Best Way To Remove This Tree

[JasonL]

I agree completely with Eddie on this one. I have taken down larger trees than that with my smaller tractor and BH. Since stump removal is required in this instance why waste the leverage the tree gives in helping to remove it? Also, I think you have more control over the tree at ALL times using his method. There is nothing worse than having a tree cut off at the bottom, but standing nearly vertical stuck in nearby trees. As with any job, think twice before acting and be safe! Jason

 

[kmdigital]

Do like Eddie says. You might have to cut the tree up some once it's on the ground to be able to move it with the tractor, especially if the root ball is pretty big. But that's the easy part.

I dug out a black walnut that was about twice that big, and it took a lot of digging, I couldn't push it over until I had a big trench about 3' deep all the way around it, and it still went hard. Then I couldn't even budge the dumb thing with my Kubota L4150 until I cut off the stump with about 4' of trunk on it, and then I had to roll the root ball out of the hole with the chain before I could drag it away. Trees are a lot like those anti-tip kids drinking cups that are weighted on the bottom.

 

[tractorlogger]

Get someone who knows how to fell a tree to cut it down for you...

Dont go around a tree pushing with a tractor and FEL etc. I know one fellow who tried that and the tree came down and pinned him on the machine....

He doesnt do that anymore due to 6 feet of ground on top of him...

You have no where to go when you are sitting on a machine and things start to fall from above....

If he cuts it and it hangs up, just pull it down the rest of the way with a long
chain..

We work in the woods everyday and never do what a lot of people are telling you to do here...

Tear the stump and roots out after the tree is felled...

 

[Deerlope]

Look at the tree down the road on the right side. It must go! The stump must also be removed so I can straighten out the road.

The trouble is, I don't know how to remove it. What's the best way to remove it?

Please don't tell me to climb up this tree and cut the trunk down piece by piece using a chainsaw! I'm too much of a chicken to do such a thing. In fact, I'm too chicken to cut down a tree this size while standing on the ground.

TBNers, I need your help.

Obed

If I could get rid of that little tree I would get rid of all my toys and stay in the house with the women. Notch the tree the way that it is leaning and cut. Drag is away with the JD.

 

[EddieWalker]

There seems to be two camps here. Those who like chainsaws and those who like backhoes. I've done both and the chainsaw way scares me.

I've heard all sorts of stories of injury or damage from a tree that's cut down with a chainsaw. The best and most experienced people with a chainsaw will all have stories of close calls, injuries or of those who died from cutting down a tree this way.

I'm sure there are the same stories of those who take out a tree with a backhoe, but as of yet, I haven't heard a single one. It would take dozens and dozens of stories to just equal all the ones I've heard about cutting down trees with a chainsaw.

I would ask those who recomend using the chainsaw to take down the tree as the better way, Have you ever taken out a tree with a backhoe, or seen it done?

I wouldn't do it myself and would never recomend it if I thought it wasn't safe. You have more control of the tree with the hoe stick than you do with a cable tied to a truck or tractor. I can put a tree down exactly where i want it. I can steer it on it's way down and have even changed directions of trees to get the lined up easier to cut up and burn.

If he dug a ten foot pit all the way around the tree, it won't fall over. He will have to use the power of his hydraulics on his backhoe to push it over. Nobody should try to push a tree over by driving up to it and pushing with the power of the tractors tires. This would never work. But with the hoestick, it's a very simple thing to accomplish.

As for cutting down the tree with a chainsaw, then digging out the stump with the backhoe. My question is why? This makes no sense to me at all. Take it all out at once in a very little time and be done with it. A stup that is still part of the tree comes out real easy because the weight and leverage of the tree does most of the work. Leave that stump in the ground, and you will have a big job gettng it out, after you've alread had a big job cutting down the tree. Don't turn one simple job into a dangerous job cuttin git down with the chainsaw, and then a dificult one digging out the stump.

