Been clearing the pole barn site. I moved it to 100' from the new house location which meant it was mostly in the woods and a lot of trees had to come down.
I've been cutting the trees about 3' off the ground and then removing them whole. My new brush grapple is a godsend allowing me to remove them without bucking/limbing them. Then I go back and cut the stumps at ground level. I've got a backhoe that I'll use later to remove the stumps below ground. Anyway, I put my box blade on the back of my NH TC45 for some weight in the rear and to protect the tractor from stumps as I maneuver around picking up the cuttings.
Here is a pic of the area:
It's been working out great for about a week now. Well, yesterday I bumped a few. I musts admit that I've been moving faster with the tractor as time goes on. Didn't notice that I must have caught one with the bottom of the box blade instead of the whole structure which would stop the tractor dead and it bent the box blade 3-point:
Timing was ok as it started to rain when I noticed it so I brought it back home in the afternoon and started the repair before dinner. Cut the vertical members loose so I could straighten the pin brackets.
Thought I'd heat and restore the shape of the vertical pieces but after cutting them off and laying them on the ground, I realized that would be WAY too much work. I scrounged in my pile of steel and VOILA found the 2 pieces in the pic that are perfect.
They're thicker (1/2") than the original but not quite as wide. It'll take some fab work to get them to fit perfect to the cat 1 dimensions but a whole lot easier than trying to unbend the originals. It's supposed to rain most of the day today, so I'm hoping to get it done without feeling guilty about not spending time clearing the site.
I've been cutting the trees about 3' off the ground and then removing them whole. My new brush grapple is a godsend allowing me to remove them without bucking/limbing them. Then I go back and cut the stumps at ground level. I've got a backhoe that I'll use later to remove the stumps below ground. Anyway, I put my box blade on the back of my NH TC45 for some weight in the rear and to protect the tractor from stumps as I maneuver around picking up the cuttings.
Here is a pic of the area:
It's been working out great for about a week now. Well, yesterday I bumped a few. I musts admit that I've been moving faster with the tractor as time goes on. Didn't notice that I must have caught one with the bottom of the box blade instead of the whole structure which would stop the tractor dead and it bent the box blade 3-point:
Timing was ok as it started to rain when I noticed it so I brought it back home in the afternoon and started the repair before dinner. Cut the vertical members loose so I could straighten the pin brackets.
Thought I'd heat and restore the shape of the vertical pieces but after cutting them off and laying them on the ground, I realized that would be WAY too much work. I scrounged in my pile of steel and VOILA found the 2 pieces in the pic that are perfect.
They're thicker (1/2") than the original but not quite as wide. It'll take some fab work to get them to fit perfect to the cat 1 dimensions but a whole lot easier than trying to unbend the originals. It's supposed to rain most of the day today, so I'm hoping to get it done without feeling guilty about not spending time clearing the site.