Looking for Tree Removal Ideas

[Britt]

I am clearing a field of 5-6 year old pine trees which were planted in a field that I recently purchased. I've been trying to get the roots with the FEL [Kubota MX5000] and mow over with the bush hog [KK SD 6']. I have some problem to always get the tree roots - sometimes the trees snap and other times they just bend over. Also the bush hog is taking a beating and the shear pins are needing replacement far too often.
I'm looking for a better way...

Option A: Chainsaw the trees near the ground, pile up and burn. With this option, how can I eliminate the stumps?


Option B: Get some device for the tractor to help with the tree uprooting. I've found some posts with big $1,000+ hydraulic grabbers which I don't like the cost. Other ideas have the homemade tree uprooter version with 'V' shaped grooves for the 3PH for wedging, then lifting the trees.

Option C: Just use a rope or chain to attach to each tree and pull from the drawbar until it uproots. This case make for a long day of on and off the tractor.

If anyone has any experience with getting out 3-5" pines in reclaiming pasture, please drop me a line with suggestions.

Thanks. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[soarkrebel]

What kind of bushhog do you have? with a mx 5000 you could pull a pretty mean hog. my uncle has a rhino medium duty and that sucker can chew some trees.
i just don't like hogs with shear bolts slip clutchs are the ticket.

5 or 6 year pines ? 3 to 4"'s trunks a good hog would chew them up and whats left will rot in time.

Personally i would look into a dozer if i couldn't chew them up . but thats just me.

 

[MMM]

Sounds like you need to go shopping for a heavy duty cutter. The FEL should do, though. With small pines you should be able to engage ground about a foot away from trunk with bucket 3 or 4" deep and continue ahead until you hit root ball,(often slice thru root) then pop tree out by curling bucket back. If it doesn't pop out raise bucket a foot or so and push it over. Once you cut roots on one side, it will topple other way easily. Takes a little practice, but you'll figure out where to hit them. I've heard on this forum a toothbar makes it even easier.

 

[gabby]

I would chain saw the trees low to the ground and then chew the limbs off them on the ground with your bush hog. You can then pick up the bigger trunk pieces and burn them. Young pine stumps will rot pretty quickly and you won't disturb the ground and have to re-smooth it like you will if you uproot them.


Gabby

 

[texbaylea]

If you have the quick attach option on your FEL, go to Markham Welding and look at their grubber bucket. With its narrow front it will be easier to handle the trees and dig them out than with a 6' or greater bucket. It is reasonably priced at about $350 plus shipping.

I am taking a different track at small tree and brush clearing. I Bought a Hy-Reach Tree Shear (www.precisionmfg.com). It is a little slow to use but the reach and variable attitude make it the right implement for me.


Vernon

 

[Richard]

Hi Britt...

Want to say Hi & welcome. I use to live in Maryville (near the college) and now live in Greenback on Tellico lake!

Welcome neighbor /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

There are others here that are also local but as I'm sure you've found prior to logging in, everyone here is very nice & pretty cool!

(yes, even those who drill their ROPS or talk about politics/religon)

/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[Richard]

I might ask, how large of an area?

I have a full sized loader/backhoe and would be open to the idea of having it dig some stumps out (unless it's like 50 acres /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif)

Though I have no way to transport it, if you like the idea, we can talk further and explore options.

Feel free to pm me if you want to explore options.

(but I'll tell ya... aint no fun like backhoe fun...well... uh, never mind /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif )

 

[Britt]

Hi Richard. Nice to meet neighbor. Actually my property has a Greenback, TN address. It's on Meadow road 2.6 miles from 321 on the Blount/Loudon County line. 64 acres, but I'm not clearing all - only 20-25 for cattle/horses in the future. Thanks for the backhoe option - I'm going to try some of the other suggestions first, so I'll let you know.
Thanks.
Britt /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[VAChesterfield]

Britt, all of the advice the other TBNers have given you is good. As you can see, you have lots of options. However, you do not indicate what you will be using the cleared pasture for.

If you plan to put horses on it, DO NOT let the stumps rot in the ground. Once they rot away, and they'll do that at different intervals primarliy based on their size, they will leave holes behind that are perfect horse leg beakers.

I have been using my FEL and BB to clear 1.5 ac of small pines much like yours for a horse pasture. It's slow going, and due to the unusal amount of rain we have had this year, it's time for me to call in a dozer crew and get it done so I can get it planted before the fall growing season.

