Pulling power: Tractor vs. Truck
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JimRB
Veteran Member
Years ago I worked for a tree service for a few months. The tree surgeon would tie off a 200 foot 1" rope, or maybe it was a 3/4" rope to the towards the top of the tree. Rope longer than tree by a good bit. The other end was tied to the back of a 2 wd, dualie Chevy 30 series with a dump bed. He would tension the tree the direction he wanted. On tricky stuff he might use two lines pulling the same general direction but the trucks were 50 - 100 feet apart. Truck were parked. Note that one of those trucks probably weigh less than 4 tons. Think about how much your tractor weighs versus your truck and how much traction they have when parked. Trying to accelerate a vehicle to pull something over means you did not plan out the cut properly. You do not have to drop the whole tree in one piece. Some people limb the tree on one side to preload in the desired direction.
A tree service tried to drop a tree in someone's back yard using a small crane truck in the front yard. Those crane trucks are fairly heavy for a light duty truck heading towards 20k. Yes they overloaded the boom when dropping sections. The truck tilted over with the boom splitting the house. You got to know your physics. Personally I have ignored my little bit of physics knowledge and accidentally dropped trees where they did not belong. Luckily no damage to anything. Well technically it was no an accident as I was the cause and effect.
A tree service tried to drop a tree in someone's back yard using a small crane truck in the front yard. Those crane trucks are fairly heavy for a light duty truck heading towards 20k. Yes they overloaded the boom when dropping sections. The truck tilted over with the boom splitting the house. You got to know your physics. Personally I have ignored my little bit of physics knowledge and accidentally dropped trees where they did not belong. Luckily no damage to anything. Well technically it was no an accident as I was the cause and effect.
john40981
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I would go with the Tractor as slow pulling power is what they are made for. Set up for your cut properly, tension the tree in the desired direction with a long enough rope or cable and you should be fine.
coobie
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It,s all about height of the rope in the tree.I used to be a tree trimmer some years back for our local power company.The higher you can get that rope in the tree the better,more leverage.Leave plenty of rope to get clear of the tree when it falls.I would use the tractor.
Ken45101
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The truck would be a little safer as the cab will provide a little protection if the rope snaps.
Bottom line, I agree with the tractor but be careful about how much pull you put on the line. A breaking line can be lethal. You really should not need so much pulling power that you have to worry about which one to use. If you are in that situation, then I would really be concerned about the strength of the line.
Bottom line, I agree with the tractor but be careful about how much pull you put on the line. A breaking line can be lethal. You really should not need so much pulling power that you have to worry about which one to use. If you are in that situation, then I would really be concerned about the strength of the line.
CobyRupert
Super Member
Note: With one end of the rope high in the tree, you're lifting weight off the back tires, and eventually relying on the traction of the front tires. A loaded truck bed my be heavier (?), but tractors have the traction and the torque. Tractor.
LD1
Epic Contributor
Do you have a loader and loaded tires on that massey 52HP?? IF not, the truck will out weigh it by almost double.
The tractor does have better traction, but the added weight of the truck, unless you are in mud, it would be close.
IMO, if one can do it, the other can. If one cant, the other likely cannot. It is a toss up.
That said, I would opt for the truck. The added speed with the push of the pedal to keep the towline tight through out the fall is what I would want. I have seen trees start to go in the direction intended, and then either twist, or hang up on something and go off course. The tractor wont be fast enough to keep the line tight.
The tractor does have better traction, but the added weight of the truck, unless you are in mud, it would be close.
IMO, if one can do it, the other can. If one cant, the other likely cannot. It is a toss up.
That said, I would opt for the truck. The added speed with the push of the pedal to keep the towline tight through out the fall is what I would want. I have seen trees start to go in the direction intended, and then either twist, or hang up on something and go off course. The tractor wont be fast enough to keep the line tight.
Egon
Epic Contributor
Use whichever one is handiest. Both are very adequate for the job. All you need is a little pretension to start the fall. No need to try and drive away with the falling tree.
