Tree Shear, fixed blade

radman1 · Jan 4, 2010

I don't think you could sell the V cutter cheap enough for me to buy one. I found one on-line with the grapple arms for $3995. With out grapple arms for $2695. I found an ad which said it would cut an 8" tree. How many times would you have to ram it to cut it. I paid $5500 for my Dymax tree shear 4 years ago. The V cutter wouldn't last a week for me. Not sure my skid steer would last a week with the V cutter.

Personally, the V cutter seems like a very poor design. Blades would dull quickly, can't cut trees of any significant size, the strength of the unit and grapple seems poor, skid steer or CUT would take a beating.

Joanne's Pot Racks & Washburn's Industrial & Ag Attachments Vcutter Tree Shear Grapple for Pasture Brush Clearing High Speed

I demoed a new Bobcat rotary blade cutter before I got the Dymax. New unit, with nice sharp carbide teeth. It cut brush well in the 1-2" diameter well and I could swing the skid steer back and forth and clear shrubs quickly. 3-4" tree was a little slow to cut. 5-6" tree took way to long and forget about anything bigger. Any tree of size would pinch and bind on the blade, unless it was leaning away from the blade. Created at lot of drag and could cut anything well over 5"
Brush Saw Attachment - Bobcat Company

If you want the best tree shear for a skid steer, IMHO, this is the one: 14" Ranch Axe tree shear for skid steer loaders - TreeShears.com - DYMAX 1400-1600 lbs of pure, tree killing muscle.

woodlandfarms · Jan 4, 2010

You guy saw this version of the turbo saw, right?

Tree Removal - Skid Steer Tree Saw - Turbo Saw Tree Cutter

For you normal tractor owners...

radman1 · Jan 4, 2010

woodlandfarms said:
You guy saw this version of the turbo saw, right?

Tree Removal - Skid Steer Tree Saw - Turbo Saw Tree Cutter

For you normal tractor owners...

Yes, I saw the video. I am still leery of using that type of cutter. My skid steer is standard flow at 21 gpm. That saw in the demo must be hi-flow which would help. On their website, they have models from 10-41 gpm. I can't imagine how the 10 gpm would even work-maybe for cutting grass.

The biggest problem I felt was the binding of the tree on the blade with bigger diameter trees. I believe it is best to cut on just one side of the rotary saw. Yes, it worked much better if the tree was cut so it was falling away from the blade. However, often it takes too much time to reposition the skid steer and sometimes it can only be cut on one side. The wind also tends to push the trees as cutting and pinch the blade. I had binding so bad on the blade, that I almost could not pull the blade free and I have a large frame skid steer. I have chain saws bind in cuts but this seemed much more severe. Their blade is 26" diameter and the bobcat one I used was 24" diameter. Of that 26", much of the center is occupied by the yellow metal cylinder. The actual usuable cutting width of the blade is probably closer to 8". Larger trees will require a second cut on the other side to completely cut the larger trees. Also, I want to cut at ground level, no residual stumps. A tree 6-7" diameter 8-12" up from the ground may be 10-12" at or just below ground surface.
Maintenance must be much higher with replacement/sharpening of the rotary teeth. If they are carbide, probably can't easily sharpen them. Small angle grinder is all I need for my shears. Hit a rock with a rotary cutter and start replacing teeth. The booms of the rotary cutter is also a weak link for lifting or side forces. Also much more stress on the loader/skid boom.

With my dymax, I can half cut and lift down trees to move them out of the way. With rotary cut, the tree lays where it falls and blocks the next tree from being cut. I can also use my dymax like a dozer (has a HD brush guard) and push a tree out of the way. Not easy or recommended with the boom of the rotary cut.

If you see all the variations of tree shears available and in use, very few are rotary blade unless you have a specialized machine with either direct drive or lots of hydraulic flow. Bobcat call theirs a "brush saw". They are smart enough to not call it a tree shear or cutter.

woodlandfarms · Jan 6, 2010

So what if you could put your stump grinder on its side? Probably would just vibrate a small tree... Not sure it would actually cut on a big tree.

I only ask cause i saw a Dingo Stump Grinder on its side... Not sure what the purpose was but assumed the guy was trying to knock down trees with it...

IslandTractor · Jan 8, 2010

Nice looking tool for trimming overhead tree branches. How much does it cost? It doesn't look like it would be so good for just driving along a fence however and doesn't seem to do the same job as the Samuri as it cannot be rotated to cut horizontally under a fence (though the Samuri cannot reach up to trim high branches either).

spo307 · Jan 10, 2010

looks like a hurst tool we use in the fire dept. better known to civilians as the jaws of life

IslandTractor · Jan 10, 2010

IslandTractor said:
Nice looking tool for trimming overhead tree branches. How much does it cost? It doesn't look like it would be so good for just driving along a fence however and doesn't seem to do the same job as the Samuri as it cannot be rotated to cut horizontally under a fence (though the Samuri cannot reach up to trim high branches either).

This comment of mine was in regards to a post from a manufacturer of a hydraulic chain saw. TBN moderators have removed the manufacturer's post so just be aware that these comments do not relate to any of the devices still being discussed in this thread.

crwatcp · Jan 18, 2010

The tree shears and tree saws both have their place in clearing land. I would think that with the v tree cutter you would definitely want to be wearing a padded seat belt!!! Dymax also has a new saw out on the market too. You can find all of the info on it at Fixed boom Qwiksaw high speed skid steer tree saw – TreeShears.com - DYMAX