Mount chain saw on loader for limb trimming

[millsan1]

I got this idea to mount my chainsaw on the side of my loader so I can reach up and trim limbs with it. Anybody ever hear of such a thing or see it tried (aside from the obvious safety concerns).

Here's what I did.

I purchased a hydraulic pole saw.

I plumbed it up, so it connects to the couplers for my grapple.

Manufabricated a bracket, and it fits on the end of my pallet forks.

Bing, bang, boom, I now have a pole saw I can operate from my tractor seat, and it reaches about 15' in the air.

 

[i7win7]

My solution uses the grapple, needed for cleanup after the de-limbing

Found New Job for Root Grapple

part 1 of 3 Latest hillbilly creation Grapple Pole Prunner: Materials: 12' treated 4x4, 2 gate hanger hinge pins and straps, 2 hanger straps for rolling door track and misc. hardware. I purchased a cheap 20v pole pruner at Walmart for this project. Unit was assembled on open grapple. 1. Turn...

www.orangetractortalks.com

 

[Smokeydog]

Enough inherit danger when combining tractors with trees.

My homemade limb saw has allowed me to safely clear limbs and break down some large, blown downed trees from the safety of my tractor seat. Got miles of roads, trails and fence lines to keep me perpetually busy. Has been rewarding to see the progress. Shoulders appreciate not pulling on manual polesaw. My trees tend to be taller and bigger than what electric saws could handle. Relatively cheap to build, ~$500 for parts and reused steel.

 

[workinonit]

I made one a few years ago. Used a hydraulic motor as a power source and the same bar and chain as my Stihl chainsaw. Works great.

I followed Smokeydog's build because I was on the fence about building vs buying. I never saw your thread regarding your build jsjsteven. That's quite impressive for fit and finish. I would like to know more about the sources for your motor, oiler and other parts.

 

[jsjsteven]

I followed Smokeydog's build because I was on the fence about building vs buying. I never saw your thread regarding your build jsjsteven. That's quite impressive for fit and finish. I would like to know more about the sources for your motor, oiler and other parts.

Thank you. I purchased a hydraulic motor from Hydraulics | www.surpluscenter.com. The motor is plenty strong - I most likely could have went with a smaller one - I tried to match the mas flow rate of my tractor hydraulics with the max flow rate for the motor so I would get the most horse power but I have plenty. The oiler is a needle valve adjusted down to very little output coming from the pressure line on the motor which means I use hydraulic fluid from the tractor to lube the chain. This is how the commercial builders do it so it's what I did. There is no noticeable drop in fluid level when I use the saw. I bought a stock drive sprocket for my chainsaw and modified the bore to fit the hydraulic motor. I didn't incorporate a tensioner because the commercial ones I saw on youtube didn't have one. They said the chain needed to be a little loose. But I have wished I had a tensioner as the chain gets loose and comes off sometimes. I also made a receiver that stays on my forks for attaching the saw.

 

[workinonit]

Yea, My Limb Hog does have a tensioner on it. I do like your fork mount. I made something a bit different for mine. It mounts across both forks and has the 3" receiver built on it. I made mine parallel with the forks as I can get plenty of curl from my forks to get the saw as high as it needs to be. The problem I had is that I couldn't see it so I mounted one of my wireless cameras in a piece of 6" pipe to protect it from tree limbs and mounted that on the base of the saw. It's like I'm looking right at it now.

 

[beenthere]

I got this idea to mount my chainsaw on the side of my loader so I can reach up and trim limbs with it. Anybody ever hear of such a thing or see it tried (aside from the obvious safety concerns).

Just get a Stihl (or other brand) battery operated non-telescoping pole saw. Much handier for limbs and much more useful for many other projects if you have trees and bushes around your home. Battery will outlast you, most of the time.

 

[Merck]

I got this idea to mount my chainsaw on the side of my loader so I can reach up and trim limbs with it. Anybody ever hear of such a thing or see it tried (aside from the obvious safety concerns).

No but I use a pallet on forks to cut them.

 

[BaileyatASU]

Tractor hydraulic pole saw has saved me lots of time, $$$ and personal risk trimming back trees. Only regret didn’t do it sooner.

I’ve cut thru oak limbs and high down trees >20” diameter. Could break or tear off using the FEL. Keeps me out of the danger zone.

Saw works good on smaller tractor with only 7gpm flow.

HST is really a must. Maneuvering for best position and small moves it’s perfect.

My tractors have 4 post ROPS. Overhead protection anytime in the woods a good idea. Have yet to drop a limb on the tractor. Cuts enough in front of the tractor to drop limbs safely. Limbs can fall unpredictably.

Having the backhoe attachment on the back adds to the articulation to align cutting using an outrigger. I’m always on a slope usually.

Made a ssqa trailer mover attachment with two vertical receivers for the polesaw. Improved visibility, height, reduced top heavy weight with loader raised and gave better clearance going down wooded trails. Cut way down on my hand trimming.

A tool that takes a good dose of common sense, but so does the tractor.

Can you send me the specifications of how you built the limb saw attachment? I am currently in the process however I am unsure of my hydraulic motor size needed for my skid steer. I would like to communicate with you further about this implement/attachment?

 

[Smokeydog]

Did a fabrication story as I built the prototype. Materials, motor and design features. Some good and some could be improved. Didn’t have to worry about mass production cost or shipping completed product. All simple hand tools and simple mind. Selfishly used the forum document the project to help me remember.

Motor and hydraulic parts from Surplus Center. 5,000 rpm Parker motor. SWAG, scientific wild ass guess. Same motor type used by other manufacturers. Plenty of power but will stall if in a bind. Reverse gets you out of a bind.