***Realistic expectations of a FEL tractor***

[bradleydot]

Good afternoon LS Owners. I'm looking for justification to buy a new tractor and the work I have planned for it is realistic. I currently have a MF-230 2WD with no FEL. I really can't do much with it in the Ozark mountains!!! I'm looking at the LS 50** series and want to know if it would be a big enough tractor to handle the jobs I have in store. I have about 120 acres I need to manage for timber. Just 4WD alone would be huge. I can't grade my steep hill very well leading up to my cabin because the tractor will dig in with the rear tires if I have too much gravel in the box blade.

1. Can it push over the Cedar trees?
These trees are too large to bush hog, and take forever with a chainsaw. Trees are 6 inches in diameter and 10 to 15 feet tall at best. Cedars root structure are on the top of the soil and don't go down deep. I've heard they are easy to push over with a good tractor? My old tractor can pull most of them up with a chain but again chaining/unchaining takes forever. Plus I don't care for popping wheelies.

2. How well can a FEL scrap and dig? For example, I have spring pond maybe 20X20 at best that has filled up with sediment over the years. Could I use it to clean it out? Also, Arkansas soil is rocky so I don't a FEL could dig out a new hole in an unearthed area?


3. I'd like to push all the trees up into a pile. The more I can push at once the better. Most of this would be pushing from the top of the hill downwards.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

 

[txdon]

I have a 4WD 50 hp Kubota and I have pushed over cedars that size with no problem. I also have a spring pond but I could not clean out the muck because the water would come in faster. I had to hire a large track hoe. I posted about it here http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/rural-living/216321-opening-up-spring-track-hoe.html on TBN.

I did clean out another pond that dried up last summer. It took about a week. The mud had been up to where the FEL is at in the picture. I just used the FEL not the BH.

 

[TedLaRue]

bradleydot,

(1) A front end loader (FEL) can probably be used to push over the cedar trees. I'd recommend jamming the FEL into the ground a couple of feet from the trunk to cut off some of the near-surface roots first. Then, in your lowest gear, push on the trunk with the FEL at a point about five feet above the ground, more or less depending on your tractor. At the same time you're pushing, when the edge of the bucket bites into the trunk, raise it slightly to increase the traction on your front wheels and also to pull the roots out. Once some roots are exposed, you can put the bucket under the roots and lift to tilt the tree over more, and then just push on the roots to get it out of the ground.

Edit: Caution to other readers: When pushing over a tall tree, watch out for dead limbs coming down on you from the whiplash at the top of the tree!

(2) The FEL can scrape pretty well, especially in reverse with the bucket in full dump (tilted forward). It can dig in soft soil, but not in a very controlled way. It will tend to want to either skid without digging, or bite in. It can be used for certain kinds of digging including digging out the sediment in your pond.

(3) You can push trees into a pile, but be careful. That's a good way to get tree limbs punching holes in the front of your tractor or running up underneath your tractor and jamming levers or causing other problems. It's pretty safe to push them from the side or from the root end, but risky to push them from the top of the tree. Getting the trees to go where you want them to go is a bit of an art, but with experience you can do a pretty good job.

 

[toxicjeeper]

I am gonna say you should be able to push 6 inch cedar and under. After reading about pushing trees over i tried it on a spruce that was maybe 12-14 inch and it snapped the tree and didnt bring up the root ball like i had wanted, I have a ls 5020. I dont normally push trees over that size any more i just get out the saw. I have no experence digging in rocky ground but my LS works good in our gravel pit..

I have started to punch this road through a section of woods.Its a bit longer now but winter settled in...gotta remeber they arnt bulldozers..I do try and tell myself that alot to keep me from doing something stupid..



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[northpolefolks]

Good afternoon LS Owners. I'm looking for justification to buy a new tractor and the work I have planned for it is realistic. I currently have a MF-230 2WD with no FEL. I really can't do much with it in the Ozark mountains!!! I'm looking at the LS 50** series and want to know if it would be a big enough tractor to handle the jobs I have in store. I have about 120 acres I need to manage for timber. Just 4WD alone would be huge. I can't grade my steep hill very well leading up to my cabin because the tractor will dig in with the rear tires if I have too much gravel in the box blade.

1. Can it push over the Cedar trees?
These trees are too large to bush hog, and take forever with a chainsaw. Trees are 6 inches in diameter and 10 to 15 feet tall at best. Cedars root structure are on the top of the soil and don't go down deep. I've heard they are easy to push over with a good tractor? My old tractor can pull most of them up with a chain but again chaining/unchaining takes forever. Plus I don't care for popping wheelies.

2. How well can a FEL scrap and dig? For example, I have spring pond maybe 20X20 at best that has filled up with sediment over the years. Could I use it to clean it out? Also, Arkansas soil is rocky so I don't a FEL could dig out a new hole in an unearthed area?


