using your tractor to pull a tree over

[RobertBrown]

I don't know what to say about this other than I was pretty sure is was going to be an epic fail.
Seems like hiring a stump grinder is still a smart option. But it's an interesting video.....

 

[HCJtractor]

I kept waiting for something to snap! Wonder what rope he used?

 

[4570Man]

There’s a lot of money in rigging there. And it can’t be hardware store junk either. The pulling force is significant in part of it. It’s a cool video but not a very practical option. In the time it took to set that up and fix the hole he probably could have cut enough roots with a sawzall to pull it over with a direct pull or a simple 2-1 pull.

 

[npalen]

Rather awesome, however.

 

[Jstpssng]

I can't imagine the tension on that main rope. If that had snapped it would have gone flying.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

No video came up for me...

SR

 

[two_bit_score]

Stump grinding would have been better.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Pulling higher on the tree would have been so much easier.

 

[mddorange]

Not much higher or the tree would have broken off.

 

[Oldoak]

Rather awesome, however.

Yep! Quite apparent that guy know more about rigging and leverage than most people commenting here. Of course there are many options on how different people would have handled the project, but he got it done his way.

 

[newbury]

Yep! Quite apparent that guy know more about rigging and leverage than most people commenting here. Of course there are many options on how different people would have handled the project, but he got it done his way.

Yup, my motto is cut it low and let it rot.

 

[orezok]

I can't imagine the tension on that main rope. If that had snapped it would have gone flying.

Ignoring friction in the sheaves, the tension should be about the same on all the lines.

 

[radios1]

it's a lot safer to either push it over with a bulldozer, or just cut it near the ground, and let it fall.. a tensioned guide rope to another tree to prevent it from going the wrong way is ok.. you need to look how the tree leans, and how many branches on each side it has.. pulling it toward you is not the smartest thing to do by far!!.. this info is only for people that wish to live a longer life, and not be crippled, btw..

 

[buckeyefarmer]

He wanted to uproot it, not cut it.

 

[bunyip]

I think this is more effective purely from the entertainment aspect
Paul vs Stump || ViralHog - YouTube

 

[tjkubota93]

I don't know what to say about this other than I was pretty sure is was going to be an epic fail.
Seems like hiring a stump grinder is still a smart option. But it's an interesting video.....

I watched that a while ago and was impressed. My first thought was dang I should do that. Second thought was he has like 10k in rope and pulleys and I bought a second hand grinder for $800.

It's cool to watch the pulleys though.

 

[oosik]

Thirty six plus years out here and I'll second what Newbury says - "cut 'em low and let 'em go". I have yet to dig out one single stump. Of course, my nearest neighbor is 4.5 miles away and only the deer, quail and coyotes have to view my "undug" stumpage.There is obviously, at least, two completely different genre of people here on TBN - - those who MUST have a backhoe attachment and MUST dig up their stumpage AND those who find no need for a backhoe and can leave their stumpage to Mother Nature.I say - - More power to ALL the people. I'm just glad I'm under the gentle tutelage of Mother Nature. Otherwise, I'd be worrying about the 100+ stumps (24" to 36" in diameter) scattered all over my eighty acres.

Well - I finally looked at the video. Can't decide what the guy likes most - playing with his ropes and pulleys or pulling over a stump. At one point there I think he has become somewhat lost on exactly which rope needs to be pulled on to bring over the stump. It sort of a maze and one could easily become lost or confused.

We all do recognize that this is a simple stump about ten to twelve feet tall - - so about the only dangerous aspect would come from a "fail" in the maze this fellow has set up.

 

[fried1765]

Thirty six plus years out here and I'll second what Newbury says - "cut 'em low and let 'em go". I have yet to dig out one single stump. Of course, my nearest neighbor is 4.5 miles away and only the deer, quail and coyotes have to view my "undug" stumpage.There is obviously, at least, two completely different genre of people here on TBN - - those who MUST have a backhoe attachment and MUST dig up their stumpage AND those who find no need for a backhoe and can leave their stumpage to Mother Nature.I say - - More power to ALL the people. I'm just glad I'm under the gentle tutelage of Mother Nature. Otherwise, I'd be worrying about the 100+ stumps (24" to 36" in diameter) scattered all over my eighty acres.

I have locust trees, and it can take over 100 years for locust stumps to rot.
I do use my backhoe to dig some out, because leaving all of them for 100 years, is not a good option for me.
I am already 77 years old.....just can't wait 100+ years.

