Stump pullin'.....

[KeithInSpace]

I was just messing with a stump this weekend. Have several, but for some reason, this Pine was particularly tough. Done other Pine trees before, but this was the first time I had to hook up with my truck. I could have gotten it out, I think, but it was close to the street and just too easy to jerk it out with the 40 ton straps.

Took out one heck of a plug of dirt...a couple of minutes knocking the clay off with the BH and she was easy to pull out of the hole.

By the way it felt in the bucket, she's probably about 450# to 500#.

 

[irwin]

This one took a couple days, 6 1/2 foot backhoe, sawzall, 7 sawzall blades, (12" pruning blades) an 8 ton bottlejack, 3 ton come-along, 5 foot prybar, 3 quarts of sweat (estimated).No way can I get a shovel of dirt without hitting at least one big ole rock, the roots had many big uns trapped ...............................................................


The FEL is rated at 800+lb at full lift, was only able to just get it off the ground using curl, (loader has lifted a full load of gravel all the way up).



This one had to go, the others can rot.

 

[Qrazy]

To date I have dug up a good 40 stumps of various sizes. I have only come across one that I could not eventually get....It turned out to be an old swamp maple that had grown about 12- 15 inches thick just under the surface. I got a big hunk of it out (just bigger than my BX24's bucket), then I realized what was left was bigger than my whole BX24!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I covered it up, and now I patiently wait for it to rot away

Here are couple of pics from some of the first stumps I pulled (and one of the reasons for buying the BX)....

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/...ng-tasks-looking-bx24-will-5.html#post1016502

 

[n8wrl]

Sure am! K3GM here. This will be tower number two. I have a guyed 40 footer under the pine canopy up here on my land.

I lucked out with both of my towers - stumps aren't so much the problem down here as biiiiig rocks. Tower #2 ended up with a slightly larger base (14 cu yd vs. 10) because of a backhoe-sized rock we found!

73 and have fun!

-Brian n8wrl

 

[czechsonofagun]

Some people make a business out of it:

Newman's Knees: Natural Tamarack Knees for Boatbuilding, Timberframing and Furniture

Personally, I think there are easier ways to make living, had to dig out too many stumps by hand already in my life.

 

[patrick_g]

Another good way to get stumps up is to start with a 55 gallon steel drum and cut the top and bottom out ... overall it works great.
Donny

Donny, Terrific idea! If you used the salt peter in the bored holes approach on the stump and then used your drum suggestion for window dressing, you could make it look like a BBQ instead of an illegal burn!

Pat

 

[x703jko]

Sure am! K3GM here. This will be tower number two. I have a guyed 40 footer under the pine canopy up here on my land.

Nice...i have 145 feet of Rohn 45 here. The tower's been up for a number of years (since I moved here from New Jersey), but for various reasons (demands of career actually) I haven't hung any antennas on it.

However, this summer I'll finish the project - a Force 12 620/340 at 150 feet, Force 12 415/410 at 135 feet, and a Force 12 WARC7. I'll shunt feed the tower on 160 and hang a 4-square on 80.

One of the reasons I bought the BX24 was to be able to maintain the area near the tower and complete the project, including the digging of a 200 foot trench for 3 cable conduits (4" PVC).

Good to know that there other hams on TBN.



73. Jeff, W3KL

 

[crazyal]

Stumps can be fun, lol. Back in 2002 I bought 40 wooded acres. My plans were to clear a site and build. I was thinking of getting a kubota in the 35 hp range with a BH to pull the stumps. A grinder was not an option so a friend and I used his L2950 to pull the first two out. I tried a size up from what I would call a small excavator, think it was $300 or so a day to rent and it didn't go much faster. Once they were out moving them to a place out of the way too for ever. A few weeks later I ended up with a full size backhoe. Even with 14,000 lbs stumps are hard. I often times found myself moving away from the center of the stump to get to smalled diameter roots and flipping the stump over several times when it came loose to get as much dirt off to lighten it some. Not just the time I saved but the wear and tear of pulling the 40 or 50 stumps makes me glad I went the way I did. There is a level of satisfaction to be had when you do get a large stump out, kind of like reeling in a large fish.

