tree shear owners

[tpaulson]

Does anyone own a tree shear?

If you do:
What are the features or items about the design you really like?
What about the design would you change?

I am considering buying or possibly building one for my skid steer
and was looking for some user feedback. It would primarily be used to
remove 2" to 6" dia cedar trees.
The purchase price of these range from $2400 to $7000.
If I built one it would be based on the <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.treeterminator.com/terminator2.htm>Tree Terminator2</A> design.

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.treeterminator.com/>Tree Terminator</A>
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.midlandindustrialgroup.com/aamain.html>Agra axe</A>
Mightyaxe
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.dymaxattachments.com/attachments/catalog/index.html>Dymax</A>

 

[beenthere]

The design likely will depend on how much crushing and splitting you can stand in the 'sheared' end of the log. If you are making a product from the log, then you may want to have a chain saw type cut, rather than a shredded end with splits that run up the log. If for firewood or the like, or just to remove to put on a brush pile, then crunching them off shouldn't be a problem. It certainly takes power to sever wood across the grain this way.
We'll be interested in the progress you make.

 

[rozett]

I would be very concerned about what happens to the tree after you shear it.

Having just had 6 acres clearcut, I spent many hours watching the 36-ton tree saw cut, lift and stack trees up to 40" across. There is just not enough weight or roll cage on a skid steer or tractor to handle a tree after it's cut. So then it falls whichever way it wants.

 

[ns_in_tex]

Tim,
I own a tree shear that is a little different from the ones shown in your link. I don't know how to make a link, but search for 'cuts up to 8" hardwood' & you should find a picture of mine. What I like about it is, it sticks out about 5 or 6' in front of the loader to give more reach, can cut higher, ETC. Also it has power rotation of 90 degrees so can trim limbs off side of tree. Gets you farther away from tree or limbs you are cutting.

I built my own mount. but can be purchased with a skid steer mount which I havn't seen. Does not come with hoses.

Purchased from P & W Engineering, 424 N Harding Ave, Sedalia, MO 65301, 888-497-3224 John Parkhurst
Paid 2233.00 for mine, including freight to East Texas.

 

[tpaulson]

Neal
Thanks for the info.
Here is a link to your old post <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.tractorbynet.com/cgi-bin/compact/showthreaded.pl?Cat=&Board=implement&Number=133017&Search=true&Forum=All_Forums&Words=cuts%20up%20to%208"%20hardwood&Match=And&Searchpage=0&Limit=50&Old=allposts&Main=133000>'Cuts up to 8" hardwood'</A>
That is a neat design. Definately a different approach than the others shears I have found.

Just a few questions.
1. Does it work well? Is it really able to shear an 8" tree?
2. What size cylinder does it use for the shear? 4" bore, 8" stroke
3. Is there another plate that runs on the under the shears?
4. Do the shears rotate on 2 pins that go through the angle iron on the top of the shears?
5. It appears the cylinder or another plate is under the cutting edge which is holding it up off of the ground a little. How close to the ground does it cut the tree off?
6. Do you have some more pictures of it?
7. Does the manufacturer have a web site?
8. How much does it weigh?

Thanks
Tim

 

[tpaulson]

Rozett
I will be using it for cutting cedar trees with a max dia of 6". The entire 6" cedar tree probably only weights 200lbs. Any ROPS/FOPS on a skid steer should be able hold that. If you lift up and tilt it forward slightly when the tree is almost sheared, it should fall away from the skid steer. I was also planning on using a tube frame and some expanded mesh steel to protect the operator from branches.

I agree with you on some of the large shears that cut up to a 25" tree. I think a 25" live oak tree would be a bit much for a skid steer to handle if it started falling the wrong way.