 

[4570Man]

Thirty six plus years out here and I'll second what Newbury says - "cut 'em low and let 'em go". I have yet to dig out one single stump. Of course, my nearest neighbor is 4.5 miles away and only the deer, quail and coyotes have to view my "undug" stumpage.There is obviously, at least, two completely different genre of people here on TBN - - those who MUST have a backhoe attachment and MUST dig up their stumpage AND those who find no need for a backhoe and can leave their stumpage to Mother Nature.I say - - More power to ALL the people. I'm just glad I'm under the gentle tutelage of Mother Nature. Otherwise, I'd be worrying about the 100+ stumps (24" to 36" in diameter) scattered all over my eighty acres.

Well - I finally looked at the video. Can't decide what the guy likes most - playing with his ropes and pulleys or pulling over a stump. At one point there I think he has become somewhat lost on exactly which rope needs to be pulled on to bring over the stump. It sort of a maze and one could easily become lost or confused.

We all do recognize that this is a simple stump about ten to twelve feet tall - - so about the only dangerous aspect would come from a "fail" in the maze this fellow has set up.

My tractor backhoe was nearly useless for digging stumps. I doubt i dug over a dozen bigger then 6” with it ever. It still found a lot of work to do. Those that don’t have one are really missing out. You can apply their argument of just rent one to most people’s tractors.

 

[shooterdon]

As to removing stumps, each to his own. I have done both. Depends where the stump is for me. Kind of a waste of effort to remove a stump in my wooded area....but one in the mowed acre around the house gets removed. I think the last one cost me $200 to have ground up and it was over 3ft across.

A back hoe is nice to have but most people will never get their investment out of one. I have a contractor that charges me a very reasonable rate for BH work and he is less than 7 miles away. It is amazing what he can get done in 4 hours.

 

[oosik]

You will all notice - my comments are meant to offend no one. I don't care if you have a backhoe or not - I just would hope if you do - that you find a use for it.

My big pine stumps are gone in ten years. Its a race between them rotting and the coyotes digging in, around, under and thru them. I think the coyotes are looking for either chipmunks or pocket gophers. I use to have a family of badgers - long ago they were encouraged to relocate to other places. Just once too often an adult badger came at me in full attack mode..........

 

[npalen]

Ignoring friction in the sheaves, the tension should be about the same on all the lines.

That doesn't sound quite right. I would think the tension in the rope attached to the tractor to be very much less than the one tied to the tree.

 

[oosik]

All of this just brought back a thought. About thirty years ago - when both the nearest neighbor and I were a whole lot younger and had a couple wild oats left - he came over one afternoon and invited me to a "blow out". It was way out on some remote grazing land that he was converting to land suitable for wheat planting and harvesting.

There was a small draw with the normal LARGE cottonwoods down at the bottom - soaking up all the water they could. He had cut them all down and was now left with about 6 or 8 gigantic stumps. So we dug a hole completely under one stump - packed it with 70% ditching powder(dynamite) - lit the fuse and ran away really rapidly.

It blew that entire, undamaged stump about 200 yards straight up and it made an almighty "WHUMP" when it hit. We both decided that was enough excitement for quite a spell and he let the other simply rot out. A lot easier/safer to simply plow around the small area - than risk anybody getting hurt. We got to see the full size of that single stump - it was the size of a 100hp tractor.

 

[radios1]

I have locust trees, and it can take over 100 years for locust stumps to rot.
I do use my backhoe to dig some out, because leaving all of them for 100 years, is not a good option for me.
I am already 77 years old.....just can't wait 100+ years.

you don't need to wait that long!. drill 4 1" holes in the top of each stump, fill them with pool shock(strong chlorine) cover them so rain don't disturb it, and about 2 weeks later, you can push them over and out with your foot!.. Chlorine kills and destroys DNA.. then the stump rots quick..

 

[4570Man]

That doesn't sound quite right. I would think the tension in the rope attached to the tractor to be very much less than the one tied to the tree.

