Chains Warning to those using rim to pull stumps

[InThePines]

I have pulled many a post with the wheel method. Loop the chain all the way around the rim. Slide the rim up against the post. As the tractor or truck pulls the chain the rim is supposed to change the horizontal pull to a verticle pull to LIFT the object out of the ground. Slow and carefully apply the pull. You may have to reset the chain to the ground several time. I have never had any post come flying at me... Now I have not used this method to pull stumps. I use a backhoe for those.

Thanks for all the advice guys. No major damage to the top link, I can bend it back hopefully without breaking the weld. I think I will try a shorter chain with some dampening device like a heavy mat laid over the chain as well as possibly wrapping the chain a full revolution around the rim. (But I worry that this may create some sideways twist force if the chain does not lie in the center) I used a steady pull not a jerking motion. When you only own a hammer, everything begins to look like a nail. For better or worse. However I do approach all activates with my tractor with the utmost respect and with safety in mind.

 

[ray66v]

It takes time to learn all the different ways things can go wrong using chains, or cables, to pull something, and what can happen when they do.

Beginners should use extreme caution when applying forces to chains, or cables.

The possibility of some sort of damage, or injury, is directly proportional to the amount of force being used.

 

[20 20]

I broke my foot once when a cable/chain let lose flew back and slammed into me. I was very lucky it did not hit me up side the head. I knew better then to do something like that but was tired and in a hurry. My father watched a guy get a cable planted through his head, while in the army, they{not my father he was just observing} were trying to pull a half track out. Folks need to be very carefull when working with projects like this, weak links, weak hooks, bad cables/straps are like loaded guns and can turn a good day into something terrible real fast.

 

[zoltanthegypsy]

Folks need to be very carefull when working with projects like this, weak links, weak hooks, bad cables/straps are like loaded guns and can turn a good day into something terrible real fast.

A scary story from my childhood: I was 8 or 9 years old. Sitting on an upside-down cattle trough with my buddy @ his dad's blacksmith shop watching the dad try to pull a big stump out of the yard. He was using a heavy chain and a Cat.

All of a sudden there was a loud *bang* @ the metal wall of the shop, and a very large dent in said wall. The chain had broken and fired a link like a missile.

I'm told it missed my head by a few inches. Yike.

Z.

 

[Baby Grand]

In general, whenever I am applying a large tensile load I try to put a change in direction near the end of the pull. With ropes and cables a snatch block makes this easy. With chain I haven't found a good way yet and usually resort to throwing something "dead" over the chain and hoping it's good enough. Maybe an idea for a new product? I suppose I could make a snatch block for my chain out of a hook, a big hinge, a few plates and the rim & axle from a wheelbarrow. Might make a nice welding project.
-Jim

 

[apease]

When a friend of mine helped me put in my septic system he used the 5-ton excavator we rented to push over 12" diameter live oak trees. I'm not sure if this would work with a much lighter Kubota. The leverage gained from pushing at a point 6 feet up on the trunk made it look easy. And since it was a case of pushing it seems there was virtually no danger. Maybe cutting a tree to 6' stump and hoping the roots rot a bit for a year would make this work.

 

[ray66v]

When a friend of mine helped me put in my septic system he used the 5-ton excavator we rented to push over 12" diameter live oak trees. I'm not sure if this would work with a much lighter Kubota. The leverage gained from pushing at a point 6 feet up on the trunk made it look easy. And since it was a case of pushing it seems there was virtually no danger. Maybe cutting a tree to 6' stump and hoping the roots rot a bit for a year would make this work.

Even when it seems like it is safe, there is still danger.

The internet is full of video's where things like this go very wrong.

A falling object can make a turn on the way down, and ruin your day.

When using an excavator to push trees over, the mass at the top of the tree is what creates the leverage that pops the roots out of the ground. Cut that off, and it gets a lot harder to do.

 

[funwithahoe]

Thank you for the post - Reminds us to keep on our toes!!

