clearing hundreds of small pine trees

[glassman_48]

I have purchased 6 acres of commercial property and need to clear out quite a few small pine trees, most are 3 to 4 inch diameter trees.  When I had my 29 hp new holland hydrostatic tractor I could pop that size pretty easily with my bucket.  Now I have a 45 h.p. new holland with a clutch and I am worried its gonna be harder to do.  I saw on ebay a stump puller that has teeth on front and would quik tach to my tractor.  It has a narrowing front with a few teeth on it to cut through the roots.  I also looked at the scissor type that grabs the tree and lifts it out.  I dont have front hydraulics on my tractor.  I am wondering if anyone has had experience with either of these or has any other suggestions.  I dont want to ride my clutch to pop these trees.  I miss my hydrostatic tractor  :'( :'(  thanks in advance

[sprucebunny]

I'll bet you could make an attachment for the 3 point hitch that would grab them.
3-4" isn't very big. You can mash them over to horizontal pretty easy by running over them and then have a hook of some kind to grab them near the roots.

[beenthere]

Don't think you should have to worry that much about the clutch. We used clutch's for years doing most tasks with ease.
I do think that hydrostatic is much, much better than clutch, but if in low gear and moving through like SB suggests, you should getRdun.

I found forks on the FEL worked good for popping the side roots of spruce trees that size and some bigger, then pushing the tree over, and pushing the root ball out.
And just the bucket will do the same. Hardly any resistance so clutch fully engaged should do it.

Big problem I see (and had) was getting rid of the downed tree after dozing them out. ;)

[glassman_48]

I am going to dig a pretty big pit in the back and use the dirt for my driveway and driveway culvert and filling in the root holes.  My buddy is going to loan me his backhoe for digging the pit, I just dont want to keep it long enough to do trees with.  My plan was to dump a small amount of the trees in the pit and wait for wet weather and burn a few at a time all summer long.  I have so many trees that I dont want to jump in and out of the tractor all summer long in the summer heat.  if I had just a few trees I would just use my bucket. My brother in law is a mechanic and he freaks out if he sees you "riding" the clutch on a tractor, he showed me a tractor he had split in half to get at the clutch and the amount of $labor wise.  He made his point, I am trying not to ride that clutch much now.  thanks for the info guys,,,,,,,,,ed

[beenthere]

I'm sayin you don't have to ride the clutch to do that job.  just sayin...  you use the clutch, but don't ride it.

[ozarkgem]

you can always run some hyd lines from your aux hyd in the back of the tractor to the front. Long run but an option. I have an old for industrial and do that kind of work all the time. After 15 yrs the clutch springs were week and I replaced it. Never did slip though. Try pushing them over with the bucket and back up and catch the root ball with the bucket edge and push it out. I do it a lot on small trees.

[glassman_48]

beenthere,
thanks for clarifying, I was not sure I could do that with a clutched tractor, I got pretty good at it with my hydrostatic tractor.  I even looked at the expensive scissor type (over 1500 bucks) and you could carry the tree with it too.  My old hydrostatic tractor I had a set of forks and a clamp and I could pick up a lot of brush or small trees with that system to move and pile up or put into a trailer.  I almost feel like calling my buddy I sold my old hydro too and borrow it for a bit :laugh:  thanks again

[John Mc]

The information below is from a tractor website I used to visit regularly (TractorByNet). This is a "Treegetter" designed by one of the regulars on the website. He welded it up to fit the 3-point hitch on his compact tractor. I believe he got the idea from a design made to go on the front-end loader of a much larger tractor. He went with the 3-point hitch mount, since his tractor did not have enough lifting power  to do much good mounted on the front end loader.

In operation, he just backed up to a bunch of saplings with the hitch down low. Once the saplings were wedged in, he lifted the hitch and pulled them out, roots and all. He said he had success pulling out up to 2.5 or 3" diameter trees with this, depending on the tree species. I've never used this personally, but have contemplated making one.

The pictures below are of an incomplete version of the equipment. Eventually, he added teeth across the entire bar, so he didn't have to "aim" at each specific sapling. Depending on how heavily you intend to use something like this, you might want to beef it up a bit. I've since seen another version that I thought looked better: It had diagonal braces  running from the horizontal bar (near where the lower 3-point hitch arms attach) up to the vertical arm near where the upper link attaches, forming a triangle of braces. This seems like a much stronger construction to me. I might also consider using a 3" x 3" cross section for the horizontal crossbar.



