Franken-Tooth Root-Stump Puller, V1.0

[W8BYA]

I am positive thousands of guys have made something to this but I have never seen one or plans to make one or even where to purchase something like this so I made my own. It was a design as I go type project for my NH Boomer-40.

Even though it was a quick failure I thought I would share it with you in the hopes it will help others out who may be thinking of making something similar.

The bottom line is DO NOT SKIMP ON A WHIMPY CHINA 3-POINT HITCH.

I have made a video that will give you a quick glimpse of how I made it and why it failed. I very much look forward to making V2.0 in the spring......well, who knows I may make it during the winter.

Franken-Tooth 3-Point Hitch Root-Ripper, V1. Boomer 4 - YouTube

 

[rangerfredbob]

That's not the hitches fault, that is a ridiculous amount of bending moment on one face of square tubing... If you had put some support up from the rear point diagonally to the top link area of the 3pt with 2" 3/16" wall angle iron on both sides you would NOT have had any issues. If it did do anything from there it would be bending the bottom tube back which could be fixed with some supports from the same area over to the pins. This is the reason you do not see any 3 point implement supported like you did, they all have triangles going all directions.

I like the idea, and with some tweaks it would work well.

 

[W8BYA]

That's not the hitches fault, that is a ridiculous amount of bending moment on one face of square tubing... If you had put some support up from the rear point diagonally to the top link area of the 3pt with 2" 3/16" wall angle iron on both sides you would NOT have had any issues. If it did do anything from there it would be bending the bottom tube back which could be fixed with some supports from the same area over to the pins. This is the reason you do not see any 3 point implement supported like you did, they all have triangles going all directions.

I like the idea, and with some tweaks it would work well.

YUP ! Agree 100%.......key word is "IF". At this point just looking at it I can see that is exactly what I should have done but it's water under the bridge at this point and a learning experience I will carry forward with V2.0.

 

[bcp]

You might find some ideas here.

3 point subsoiler at DuckDuckGo

Bruce

 

[W8BYA]

You might find some ideas here.

3 point subsoiler at DuckDuckGo

Bruce

Hi Bruce. Hey thanks for that ! So that is "basically" what these are called.......subsoiler !

Yup, very similar to what I need just that I need something MUCH more robust to handle an extreme tension. There were a couple that did look nice and beefy and deserve a 2nd look.

I am eager to chop up this old engine mount as that uses 1/4" thick rectangular tubing (instead of the whimpy 1/8"). That along with a number of additional braces & supports on the front & rear of the horizontal hitch member will be the magic ticket. Another thing I noticed when I was using V1.0 was I wish I made the rear bar extend about 6" longer to make it easier to reach into dense areas w/o having to back up the tractor so far back. Luckily this engine mount has a plenty long arm that will work perfect. Thanks for sharing that.

 

[rangerfredbob]

Honestly just straightening what you have, welding it back together and adding reinforcement where it's needed would work fine. With 2" wide 1/4" strap steel going by the pins to the back, the angle I mentioned above going to the top link and welding the other part back together square the bottom tube SHOULD be mostly in compression with very little bending or pulling moment in the center. Just rerouting the forces to stronger areas will make it 1000x stronger.

It's been a while since engineering classes (15 years) but that isn't that complicated of a statics problem to figure out where the forces are applied.

 

[W8BYA]

Honestly just straightening what you have, welding it back together and adding reinforcement where it's needed would work fine. With 2" wide 1/4" strap steel going by the pins to the back, the angle I mentioned above going to the top link and welding the other part back together square the bottom tube SHOULD be mostly in compression with very little bending or pulling moment in the center. Just rerouting the forces to stronger areas will make it 1000x stronger.

It's been a while since engineering classes (15 years) but that isn't that complicated of a statics problem to figure out where the forces are applied.

Funny you mention the old college classes......my problem is it has been almost 40 years since us EE's were forced to take all the ME classes as well as our own like statics, dynamics and mechanics of materials plus a boat load of others LOL.

I did not even bother starting a design on paper which is why this was purely a "design as I weld" type project. But it was fun getting back to doing some welding etc.

I will see what the hitch looks like again but I can tell you it looks a LOT worse in person compared to what you see in the video. Thanks for the suggestions and I will keep everyone informed which way I go and the results.

 

[MF243RedTop]

Or something like this

 

[W8BYA]

View attachment 676421
Or something like this

Now that sure looks like it has seen some use. What is nice about yours are those two back braces that help keep the cross-member from buckling.

 

[bcp]

Another thing I noticed when I was using V1.0 was I wish I made the rear bar extend about 6" longer to make it easier to reach into dense areas w/o having to back up the tractor so far back. Luckily this engine mount has a plenty long arm that will work perfect.

If you have a rear blade, you could make a removable tooth to temporarily replace the blade.

Bruce

 

[W8BYA]

If you have a rear blade, you could make a removable tooth to temporarily replace the blade.

Bruce

Great minds think alike. I have a 6' blade as well as a grader-box and was thinking of simply making an attachment to the very rear of one or the other. After thinking about I realized that there may be many times when backing the tractor up with a large blade or grader-box might not allow me to position the "tooth" right were I need it. Plus the blade or box may keep the tooth from sinking in deep enough. It was at that point I decided to try to make a separate implement. Thanks for the idea though !

 

[MF243RedTop]

Now that sure looks like it has seen some use. What is nice about yours are those two back braces that help keep the cross-member from buckling.

Believe it or not, took off some scrap steel to the junk yard, ended up swapping it out for the sub soiler and some cash.
Somebody actually sent it to the yard!!!!

 

[W8BYA]

Believe it or not, took off some scrap steel to the junk yard, ended up swapping it out for the sub soiler and some cash.
Somebody actually sent it to the yard!!!!

Now that is awesome.....WTG !

Hey, what is that apparently very thin metal on the tooth? Seems like if you hit a good root or rock it would bend it up in a hurry.

 

[MF243RedTop]

Now that is awesome.....WTG !

Hey, what is that apparently very thin metal on the tooth? Seems like if you hit a good root or rock it would bend it up in a hurry.

It's not thin, it's just sitting down in the dirt in that pic.
Courtesy of some fire ants building a bed around at some point.

 

[W8BYA]

It's not thin, it's just sitting down in the dirt in that pic.
Courtesy of some fire ants building a bed around at some point.

Gotcha.

 

[MF243RedTop]

Better pic of the tooth after some subsoiling.
You can see where the grapple at junk yard pinched that back brace.
Seems to still work fine

 

[W8BYA]

View attachment 676528
Better pic of the tooth after some subsoiling.
You can see where the grapple at junk yard pinched that back brace.
Seems to still work fine

Very nice. Have you ever used it to rip roots and stumps out or do you use it more for trenching etc?

 

[MF243RedTop]

Both, so far I've managed to stop the MF in 1L and pick front tires off ground with lift pulling on big stumps. Tractor weighs in around 6300# with all the extra weight..It's a strong subsoiler.