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

[rd_macgregor]

The lack of a PTO Is not limiting, since it can use skid steer attachments such as a brush hog or wood chipper.

The hydraulic flow rate is 22 gpm. Pressure is 3600 psi.

This 7' rotary mower is what I bought 5 years ago for pasture mowing.

Having about twice the hydraulic flow rate of a typical CUT makes all the difference. I suspect most CUTs couldn't even run those front hydraulic implements...even if we CUT owners could afford them!
How far below grade will the telehandler dig with a bucket?

 

[DLTTrekkers]

Now for the bon fire !

 

[Xfaxman]

Having about twice the hydraulic flow rate of a typical CUT makes all the difference. I suspect most CUTs couldn't even run those front hydraulic implements...even if we CUT owners could afford them!
How far below grade will the telehandler dig with a bucket?

Probably as deep as necessary: http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/...pact-telehandler-post3525578.html#post3525578

You can curl down and raise the front tires, then extend the boom to fill the bucket.

This bucket is 6' wide, holds 1 cubic yard.

Notice that the rear tires are off of the ground.

 

[Xfaxman]

Now for the bon fire !

Yep. :thumbsup:

 

[EverythingAttachments]

Now for the marshmallows!
Travis

 

[Tomtint]

Just yesterday I started to selectively prune the woods along our driveway. There. We're several dead and standing oaks as well as pines. I used the skidsteer for the bulk of the knock down and subsequent stacking of the downed timber. Then a quick once over with the L3700 and ratchet rake to pick up loose ends. Got about a 400 feet long by 80 feet deep done so far. About 5x that left to go. The plan is to keep it cut low and have a carpet of pine needles with a view to the pond as you come up the driveway. Mowing will be done with a rough cut mower on the front of the skid. On another note, while doing all this, I found that someone decided to put a tree stand on my property, ... So I decided to give it away for them last night.

 

[BufordBoone]

Thanks to this post, I saved myself considerable time and sweat taking out a small tree this weekend.

Time because the recommended technique was much faster than getting out the saw, putting on the chaps, cutting the tree and then dealing with the stump.

Sweat mainly because it's HOT in Alabama but cool in the air conditioned cab.

Really appreciating my EA grapple.

 

[Xfaxman]

Thread bump for newbies and those that have not seen it.

Had a dead tree break off high on the trunk on a windy day.

Tried to push it over last December when I took out the tree next to it and the trunk broke a little lower.

Let it set and rot until last Tuesday, pushed on the side where this arrow is and some roots broke.

Drove around to the other side and pulled it out with the grapple. :thumbsup:

Note the pry bar hanging on the left side of the grapple, used it to get the dirt off of the root ball.

 

[mike69440]

Xfaxman
That dirt down your way gives up easy. Looks easy digging. What happens to trees in severe wind your way?
I've had a 5" Oak stop my excavator, and it weights another 3 tons over your telehandler When the roots grab hold of rocks and other tree roots, they don't give up.
I've had a few large trees that I found easy to push, mainly pine and birch, but most don't budge.

Is that off road AT dump yours?

Cool if it is. Must be handy.

 

[Xfaxman]

Xfaxman
That dirt down your way gives up easy. Looks easy digging. What happens to trees in severe wind your way?
I've had a 5" Oak stop my excavator, and it weights another 3 tons over your telehandler When the roots grab hold of rocks and other tree roots, they don't give up.
I've had a few large trees that I found easy to push, mainly pine and birch, but most don't budge.

Is that off road AT dump yours?

Cool if it is. Must be handy.

Not easy digging, it is red clay and sand rock most places. Strong winds usually don't bother live trees, but tornadoes do.

Most of the trees that I push over have been dead awhile, so the roots break easier than live trees. The V417 has about 7,000 pounds drawbar pull (or push) and about 7,000 pounds boom breakout force. 14,000 pounds pushing on a dead tree trunk will either break the roots loose or break the trunk if pushing too high up.

Yep, bought the Dumper 7 years ago to use with the V518 removing silt from the pond where we lived back then.

I call it my 4WD Wheelbarrow. Still use it here where we live now.

This is the day we got it. It was delivered on a semi truck flatbed trailer. I used the V518 and pushed the red "portable loading dock" close to the back of his trailer and he backed it onto mine. I moved it from the side of the road into our driveway, lowered the ramps and drove it off.

Holds 4.5 cubic yards

And a lot of brush

 

[Xfaxman]

This is the first post of this thread from 6-11-2013 by Piston:

I had a member ask me about how I use my grapple for removing trees and grubbing brush. I figured rather than keep it a private conversation, I'd start a thread on it so other's could benefit as well. Not only that, but I'd like to be sure that what I tell him, is considered safe and effective among other grapple users as well. In addition, I'm always open to learning new ways of operation!
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I hope this post benefits someone and starts a chain reaction for other's to post their methods. I'm always willing to learn new ways of doing things. :thumbsup:

Bumping it to get some more methods from others.