The stress on the tow line should be the same assuming it’s one continuous setup. On the likely chance he’s using one set of pulleys to pull on another set pulleys the tension on the second rope is a lot higher. And the rope he uses to anchor the pulleys to the tree is under tremendous force. Like I said in my first post this isn’t something you go out in your backyard and decide to try one day. There’s a lot of money in rigging there. 20 minutes of digging with a pick axe and cutting roots with a sawzall would have made this a lot more practical.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I have locust trees, and it can take over 100 years for locust stumps to rot.
I do use my backhoe to dig some out, because leaving all of them for 100 years, is not a good option for me.
I am already 77 years old.....just can't wait 100+ years.

Cedar and Cherry can take a long time also. Sometimes it just isn't practical to leave a stump to rot out especially if it is in your lawn. Nothing uglier than a rotting stump in front of your house unless it is a redneck washing machine, refrigerator or wrecked car setting in the yard.

 

[GirlWhoWantsTractor]

you don't need to wait that long!. drill 4 1" holes in the top of each stump, fill them with pool shock(strong chlorine) cover them so rain don't disturb it, and about 2 weeks later, you can push them over and out with your foot!.. Chlorine kills and destroys DNA.. then the stump rots quick..

Does that really work? I've got three cherry stumps in my yard I need to get rid of.

 

[orezok]

That doesn't sound quite right. I would think the tension in the rope attached to the tractor to be very much less than the one tied to the tree.

This a very complex system and it would be difficult to calculate. But say you have a multiple sheave pulley system. You input 100# of force on the first line. That same force is transmitted to the second line as it passes over the pulley. This happens at each change in direction. Then the magic happens. Say each sheave has 3 pulleys. Each pulley is exposed to 100# of force from each line. The sheave feels the 100# x 3 so the force is multiplied. That is how a multiple pulley system works.

Now I agree that if you put a line between the pulley and the object being lifted, that line and that line alone will feel the 300# force (same as the pulley)

 

[k0ua]

You will all notice - my comments are meant to offend no one. I don't care if you have a backhoe or not - I just would hope if you do - that you find a use for it.

My big pine stumps are gone in ten years. Its a race between them rotting and the coyotes digging in, around, under and thru them. I think the coyotes are looking for either chipmunks or pocket gophers. I use to have a family of badgers - long ago they were encouraged to relocate to other places. Just once too often an adult badger came at me in full attack mode..........

A nice osage orange will still be there when your children's children are long dead. Even my cedar stump, which was a an old looking stump when I moved here 17 years ago is still looking fine. No kicking it out or anything like that. Not everything rots quick. Sure some things do, but not everything.

 

[Richard]

I didn't watch the video (didn't want to use satellite metered download)

I can imagine what it was.

If you have to get the stump out.....I did it this way...dig on three sides....and push

 

[oosik]

Back in 1982 we came down and started building on the property. Two major projects going at the same time. Build our house and install barbed wire fence around the property. The property had been originally fenced in 1894 and, by golly, there are still three cedar fence posts from the old fence line. They were incorporated right into the new fence. They are split fence posts and even today - 125 year after being installed, they are still solid as a rock. About the closest source of cedar would be north of me - up near the US/Canada border.

Good reason for the longevity of wood fence posts - right now my Davis Vantage Pro 2 weather station is showing 5% relative humidity outside.

 

[radios1]

Does that really work? I've got three cherry stumps in my yard I need to get rid of.

Yes, it does, that's why I posted it, it worked in My yard..

 

[/pine]

Another slow method is using sour buttermilk and then sealing the holes with candle wax etc...

A faster method that costs a few bucks is using charcoal...with enough charcoal even locust stumps can be burned out in a day or two...use the charcoal (and leaf blower as oxygen infuser) to get it burning hot on top and around the bigger roots...They will burn underground until the fuel (stump and roots) is spent...

 

[buckeyefarmer]

A fast method is dynamite.

 

[k0ua]

A fast method is dynamite.

I still have a very vivid memory as a 4 year old of my dad blowing out stumps with dynamite. In those days you just went down to the hardware store and bought it. I still remember the huge blast and watching a huge stump going so high in the air. It made quite an impression on me.

 

[Deere Dude]

I still have a very vivid memory as a 4 year old of my dad blowing out stumps with dynamite. In those days you just went down to the hardware store and bought it. I still remember the huge blast and watching a huge stump going so high in the air. It made quite an impression on me.

I remember that also but my dad and I were blowing rocks out of a field. That was the life. Can't even get an M80 any more.

