Pulling out dead trees

circus

Member
Is there an easier way to pull out trees? Emerald ash borer victim. Trunk over 2 ft thick. Didn't want a stump. Hooked a lonnng chain 12 ft high and started yanking with my tractor. Nope. Dug, cleaned and cut any root within a ft of the surface. Success but a lot of work. Still have two more to pull out.
 
I have someone come with a stump grinder, I rented one once and it was kind of a joke,teeth were dull and engine (Honda) didn't run right. The guy I had last year did 12-14 inch stumps for $25 apiece, I have 3 more for him this year.
 
We have large dead ash trees I wish were down in the woods. I don't like being under them when they're already dropped limbs. Wish there was a safe way to drop them.
 
If you can,cut it off close to the ground and build a fire on it,add a good sized chunk on top of it. The fire will follow the roots and it will all be gone,
 
You are going to break something or get hurt trying that.

Only was is large excavator, or cut off short and grind stump.
 
Even a smaller excavator works well to drop a sizeable tree, but you'll have to do a fair bit of digging. I dig a pretty good size "trench" in front of the stump where I want the tree to fall. Then move right behind the tree opposite where I want it to fall. Dig on both sides to break off more roots. Then give a push right in the direction you want to fall it. Usually goes over, but sometimes needs a bit of digging in the back to cut off some more roots.

When they cleared the 12 acres of forest on my west property line the guy was using a CAT 320C and could just push over pretty much any thing but did have to did a bit on the biggest trees. Mostly Douglas firs up to ~130 feet tall. He also "limbed" the bottom 25 to 30 feet or so by just running the bucket up and down along the trunk. Kind of fun to watch but sad to see the forest go down in exchange for a bunch of houses.
 
Explosives, goats, hire grinder, hire excavator, death, burn, wish it was elsewhere.
Maybe it wasn't that much work after all. My main fear is the very long chain snapping and hitting me.
 
(quoted from post at 17:54:00 05/15/18) We have large dead ash trees I wish were down in the woods. I don't like being under them when they're already dropped limbs. Wish there was a safe way to drop them.
Tree service.
 
Many years ago I was hired to do some dozier work for a guy. At the time I had a TD6 that I used. He had cut down a big tree and then wanted the stump pushed out. It took me well over an hour to remove the stump and I had to dig around it till I had pretty cut most of the roots. It was the last thing I was doing on that day. Pushed it out and then parked the TD6 behind the stump. All you could se of the TD^ was the exhaust pipe and the fuel cap the rest was hidden by the stump
 
Digging out tree roots is much easier when the soil is damp or even muddy. The tree pulls over easier in those conditions too. If the soil is dry, haul some water to soak the area where you will be digging.
 
Down here in South Louisiana, I cut the tree about three feet above the ground, let it die if not already dead.
The extra height gives me more leverage when prying the rest. Chain on top pull with tractor. Pull opposite way next and keep changing directions to break the lower roots.
If I cut it close to the ground there is nothing else I can do but wait or chipper.
The hardest stump I ever pulled out was a Black Cherry tree. I tried pulling and burning. I ended up digging out the big roots cutting them with a chain saw and dragging out the stump with the 8N to the fire pit and three years and many, many, fires later you could still see part of the black cherry stump.

I have a 6V 1952 8N and it still does the jobs for me.
 
quoting gtractorfan: Wish there was a safe way to drop them.
quoting Russ: Chain saw? The longer you wait the more dangerous they get!

Yea, dropping them with a chainsaw for safety wouldn't be too difficult (famous last words). I don't want to mow around stumps for the next ten years.
 
Hi, I have never been beat by a stump. I have a Cat 416 backhoe. Most trees are fairly easy but I've dug out fir trees that have a tap root. It's hard to break that root straight down. But eventually you get it. Ed Will Oliver BC
 
Hello circus,

I would use a strap. Here is a way!

GUIDO.
a267988.jpg
 


Times two on burning them out .

I use a 44 gallon drum with an old stove pipe chimney attached . No bottom to the drum , place it on the stump and fill the top with small brush wood to get it going . The drum has a door cut into the side to aid updraught . Takes about two days for the biggest gum stump to burn away to nothing , roots and all .
[b:2704b888f0]BUT[/b:2704b888f0] , be careful because the fire will follow the roots for their entire length , under a building as well if that's where they are growing .
 
Saltpetre - mentioned here

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potassium_nitrate#Other_uses

IIRC can also be soaked into holes bored in the stump to help burning
 
I had about a 1/4 acre of honey locust on a property I bought that had been left to become a thicket. I tried everything I had tools to try with, fire worked so so, it was evident my back and my little 641 wasn't enough. I found a used Bluebird brand stand behind stump grinder.........the absolute best $1800 I have ever spent. It didn't take long that of all my tools that one was absolutely NOT for hire or loan. It is mission critical to keeping up with the place I have to keep up with. Its needed far less often the last couple years but still indispensable.
 
Don't want to anthropomorphize the emerald ash borer but, after they kill all the ash, they'll also die. Wonder if a sucker from the root, left to grow into a tree, be safe?
 
I dug under a stump and used a 20 ton jack to pop it loose and then drug it with the tractor. It was a lot of work if you have acess to larger equipment.
 
Here's a good way to get extra leverage when pulling anything. Something like a railroad tie works well in position B.

POjo1L7.png
 
Got em out. Each was easier than the one before. Only fatality was one chain saw chain. Probably will never do it again now that I know how.
I found chaining as high as the tree will allow, without breaking, is the best way. Leverage it out.
 
Sister used 40% blasting cap and some Anfo (Ammonium nitrate and fuel oil), big drill bit to make hole at angle inward around base of stump, insert Anfo, top with cap and foot of fuse , light fuse and walk away (quick walk) and get behind something. Brother used some Plastique or C4. Quarry had permits then- 20 or so years back, hard to get that now. Tannerite and black powder still available- $$ though. Civil War cannon crew might like some target practice, take care of sheriff and provide some moonshine for crew- especially the confederate crews. RN
 
I pressure wash the roots prior to cutting with the chain saw and all water does is make the dirt stick to the shovel.
 

We sell tractor parts! We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today.

Back
Top