Popping out bushes?

[Blue Mule]

MIL has about a dozen (maybe a little more) bushes that were injured by severe cold last winter and then finished off by more severe cold this winter. Now that it’s spring she wants me to help her pull them up so she can replace them. These are mostly your typical boxwood type residential bushes that you commonly see in front of people’s houses in the eastern part of the country. My experience with them is that the smaller/younger ones aren’t too much of a fight to pull up, but established ones can have extensive root systems. So, I plan to haul my compact tractor to her house in a couple of weeks to hopefully make the job easier.

What would you guys do? Use the 3-point hitch to pop them up out of the ground, or use the loader with a chain on the bolt on hooks that I added to the bucket to pull them up? I’m considering just using the 3-point because then I’ll have more leverage and less likely to get the tractor tipsy. Also, no strain on the front axle. On the other hand, the 3-point has limited range of motion and it’s harder to cinch the chain up tight and then have the range to pull the bush totally free. Hmmm….

 

[2manyrocks]

I'd suggest pulling them out with a chain attached to the drawbar so you are pulling from the lowest point available. Smokeydog posted this grabber he made from 2" pipe. I made one and will attest to it being able to grab brush without slipping.

Front-End Loader - Danuser Intimdator

Used on Kubota B26 plucking trees and brush. Some trees removed along the wooded driveway 20’ tall. Privet and Russian olives clumps easily pulled up. Small tractor gives great maneuverability and sight near fences and buildings. Easily pulled trees growing in the blueberry patch with surgical...

www.tractorbynet.com

 

[Rockbadchild]

what size are we talking about and how many ?? A farmer jack (high lift jack) would probably do the job without damaging the lawn, depending on the size that would be my go too.

 

[doneill127]

I’ve taken out few boxwoods and burning bushes with a brush grabber chained to my drawbar. 22 hp hst tractor. Did have to use a cordless reciprocating saw on the roots of one.

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/brush-grubber-original-brush-grubber

 

[Offroadtek]

You can also use the Wheel Method. I have a semi truck wheel with no tire on it I use. Wrap the chain around the tree and route it over the wheel to the tractor and drive away. Converts all your linear pull into lift.

Suggestion: Go slow. It doesn't take much to pull a plant vertically. Slow is safe.

 

[Gordon Gould]

This ^^^^^^ or just a rim w/o the tire

gg

 

[CliffordK]

Try throwing a chain or a choker around them and pulling them straight out with a winch. If not, that wheel method sounds good.

 

[Blue Mule]

Some good ideas in here. Like I said, there are a dozen or more of these to do and one afternoon to do them in, so I don't need to go fast, but I can't go slow either. Most of them are probably 3x3 feet in size due to persistent trimming and they've been in the ground for many years so I'm sure the roots are firm. The tire idea I've seen in action but I think that would take a few minutes to set up correctly per bush. I may look into those grubbers and pipe cincher ideas. Interesting...

 

[EddieWalker]

Keep it simple. Wrap a chain around the base of the bush and lift it straight up with your loader. You will have the most lift where the bucket attaches to the loader, so attach the chain to the loader are at the bucket.

 

[Blue Mule]

New development... I checked with her again on which bushes she wants out. Half of them are in an area of the yard that I cannot access with a machine due to a handicap walkway that was built between the house and detached garage and a lilac tree. I guess that makes the decision simple. So, I will have no choice but to use a long chain and pull them out using the drawbar of the tractor from a distance of about 30 feet.

The other half of them are accessible and are around her deck behind the house so I'm thinking on those I'll just use the loader and try to pull up vertically. Should be interesting.

My only concern as somebody mentioned is possibly leaving small ruts in the lawn. This tractor is about 5k with the FEL and box blade both attached and the small little R4 tires put a lot of contact pressure on the soil. But, she wants to replant in the same areas so I can't just saw them off and leave the stumps. Need to get them out of the ground. So it is what it is.