Tree plucker/ remover recommendation please

[beppington]

I have over 2 acres with many, many small-ish trees I want to remove, ranging from little 1" diameter saplings & smaller that I can & prob will just bush hog, up to 5"-6" trees that I can push over, but the root ball doesn't always cooperate by popping up some such that I can continue scooping it completely up out of the ground. Sometimes the trees actually break off at or near ground level.

What would be the best tool or implement for this type of tree removal?

I'd like to be able to drive right up to a tree, & using a compact spade type QA bucket, push the spade under the main trunk & curl the loader to lift it out of the ground. I say "compact" because the spades I see available are pretty long (36"+) which would reduce the curling power of my loader.

To date I've uprooted many of these trees, but it's slow going with my current methods. Using my regular ol' loader bucket, I either push the tree over & hope the root ball pops up a little, or if it doesn't I put the bucket into the ground & drive forward while curling. I can usually get 'em that way, eventually, but it's slow & makes a bigger mess than necessary since the bucket is 6' wide. I also don't have optimum push since it's a 6' wide blade pushing into the ground instead of more like the ~12" width of the spades I've seen.

I've also been successful wrapping a chain around these trees & just driving away to pull them out, but that's slow too since I have to get off the tractor to wrap the chain around the tree every time, drive the tractor forward, then go un-hook the chain, etc etc etc. There's also lots of stickers, chiggers, ticks, snakes, etc etc that make staying on the tractor pretty darn desirable

What's the best/ fastest way to do this?

 

[J_J]

How about something like this. You can also use your forks if you have them to lift trees and root balls


http://youtu.be/SU3QUctD3oI

 

[Luremaker]

I am not sure this is the best or fastest but I have used my quick spade for a few years now. Its great for driving up to small trees and plucking them up out of the ground. I've cleaned up fence lines, planted and moved many trees with mine.

 

[beppington]

OK, thanks! I like the price of Luremaker's suggestion! But I like the QA design of JJ's, where I could remove my bucket, bringing the whole spade unit back much closer to the loader's pivot point, thus increasing the curling strength. If I could find one that's about 18"-22" long, instead of 36" or more, that would prob do the trick :thumbsup:

 

[travis potter]

Has any one tried this? A friend told me they would hook the chain to the tree then wrap it around the tree several times then when you pulled the tree would turn and break loose. When it cools down just a little I'm going to try it.

 

[Amon]

I made a great sapling plucker out of a piece of of thick plate steel, that I just cut a V shape into. It simply bolts to the front of my bucket when i use it. The V is sharpened with a chisel edge (flat side up), which makes it bite tightly into the tree as you lift. It works so great on my tiny L250 for 1"-3" saplings that I plan to make a larger model for my Larger TLB and see what my max tree size will be for it. It's only a few dollars of scrap metal and couple heavy bolts.

 

[beppington]

What do you all think about this one for sale on eBay? Tree Spade | eBay

He says it's made of 1/4" steel plate, & I emailed him for dimensions: "22 wide at the back and the spade blade itself is 26in deep"

It's $395 + $128 shipping = $523 ... Worth it?

 

[travis potter]

1/4 in plate isn't very strong and the shipping is way too high. Just my thinking.

 

[jake98]

What do you all think about this one for sale on eBay? Tree Spade | eBay

He says it's made of 1/4" steel plate, & I emailed him for dimensions: "22 wide at the back and the spade blade itself is 26in deep"

It's $395 + $128 shipping = $523 ... Worth it?

Well, it's got to be cheaper than bashing them with your box-blade and busting up your tractor.. (I just had to..)

 

[beppington]

Well, it's got to be cheaper than bashing them with your box-blade and busting up your tractor.. (I just had to..)

Aw man, I had hoped you & everybody else had forgotten about that little "incident" (Again, though, there was no bashing, just smooth tractor force applied in reverse while lifting the 3PH)

Needless to say, I no longer use that method of tree removal :thumbsup:

 

[GeneralB]

For me, I've found the easiest fastest way to be a small back hoe. I chainsaw the tree first and leave enough stump to easily find when I come back with BH. Drag off orcut up the trees. When you dig up the stump with the BH you can pull just the root ball and shake off most of the dirt. 1 wipe over with bucket and you be able to tell a tree was ever there. It takes a lot more power and tears up much more earth when you push the tree over and try to dig out with the FEL.

 

[MikeD74T]

Bep, Have you considered a "tree getter" ? Easy to build & use. When backing thru a tree with the 3pt hitch version it increases traction as it pulls down on the rear wheels vs. liftihg the rear wheels on the fel version. Either one lifts & rolls the stump away from the tractor which beats the short chain method. Both very effective depending on you tractors capability. MikeD74T

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/build-yourself/196716-tree-getter-ver-2-0-a.html

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachments/12555-tree-getter.html

 

[beppington]

Bep, Have you considered a "tree getter" ? Easy to build & use. When backing thru a tree with the 3pt hitch version it increases traction as it pulls down on the rear wheels vs. liftihg the rear wheels on the fel version. Either one lifts & rolls the stump away from the tractor which beats the short chain method. Both very effective depending on you tractors capability. MikeD74T

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/build-yourself/196716-tree-getter-ver-2-0-a.html

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachments/12555-tree-getter.html

Mike, I hadn't seen those before - Thanks. I did see jimgerken's (pic below), but I'm very gun shy on pushing with my 3PH now after breaking it a few months ago: http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/owning-operating/204404-ok-push-trees-over-box.html