Tractor size for clearing trees?

[kingrace78]

A tornado went through my property last Sunday, cut a 500' path through the middle. I have hundreds of trees down that I need to decide what to do with. This spring I was set to buy a R4041h but was too late, all was sold. (I did not like the idea of the price increase and tier 4 engines of the new models)
Will a xr4040h be able to handle a large enough brush grapple to help me move debri around? Or would I need a larger tractor?
Thanks John

 

[Rustyiron]

John it really depends on how small of pieces you want to cut the trees into (before moving) & how many "trips" you are willing to make. I'm a bigger the better type, while considering the toy budget in there somewhere. iGood luck.

 

[k0ua]

A tornado went through my property last Sunday, cut a 500' path through the middle. I have hundreds of trees down that I need to decide what to do with. This spring I was set to buy a R4041h but was too late, all was sold. (I did not like the idea of the price increase and tier 4 engines of the new models)
Will a xr4040h be able to handle a large enough brush grapple to help me move debri around? Or would I need a larger tractor?
Thanks John

John how big are the trees.. how big at the base, and how long? My first thought is sure, the xr4040h is a pretty good sized tractor. The loader with grapple should be able to lift close to a ton of tree and put it somewhere else. So yeah probably big enough to do what you want to do, unless they are giant sequoias in Kansas.

 

[k0ua]

John also please don't forget that with the grapple one one end of the tractor lifting a heavy load, you will need a suitable counterweight on the 3pt. end of the tractor. Something around 1200 lbs up close or it could be lighter in the form of an implement that sticks out like a heavy duty bush hog or heavy duty box blade. But if you want ballast with minimum stick out for maneuverability you will need around 1200 or more lbs.

 

[ovrszd]

The decider, based on the information you've included so far is "time". I previously had a 44hp Kubota that I did a LOT of Grapple work with. After awhile my patience wore a little thin so I sold it and moved up. Not solely for that reason though because I had an Agricultural use for a larger tractor which made the move up easier to swallow. Now I'd hate to go back.

I think what's most important here is what are you going to do with the tractor after you are done clearing trees?? Be kinda silly to have a larger tractor to do lawn work with next Fall.

 

[MtnViewRanch]

The decider, based on the information you've included so far is "time". I previously had a 44hp Kubota that I did a LOT of Grapple work with. After awhile my patience wore a little thin so I sold it and moved up. Not solely for that reason though because I had an Agricultural use for a larger tractor which made the move up easier to swallow. Now I'd hate to go back.

I think what's most important here is what are you going to do with the tractor after you are done clearing trees?? Be kinda silly to have a larger tractor to do lawn work with next Fall.

I don't know about that. I have always thought that it would be sort of cool to have a 40' wide lawn and a 20" mower to mow with. A trip down and back and you're all done. :thumbsup:

 

[TomSeller]

The larger, heavier the grapple the less load it can pick up. I know that is obvious, but the tendency is to think big beefy grapples can carry more weight. More brush volume, yes, but not more weight.

 

[kingrace78]

Thanks everyone for their ideas.
John

 

[Gary Fowler]

A tornado went through my property last Sunday, cut a 500' path through the middle. I have hundreds of trees down that I need to decide what to do with. This spring I was set to buy a R4041h but was too late, all was sold. (I did not like the idea of the price increase and tier 4 engines of the new models)
Will a xr4040h be able to handle a large enough brush grapple to help me move debri around? Or would I need a larger tractor?
Thanks John

If a tornado blew over trees with root ball attached, you aren't going to find any tractor big enough to lift or carry that even if you cut the trunk off if the trees are 20" trunk diameter or larger Oaks. The root ball is just too large. Rather than trying to find a tractor to do this job, consider hiring a dozer to push everything into a pile for you. This wont take a D6 or larger dozer but a few hours, likely just the minimum cost to push the trees into a pile for later burning. He could just windrow them, pushing for each side to the middle and then pushing the whole pile together if it isn't large enough for a burn so you would have a few large individual piles rather than a long row. It all depends on your tree density, but a D6 or D7 dozer can push a large pile of brush and trees. A root rake on the dozer is what I would be looking for so you get minimum dirt mixed in. Around here, that size dozer goes for about $85 per hours with 4 hour minimum.

