Starting a tree and brush shear build

[stuartmcraycattle]

Well I am fairly new here but I would like to have the creative and practical minds help with my design ( hopefully cutting costs). My initial design I drew up tonight is below...The main frame I already possess is 4" square framework from a heavy duty hay fork setup that I have remove the forks...I plan on using mostly .25 sheet for reinforcing and .375 wall box tubing for everything else. the upper grey bar I figure would rest against taller trees to help push them forward away from my tractor... I know I will have to add some bracing at the cylinder mounting points but the drafting program was tough to draw them but I really would like the thoughts on any major points I may be missing...Plan on starting this weekend and I will keep you all up to date...

 

[mjncad]

Welcome to TBN.

Is this going on the 3PH or the loader?

Are you going to get some hardened cutting edge material for the shears?

Instead of cutting two 1/4" gussets for the fixed edge frame, how about using one 3/8" or 1/2" thick gusset welded in the middle of the tube?

How big of trees are you planning on shearing?

How much PSI does your tractor's hydraulic system put out?

 

[stuartmcraycattle]

I plan on building this to work on the front end loader of my CASE JX75 tractor, I will have to check to flow and pressure ratings to match my cylinder, it seems that most commercial sheers use a 4" bore 8" stroke cylinder so that is what I am planning on using since its a proven winner. I am going to try and find hardened blade material from a local land clearing company ( old blades that I can resharpen but maybe are too thin for their massive equipment ) Moving to a center rib gusset is probably a good idea since i can more easily weld both sides (THANKS FOR THAT IDEA)... I will mostly be cutting 1 to 6 inch cedar and hardwood no larger than 3 to 4 inches at best.. Light duty for this setup I would think... the reason I am building is I have over 100 acres and chainsaws under wild thorn rose and other thorned trees is not comfortable especially when there are probably over 400 to 500 to cut...

 

[Piston]

Sounds like a really neat project Stuart. I've always been extremely interested in these tree shear like attachments. I've always thought of building one as well but my tractor is too small to handle that. I thought that if I ever built one I would like to make the push bar hydraulically extendable to "assist" in pushing over as it is sheared, also this would help in ensuring the tree to go the direction you would want it to go.

Have you thought about building it for the 3 pt hitch? I thought if I were to make it on the 3pt hitch, I would make the push bar more of a "V" shape.

The only thing I don't like about the tree shears is that they will tend to make the tree fall sideways to the direction your pointing, I don't know if this is an issue or not, but I like the idea of it falling away from me, although, then you have to be careful of bounceback caused by the compression of the branches as it falls. So I don't know which is best. Either way I'll be following and supporting your build. There is nothing better than making something yourself and getting the pride and enjoyment out of using it, and saving a whole lot of backache at the end of the day. :thumbsup:

 

[jamtuc]

Stuart,
I actually built one similar to what you are thinking of. I only had a b1700 at the time. I dont remember who but someone told me the little kubota didnt have enough ommph for the job..... me being hardhead I built it anyway. The thing I found out was the little tractor had more than enough power to operate the shear and it worked great for........about 6 to 8 cuts. The scrap yard now owns a twisted pile of metal that resembles new age modern art than what it started out as......Long story endless ....(my opinion only) is that your better off using plate steel at least this what I am doing now. The pressure on these things are tremendous.

 

[jamtuc]

By the way I am not saying your design wont work. Thats just my story for my tree shear.

 

[rjmack]

looks like an interesting build.:thumbsup:

hss is nice to work with, though you may need to build the cyl mount points to plate and then weld the assembly to the hss rather than directly to the hss.

one other thing... it might be handy to have a pushing hand of some sort, maybe 4'-5' above the shear, that would push forward on the tree as it was being sheared. obviously, you don't want trees coming over backwards on you and without a grapple to hold the tree you probably need something to help in that regard.

maybe, also some kind of hook attached to the shear, just above the shear height to help hold the bottom of the tree from kicking forward.

 

[PILOON]

.............. . I am going to try and find hardened blade material ..............

A suggestion;

I built a metal cutting shear and needed blades.
My local blacksmith/welder friend suggested going to a truck spring shop and getting lengths of unbent spring stock.

That was quite a while ago and my blades are still as sharp as when I installed them.
Just the nice temper and still drillable.
I can shear 3/16" stock with the setup.
Best, good price.

 

[deereman75]

A suggestion;

I built a metal cutting shear and needed blades.
My local blacksmith/welder friend suggested going to a truck spring shop and getting lengths of unbent spring stock.

That was quite a while ago and my blades are still as sharp as when I installed them.
Just the nice temper and still drillable.
I can shear 3/16" stock with the setup.
Best, good price.

I second the spring steel. That stuff is tough. I have used it for several knives, they all hold an edge very well. It is a favourite stock for blade smiths.

 

[stuartmcraycattle]

Thanks for all of the suggestions, there is a automotive spring manufacturer in Louisville so I will check that out for sure!!! I drew some of your suggestions up to spur more ideas from you guys... So far I moved the solid side to a center support gusset, started to add a what I could as far as bracing to the cylinder end... I removed the solid mount push at the top and replaced with a tube at the top that would contain a very stiff spring that as I approached the tree/shrub would push against it until seated fully but would add to the forward push of the tractor when shearing...