 

[Britt]

I want to reply to the several good suggestions - thanks guys.
Vernon's new bucket suggestion seems good to improve the agility. The 6' bucket I have now is sometimes difficult to get positioned right on the trees depending on the slope. I had some difficulty finding the web-site for Markham Welding - Vernon if you have some address, please advise.
MMM - Thanks for the technique tips. I'm still working on my own method. The real problem I have is the bush hog is not strong enough to chew up the trees without snapping the shear pins. My tractor is 50HP, so I may need to take Arkansas' advice to upgrade the cutter - I knew upon purchase that I was maybe under duty on the hog, but since it was my first experience, I thought I would see what it could do. Gabby - If all else fails, I'll hit 'em with the saw.
I'll post any updates. I'm taking this weekend off, so next weekend I'll be back at it.
Thanks again.
Britt /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[JerryG]

Markham Welding

 

[Richard]

I'm VERY near Axley Chappel, sounds like you're closer than I'd thought

Makes the "transporting" of Brutus less of an issue.

Still kinda sounds to me like a dozer might be faster/better for you?

I've got a huge dozer too...one of those bazillion horsepower Komatsu's that will move the earth on a single pass... and then I wake up /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[texbaylea]

Britt

You can reach Markham Welding at www.markhamwelding.com. It is rare to find a literal URL isn't it? Look for the grubber bucket in the menu list on the left.

Vernon

 

[shu]

cleared several dozen mesquite trees off the back 5 acres a year ago. some of these were over 1 foot diameter at the base. root removal was not important as i just wanted to get a cleared pasture, not plow and plant. after a while i arrived at the following method:
..1. chainsaw the branches down to where you can get a good approach to the tree;
..2. grub dirt from around the base of the tree (g.i. folding entrenching tool works well for this) to get wood exposed as low as you can;
..3. cut into the trunk from 3 or 4 sides with the chainsaw; angle the cuts down as if sharpening the trunk to a point;
..4. when trunk is sufficiently weakened, push over with FEL.

this leaves very little if any stump above ground level, and minimizes the amount of dirt cutting with the chainsaw. fortunately the lumber yard, with fast chainsaw blade sharpening service is just next door. yes, you may go through a number of blades, but that's part of doing business.

 

[MajMac392]

I was going to answer this the other day but didn't get to it. SHU has a real good summary of just about how I took down some big pines. I needed to remove two pines about 55-60 feet tall, one about 19" at the base and the other about 13-14". Some of the pine's roots were near or on top of the ground so I thought about cutting them first. I put a ladder up as far as it would go, 20' or so and bolted a chain around it, then hooked another heavy chain to it. I ran the pull chain out as far as it would go and then hooked a real heavy rope to it that I then put on my loader. I had to do some digging to expose more of the roots but I then cut the roots with a chain saw. I did as many as I could and then went to the tractor and backed it up. With out to much pulling, a little rocking, I pulled it right over and got 95% of the stump with it. The smaller came down fairly easy, the bigger one took a little more work but it came down fine to. I then cut the stumps off and hauled them to the back of my property and pulled the trees up for someone to take away. If you had a lot of trees it might be a pain but I got the worst part of tree removal done, getting the stump out. By using the leverage of the tree it helped to pull it out. I have pictures but not sure if I can get them scanned or not. SHU did a better job of explaining, he being a USAF Pilot and me USA one is probably why. /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

 

[grandad]

Particularly with medium size pines, say between 6 and 15", this is a good method, but some of the issues are:

Be SURE you have enough chain and open space so the tree doesn't fall on top of you (which would certainly be one of those Darwin award-qualifying moments!).
When you fell a tree by tugging on it, it doesn't always fall exactly where you think it should.
Hardwood trees have more root structure. Can require excavating/cutting some roots first.
Better done when soil is wet.
Smaller trees (like original poster described) can snap if you attach chain too high.
Beware if you are doing this with broken or leaning trees.

 

[MajMac392]

Good comments Grandad. Before I did this I spent a lot of time 'contemplating' the many things that I knew could go wrong. One of the toughest parts was climbing up the ladder with the chain, fairly heavy, 5/16 or 3/8" chain with hook. Just picking up the hook and a couple of feet of chain isn't bad but by the time you are up 18-20' on the ladder the chain gets kinda heavy. Although the chain was in good shape, my biggest fear was that something would snap and act like a slingshot. I try to be as safe as possible when I'm doing that stuff.

 

[Rch]

Tree Snipper

I copied a tree snipper called Tree Terminator II. This snips them off level. A chain saw dulls quickly close to the ground and crawling around on the ground is hard on knees etc.

I got $800 into it 18 months ago when steel was more reasonable. The TT II was $2550 then. I had to beef up the stationary blade after it got bent up from 10-12' trees falling over to the right (from the tractor seat). /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

 

[OkeeDon]

When we were clearing our property, we rented a large Cat 416C with a root rake (picture attached). This thing would pop a pine tree with a 12" diameter trunk out of the ground without hesitating. I like the root rake so much, I made my own copy of it from an old box blade and some square tubing, and made it to fit in my bucket. See next post.