Tree Crusher

[JDeere]

I found this from a link Lumberjack48 posted a couple weeks back. Not sure what the purpose was but I bet it was fun to drive.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOKnGn6HrLM

[Bobus2003]

Very intresting.. Would be useful for a few of my neighbors houses..lol

[Okrafarmer]

I can see how it could be useful for pulverizing the debris after a clear-cut.

[NWP]

My neighbor said he rode in one of these in 1958 in Texas.  The one he rode in was manufactured by LeTorneau Mfg.  He had told me about it before.  I couldn't picture what he was talking about until I saw this video.  I sent him the link and he said it was identical to this.  He said they ran over whole standing trees and that the squirrels would go flying out of the trees when that machine hit it. 

[NWP]

I found some other videos.  These are pretty clear.

http://vimeo.com/11739527

[JDeere]

Now I Know what it was used for. Sure seems like an expensive machine just to get rid of squirrels.

[Okrafarmer]

I believe they use them in the tropics some. Seems like if the govt. had been smart,  : they could have made some judicial use of them during the Vietnam conflict.

[Taylortractornut]

Okra  RG Letourneau sent them to Vietnam and they were partly a success but it was hard to keep parts sent to it half a world away.     I have a friend that got me into the history of RG Letourneau and he was an operator in Vietnam.     He ran a dragline and Gradall along side a few of the crushers.    THe wide wheeled one in the last vid was one like they army got.  THey had a fleet of special  diesel electrick and tank mounted service machines for them .      Most of the machines that were called tree crushers were used on land that the trees weren considered  marketable.       Used to be a wheel off one  in a pine plantation that Tenneco had cleared with one of the smaller 3 wheelers.   THey hade internal wheel motors and this one broke something major in side and ket running till it  lunched itself.     


The later crushed material either rotted or was raked up or burnt.    He had plants and missions all over the world at one time.     Google  Tournata  Liberia   or   Tournavista  Peru.         I have a pictur taken from the air of  4 of the smaller crushers a staggered formation taking out mesquite.  Some where I have a few of several working a patch in Australia.

[lumberjack48]

Heres the Tree Stomped, reminds me back in the day when the wife was looking for me, never misted a spot. Look at all the motors running that rig.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7yw4qzRdl4&list=FLLrMZcmecJApDamempwT7kA&index=2&feature=plpp_video

[barbender]

That looks like a fun ride, I don't feel so bad about bouncing around in a forwarder all day after watching that poor operator

[Taylortractornut]

Okra  Theres an  airforce base in North Carolina that  THe Jungle Stomper is left on.   Stomper Road
Stumpy Point, North Carolina       I think its now veiwable to the public on request.   I have a  picture and adress of it.   I beileve they used the Detroits and genset off it.

[zopi]

guessing that gets lousy mileage...four big detroit gensets...wow..

guy here locally has a loader with a forestry flail mower on it...that thing is sweet! can walk into a stand of brush and just flog it.