is sufficiently weakened, push over with FEL.

this leaves very little if any stump above ground level, and minimizes the amount of dirt cutting with the chainsaw. fortunately the lumber yard, with fast chainsaw blade sharpening service is just next door. yes, you may go through a number of blades, but that's part of doing business.

 

[MajMac392]

I was going to answer this the other day but didn't get to it. SHU has a real good summary of just about how I took down some big pines. I needed to remove two pines about 55-60 feet tall, one about 19" at the base and the other about 13-14". Some of the pine's roots were near or on top of the ground so I thought about cutting them first. I put a ladder up as far as it would go, 20' or so and bolted a chain around it, then hooked another heavy chain to it. I ran the pull chain out as far as it would go and then hooked a real heavy rope to it that I then put on my loader. I had to do some digging to expose more of the roots but I then cut the roots with a chain saw. I did as many as I could and then went to the tractor and backed it up. With out to much pulling, a little rocking, I pulled it right over and got 95% of the stump with it. The smaller came down fairly easy, the bigger one took a little more work but it came down fine to. I then cut the stumps off and hauled them to the back of my property and pulled the trees up for someone to take away. If you had a lot of trees it might be a pain but I got the worst part of tree removal done, getting the stump out. By using the leverage of the tree it helped to pull it out. I have pictures but not sure if I can get them scanned or not. SHU did a better job of explaining, he being a USAF Pilot and me USA one is probably why. /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

 

[grandad]

Particularly with medium size pines, say between 6 and 15", this is a good method, but some of the issues are:

Be SURE you have enough chain and open space so the tree doesn't fall on top of you (which would certainly be one of those Darwin award-qualifying moments!).
When you fell a tree by tugging on it, it doesn't always fall exactly where you think it should.
Hardwood trees have more root structure. Can require excavating/cutting some roots first.
Better done when soil is wet.
Smaller trees (like original poster described) can snap if you attach chain too high.
Beware if you are doing this with broken or leaning trees.

 

[MajMac392]

Good comments Grandad. Before I did this I spent a lot of time 'contemplating' the many things that I knew could go wrong. One of the toughest parts was climbing up the ladder with the chain, fairly heavy, 5/16 or 3/8" chain with hook. Just picking up the hook and a couple of feet of chain isn't bad but by the time you are up 18-20' on the ladder the chain gets kinda heavy. Although the chain was in good shape, my biggest fear was that something would snap and act like a slingshot. I try to be as safe as possible when I'm doing that stuff.

 

[Rch]

Tree Snipper

I copied a tree snipper called Tree Terminator II. This snips them off level. A chain saw dulls quickly close to the ground and crawling around on the ground is hard on knees etc.

I got $800 into it 18 months ago when steel was more reasonable. The TT II was $2550 then. I had to beef up the stationary blade after it got bent up from 10-12' trees falling over to the right (from the tractor seat). /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

 

[OkeeDon]

When we were clearing our property, we rented a large Cat 416C with a root rake (picture attached). This thing would pop a pine tree with a 12" diameter trunk out of the ground without hesitating. I like the root rake so much, I made my own copy of it from an old box blade and some square tubing, and made it to fit in my bucket. See next post.