 



 

And here's some description from the builder (unfortunately, I've lost track of his name)

The crossbar and the upright for the top link are made from 2" X 3" X 1/2" wall tubing.

The fingers are 15 inches total length (that leaves 12 inches protruding from the crossbar) and are made of 1/2" X 3" flat bar.

I left 1/2 inch in the center of each finger and tapered them back 11 inches. Each finger has a piece of 3/8X2 flat bar welded edge ways and welded to the crossbar to prevent the fingers from bending.

[thecfarm]

I don't dig out many stumps or uproots trees on my land. I never had much luck with burning the stumps. Seem like it always take a couple burnings. I cut the stumps low and haul them to the brush pile. Less damage to the woods too. But I suppose if I would not unearth a bunch of rocks with every stump,things would be done diffeant around here too.  ;D

[John Mc]

The OP mentioned that this was commercial property... I assume he needs the stumps gone for some planned commercial use.

I generally leave stumps cut low as well, but if you have horses, the sapling stumps can cause some serious problems if they step on them wrong - they can poke up through the bottom of their hooves.  For that reason, we try to keep our trails clear of the small stumps.

In fact, the reason I still had the info and photos I posted above was because I had copied it and passed it on to a woman involved with the Green Mountain Horse Association who was looking for a way to clear sapling stumps from a freshly cleared trail.  The tool pictured works pretty well on small trees, but it can be tough to grb a low-cut stump with it.

I'm guessing that 45 HP NH tractor has enough lift capacity on the Front End Loader, that the tool would work OK mounted up front. This seems it would be more convenient to use (you don't have to twist around and drive up backwards to every tree you are pulling). Smaller tractors may need to stick with the 3 point hitch, for its greater lifting power.

[47sawdust]

glassman-
Although it is frequently done a tractor loader is not meant for dozer work.You run the risk of twisting your loader arms which is an expensive fix.If your soil is sandy and the going good you might be okay.
A small excavator with a thumb would be my choice for popping the stumps.Cut the trees,leaving a tall stump for leverage,clean up as you go and you will do a nice job.

[beenthere]

I've been clearing out white spruce trees from a spruce/oak planting of 17 years ago. The spruce were getting too tall and crowding out the red oak. They were right at 6-8" diam and 35' tall.
At first, I just popped out the tree, stump and all, using my 32 hp Deere with the forks on the FEL. It worked pretty good by sliding in the forks under the lateral roots near the surface, and ripping them loose. Then just push forward on the tree at about 4' height and the root ball would tip with the tree.
Then get under the rootball with the forks and push forward. Most of the time the tree and root ball would rip right out. Lift it up with the forks and back out of the spot with the whole tree.
What I didn't like about that, is the roots were left dangling in the air around the hole in the ground.

So I changed tactics, and rented this tree clipper to take out the next 100 or so spruce.


This worked quite well as the stump was cut low to the ground and the clipper could be used to buck up the stem for easier loading on the burn pile.

The last 25+ spruce I knocked down with the chainsaw during the winter, and last week burned them and just used the chainsaw to cut the stumps low to the ground. This pic shows the forks used to pop out root ball and tree.
 

[glassman_48]

thanks for all the info, I am going to turn the road frontage part of this property into a wood lot with log splitters, firewood bundlers, processors for sale etc.  I am also going to put up some carports to keep pallets of eco bricks and wood pellets and palletized firewood to keep them out of the weather.  I have a processor and also need room for pulpwood and then I have to be able to plow out all around everything in the winter so I cant leave stumps in the ground.  I eventually plan on building a house on the property after I retire from my glass business.  I was worried about torking my bucket, another buddy said try the forks like beenthere talked about.  I think the smaller stuff will come out if I just push it over and pop easy with the bucket.  Today another friend showed me what looks like a pallet puller and said they use those on trees, they clamp together when you start pulling on the chain.  This isnt going to happen overnight, eventually I will clear the back part of the acreage for the house and a garden and orchard.  I just have so many trees that I am trying to find the best solution.  The orchard area I could probably get away with cutting real low to the ground.  Thanks again for your advice,,,,,,,,ed

[barbender]

Dozer.

