Fastest way to remove line of hedges?

[JDeereman]

My youngest son has some deeply rooted hedges he wants to get rid of maybe 200 feet give or take. I may have to take the dump truck and tractor down there to help him, but I'm not sure about the best and fastest way to do this work. should I have him cut the hedges down first so that i only need work on the roots? maybe rent a brush chipper to reduce the volume? or is it best (fastest/less work) to simply pull them out and haul them to the dump intact? is it better (faster) to use the backhoe or the loader? should I rent a stump bucket? I'd rather not transport the backhoe if it is unnecessary, but part of this line of hedges is right up tight against the garage.

Theo

 

[Aguanga]

This should do it!

YouTube - Wall Of Fire

 

[yankeerider]

It's gonna depend on the type of hedge, but I've found that most have fairly shallow roots. Not having a backhoe, I can fairly quickly remove bushes of that type with my FEL, simply by digging under them with the bucket, rocking if necessary, then popping them out.

To speed things up, it might help to cut them at height where there's enough left sticking up so you can use that as a lever to push/pull them free, but short enough that the stump fits inside the bucket for transport or dumping into a truck/trailer.

On Edit- Oops! I see you described them as "deeply rooted." Guess my experience may not be useful in your case.

 

[slewisma]

How big are the roots? Deeply rooted is less an issue if the roots are easily cut / pulled up. When pulling shrubs or stumps I have found that larger (2" or more) roots that run deep can require chopping with an ax as they are strong enough that pulling on them with the BH tips the tractor (BX24) before moving the roots. Smaller ones either pull out, tear off or can be cut with the BH bucket edge.

With shrubs I'd think the BH would be useful to have on hand for anything the FEL doesn't easily push out or scoop out. If you leave it home I predict you'll be making a trip back home to get it before you finish.

How far is the dump? Labor wise it'd be easier to take 'em whole but that may take multiple trips. The chipper may reduce the # of trips / travel time.

 

[Bird]

I would think it would depend on the variety of bush, shrub, or tree, the age of them, and how much root system they have. I never owned a backhoe, but I've removed some with the FEL. And for the last ones I removed (for my daughter and son-in-law), there were only 3 shrubs, one of which was dead. And I simply threw a good rope, doubled, around the base of them, one at a time, looped the other end of the rope on the hitch ball and pulled them out with my little Ford Ranger pickup.

The thing that really surprised me was that my son-in-law decided to transplant the two that were not dead. I thought he was just going to trash them, and I certainly did not expect them to survive after the way I pulled them, but much to my surprise, they've done just fine.

 

[Renze]

Last year we removed a hedge, just pushed them all over with the front loader bucket just an inch above my mothers lawn
I pushed about 3 yard at a time before throwing them on the loader bucket manually (to leave the dirt where its supposed to be) and then dumped them on the dump trailer with the loader.

If you attach a piece of I beam to the bucket, you can probably just plough them up in 1 go.

 

[studor]

If they are cedar they will not be that deeply rooted and can be pulled out with a chain or pushed out with the bucket low on the stems. Wild rose, lilacs, spirea and dogwood will usually succumb to the same treatment but are a little more stubborn. (don't ask me how I know ). Maybe your son can try puling them with a truck and chain before you transport all the big guns

 

[JDeereman]

This should do it!

YouTube - Wall Of Fire

That certainly is one approach!

Theo

 

[JDeereman]

How big are the roots? Deeply rooted is less an issue if the roots are easily cut / pulled up. When pulling shrubs or stumps I have found that larger (2" or more) roots that run deep can require chopping with an ax as they are strong enough that pulling on them with the BH tips the tractor (BX24) before moving the roots. Smaller ones either pull out, tear off or can be cut with the BH bucket edge.

With shrubs I'd think the BH would be useful to have on hand for anything the FEL doesn't easily push out or scoop out. If you leave it home I predict you'll be making a trip back home to get it before you finish.

How far is the dump? Labor wise it'd be easier to take 'em whole but that may take multiple trips. The chipper may reduce the # of trips / travel time.

The way he talks, I'm assuming the root ball we're gonna have to remove is maybe 2 ft by 2 ft? let's at least use that for planning purposes. the hedge itself is more like 3 ft wide, maybe 6 ft tall average (it varies in spots). I have no idea how far to the town dump. probably a few miles each way.

I'll put you down as a vote for bringing the backhoe!

Theo

 

[JDeereman]

It's gonna depend on the type of hedge, but I've found that most have fairly shallow roots. Not having a backhoe, I can fairly quickly remove bushes of that type with my FEL, simply by digging under them with the bucket, rocking if necessary, then popping them out.

To speed things up, it might help to cut them at height where there's enough left sticking up so you can use that as a lever to push/pull them free, but short enough that the stump fits inside the bucket for transport or dumping into a truck/trailer.

On Edit- Oops! I see you described them as "deeply rooted." Guess my experience may not be useful in your case.

I guess deeply rooted doesn't really mean much. I believe my son was just warning me that this ain't gonna be no picnic and that I should bring the tractor or suffer the consequences of a very sore back!

Theo