 

[aczlan]

A faster method that costs a few bucks is using charcoal...with enough charcoal even locust stumps can be burned out in a day or two...use the charcoal (and leaf blower as oxygen infuser) to get it burning hot on top and around the bigger roots...They will burn underground until the fuel (stump and roots) is spent...

I wouldn't do that if you are in an area where you could start a fire doing that as there are those who have started grass/forest fires doing that...

Aaron Z

 

[radios1]

I still have a very vivid memory as a 4 year old of my dad blowing out stumps with dynamite. In those days you just went down to the hardware store and bought it. I still remember the huge blast and watching a huge stump going so high in the air. It made quite an impression on me.

today, you need an FFL for explosives, as well as a State/Local Permit!.. also, it's extremely unsafe to use old dynamite that is sweating. especially if it's tan or brown in color, that's a danger sign that it must be handled extremely carefully, and disposed of at a bomb disposal, because it can explode at the slightest bump or rough handling!. that's why training is needed now, so you don't blow yourself or others up..

 

[2LaneCruzer]

I still have a very vivid memory as a 4 year old of my dad blowing out stumps with dynamite. In those days you just went down to the hardware store and bought it. I still remember the huge blast and watching a huge stump going so high in the air. It made quite an impression on me.

I remember my Grand dad blowing a stump; I believe he used half a stick of dynamite. He was maybe 100 yards or less from the house where I was standing and watching; the stump went at least a couple hundred feet in the air, spiraling end-over-end, and landed smack on top of the house with a VERY loud "whump". My suspicion is that he had to replace a few shingles at least.

 

[two_bit_score]

I wouldn't do that if you are in an area where you could start a fire doing that as there are those who have started grass/forest fires doing that...

Aaron Z

Or close to a house is also dangerous and roots can run a long way underground.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

I didn't watch the video (didn't want to use satellite metered download)

I can imagine what it was.

If you have to get the stump out.....I did it this way...dig on three sides....and push

This what works for me most of the time. If room permits I make the three digs to cut the roots then use the FEL end to push over and move out of the way until I pile them, etc.

The guy with the pulley system may have been just messing and gommin around as my father would say.

 

[4570Man]

This what works for me most of the time. If room permits I make the three digs to cut the roots then use the FEL end to push over and move out of the way until I pile them, etc.

The guy with the pulley system may have been just messing and gommin around as my father would say.

It’s amazing how me and a couple of buddies can find the least efficient way to do something almost always incorporating a piece of equipment. This is a prime example.

 

[crazyal]

A farmer near where I grew up would use dynamite to take care of beavers. He's also the reason why you can't buy it at the local hardware store anymore. Nothing funner to a 8 year old than beavers flying like a frisbee. Of course 7 sticks was just the right amount for a beaver hut in his eyes.

I usually just cut trees low and dig them out with the backhoe. Lifting it out a few times and dropping it back into the hole helps get the dirt and rocks off of it. Then I just use the loader to put it in a ravine I want to fill in that's out of the way of the house. Sometimes I'll just use the backhoe to push them over.

 

[MH8675309]

Some impressive thought went into taking the tree down that way. I personally wouldnt do it that way but it came down safely without ruining anything.

 

[two_bit_score]

Some impressive thought went into taking the tree down that way. I personally wouldnt do it that way but it came down safely without ruining anything.

Success is often measured by the absence of collateral damage or liability.

TBS

 

[check]

I would love to see a video of a stunt being blown up. Does anybody have one?

 

[k0ua]

I would love to see a video of a stunt being blown up. Does anybody have one?

Maybe this will help:

 

[CincyFlyer]

I remember my Grand dad blowing a stump; I believe he used half a stick of dynamite. He was maybe 100 yards or less from the house where I was standing and watching; the stump went at least a couple hundred feet in the air, spiraling end-over-end, and landed smack on top of the house with a VERY loud "whump". My suspicion is that he had to replace a few shingles at least.

Unless it was a tiny stump, he used more than half a stick! The stuff isn't that powerful.

 

[Lelandwelds]

We just take the Bobcat and push it about eight foot high from a couple directions, get it partway down, push it in a circle to snap roots, and push the root ball until the remaining roots give way. Between the tires and removing the actual tree, the toughest ones leave a circle of destruction about thirty feet across.

He might be on to something. Plus, he wears the nifty hard hat.

 

[two_bit_score]

I would love to see a video of a stunt being blown up. Does anybody have one?

Blow up stunts? Let’s do it.