[glassman_48]

barbender,
Dont have access to a dozer, wish I did, life would be much easier,,,,,thanks ed

[Holmes]

I mowed hundreds of small pines with a heavy duty bush hog. I backed into them with the mower , pushed them over and mowed them up, up to 4" diameter. My clutch knee did get very sore

[Bobus2003]

If it were me I'd find one of these to rent:
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FFd_Tn1GX2Y

Amazing machine to run, able to mix the chips in the soil..

[John Mc]

I mowed hundreds of small pines with a heavy duty bush hog. I backed into them with the mower , pushed them over and mowed them up, up to 4" diameter. My clutch knee did get very sore

I think it's getting rid of the stumps that are left that is the problem for him...

[DeerMeadowFarm]

I have a stone bucket for my tractor that I use to pop out trees like you mention. The only downside is once in a while one gets caught between the teeth and I have to get off the tractor to remove it. Kinda like getting jerky stuck in your teeth.  ;)

[beenthere]

thanks for all the info, I am going to turn the road frontage part of this property into a wood lot with log splitters, firewood bundlers, processors for sale etc.  I am also going to put up some carports to keep pallets of eco bricks and wood pellets and palletized firewood to keep them out of the weather.  I have a processor and also need room for pulpwood and then I have to be able to plow out all around everything in the winter so I cant leave stumps in the ground.  I eventually plan on building a house on the property after I retire from my glass business.  I was worried about torking my bucket, another buddy said try the forks like beenthere talked about.  I think the smaller stuff will come out if I just push it over and pop easy with the bucket.  Today another friend showed me what looks like a pallet puller and said they use those on trees, they clamp together when you start pulling on the chain.  This isnt going to happen overnight, eventually I will clear the back part of the acreage for the house and a garden and orchard.  I just have so many trees that I am trying to find the best solution.  The orchard area I could probably get away with cutting real low to the ground.  Thanks again for your advice,,,,,,,,ed

Are you going to pave the lot, or a plan to gravel the area after stump removal?

[barbender]

Short of a dozer, glassman, the easiest way I have found to deal with that size of trees/stumps is with the pallet forks on my skid steer. Get a high quality set, they can take WAY more abuse than what they were made for (I have taken some 20" aspen stumps out with mine :) I think I do more grubbing with mine than I do lifting materials You can set the forks to go on either side of the tree, and stick them in the ground and cut the roots. Tip the tree over, push it ahead to break the rest of the roots loose, on to the next one. I bet I could do 3 a minute in your trees with the skid steer. Then you can use the forks to pile them up and burn 'em ;)

[barbender]

I reread your post and what you are going to use the property for, it sounds to me like you need a set of pallet forks anyways ;) When I mentioned high quality forks, what I am getting at is I have heard that there are a lot of chinese forks on the market, some of the small ebay type builders just build the frame and put the el cheapo china forks on them. I bought Bobcat brand forks for my machine, they have proven their worth. I saw a set of Bradco forks take way more abuse than what is right as well. I have the benefit of working on a paving crew in the past where equipment was continually pushed far beyond what it was designed for. I would have never did things to pallet forks like I do if I hadn't seen the abuse they could take out there. They weren't really forks, but a "skid steer pry bar attachment" :D I also saw how much abuse Case 1845 skid steers could take out there, I knew that one would last me at home forever.

[Dr Nitro]

Hi There.... I am new to this forum but not new to land clearing.... from what you have described my suggestion would be to rent a skid steer on tracks with either a fecon mower or a heavy duty rotary mower.... the fecon mower will mulch the entire tree right down to ground level where as the rotary mower will mulch the trees down to a foot above the ground or so and then rip most of the stumps out.... at that point a root grapple will be a super handy tool to clean up and stack the stumps.... Doc

[redprospector]

If it were me I'd find one of these to rent:
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FFd_Tn1GX2Y

Amazing machine to run, able to mix the chips in the soil..

Yep, I agree. I make a good part of my living with one of these, but I've got a Tushogg head on my Bobcat. I've also got a Fecon FTX-90.
You can take care of 6 acres of small Pine trees in short order with one of these.

[glassman_48]

thanks guys for more great info, I have a nice set of bradco forks (quik tach) I was more worried about bending them or getting my quik tach and levers out of alignment.  I loaned my other tractor out and when I got it back, the quik tach levers never lined up right again.  I will probably try the forks on some of the smaller trees and see how it goes.  I really want to be able to snow plow a large area so I dont want any stumps left over.  I have never seen an attachment like that on the bobcat, quite amazing.   thanks again,,ed