Greetings all, and an early Merry Christmas. I just completed my best Christmas tree season ever, selling nearly 500 trees. That's 500 stumps I need to pull before planting next spring. In the past I have rented a neighbor's small excavator with a thumb, which works fine, but I would like to use my 742B. There are several backhoe attachments for skid steers, but they are clearly designed for digging trenches, and I'd prefer to use the excavator. I checked out Starhill Jawz, but that is not designed for pulling Christmas tree stumps. I envision a grapple-like attachment, with three teeth on one side and two teeth on the other which operates very close to the attachment plate, not several feet out in front. Such an attachment would have little other utility, except picking up rocks or heavy chunks of firewood. Does anyone out there in cyber space know of an attachment that fits this description, or could be easily modified to my needs ?? Thanks in advance
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bobbie-g
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Russell -- I'll get in here before Tazza! He will recommend a 4-in-1 bucket. These gadgets look like a normal dirt bucket, but open up a the bottom near the back of the bucket, like a clamshell. Thomas make most of the ones I've seen. I have one and love it. They are evidently more popular in Aussie-land than here in the States. Cost new nearly $2K, used or on ebay for generally $1K or so. I have used mine only a little so far to try to pull up Gambel Oak (oak brush) stumps. I can't yank out a 4" stump with my 751 (probably weighs about what your 742 does). I think 2" stumps pull pretty easily, and maybe I can pull a 3" one? --- Having just made a brush grapple bucket with a couple of hydraulic cylinders, I can say that it's a real time-sink for me to figure out how to get the stroke length and both pivot points right on the cylinder placement. I would not recommend such an endeavor for the beginner. Unless you are duplicating some other piece of equipment nearly exactly. You also have to come up with some really heavy duty pivot bushings or bearings. I used pillow block bearings from Northern Equipment, which seemed to work OK. But I used a 1" mild steel bar through the bearings. The bar sort of took on the shape of a pretzel after about 5 minutes of use. Back to the drawing board. The 1.25" bar upgrade is still in progress...... ---Bob
LOL Bob, you know me too well. I was reading and i thought, that sounds like a good job for a 4 in 1 bucket!
They are sold as standard equipment over here, i have no idea how you guys manage with *standard* buckets. I would be so lost without mine. Easier to pick up dirt, you don't need to push into a pile, just lift over with an open bucket and grab. BUT the bucket does weigh more, in the order of say 2-300 KG.
See if you can rent one? if they were small x-mas trees i'm sure it wouldn't have a problem pulling them out.
I've seen just what you are looking for on e bay. I'll see if it is listed this wk. dennis
Take a look at this site www.treeterminator.com I think this may be something that you are looking for. If you get a price on it please let me know. Looks like something I could make a winter project. What area are you in? dennis
I don't buy much on ebay, but it is almost as good as a catalog for browsing and checking prices. If you find it, let me know. Bobbie g - you hit on a subject that concerns me, - that is the weight of my machine, and its ability to pull the stump once I have a firm grasp on it. Most of my stumps are about 4" in diameter, with a range of 3" to 6". The Kobelco excavator I have used has a blade on the front, and without the blade down, pulling stumps with the bucket raises the back of the machine quite easily. That is the reason I think my imagined grapple attachment must be mounted close to the front.
I came up with one, had to use T 1 steel, only used one cylinder. It also pulls T stakes real well. The one thing that stinks about using a four in one for T stakes is it dings your edges. I wanted to keep my bucket in good shape, so a dedicated tool was the answer. (Same for pipe used as posts.) It is also handy for pulling studs in a building, shearing items, exploding concrete off pulled posts, and pulling bushes, small trees. Mine is close to the plate for more lift, you want it just far enough away so you can see it from the operators seat. Its fun, its small for an attachment, and very efficient if you have much pulling to to. One other negative of the four in one, is you can't see your grip as well. You can learn to feel it, or see how far your bucket is open upon gripping. The four in one is a great option, and once you get one you won't want to give it up. A.G.
send us some pic's of it.
Go to Berlon Industries website. they sell a tree puller.
Berlon's tree puller is very much like one made by Jones Prolift. Probably very good if you have the whole tree or a tall stump, but most of my stumps are only 1 to 3" high. I'd like to see a photo of AG's attachment.
I don't know if I have a picture in this computer. It looks like a a big pair of slip joint pliers or vice grip. That is, the tip pinches to zero, but the center is wider so you can grasp larger posts like the wood ones on the end of fencelines. One side of the jaw is fixed, while the other has the cylinder on it. It took some testing to get it right. That is the toughest part of making up your own tool. When you purchase a finished product from say Bobcat it has been thoroughly torture tested and probably gone through a couple revisions. While it may be fun to weld stuff together, sometimes you are better off just purchasing the finished product. Especially if you have to report to a job, and they expect to see great results. I can't find a file picture of that attachment. A.G.
skidsteer.ca
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http://cgi.ebay.ca/HD-STUMP-GRAPPLE...3QQihZ009QQcategoryZ95494QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
1/2 of a tooth grapple bucket for 1k plus freight
Ken
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sterlclan
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- May 1, 2004
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I have experince with a set of forks with a grapple and after "moderate" use the forks like to come off the bar they hang on this aera needs to be reinforced for forks to be effictive for long term use my 2cents Jeff
Since I started this thread, I'll bring you up to date on my quest for a stump puller. Regarding the use of forks to pop them out, a lot of my stumps don't 'pop' out--they must be extracted. In doing an ebay search for 'root grapple' I found one particular unit that , if narrowed from 60 inches to 12 inches, appeared to be just the ticket. I sent an inquiry thru ebay channels, and have been in contact with a gent near Jacksonville, FLA who will probably fabricate it for me. If we are successful in this collaboration, I'll try to post pics, and give you his name.
Mr Jimi
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- Jan 30, 2006
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I made one of these and I find it's like pulling a tooth, ya have to rock it and loosen the roots and they come right out. The one I made is 4 feet front to back and about 15 inches wide and it works great and I have more pictures in my gallery, its called Mr Jimi
This works great and I live in Jacksonville, Florida
Jim
Jim- big difference in VT soils and FLA soils--we have rocks. Great photo, but this design wouldn't pull my stumps
I have used a pallet fork attachment with great success to pull stumps from trees up to 30ft tall. Sometimes with one fork sometimes two. I depends on the time of year and type of soil but it does work. I saw a landscaper doing it once and went over and talked to him apparently lots of folks try it. I have also used a trencher to trench through roots around trees before pulling the stumps out. I can trench right through 3-4 inch roots depending on the tree
My trencher has carbides in it as well as the cups. Try it and I bet you will be surprised. Brian
