pulling up trees, chain on front or back?

   / pulling up trees, chain on front or back? #21  
funny- everyone has input and its pretty much the same. use 3 pt and use it to pull straight up and out of the ground .chances are you be able to drive away to drop th trashed tree. I used that method like othr mentioned and it does work. I find that wrapping a straight hook chain around tree from top to bottom a few times will make it easier to choke if it slips from wet bark. Go slow and it will be nice and simple. A slip hook chain is easier to work with, but if you dont have one, just use what you got and be patient. you will learn as you go. I found it that a day or 2 after rain it really nice to work with pulling trees out.

good luck! Wish I was closer- I'd wouldnt mind helping out for a day.;)
 
   / pulling up trees, chain on front or back? #22  
I pulled a dozen out today, Largest was 5 inch cedar, It has been 4 days since the rain. would have been easier a couple of days ago, but did not have any problems. just went with very slow steady pressure on the drawbar hookup. they leaned over slowly and then ripped out nicely!:) On the big one, I pulled slowly then reversed to let the roots settle back, than pull a little more, I think this lets the dirt let go of the roots a little and makes it a little easier for the final pull.
James K0UA
 
   / pulling up trees, chain on front or back?
  • Thread Starter
#23  
Okay, I spent a few hours yesterday testing out some approaches to these little trees. :thumbsup: Some came out easy, some did not. Size to trouble ratio was surprising to say the least. The smallest ones gave me the most trouble.

I used the draw bar and a 5/16 chain with tow hooks as that was the most appropriate equipment I have on hand. I tried to find a ring to attach to the chain to make it a choker, but had no luck finding anything I felt would survive a pull.

It rained a couple days ago and the open ground was still moist, but firm enough to drive on without leaving tracks. Under the tree canopy, however it was still bone dry. I did not have any problem with chain slippage, the links bit into the trunks well and held very nicely. I found wrapping higher on the trunks (4-5') worked better than lower. The low wrapped trees would not budge, but when wrapped higher came out with a minimum of fuss.

My tractor is an HST, so I stayed in low range, 4wheel drive and a few times had to hold the differential lock to keep from slipping the tires too much. Only a couple trees had to be subjected to a little pushing with the fel to loosen the up for the pulling. I found digging on the roots to be useless. The fel could not dig underneath them due to their spreadout nature and the roots were too thick/slippery for the fel to cut through in the hard dry clay dirt around here. I could only penetrate 4-5 inches and slide along the top of the roots. I can see how a backhoe would be more useful in digging these roots up, but I don't have one of those nor the budget to buy one right now.

I worked on one larger trunk, 8-10 inches it turned out, that I thought was a cluster of trees until the one I was pulling brought the rest of the trunk up out of the ground. I had a wide open area in front of it to work with, so I pulled and let the tractor arc about 60 degrees in front and "wiggled" it out by continously pulling as the tractor swung back in forth in a semi circle. I just turned my steering a bit to give some sideways traction on the front while the rear wheels pulled and this made the tractor "drift" along the arc with the chain as a tether point. It pulled that large trunk out in only 4 swings taking about 3 minutes altogether. I wish I had room to use that tactic on some of these other trees. Pulling straight leave wheel divots I have to fill in later. :p

I tried lifting a really small sapling by chaining it to the fel and trying to curl it out. :shocked: It roots outweighed me and the tractor. The rear end came three feet on the ground and the sapling giggled. Maybe the 3pt would have had better results, but I did not think to try it as it was empty and strapped out of the was to prevent damage from the chain on the drawbar in case something did not go as predicted.

I have a boom pole for the 3pt, but did not think it would help pull anything up since it would magnify the front end lifting similar to the fel effect on the rear. Am I right in my thought process there, or would the extra leverage on the 3pt actually help pull straight up?

In any case, it was a lot of fun ripping those cutter blocking undesireables out so that my larger trees can have more room to become beautiful. :D
 
   / pulling up trees, chain on front or back? #24  
For gripping the trees, Gemplers sells a 3 barbed chain with double eyelets that really grabs trunk and brush. I paid $59 for it. Works great. I think website is Gemplers.com. I use a tree boom on the FEL so I can push pull and lift.
 
   / pulling up trees, chain on front or back? #25  
I've always used the backhoe or dozer to remove them but I have toyed with the idea of making something like this for the 3pt hitch. The one Grubber sells is too expensive and is designed for forks. I would think you could make it smaller since it'd be easy to back right up to the tree then lift. You could even have a chain or rope connected to one of the plates so you could lift it up after pulling the tree from your seat and release the tree. The whole operation could be done without leaving the seat.
 

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   / pulling up trees, chain on front or back? #26  
I use a steel A-frame I saw described here on another thread, it multiplies the pulling force the same as a claw hammer does. As luck would have it, we're using it tomorrow to pull some alders. I'll try to get some pictures, maybe video if Wife Productions is willing.

Sean
 

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