Purchased Dougherty Turbo Saw (3 point) - First Experience with Video

Piston · Jun 20, 2014

ns_in_tex said:
Is you L4610, HST transmission? If so, I think you could cut most any kind of tree. We have a L4610, and looked as some of these saws, but decided to build our own. We have cut stumps at ground level that were up to 48" diameter. This is where a bigger blade helps. Ours is a 48" blade and will only cut about 19" deep in a single cut. Sometimes we have to cut as deep as possible, then use a chain saw to cut some of that off so we can reach deeper. While more HP is almost always better, we are happy with ours and we do have a 105 HP gear tractor, which we have not tried it on. One other thing, I don't know about the store bought ones, but ours can sometimes sling a lot of chips toward the operator. (we have a cab)

Yes, my 4610 is HST. That's very encouraging to hear that yours operates the saw very satisfactory.
If you guys keep talking and posting pictures of these saws, I may just end up taking the money I have set aside for a new trailer and buying one of these bad boys!!!

Chris,
What was the difference between the Turbo Saw and the Briwn Tree Saw? I looked online and aside from the price, they look extremely similar.

I'm curious why you said you'd love the Brown if the price a bit lower?

Piston · Jun 20, 2014

My Gym said:
<img src="http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/files/attachments/379928-purchased-dougherty-turbo-saw-3-a-dsc_0152-jpg"/> I purchased a turbosaw about 2 years ago and have used it on a 30 HP pto John Deere 3038e. It is a load for the tractor and strains the tractor getting the saw up to speed. It cuts trees up to telephone pole size easily. I do not have rear hydro so I cannot use the grapple. If a larger tree leans towards the tractor it will bind the blade and stall the tractor. I have cut about 500+ eastern red cedar. Sizes from 1/2" to about 20" stumps. On level ground you can cut the tree at or slightly below ground level. I have not rotated the teeth yet, but about 1/2 of them are chipped by hitting I believe metal in fence lines. (a couple of electric fence posts, imbedded barb wire and woven wire, and a couple pieces of scrap metal.) I get hit by wood chips when cutting trees, and the ROP has saved me from a couple of trees that fell on the tractor. I found it safer to cut larger trees with a chainsaw at 1-2' above ground and cut the stump with the turbo saw.

That's impressive that your tractor handles the saw pretty well! Oh, and that picture is pretty impressive! Do you guys have any pics of the saw in action? I sure would love to see some more pictures of it and I'm sure others would as well.

I'm still interested to hear if any of you have used the saw on trees such as oak, maple, hickory or other more eastern hardwoods?

ArmyPair2 · Jun 20, 2014

Piston said:
That's impressive that your tractor handles the saw pretty well! Oh, and that picture is pretty impressive! Do you guys have any pics of the saw in action? I sure would love to see some more pictures of it and I'm sure others would as well.

I'm still interested to hear if any of you have used the saw on trees such as oak, maple, hickory or other more eastern hardwoods?

Chris does have a part 4 just open up part 3 and where it says subscribe just above and to the right you will see 13 videos and click that. From there you can see part 4 I got to watch the vid's he does a good job.

LouieJunior · Jun 20, 2014

This is a wonderful thread!

So Gym, since you don't have hydraulic supply at the rear, why didn't you purchase the other model turbo saw (the one without grapple for $1000 less)?
I have a grapple on my loader, so I would probably transport the trees using what I already have -- even though I have rear hydraulics. Maybe the grapple helps bend the tree away?? Were you able to drive your tractor out of the pinches, without damage to the saw, after binding the blade and stalling? I have an extra chain saw for the occasions when my saw gets pinched -- but I don't have an extra tractor!
My JD4105 is about the same HP as yours and I, like Piston, am now thinking I might like to have one of these. My trees are mostly soft maples, poplars and willows.

Above is a photo of an area just cleared of dense willows using a hand held (with harness) brush cutter.
Lots of these areas on my property and the Turbo Saw might make this task a pleasure.

christophercale · Jun 20, 2014

Piston said:
Yes, my 4610 is HST. That's very encouraging to hear that yours operates the saw very satisfactory.
If you guys keep talking and posting pictures of these saws, I may just end up taking the money I have set aside for a new trailer and buying one of these bad boys!!!

Chris,
What was the difference between the Turbo Saw and the Briwn Tree Saw? I looked online and aside from the price, they look extremely similar.

I'm curious why you said you'd love the Brown if the price a bit lower?

Regarding the saws, I don't think there is really much difference at all. I ended up going with the Turbo Saw because there was a dealer close to me that was able to get my unit pretty quickly. I could just have easily bought the Brown.

When I was referring to the Brown, I was talking about the Tree Cutter (the ones that look like a shredder). Yea, I'd still love to have one of those ALSO! A couple of videos on YT show those bad boys cutting through 3 to 6 inch stuff like butter.

My Gym · Jun 20, 2014

I have cut a variety of trees along very old fence lines. Black walnut, mullberry, Hackberry. The cutting ability of the saw makes the type of tree unimportant. The issue of importance is the shape of the tree. Very strong low branches prevent you from reaching the trunk of the tree with the saw. Tall trees put a lot of leverage on the cut and bind the saw blade,stalling my low Hp tractor.

There were three reasons for buying the unit with the grapple. I could add rear hydro for my tractor for about $1200, if I found it necessary. I do not own a grapple and saw the benefit of the grapple on the saw. Re-sale: Grapple unit would be easier to re-sell. I paid about $5000 for the unit. I figured I could buy the unit, use for 2-3 years until I run out of trees and sell for 2/3- 3/4 of what I paid for it. The turbo-saw is over 800 lbs and extends quite a ways from the 3-point. I found that with my light weight tractor, I could not have used the grapple on the saw to any effectiveness anyway.

I really like the flush cut with very little disruption of soil and grass. There is nothing to trip over and no sharp points on the cut stump. I have had fields mowed with drum mover for hay that have had a couple hundred stumps and no problems.

The cutting angle of the saw and adjustment of the 3-point is worth discussing. If the blade is not close to level at the cut it will bind and heat the saw. It is necessary to have the tractor, the saw and stump on a level plane to get a flush cut. Un-even ground requires changing the cutting angle to get precise flush cuts.

Regarding regrowth. My biggest problem eastern red cedar does not regrow, but some of the others do. The beauty is that you have a field that you can mow, hay etc immediately with out hitting anything. Because you have ground level (hidden) stumps, it does prevent you from row cropping or cultivating until the stumps rot.

There are several videos on you-tube showing operation of the unit. What I have not seen is close-up shots of cut trees. if you watch the videos of the orgional post and think about the number of stumps that are under his cleared areas. You cannot tell that they are even there. It is a fast and cheap way of clearing brush and small trees with little disruption of soil and plants.