What's your technique for removing trees/brush with your grapple? Here's mine....

[Richard]

Nice thread.... don't think I've ever seen it.

I use my hoe to dig up part of the root ball and leave part of the ground untouched to (hopefully) act as a hinge to keep tree from falling a direction I don't want.

My wife's cousin lives next door. Had a tree that was too close to the house, wanted it down....didn't trust himself with a Stihl... I said what about digging it.... he thought that was interesting.

I've shared these before so if you've think you've seen them, you might have.

 

[Richard]

Best part was, I got to make the mess, drop the tree..... when done, I got to go home. He & his helper used his smaller tractor/loader to cut it up and dispose of it.

 

[two_bit_score]

I use my JD110 TLB front bucket or even pallet forks to push trees over. Depending on the ground conditions and the age/size of the trees I may also use the backhoe to push them over.

 

[WranglerX]

Don't have grapple.... Chain saw, 1/4 X 30 foot chain and DIY brush forks that fit FEL....

 

[BnRidge]

Pushing over trees with the grapple here would result in dead limbs falling onto the tractor, and onto me. And leave behind a pile of tangled roots still on the ground. I would just as soon not repeat that. I prefer cutting larger stuff off at the ground, into 15ft or 1500lb chunks and grappling it away. Stuff that's hung up gets a chain and pull. 3-10ft chains are versatile and gets me out of the way. On another note, I was able to witness the construction of a commercial building from our nearby office. With the right equipment (excavator and dozer), they were able to make very quick work of a forest of trees by knocking them over and crunching them into dump trucks. I don't have that kind of equipment.

 

[Richard]

I use my JD110 TLB front bucket or even pallet forks to push trees over. Depending on the ground conditions and the age/size of the trees I may also use the backhoe to push them over.

(late, I know)

So in a sense, you are "driving" over the tree to push it down with your loader?

I thought about that because "I can keep driving" (pushing) BUT... I also felt/feared that you risk the root ball popping up UNDER the front of your machine. My belly has no protection so if that were to happen, I'd be at risk of something getting smashed or snagged. Also, that puts me closer to the tree so if something falls, (my thinking is) if I can be 10/15 feet away from tree and a (thin) roof over me, I have a bit more protection than if I'm closer to the tree.

Ultimately, my real concern is the root ball popping up under the engine. Has that ever happened? I would think you might get more pushing power by driving over but, I don't know that to be factual.

 

[2manyrocks]

I may be misunderstanding what is being said, but my assumption is that you have more force available by using the hydraulic boom on the BH than by trying to drive over or push over a tree with the tractor. Using the boom certainly allows for more visibility to see what's going on.

To me, one risk of using a backhoe is that you're right under the tree canopy where dead limbs can fall on the operator's station. One of my relatives has a tree cutting service. If he isn't sure about how about a tree will fall when near a house, he has a long cable that he uses to pull the tree with a 100HP or so tractor. The tractor isn't under the tree canopy this way, but the operator has to be sure to maintain tension on the cable so the tree doesn't jump in a bad direction.

 

[two_bit_score]

(late, I know)

So in a sense, you are "driving" over the tree to push it down with your loader?

I thought about that because "I can keep driving" (pushing) BUT... I also felt/feared that you risk the root ball popping up UNDER the front of your machine. My belly has no protection so if that were to happen, I'd be at risk of something getting smashed or snagged. Also, that puts me closer to the tree so if something falls, (my thinking is) if I can be 10/15 feet away from tree and a (thin) roof over me, I have a bit more protection than if I'm closer to the tree.

Ultimately, my real concern is the root ball popping up under the engine. Has that ever happened? I would think you might get more pushing power by driving over but, I don't know that to be factual.

I don’t drive over the tree. I put the bucket high on the tree and lower the bucket and drive forward a little. Then reposition the bucket on the tree and push/drive forward some more.

By this time I can tell if the tree is going to Easily pop out or not. I can try to break it out with the loader bucket or if it’s stubborn I may back up and drop the out riggers and break some roots with the backhoe. Just keep working at it until I get it loose.

I never drive the Tractor over the tree.

 

[Fuddyduddy1952]

.

 

[two_bit_score]