Root ripper ?

[Slackdaddy]

I was digging out stumps a few years back with the case 580 backhoe/16"
All where Red and White oak up to 3' dia.
On the larger ones I would spend up to 45 min tearing the roots apart with the bucket, You would have to work around tearing through most of the roots before popping it. I always had a hard time tearing through some roots, I could never angle the bucket just right as to catch a root with one end tooth to tear through it.

I always thought that I could take some 1" plate steel and make a large curved "claw" about 2' long and sharpen it, Fab some pivots so as to use it in place of the bucket, this would be a good root ripper ?
does any one make something like this ?

Nick

 

[2manyrocks]

There have been a couple of good discussions of this in the last few months. If you search "backhoe ripper", you'll find several threads. Here is one of them. http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachments/102505-how-cut-through-big-tree.html?highlight=backhoe+ripper


Enjoy.

 

[wedge40]

I'm in the process of having one welded up for my small backhoe. I'm hoping to have it done in the next week or two. I'll post photos of the finished product and when I us it.
Check this thread out.. Its where I got a lot of my info from.
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/...-frost-point-ripper-tooth.html?highlight=boom

Wedge

 

[john_bud]

I would think that a modified middle buster on the 3pt would work. Circle the stump a few times then try and pop it out with the FEL. There are narrow root buckets for FEL's.

jb

 

[GilaSlim]

Check this out: Bro-Tek Ripper Tooth

GS

 

[AKfish]

My FIL fabbed up a 3pt ripper tooth from a ripper shank on an old (50's vintage) Cat motorgrader.

It's about 30"-36" tall and it works great as a trencher to bury small electrical wire (Romex) or water tubing.

It's got a beveled edge and cuts roots fairly well. Long story short --- I thought I could use it to speed up the stump removal process, too.

NOT! The thicker roots would stall me out and I'd loose traction with my JD 970 (around 3,800 lbs with FEL).

Well, not one to be deterred by some pesky roots --- I used another gear and more fuel!!

Wrong move... After I rewelded the top-link end that snapped off and rebuilt the 3/8" flat straps that the top pin goes thru on the ripper tooth; I put the ripper in the shop and hooked up the backhoe.

Throttle set at 2,000 rpm and 30 minutes later the stump is out of the ground and the rear axle housing is still in one piece.

AKfish

 

[wedge40]

It's got a beveled edge and cuts roots fairly well. Long story short --- I thought I could use it to speed up the stump removal process, too.

NOT! The thicker roots would stall me out and I'd loose traction with my JD 970 (around 3,800 lbs with FEL).

Well, not one to be deterred by some pesky roots --- I used another gear and more fuel!!

Wrong move... After I rewelded the top-link end that snapped off and rebuilt the 3/8" flat straps that the top pin goes thru on the ripper tooth; I put the ripper in the shop and hooked up the backhoe.

Throttle set at 2,000 rpm and 30 minutes later the stump is out of the ground and the rear axle housing is still in one piece.

AKfish

The advantage of putting one of these in place of the BH bucket is if you sharpen the front edge and run into a tough root you can try and saw through it. And from my understanding it will leave a smaller hole to fill than if you used the BH bucket to dig everything up.
I'm waiting for mine to get done to find out for my self.

Wedge

 

[daBear]

What about using a sub soiler on smaller tree stumps. I am about to use a subsoiler to run 1" water pipe and will also try and pop out a few small (6" or less) stumps.

 

[civesnedfield]

I was digging out stumps a few years back with the case 580 backhoe/16"
All where Red and White oak up to 3' dia.
On the larger ones I would spend up to 45 min tearing the roots apart with the bucket, You would have to work around tearing through most of the roots before popping it. I always had a hard time tearing through some roots, I could never angle the bucket just right as to catch a root with one end tooth to tear through it.

I always thought that I could take some 1" plate steel and make a large curved "claw" about 2' long and sharpen it, Fab some pivots so as to use it in place of the bucket, this would be a good root ripper ?
does any one make something like this ?

Nick

Nick,
Look at a frost tooth. It would do what you are looking to do.

 

[wedge40]

Nick I'm not sure how big your BH is, but every now and then they have used frost rippers on Ebay. The last one I saw went for about $175.00. I believe it weighed around 150lbs. I'm guessing too big for you but you can watch.

Also I have posted plans of what I'm having made here on TBN. The shank will be made from 1" plate and around 20" long with a curved edge. I'm also having a bucket tooth attached to the end. I took my bucket to the welder so he could duplicate the hookup to the backhoe.

Wedge

 

[RonMar]

What about using a sub soiler on smaller tree stumps. I am about to use a subsoiler to run 1" water pipe and will also try and pop out a few small (6" or less) stumps.

I have used a subsoiler/middlebuster with great success on smaller stumps, and to cut some roots on bigger stumps. Can't just drive around them, but if you can back up to either side from a couple different angles this works pretty good.

I have a backhoe now, and am running into the same issues that the OP mentiones with larger stumps and roots. I was going to sharpen the edges of the bucket to help out, but I have also seen rippers made for the "caddigger" line of plans built backhoes. MetKit Corp - Home Page sells a pre-cut kit for the caddigger that may be adaptable to your backhoe. Look under the "new products" section on their website. I have thought that perhaps a ripper in place of the bucket might make the de-stumping go a little easier/quicker.

 

[AKfish]

The right tool for the job.... if you're lookin' at small stuff --- 6" or less --- then a 3pt mounted ripper would do the job without wreckin' your tractor. A couple of swipes around either side of the stump and pop it out!

I still use my ripper on small stumps and brush. Works great. Anything above 6" and I strap on the hoe!

And 3 foot Oaks ---- I'd want a REAL hefty unit on the other end of the ripper! The top link mounting bracket would be 3/4", too.

Frost ripper on the backhoe...? I've seen the utility companies use 'em and I can't see the real advantage over using the regular hoe bucket. If you really want to modify your BH to work better on stumps --- get a thumb.

Best of luck.

AKfish

 

[darkviper]

you can also place a blade on one side of the bucket that sticks up about 3 inches higher then the side so that it is higher then the teeth when curled. The iger machines have these and they are used for just this pourpose. That way you still have the bucket to dig and that to cut the roots. Wont be as good as the ripper but it will be bettter then using just the bucket.