 

[budcampo]

I definately agree that it is much easier to pull stumps out if you don't cut it off at the ground, I pull a lot of stumps out, and if it hasn't been cut low already I usually leave 4-6 feet, maybe a little more say 8' if the tree is real big, it makes all the difference.
All the safety stuff is super important, can't forget how fast it can all go wrong when playing with the big toys! I have diamond plate welded inbetween my role bars, it's not a 100% sure safety, but it makes me feel a lot more comfortable when yanking heavy stuff out. It's always a stuggle to keep our crew away from that stuff, it's so mesmemizing to them to watch stuff like that, they'll wrap a chain, or a cable around a couple thousand pound piece of wood and want to stand right next to it as I'm pulling....

 

[randallwk]

I broke my foot once when a cable/chain let lose flew back and slammed into me. I was very lucky it did not hit me up side the head. I knew better then to do something like that but was tired and in a hurry. My father watched a guy get a cable planted through his head, while in the army, they{not my father he was just observing} were trying to pull a half track out. Folks need to be very carefull when working with projects like this, weak links, weak hooks, bad cables/straps are like loaded guns and can turn a good day into something terrible real fast.

Was trying to pull over a 6" tree that had been cut to about 6' tall using pickup truck with 25' chain, hooked high, I snatched and chain snapped close to tree, I was looking out back window and for an instant I could see the chain rolling thru air coming at me, just before it got there I bent down, chain came thru back window and about 4' of it piled up on seat beside me, missed me but wife had to pick small shards of glass out of my back. (have never snatched another chain).

 

[Deere Dude]

As a 12 yo boy me and my dad were pulling car frames off their bodies using chains. We would push the car up on its side and chain the body to a couple trees. Then I would jump on an old Allis-Chalmers tractor.... 40 hp? narrow front end (even in 1960 it was old). The tires were about a stall as me if I recall.

He would hook up the chains and I would be the driver. Back up to the car frame to give the tractor some running room before the crunch. No first gear slow pulling for me. Usually there would be some give as the metal would give way.

One time I do remember the chain either unhooked at the car or broke, but as I was ripping it the slack came out I felt a jerk and then slack again just as the chain come right past my head, maybe a foot away and flew ahead of me about 10 feet. I don't recall what happened after that...if we just went back to work or what. I am sure my dad was a little sheepish and I don't think he told my mom.

I don't think he ever gave me any money from the scrap metal but he would buy these cars and let me and my sister drive them around in our 20 acre field in from of the house. When we would trash them we would just rip them apart.

 

[oosik]

A hint from years in Alaska, pulling every wheeled thing know to man out of bottomless water soaked peat bogs. Prevent "snap back" by placing a heavy wool blanket on the winch line. It will absorb the majority of the "snap back" energy and the winch line will simply drop to the ground - should it break.

 

[pmsmechanic]

Years ago when I was involved in farming we would need to pull out stuck machinery. A car tire attached between two chains or a chain run through the car tire will absorb the energy if something breaks. Similar to having a mat or a heavy blanket over the chain.

As previously mentioned. I really like the idea of wrapping the chain around the rim. I've never seen a rim used before. We just used a heavy fence post or a log leaning against the power pole with the chain looped over top.

I like to cut the stump off as low as I can and then 2" checker board the top with a skill saw. A year later come along with a large hammer and knock the blocks off. Level the dirt over and your done. As the stump rots the grass grows over it.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

I hooked a few chains together to pull a dead tree down. Started to pull, but stopped and thought, if that chain breaks or slips off, this won't end well. So i didnt pull the tree. Cut it with chainsaw instead.

 

[oosik]

I wish I had kept the picture of a '69 Ford Bronco after it pulled itself out of a fairly difficult situation. The winch line broke and the winch end snapped back and left a deep crease right up the hood, thru the windshield and dented the very top lip of the cab. Obviously, scared the living crap out of the driver and left a deep impression on all who were at that 4WD run.

 

[coldsteelva]

A cut down strip of stall mat works great for this type of safety. Placed closer to the load than the tow. If the chain snaps, the heavy, dense rubber mat drags that now flying load right into the dirt and the free end doesn't have enough length to reach back to the operator.

 

[airbiscuit]

Do you have enough horsepower for one of these?