Good luck,
Eddie

 

[SPYDERLK]

Eddie, I agree about the danger of felling a tree with a chainsaw - especially in the woods. I am curious tho, why you say pushing with the tires would never work, whereas with the hydraulics would. It seems I can push much harder with my traction than I can with my hydraulics. For a sound tree that size I would probably just drive up and push it down with the loader on the Mahindra - then lift on the stump for extra traction and push it free. I dont think any digging would be neccessary. Were the tree much larger tho, I would probably have to weaken its grip with the BH. Im just undecided whether it would be better to then push it down with the FEL or the BH. Is the issue more control and reach, thereby safety?
Larry

 

[JHTFarmer]

Why fell that tree? That windy road has some character.
Why not use the BB to move the road slightly away from the tree and widen the curve down below?

 

[Renze]

I dont have a backhoe, nor stump grinder.

2 years ago i cleared a couple of oaks that had their roots sticking out of the ground, they dulled my mower blades and broke tines on the rake so at least the roots had to go.

I chopped off two 5" roots with an axe, then hooked the chain on them and pulled them out very easy, over a length of about 3 yards before they got so thin that the ends snapped.

Because i removed 2 fairly big roots i was afraid that someday it might fall on my new fence along the wood during a storm. To test the tree, I backed the tractor up into the fencerow and hit it slowly with the grill guard. it started waving its crown way more than i expected, so i decided that the whole tree had to go.
I intermittently pushed to get the tree to wave stronger, and then pushed on from the dead point of the wave onwards, and pushed the tree over while most of the roots broke during the fall.
Then we chopped the trunk about 4 meter above the root ball, dragged the crown away to a spot where my neighbor sawed it to pieces, while i kept working on the root ball.

That was a 15" oak, and it was turned into firewood, gone with roots and all within 3 hours.

If you chop off the roots and pull them out one by one, you will have the least work with it afterwards, backfilling the spot when the roots decompose.

 

[Deerlope]

On second thought I would leave the tree right where it is. It probably took 50 years for it to grow that big. It was there before you so move your road to avoid it. You got the equipment and beside it makes for a good speed control device.

 

[randy41]

there are roads around here with trees alongside them like that. state maintained roads. i would leave it.
but removing it is sure no big deal especially with the equipment you've got.
a chainsaw is not a tool to be feared as some of these posts would lead you to think. just learn to use it.

 

[Champy]

I would offer this simple advice - stick with what you know or what you feel capable of learning to do SAFELY.

Some trees are made to be cut / others are real pushovers. Each has its own risks and benefits. The biggest issue either way is to make sure you have an escape route, and be sure you check to see if the tree is rotten, split, or otherswise capable of doing something strange or unexpected. And finally, never do anything by yourself, always have someone else there for advice, help, or to call 911.

Good luck

 

[EddieWalker]

Eddie, I agree about the danger of felling a tree with a chainsaw - especially in the woods. I am curious tho, why you say pushing with the tires would never work, whereas with the hydraulics would. It seems I can push much harder with my traction than I can with my hydraulics. For a sound tree that size I would probably just drive up and push it down with the loader on the Mahindra - then lift on the stump for extra traction and push it free. I dont think any digging would be neccessary. Were the tree much larger tho, I would probably have to weaken its grip with the BH. Im just undecided whether it would be better to then push it down with the FEL or the BH. Is the issue more control and reach, thereby safety?
Larry

Larry,

If he can drive up to the tree and push it over with his his FEL and the traction from his tires, then that would be the easiest way. I've found it almost impossible to take out trees this way. Granted, my backhoe is only two wheel drive, but I do have 80 hp and a full one yard bucket. Small trees just bend and big ones don't budge.

If you mean to push it with the FEL after he's dug his trenches all the way around, again, this means driving over and around the spoils piles. To me, this is very dangerous. I also don't think he will have very much traction to push over the tree in these condistions.

His backhoe hydraulics has thousands and thousands of foot pounds of forces. Much, much more than he'll have at the tires. It's not even close.

With the backhoe outriggers and FEL on the ground, he's locked down solid. This gives him maximum power with his backhoe. WAY MORE than anything else he owns.

