Kubota BX23S Vs the mighty oak..........

[jkh62]

It was a worth adversary but victory is mine.

I am completing a fence project around my yard and had a large amount of brush to clear to get at decades old chain link fence to remove and put my shadowbox privacy fence in its place.
I offset my fence to save several nice oak trees but a few are right in line and needed to come down. One in particular looked especially nasty because its two separate oak trees close to one another with a steel fence post set in concrete in between. To make it more challenging the trees have grown thru the fence so I had to cut them off high. Its old farm land and each tree is riddled with rocks and hard heads.

Lets just say I have about 8 hours digging , chopping and time getting everything out of the ground.
I started by dropping the tree. You can see the chain link fence thru the tree~

I already cut the one tree off and started to work on removing the stump to get at the steel post and concrete.

This is the smaller stump~

I started digging around the big stump. LOTS of roots and I cut as many as I could get at.

I got my pressure washer out with turbo nozzle to blow off some clay and see where the rocks are to not ruin my chainsaw chain.
The pick ax removed the hidden rocks after washing the clay off

I cut some more roots and was hoping I could push it over. It moved ever so slightly so I did some more root chopping with a small ax and pick.
After about 40 minutes of work I gave it a nudge and it started to move. I rocked it back and forth and it broke free.

The problem was I could roll it around the hole but not get it out with the BX23S. I tried a come along ( I broke it) and my F150 and it did not budge.
I ended up rocking the stump back up and started cutting under the fence most of the way thru then pushed it off with the bucket.
After rolling the root ball over and knocking dirt off of it I could drag it. Its frigging still heavy.

The top half~

I win / stumps and steel post gone and one more to go!

Gotta say I am impressed with the Kubota and its done a LOT of grunt work for me and I am getting good with the hoe.
Stumps are a crap shoot and this one tested my resolve but I could have used a few sticks of 40% dynamite and some primer cord to speed it up!

 

[lharrell799]

Looks like a good time. Much more fun than this guy had.

 

[dragoneggs]

Well done! :drink:

I have wrestled with several large stumps with my BX backhoe over the last few years. Patience is key and just keeping working at it. I am lazy so I hate to get off and do too much axe and shovel work. Your pressure washer idea is a good one. Haven't tried that but I imagine that makes a mess!

 

[tjkubota93]

Nice work. I did the same with my bx and a gum tree stump about the same size. The pressure washer part is a pain, no way to not get covered in mud. I ended up cutting it into quarters so I could easily move with tractor. I used the sawzall with a big blade on alot of roots to save my chain.

 

[jkh62]

Not sure if its the weight of the tree , the lack of water under the tree or roots expanding making the clay / soil more compressed but the clay under the root ball was about like concrete.
The bucket teeth had a hard time breaking it lose. I would guess the weight of the clay / dirt on the root ball was 3X the weight (or more) of the stump alone.

The pressure washer does make a mess but after swinging a pic ax the pressure washer did a better job removing the clay / soil and cuts some of the roots.

 

[shooterdon]

I am amazed at what these "toy" tractors can accomplish with a bit of thought, persistence and time.

Nice job!!!

 

[jkh62]

A half tank of diesel does a LOT of work, even for the little BX.

I broke my 2 ton come along and it sat me on my rear.
When I was trying to pull the stump out of its home the come along was so tight I could not advance it by hand any more clicks. I got the bright idea of holding the lever and using both legs with me at a 45 degree angle pulling to advance it to the next "click".
I was pulling hard and the finger / pawl that holds the drum broke releasing all the tension while I was pulling hard. I flew about 4 feet straight back and landed on my rear / back.

Its was game on after that.........

 

[Junguda]

Wow..... great job....! Thanks for sharing the adventure...

 

[Smokeydog]

Good machine with a good operator! Not everyone could accomplish such a feat. Amazing inspirational testimonial to what can be accomplished.
Cheers!

 

[oosik]

The thought of having to dig out the stump on one of my ancient Ponderosa pines - makes my knees weak & my head spin. I only cut the ones that have become infected with Pine Bark beetle. The entire tree is then burned.

This is an eight foot chunk out of one of my pines. This chunk was twenty feet up the trunk. The stump was 41" on the butt. It took Mother Nature eleven years to rot out the stump.View attachment 619028 .

If I too awful many like your pictures show - I'd consider dynamite. But then - I guess not. I can see houses in the background. Not a really great idea when you have neighbors.