You didn't specify how long the 500 foot swathe is but normal forest concentration would be easily done at about 100 feet length per hour of time.

 

[buickanddeere]

D9 cat.

Working in the woods with a tractor tends to leave it beaten and dented to bits. There will be no dangling wires or hoses left either.

 

[jaydee325]

D9 is a big boy!!

Current model D9T weighs over 106,000 lbs!

That will clear some trees and then some.:laughing:

 

[ovrszd]

I don't know about that. I have always thought that it would be sort of cool to have a 40' wide lawn and a 20" mower to mow with. A trip down and back and you're all done. :thumbsup:

Me too Brian!!! Especially after a couple hours of mowing my 3 acre yard with my 62" deck.....

 

[ovrszd]

D9 is a big boy!!

Current model D9T weighs over 106,000 lbs!

That will clear some trees and then some.:laughing:

Heheheheh. Yeah, I'm not sure the quoter knows how big a D9 actually is!!!! A D6 maybe.

 

[SPYDERLK]

The larger, heavier the grapple the less load it can pick up. I know that is obvious, but the tendency is to think big beefy grapples can carry more weight. More brush volume, yes, but not more weight.

Go for a heavy duty 5' grapple. You want ruggedness, but width of a grapple can be in the way sometimes and narrow can end up being more universally useful. Width is not important for carrying since clamping holds things securely and with narrow you dont need as large an unobstructed sweet spot to get a grip.
larry

 

[buickanddeere]

Heheheheh. Yeah, I'm not sure the quoter knows how big a D9 actually is!!!! A D6 maybe.

Go big or go home. May as well dream big.

 

[TripleR]

I don't know if this would work for you, but this happened to us several years ago and a logger paid us for the salvageable timber then we had much less work to do. Using tractors and a backhoe, it still took us a very long time for the cleanup.

I have all of one day with my new grapple, so can't help with that.

 

[ovrszd]

Go for a heavy duty 5' grapple. You want ruggedness, but width of a grapple can be in the way sometimes and narrow can end up being more universally useful. Width is not important for carrying since clamping holds things securely and with narrow you dont need as large an unobstructed sweet spot to get a grip.larry

I agree. I use a 6' bucket grapple on my 7.5' wide tractor. Working in confined areas such as timber I wouldn't want it any wider.

 

[kingrace78]

Thanks everyone for their opinions. I ordered a XR4046H. I have looked for a couple of years and finally bit the bullet. I will post pictures when I get it.
Thanks
John

 

[vtsnowedin]

Hey they deforested most of North America with single bitted axes and teams of oxen and horses. So any tractor will do if you have the time. A loader on a tractor is very useful and a grapple even more so . Just cut the big stuff into pieces your unit will handle easily and safely.
I've cut blown over trees off one log from the stump and pulled the top out of the way then stood the stump and butt log back up into place (watch that it doesn't pop up by itself when you cut off the top) Then you can cut the butt log down and leave the stump with all its dirt in place while the stump rots. You can drive over and brush hog over a close trimmed stump much easier then you can a big stump hole.

 

[ovrszd]

Then you can cut the butt log down and leave the stump with all its dirt in place while the stump rots. You can drive over and brush hog over a close trimmed stump much easier then you can a big stump hole.

I've never found that to be true. The dirt around a growing large tree is heaved because of root growth. Cut the tree and kill the stump and the dirt settles. A flush cut stump after a couple years will start hitting the brush cutter. Not pretty. If you've got a tree blown over, take advantage of the situation and remove the stump while it's unearthed. You can always haul in dirt if needed.