Tim

 

[ns_in_tex]

Tim,
Took a few more pictures today. Will try to answer some of your questions first.
1. It does work well (my opinion). It is really able to shear a 8" tree, but no more. I think I failed to cut maybe 2 trees out of several hundred (shear blades stalled). Never did figure out why, unless maybe a little over 8".
2. Cutting cylinder 5x8 I think, Tilt cylinder 2-1/2 or3x8
3. Plates on both sides of shear.
4. Blades do rotate on pins, pin to cylinder about 12". Pin to blade tip about 18".
5. If ground is soft, bottom metal can be forced into ground to cut near ground level, although on the larger trees, the roots start out above ground level which will hold the shear up, as well as make it larger than 8" dia at ground level.
6. Will post a few more pictures, if more needed, let me know.
7. I don't think the manufacturer has a web site. Most likely a small operation.
8. The way I try to control the fall when cutting, is if tree is tall enough for concern, lift the cutter to max fel heighth, push on tree to lean it away from you, then cut, it almost always falls the other way. Then the 10" stump is to short to reach me.
9. Havn't used this on gear tractor, but I think would be much easier to control with hydrostatic.
10. The angle iron braces you see running to the rear, I put on in place of the chains they recommended & I assure you, you would like the angle iron better also.
11. Unit is fairly heavy, that far in front. Would not recommend on less that 40 HP tractor & would still need counter balance.
12. My hydraulic pump is 9 gpm, but I normally run at 1/2 throttle or less, but wish the pump was faster.

 

[ns_in_tex]

Bottom view of blades

 

[ns_in_tex]

Rear top view of blades & angle iron braces

 

[ns_in_tex]

Power Tilt picture.
I might mention, I have not cut any 6" cedars, but have cut 8" oak , sweetgum & others.
Hope this helps.

 

[bubenberg]

looking forward to your input in case you build your own ... but in any case keep us posted ..... thanks and good luck

 

[tpaulson]

Neal
Thanks for the response and the great pictures!

I have been looking at the photos for a few days and I have a few more questions:
1. What is the thickness of the plates that hold the blades?
2. What is the thickness of the blades?
3. What is the dia of the pins/bolts? 1"?
4. What is the thickness of the pipe that hold the cutting head?
5. Have you noticed any wear on the pins? Is there a way to grease them?
6. What keeps the blades, plates, and cylinder 'square'? Because everything moves on 4 pins, it seems like it would rotate into a parallelogram instead of staying square as the blades close. See attached picture.

Thanks
Tim

 

[tpaulson]

I called the manufacturer today. They do have a web site it is:
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.precisionmfg.com/>http://www.precisionmfg.com/</A>

 

[ns_in_tex]

Tim,
Plates that hold blades are 2ea 4x4x1/2 angle iron welded back to back, then center 8" between the pressure plates is another 1/2" flat plate to make a total of 1"

Blades are 3/4" thick with 2x1/2 welded on outer edge.

The Pins/Bolts are 1-1/4"

I can not see the end of the pipe without taking unit apart, but the blade points stick out 36" past the past pivot point of the power tilt & I have not done any damage yet, so I would expect it was at least schedule 80 if not solid. It is 2-3/8 outside dia so may be pipe.

I have not noticed any wear on the pins so far. and there are no grease points.

The main frame made from 4x4 angles & other metal is attached to the pipe so it stays straight across. The pins go through this, so they can not move. There are outter & inner stops to the blades so neither can go past wide open or center when closing. One blade can move without the other, only till the pressure is equalized when cutting. The tires on the tractor will give this much to let the cutter push sideways up to 4".

 

[tpaulson]

Well, I finally got a tree shear built. I decided to build one similar to the tree shear Neal owns. I was able to save quite a bit of money by building it myself. See attached pictures.

I gave it a test run of about 20 cedar trees last night. It seems to work very well. It may not be much faster than cutting them with a chainsaw, but it sure is a lot less work (and even a little fun). Especially when you have hundreds or possibly thousands of little trees to remove.

I purchased most of the metal new, except for the skid steer mounting plate. I had enough scrap metal to build that. Instead of having custom blades machined, I used 3/4" x 8" cutting edge. I also added a removable expanded mesh screen to the skid steer mount to protect the operator from branches. The frame of the screen slides into the 2 vertical pieces of tubing on the front of the mount. I am not a very good welder. So I cut most of the metal and tack welded it together and then hired a local welder to weld the important stress areas with 'good' welds.