3. I'd like to push all the trees up into a pile. The more I can push at once the better. Most of this would be pushing from the top of the hill downwards.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

I just bought a LS U5020. I am going to be pushing trees, stumps ect and digging out a 40x60 pond that is in need of fixing up.

Alot of friends use similar sided tractors to push large trees. They don't really "push" them. They use a pallet fork looking front attachement that can have anywere from 2-6 triangular spears on it. The spears are 36" long. The spears go into the ground and as your drive forward they push up and break root attached to the tree. You do this in two spots, more on bigger trees, and the tree falls right over when you push on it. Alot of this depends on the types of root systems and soil. We have spurce and birch and it works on both variety.

The same attachement works great for pushing trees together as it has a grapple built into it and has two 6' tall bars coming off the back straight up to keep brush and trees from coming over the top onto the hood.

The U5020 is enough weight to push most trees we have and plenty for a cedar if you can break the roots. No matter how big your tractor, if you can't get the traction you will need to either cut the roots or rip them up.

The U5020 and up have larger hydraulic ability, FEL and 3pt ability than the lesser models so that is why I went with it. I didn't need 70hp or more so I opted for the 47hp which is way better on fuel than the next up 55hp.

 

[k0ua]

I am nearby you in Branson, and I have pushed over cedars that large, but it helps to wait about 2 days after a good rain. This lets the top dry out some for good traction, but still wet down a few inches. The technique is pretty much like previously posted. My tractor is smaller than what you are anticipating buying. I have piled up plenty of trees. It takes some skill, but easily doable. If pushing trees, dont choose too large ones, never push over dead trees, and look out for widowmakers even in living trees. Cedars are not too bad due to the way they are constructed as long as they are green. Pushing over a dead one is a great way to get a "stake" thru your heart, or over your head. Be careful on our Ozark hills they can be deadly. Loaded tires set out as wide as possible help stabilize the tractor. Keep you bucket low at all times when moving and your hand on the joystick. If you don't understand any of this, let us know and we will help you.

James K0UA

 

[Gary Fowler]

Some cedars have some very stubborn root systems. I recently removed one by my shop about 8" in diameter so I could get better egress to my side shed. I was using my P7010 and I had to dig quite a bit to get the roots out after the FEL cut the trunk in two before it would uproot. I then ended up using a chain to rip out one particular stubborn large root that ended up about 10 feet in length. Pines come out fairly easy, but I have had them snap off rather than uproot so be carefull with how high you raise the FEL to push and GO SLOW. Dont ram into them for sure, just slowly go into them and see how they react. Sometimes they will push over in one direction when they wont budge from the other side. Thorn trees also have large tap roots and lots of large horizontal root structures that make them hard to get out. An FEL makes the work much easier for sure, but tractors arent dozers. Be careful when back dragging with the FEL also. I have bowed mine a bit when backdragging and hitting rocks dead center of the bucket that didnt move. I have a lot of them around my place that sometimes are just under the ground and not seen till you stall the tractor on them. Did I mention Go slow.

 

[Gary Fowler]

As for digging. Some soils dig ok where I am in Bismarck Arkansas with very few rocks when a few feet away might require removal of large boulders. Photos of pond I did in two days with my 7010 without a tooth bar. Tooth bars help tremendously with rocky soil and even sandy clay.

 

[bradleydot]

Thanks guys a lot of good information from you all. I put my MF 230 on craigslist and had a guy that wanted to buy it in less than an hour of posting. I shopped it around at Kubota and they wanted to rip me off on the trade at 2500. I ended up selling it for 4400 dollars. I looked first at LS and really liked what I heard about them from the forums. But when I started shopping around for prices they were on par with pricing with Mahindra. I was expecting several thousands less from what I was reading online. I guess the reason is that the Mahindra dealer is the largest volume dealer in the U.S. here. Their prices are bottom line and really make their money by moving tractors and getting taken care of by Mahindra. Anyway, I wanted to get the most I could afford and ended up getting the Mahindra 8560. It's huge!!! I am looking to have it delivered out to Omaha, AR sometime Saturday. Unfortunately it looks like rain on Saturday so I'm not sure how much I'll get to use it. My first chore is to open up some old pasture with it. It has spotty cedar too big to mow down. The forestry commission did a hot burn in August but didn't burn the cedar that day like wanted. I need to clean up some spots so I can turn around and plant it in native grasses.

 

[k0ua]

Wow That Mahindra 8560 is a REAL tractor. That would make my little L3400 'bota look like a toy. I am betting you can push over 6 inch cedar trees all day without breaking a sweat. good luck with it neighbor.

James K0UA