I\'m starting to clear 2 acres of my 5 total acres of wooded land. First, I\'m trying to clear up & pile up brush & downed small trees. I will also get into some larger trees later in the summer. I have a NH TC33 w/loader & 7\' blade to work with. Any hints on pushing trees & brush around? Are there forks for the NH 5\' heavy duty bucket? I\'m trying to cut down my time while maintaining safety. I already smashed in my grill screen a little on my new tractor! Any help would be appreciated...
clearing trees
- Thread starter shade2u2
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Cowboy
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shade2u2,
This may not be of much help. I would not use the small tractor to push ANY tree's with (as in knock down). Using it to pile small tree's with might be, okay (as in stack). Pushing tree's with a tractor without an approved ROPS can get you hurt, not to mention the damage that can be done to you machine. as far as stacking brush (small) with your tractor, you can put the loader in the full dump postion, and use the top apron of the bucket to push with (be prepared for dints, scratches and dings), and only push a small amount of brush with each pass, float the cutting edge and top apron just above the surface (this will hold down on the amount of dirt that ends up in your piles). My best suggestion to you is, hire a dozer to come in and push and pile for you. Then use your 33 to do the finishing touches and make your terra look great.
Be Safe...Think Safety First.
Good Luck.
Cowboy
BigBoyz Toyz
This may not be of much help. I would not use the small tractor to push ANY tree's with (as in knock down). Using it to pile small tree's with might be, okay (as in stack). Pushing tree's with a tractor without an approved ROPS can get you hurt, not to mention the damage that can be done to you machine. as far as stacking brush (small) with your tractor, you can put the loader in the full dump postion, and use the top apron of the bucket to push with (be prepared for dints, scratches and dings), and only push a small amount of brush with each pass, float the cutting edge and top apron just above the surface (this will hold down on the amount of dirt that ends up in your piles). My best suggestion to you is, hire a dozer to come in and push and pile for you. Then use your 33 to do the finishing touches and make your terra look great.
Be Safe...Think Safety First.
Good Luck.
Cowboy
BigBoyz Toyz
W5FL
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I was cautioned NOT to push with the bucket fully dumped, as the hydraulic actuators are much easier to damage when fully extended and they are NOT covered by warranty when you do that. Did that with my last tractor and fortunately didn't bend anything, but quit when I got this one.
A 4:1 bucket gives you a surface for this, but a TC-33 is not the right machine for this. 1 cylinder = many hours of D8 dozer time.
A 4:1 bucket gives you a surface for this, but a TC-33 is not the right machine for this. 1 cylinder = many hours of D8 dozer time.
W5FL
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I saw a rental tractor (47 HP) with mower that a guy pushed a bunch of trees with and cut them with the mower. The rental company charged him nearly $2000 in damages to the equipment plus the rental.
richh
Gold Member
If the trees are of any size rent / hire a cat or a crawler loader. THey can clean up this in no time. Trees are very tough and hard on a tractor, you need some heft.
Rich
Rich
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From what I've learned in clearing land with a TLB, get the factory optional grill guard if possible, on that add a frame made out of 3/4 or 1" square tubing with a sheet of expanded metal attached to it, a grill guard for the grill guard. Optional grill guards are for keeping hanging engines from hitting the tractor but don't stop a lot of brush.
If you're clearing brush, reinforce the cutting edge of the bucket and weld on teeth, the type that wrap on the bucket about 6-8 inches. Or get a bolt on tooth bar, otherwise you'll be mowing dirt instead of brush. The teeth also help in controlling any trees you think you can push.
Driving through the brush? Make sure you dig out any stalks completely before going over them or backing up, otherwise they can come up and wind their way around an axle, end up jabbing your leg, the throttle, finding their way into the radiator, in between small hydraulic metal lines and rupturing them. How about swirling their way up and pushing the battery into the hood, cloud of smoke, arc welded batter post, damn lucky to not have burned the tractor up. I've done it all /w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif Hindsight...get the D5 for a day, or if need be a track excavator. $400 with one and a ton of work will be done and your tractor will still look nice.
And any tree work requires a HD 4 post cover over your head, if not make sure your wife has lots of insurance money and is emotionally ready for your death.
And pushing trees "over"...pushed one, it instead broke clean off and fell backwards on top of me. My 4 post cover didn't even wince, I sure did.
TLB's just aren't designed for this so be wary, a dozer has a protected bottom and sides. A tractor makes it nice if you are cutting trees down and they don't fall, you can use a long chain to pull the bottom away from the stump.
A novice with a dozer will make a big mess so your tractor will come in handy. I have had some dozer operators work for me that when they are done I could have thrown out the grass seed. They start out with a removable rake and end with the finish blade. Actually for land clearing a big track loader is better than a dozer, as with a 4 in 1 bucket you can clamshell the stumps and pickup mouthfuls of brush for the burning pile.
Hope I didn't blab to much, just hope someone can learn from all my previous problems! /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif
del
If you're clearing brush, reinforce the cutting edge of the bucket and weld on teeth, the type that wrap on the bucket about 6-8 inches. Or get a bolt on tooth bar, otherwise you'll be mowing dirt instead of brush. The teeth also help in controlling any trees you think you can push.