I still want to add a cylinder to rotate the blades 90° for cutting branches off. But, I didn't want to spend any more money on it until I am confident my version of the shear works well. Also, I will need a hydraulic selector valve because my skid steer only has one remote.

In order to save some money, I decided to use a 4"x8" cylinder instead of the 5"x8" used by Precision Mfg. I left enough room in the design that I can easily replace the 4x8 with a 5x8 if I want some more shearing power. I am not sure if the blades made of cutting edge would take the extra force without bending. Precision Mfg uses T1 steel which I think is stronger than standard cutting edge steel. Currently, it will still shear a 6" cedar tree in one clip, but that is its max. The hydraulic relief value starts to open when doing a 6" tree. If shearing a hardwood tree I am sure its max would be a smaller tree.

Neal, thanks for all of your help and the great pictures. Your help is greatly appreciated!

 

[tpaulson]

Another picture with blades closed.

 

[tpaulson]

Picture with screen attached before the shear was painted.

 

[hazmat]

Nice job Tim!!

Someday I'll have a welder & time & money to build such things myself.

 

[ns_in_tex]

Great looking job. Hope it does everything you want it to.
Just curious, why do you not push them out with your deere?
I don't know anything about cedar, as do they come back out after being cut off.
I was wondering if you have seen or could use the treegetters on tbn. I built mine after seeing one and like it a lot for smaller trees that are a little to large to brushhog easily. I like to keep the brush hog on for counter balance when using it, then after pulling the trees up & lay them on the ground, just brush hog the tops & maybe the roots. This leaves pretty much, just a straight trunk to load & hall off. Takes up less space on the truck & puts a lot of mulch back on the ground.

If interested, search for "cleaning the fence row is fun now" or hear is a link to one picture. <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.tractorbynet.com/forumfiles/5-133011-Treegetterhangson.JPG> click here</A>

 

[tpaulson]

Neal
Cedars don't grow back, unless you miss one branch near the ground. That branch will eventually grow up into a tree. Cedars reproduce very quickly by their seeds. In our area they grow just about anywhere.

I have pushed them out with the JD crawler, but it doesn't work as well as you would think. It is pretty time consuming. The small cedars (2" or less) are too 'rubbery', the trees just bend down and the dozer blade slides right over the top of them. You back up and they stand right back up again. 3 to 4" ones push out fairly well. Put the blade up high and push to expose some of the root, back up and push under the root ball. Larger than than 4" you spend a lot of time digging around them so that you can get under some of the root ball. Luckily cedars like most evergreens have a small root ball. A larger dozer would work well if you didn't mind pushing a lot of the grass and dirt out with them.

I had seen your treegetter post and have considered them also. But, wasn't sure if it would work for my usage. I would want to be sure it worked with cedars in our type of soil before spending the time and money to build one(looks like a lot of welding went into yours). There is a lot of clay around here. After seeing other shears in our area in action and talking with you, the shear seemed like it would definately work. It does seem to work well and it is much faster than pushing with my dozer.

The problems I wondered about on the treegetter.
1. Cedars have a lot of taper and bend fairly easily when pushed against. They may be 4" at the stump, but .5" at chest height. I am afraid it may just slide up the tree. Although angling it down into the root like you have suggested may eliminate that problem.

2. My skid steer doesn't have much lift capacity(600lb operating, 1200lb tipping load), so I don't think it would pull them out of the ground. My NH TC45D can lift 2000lbs so it would probably work, but I don't have a quick attach on it. So removing the bucket with grapple would be time consuming. 3pt would be an option.

3. The treegetter would have a max diameter of 3 or 4" tree. Just guessing by your pictures.

I like your idea of brush hogging the tree once it is laying down. I will have to give that a try.
A treegetter may be a future project, but for now the shear is a giant improvement over the other removal methods I have tried.