 

[BackRoad]

Interesting in how I do much of what the original poster described when clearing trees with my EA Wicked Root grapple and MX6000 with loaded tires and a heavy old-school 1000# box blade on the rear.

Weight is your friend.

Someone mentioned picking up the root ball once the tree is down and dropping it a few times, which works. I also raise and lower the open grapple teeth against the root ball to "work it over", poking and scraping to loosen rocks and dirt stuck to the root ball.

I would rather as much of the dirt as possible goes back into the newly created root hole.

Also mentioned was ground condition. Hard pack summer ground seems to result in more break-offs rather than roots being exposed. Maples seem to be the ones (at least for me) which crack most often at ground level, often exposing jagged "trunk spikes".

I've found best results pushing trees after a good soaking rain as long as traction can be maintained.

One other variable is speed...not meaning a running start, but rather, a mindset of slowly pushing, leveraging the treetop weight to your advantage. Sometimes if you can get the tree to start leaning, and then dig into the roots on the side under the tractor and use the curl or forward tractor movement to lift at the root, it can help topple over some of the more stubborn trees. (Meaning it is not always just pushing on the tree trunk that eventually takes it down).

Lastly, the process is kind of enjoyable and it's rewarding to knock down trees, especially when reclaiming pasture, or to thin tree lots, so the remaining trees can grow with less competition.

 

[buck12]

Interesting in how I do much of what the original poster described when clearing trees with my EA Wicked Root grapple and MX6000 with loaded tires and a heavy old-school 1000# box blade on the rear.

Weight is your friend.

Someone mentioned picking up the root ball once the tree is down and dropping it a few times, which works. I also raise and lower the open grapple teeth against the root ball to "work it over", poking and scraping to loosen rocks and dirt stuck to the root ball.

I would rather as much of the dirt as possible goes back into the newly created root hole.

Also mentioned was ground condition. Hard pack summer ground seems to result in more break-offs rather than roots being exposed. Maples seem to be the ones (at least for me) which crack most often at ground level, often exposing jagged "trunk spikes".

I've found best results pushing trees after a good soaking rain as long as traction can be maintained.

One other variable is speed...not meaning a running start, but rather, a mindset of slowly pushing, leveraging the treetop weight to your advantage. Sometimes if you can get the tree to start leaning, and then dig into the roots on the side under the tractor and use the curl or forward tractor movement to lift at the root, it can help topple over some of the more stubborn trees. (Meaning it is not always just pushing on the tree trunk that eventually takes it down).

Lastly, the process is kind of enjoyable and it's rewarding to knock down trees, especially when reclaiming pasture, or to thin tree lots, so the remaining trees can grow with less competition.

The process can very rewarding. I am slowly reclaiming my place. The land has been in my family for over a hundred years and over the last 12 years I am slowly getting it back to what is was like when I was a kid.

For my uses a grapple is the single best tool one can add to a tractor.

 

[RoyKing]

Careful of sticks and FEL valves, pulled the wiring out of my 3rd function solenoid a $2000.00 bill. The underside is fragile, same sticks through grapple and into the radiator/Ac

 

[buck12]

Careful of sticks and FEL valves, pulled the wiring out of my 3rd function solenoid a $2000.00 bill. The underside is fragile, same sticks through grapple and into the radiator/Ac

I agree. I have a pretty good skid plate but have learned the hard way grill protection is also needed. A grill guard is next on my list.

 

[two_bit_score]

I agree. I have a pretty good skid plate but have learned the hard way grill protection is also needed. A grill guard is next on my list.

A wise investment.

 

[BackRoad]

Including the larger trees cut with the chainsaw, along with those pushed, I've taken down hundreds of trees, saplings and large invasive brush clumps.

...and I've got scratches on my loader and a poke through on my front grill to prove it - in spite of having a grill guard...cringed when I found it.

Now I consider it a badge of honor. Like a scar on a warrior.

As much as we love our tractors, they are tools meant to be used.

 

[Frankenkubota]

A wise investment.

Me too. punched in the plastic grill, lucky i didn't break the rad.

Someone said trees are hard on tractors. I'm learning, everything is hard on tractors if you are not careful.

 

[buck12]

Including the larger trees cut with the chainsaw, along with those pushed, I've taken down hundreds of trees, saplings and large invasive brush clumps.

...and I've got scratches on my loader and a poke through on my front grill to prove it - in spite of having a grill guard...cringed when I found it.

Now I consider it a badge of honor. Like a scar on a warrior.

As much as we love our tractors, they are tools meant to be used.

I was able to fix most of the damage. I bent the hood, metal mesh grill, and the headlights were aimed up. The only damage remaining is a couple of dimples in the hood and a crease in the grill. I was thankful for a metal hood and that the grill mesh is metal.

 

[two_bit_score]

Me too. punched in the plastic grill, lucky i didn't break the rad.

Someone said trees are hard on tractors. I'm learning, everything is hard on tractors if you are not careful.

You’re lucky!

A wise old sage told me once, “if money can fix it, it’s not really a problem.”