 

[john_bud]

The tree dropping method of Mr. Eddie Walker would have helped. Cut the ground away behind the stump, then in front of the stump then push it over with the boom swinging from the side. Lever action of the tree pops the stump out - apparently. I don't have direct exp with that method, but will try when the time comes.

 

[KeithInSpace]

push it over with the boom swinging from the side.

I could not fathom being this close to a try I'm TRYING to take down with a tractor. Not to mention the SIZE of boom you'd need to dump the tree in this manner. The last place I'd want to be is in the seat of a BH, not able to move my tractor, and 6-8 feet away from a tree.

No matter how long removing a particular stump takes, I have to say that is preferable to putting myself or my machine that close to uncertainty. I've had a tree fall "the wrong way" before. Ain't no fun. It tends to bend stuff.

 

[crazyal]

I'm not sure about a smaller hoe but you wouldn't do much by swinging your boom into a tree to try to knock it over. I guess if it was small enough you could but my swing cylinders just don't have that kind of strength or speed. Once you extend your hoe out a ways you loose a lot of mechanical advantage too.

I have used the hoe to push down trees. If I center the teeth of the bucket on the tree 5 or 6 feet up and push it I can take down hardwoods up to 12" in diameter (bigger if I work at the roots first) but I have the advantage of weight, a smaller machine may not do it as easily.

Of course before I do that I use the dozer. Angle the blade and dig a trench on each side of the tree and then raise the blade as high as it goes and push. Of course once it goes you just back up a little and push the tree and stump where ever you want it, but that's a whole different story.

 

[Taiser]

I had fun taking out my stumps. I'm leveling the front property for grass so leaving them in was out of the question. Mine were nowhere near as big as yours. They all averaged about 14-18" in diameter, maybe 200-300 lbs at most for the biggest ones. Mostly poplar. Each one took about 30-45 minutes to get out. Not unreasonable but my soil is 100% fine sand/loam, no rocks at all.

I dig out far and work my way in, because like a previous poster mentioned one tiny root seems to hold pretty good. It's a blast to do. Could not imagine doing it by hand with a chainsaw (my nieghbor did though), althought I did curse once in while trying to figure out what was left holding the thing in the ground !

 

[nastro]

Well, I could not resist jumping in to the conversation. I read it at first right after the first post was made but I did not have any pictures. I have been in the process of removing hundreds of stumps on the back forty. i am trying to clear for a pond on one side of my creek and some critters on the other side.

At any rate, the stump in the pictures took the better part of a day to get out. It was not the toughest but so far the biggest. The toughest grew over a pile of boulders that were to big for the hoe to break or move. I got lucky right after a good rain storm and it peeled right off.

 

[nastro]

Oh and I forgot, my grapple shipped out today, should receive it some time early next week. I will tell you all how it works. I still have not decided if I am going to add a valve to the hydraulics or if I am going with the electric diverter valve.

Brian

 

[Edstir]

This is a picture of my $1000 stump if it opens. I do not really know how to attach photos and hope this works.






C:\Users\ED\AppData\Roaming\Yahoo!\Mail\attach\stump1[0].jpg

 

[Taiser]

Hmmmm graple would be real handy, do they make one for the B7800??

 

[Jabroni]

This is a picture of my $1000 stump if it opens. I do not really know how to attach photos and hope this works.

It didn't work. To add the jpg, move down just below here and click on "Manage Attachments", upload your picture there, close the window, and you'll return to your post.

 

[Taiser]

OR

Get a free Photobucket account.

Here

Image hosting, free photo sharing & video sharing at Photobucket

Upload your pictures there and right below it will be a "tag". Copy and paste the tag to your post and the picture will pop up! Photobucket also automatically resizes your picture too so we don't get those MASSIVE pictures that make us scroll !

Photobucket also lets you do movies now too. God I love the 'net!

 

[Edstir]

Thanks I found the Attachment and have my $1K stump attached. It took 2 days for the contractor to remove it in two trips. His hoe was tipping over when he tried to pick it up. It broke in half and thats the only way it would fit on the truck.

 

[Qrazy]

NOW THAT is a STUMP!