Driving through the brush? Make sure you dig out any stalks completely before going over them or backing up, otherwise they can come up and wind their way around an axle, end up jabbing your leg, the throttle, finding their way into the radiator, in between small hydraulic metal lines and rupturing them. How about swirling their way up and pushing the battery into the hood, cloud of smoke, arc welded batter post, damn lucky to not have burned the tractor up. I've done it all /w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif Hindsight...get the D5 for a day, or if need be a track excavator. $400 with one and a ton of work will be done and your tractor will still look nice.
And any tree work requires a HD 4 post cover over your head, if not make sure your wife has lots of insurance money and is emotionally ready for your death.
And pushing trees "over"...pushed one, it instead broke clean off and fell backwards on top of me. My 4 post cover didn't even wince, I sure did.
TLB's just aren't designed for this so be wary, a dozer has a protected bottom and sides. A tractor makes it nice if you are cutting trees down and they don't fall, you can use a long chain to pull the bottom away from the stump.
A novice with a dozer will make a big mess so your tractor will come in handy. I have had some dozer operators work for me that when they are done I could have thrown out the grass seed. They start out with a removable rake and end with the finish blade. Actually for land clearing a big track loader is better than a dozer, as with a 4 in 1 bucket you can clamshell the stumps and pickup mouthfuls of brush for the burning pile.
Hope I didn't blab to much, just hope someone can learn from all my previous problems! /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif
del
richh
Gold Member
Del. you sure did good! I been there to and its not fun, hope he gets it. good post!
Rich
Rich
Mike H
Silver Member
I've got a TC33 and have been clearing lots of "trees" with it. It has worked beautifully for me. But I put "trees" is quotes on purpose. I've spent about 50 hours over the past 4 weeks getting a 10 acre pasture back under control. I've just about finished my first quarter mile of fence replacement. I've probably uprooted, knocked down, cut down between 100 and 200 "trees" and they're in about a dozen brush piles - gonna be some nice bonfires this winter! I've got the 7308 loader w/ a 68" heavy duty bucket and a 757C backhoe. Here are what kind of "trees" I've ben able to handle or not handle w/ the TC33:
1-2" up to about 10' I push over with the loader and chew up w/ a 5' rotary cutter. I can only chop up one or 2 inchers at a time or I'll stall it.
3-4" up to 15' (maybe 20' depending on the shape) I can uproot with the backhoe. Note that these are not big heavy trees.
4" -12" - chain saw and then use the backhoe to remove the stump
>12" Obviously the chain saw but now this is starting to work the backhoe more than I want (it's a pasture!) so after dealing with a couple of these, I've stopped messing with them.
I haven't had any trouble pushing anything I've taken down into piles with the loader. Last weekend I took down a couple 15" dia, 30' tall trees and pulled them with a chain. Tractor didn't even blink.
So, this is why I put "trees" in quotes. Most people (myself included) would probably call this brush. My TC worked great for what I needed but if the starting point is forest vs. overgrowing pastureland, a compact tractor is not the right tool.
p.s. When you do get to piling big stuff up high, be very careful that it doesn't roll backward down on you! I've come close a couple of times and am certain that if I wasn't paying close attention specifically to this that I'd have done some damage.
1-2" up to about 10' I push over with the loader and chew up w/ a 5' rotary cutter. I can only chop up one or 2 inchers at a time or I'll stall it.
3-4" up to 15' (maybe 20' depending on the shape) I can uproot with the backhoe. Note that these are not big heavy trees.
4" -12" - chain saw and then use the backhoe to remove the stump
>12" Obviously the chain saw but now this is starting to work the backhoe more than I want (it's a pasture!) so after dealing with a couple of these, I've stopped messing with them.
I haven't had any trouble pushing anything I've taken down into piles with the loader. Last weekend I took down a couple 15" dia, 30' tall trees and pulled them with a chain. Tractor didn't even blink.
So, this is why I put "trees" in quotes. Most people (myself included) would probably call this brush. My TC worked great for what I needed but if the starting point is forest vs. overgrowing pastureland, a compact tractor is not the right tool.
p.s. When you do get to piling big stuff up high, be very careful that it doesn't roll backward down on you! I've come close a couple of times and am certain that if I wasn't paying close attention specifically to this that I'd have done some damage.
gordon
Veteran Member
Ditto to Del
I've used my L-3750 as a D-8 many a time and here is a do as I say not as I do. If you don't mind scraches and dents (many) and you've added special safty gear to the tractor maybe but listen to this---When in doubt hire it out!!!/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif
gordon
I've used my L-3750 as a D-8 many a time and here is a do as I say not as I do. If you don't mind scraches and dents (many) and you've added special safty gear to the tractor maybe but listen to this---When in doubt hire it out!!!/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif
gordon
MChalkley
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I've found that pulling them over is often a lot easier than pushing them, especially now that I've got the grubbing tongs (see the thread with that title in the Attachments discussion). They make clearing small trees very easy. Just make sure you have a little more chain than the tree is tall!
Mark
Mark
