CK25 FEL not strong as expected

dwl_99 · Apr 8, 2009

I just got a new gear CK25 with a FEL, toothbar, and an 6 ft box blade. The loader will not pull up small (2" diameter) trees even when I run the blade in the ground under it. I try to rotate the bucket and/or raise the bucket, but it does not have the power to extract the small tree, and i have to back up.
I am new to tractors, so it could be that I just expected too much, or my tractor has a problem. Any thoughts?

Gittyup · Apr 9, 2009

Make sure you are running at or near pto rpm's. That makes a difference in power. Remember, the loader is rated for like 1300 lbs tops. A well rooted tree, might take more power than that to dislodge. Have you tried planting the loader under the root ball and driving through it while at the same time lifting/curling the bucket? Once you loosen the root ball, push the tree over from up high and then get under the root ball again. Don't dig too deep.

Also, make sure the tractor is good and warm before putting a great deal of work on the loader. These little tractors can do a lot. Uprooting 2" diameter trees is well within its capacity. Takes a little practice and experience to use it effectively though. I've popped out many little trees with no problem. Some take a couple of tries, but if you get a hold of them right and use the power of the tractor and the loader together, they'll come right out. Just remember a CK25 isn't a bulldozer.

IslandTractor · Apr 9, 2009

dwl_99 said:
I am new to tractors, so it could be that I just expected too much, or my tractor has a problem. Any thoughts?

You might try knocking the tree over first which will break some of the roots and loosen the others. I could easily get out 2 inch trees with my CK20 (very similar loader strength) but I almost always had to knock them over a bit first. My drill was to put the bucket/grapple up high and drive into the tree from one side to knock it over maybe to 45 degrees then change position and do the same thing from a perpendicular approach. Then I could stick the grapple tines under the exposed roots and just lift the tree out. Gittyup's point about using both the loader and the power of the tractor to drive forwards is an important thing to remember too. That technique worked very well for trees up to about 4 inches in diameter. Even bushes have pretty strong root systems so you do need to disrupt those before just pulling them up in many cases. My current tractor has more than double the lift capacity of the CK20/25 but for big bushes I still need to knock them over to expose roots before I can pop them out.

SunnyJim · Apr 9, 2009

I have been clearing an acre or so of small trees in very soft NC soil with my CK25HST. Push them over then back up and lift the roots out of the ground with the bucket or you can even use a chain on the bucket. Oak saplings will bend and bouce back up with no broken roots FYI. Even a 1 inch sapling can be near impossible to get out of the ground since it is so flexible. Just using the bucket I would end up digging a huge hole to remove them. Using a set of forks or a quick spade on the forks limits the size of the hole. If they are small enough I just shred them.

I set my bucket at least 5-6 feet up on larger trees and push them over or even a group of trees then lift the roots and stack them on 1 of my many piles. I don't have to run my engine all that fast to accomplish what I want to do, 1300-1400 rpms is all I need.

FYI it only takes 3 loads of sand from my CK25's bucket to reach the limit of my F150. I did do 4 once and had to ride on the bump stops across some really rough ground in 4 wheel drive low. After seeing my tires nearly smashed flat with 4 I backed off to 3 bucket loads. I also lifted the back of my F150 off the round with my CK25 when I had to change a flat 2 days ago. Ran over sum debris in the field and wrecked the sidewall on the tire.

rd_macgregor · Apr 9, 2009

I managed to put a bit of a curve in the edge of my bucket by pushing on a tree that refused to give. Maybe the smaller tractors don't have the pushing power to do that, but I'm trying to be more careful about how I put the bucket against the tree now when I'm doing this kind of thing ...oh, yeah, also it works lots better on a 4" tree than a 10" tree!!
BOB

SunnyJim · Apr 9, 2009

I went ahead and put my new tire back on my truck. The 1st pic is tractor lifting the back of the truck with the spare still on then 1 of truck with new tire and ck 25 with howse forks. FYI howse forks weight roughly 350 lbs so I would say a CK25 still has some lifting ability.

JoelD · Apr 9, 2009

uprooting trees is one of the hardest things for a machine to do period. I've had trouble with 6 inchers with my 12000lb dozer. There is no way, without a big excavator, to pull trees up out of the ground like a carrot. A pine tree is easy to knock over and dig the root ball out (not even really a root ball). But a hardwood, forget about it. You can pull and pull all day and you are not going to rip that thing up. I use my backhoe for the hardwoods, and even then it can be a 1.2 day job on anything bigger than 10 or inches around. My soil is rocky so stump extraction is a big deal.

I think you just happened to try to do the hardest thing first.

Joel

dwl_99 · Apr 9, 2009

Thanks for the help guys! I will give your suggestions a try. Like anything, I'm sure it takes some getting used to. By the way, I read about everything on this site before I made my purchase last week. This is a GREAT site, especially for us new to tractors. thanks again! David

greenmule · Apr 9, 2009

If you buy a small tractor and expect it to act like a real big one,or a dozer,than you are soon going to be spending a lot of money on repairs.

a front end loader is just that,you load a loose something into/onto something,not to be used as a dozer.

You might get away with it for awhile,but not for long.

IslandTractor · Apr 10, 2009

greenmule said:
If you buy a small tractor and expect it to act like a real big one,or a dozer,than you are soon going to be spending a lot of money on repairs.

a front end loader is just that,you load a loose something into/onto something,not to be used as a dozer.

You might get away with it for awhile,but not for long.

I agree to an extent but you can certainly use a small tractor and FEL to knock down and dig out small trees without doing damage. The key is to use the tractors weight and leverage rather than just trying brute force. It doesn't really hurt the FEL to use it to push against a 3-4 inch tree so long as you are centerline and are pushing, not ramming the tree. Pushing up high uses leverage to advantage. Being patient and pushing from different sides until the roots are loosened up rather than trying to get it all done with one try is also better for the equipment.

I do agree that tractors are not dozers and the most obvious potential weakness of the tractor is the length of the FEL arms compared with the short stubby arms of a dozer. The FEL is plenty strong but you don't want to do anything that could apply a twisting force like pushing off center or ramming.

I actually use a grapple rather than bucket for this sort of thing but if I were to use a bucket I'd try to get both top and bottom edges on the tree rather than put all the force on just one edge. Also it is reasonable to stiffen the bucket with either a cutting edge or toothbar if you are doing this type of work.