Just to wonder off topic a bit, I've found that the very best way to get something big and heavy unstuck is with the hoe stick. The very first lesson I had with this was when I buried a John Deere 450G dozer in the mud along the edge of my small pond. The guy who owned the dozer told me that we could pull it out easy with my backhoe. It's why he has that sized dozer, it's easy to get unstuck!! We hooked the chain to the blade of the dozer and the bucket of the backhoe and pulled it right out of the mud. I think that dozer weighs around 17,000 punds, but I could be off a few grand here.

Another time I had a delilvery of lumber on a flatbed truck. I don't know what it weighs, but it was loaded with allot of wood and he drove off the road into the mud and buried the front end to the bumper. I did the same thing with the backhoe and just poped him right out real easy.

Neither of those two examples would be possible with just HP and traction. Not with anything I have anyway.

I also have a 165 HP dozer that I tried to pull a stump out of the ground with one time. I figured I had all this power and traction, that I'd just wrap the chain around it and pull it out. NOPE. I snaped the chain. So then I finished up what I was doing with the dozer, and brought the backhoe out. A little digging to get under it, and it popped right out.

I hope I answered your question,
Eddie

 

[toolaholic]

Thank's for all the backhoe info Eddie. You have much praticle experiance.

bought a massey ferguson 50 hx ,extendahoe . 16,000 lbs, 1700 hrs at auction.

this is a tight ex city machine 2 wheel drive. I have little experiance, but I'm listening. thank's

 

[kubotabilly]

You guys are making this project entirely to difficult. First, cut the tree about 3 foot off the ground (this gives you some leverage to remove the stump with the backhoe). Second, get the remainder of the tree out of the way. Third, dig around the stump and remove it. Fourth, fill the hole and compact it with your tractor tire and you now have a roadway thats clear of that blasted tree Always do a project like this with safety in mind. Always have an escape route. If you try to push that tree over you will have a dead branch from the tree hit you smack on the head I've removed many trees with my method and have had no problems. You have the equipment, now apply it. Remember, saftey first!!! Good Luck!!!

Bill

 

[Renze]

Egon, i think i should clarify that:

What i do is put a rope, or preferrably a belt under my arms around me and the tree, while my feet are resting on some branches. clearance between the tree and me is about a foot, just enough to feel comfortable. This way i can use one hand to use the hand saw and the other holding myself in position while leaning in the rope.
I should have said "leaning in the rope" instead of "hanging" i suppose, the latter gives the wrong idea of what i mean, probably due to recent Iraqi events in mind

 

[toolaholic]

Renze, FOUL .There are tulips in Holland! We're talking TREES Man !

 

[Egon]

Renze:

How about a full harness with steel corded tie off rope so the saw does not cut through it?

 

[SPYDERLK]

Eddie, Im going to try what you say, and when Ive had a good chance at it Ill let you know what I find out. I seem to have counterindications but it could be my lack of experience in not doing it in an optimal way.
As for loader push over it may be your 2WD or trees with better root systems. In our area with the 4WD Mahindra, 18"D oak seems to be the practical limit to having a good chance of just pushing it over. I engage the tree with the bucket at between 9 and 10'. Closer to 9 because I think it is important that it not be at full height [10' at level lip]. I tip the bucket upward about 15 degrees and push. The tractor with loader,BH,and loaded rears weighs about 12K#. The push against the tree causes the tractor to try to go under the loader arms, levering them upward. The bucket lip digs into the tree at least an inch and the lip on the 6' bucket flexes downward a great deal. These two things force the tractor harder against the ground while lifting the tree. In my experience the rootball starts to tip. I ease off gently and tip the bucket up a little more so that push will counter the downward bend on its lip. I then reengage the tree at the same notch and push again. Usually this results in a 30-40 degree lean and the tractor is obout to climb on the rootball. At this point I find it effective to back up and lift and push on the exposed edge of the rootball - the tree goes to ground. It still amazes me! Im looking for a very stong 4' bucket so I dont have to tip it up so much - it has a tendency to skive out the notch.
Larry