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Right way to use loader?

R

RedMF

Member
With my resto nearly finished, I can finally start using my MF240.
First job is clearing overgrown tracks of fairly large shrubs. I have a Piranha tooth bar on my bucket but it hasnt improved things much so I'm not sure I'm doing it right.
Been told not to take a run at it as that is bad for the tractor: engage with shrub at base, then lift. This doesn't seem to work and if I push too hard the tractor wants to stall.
Is there a way to do this which is more effective and which doesnt risk overstraining the tractor?
Thanks.
 
Wrap a chain around a shrub at the base, then hook it to a clevis on the fixed drawbar on the back of the tractor and pull it out in a low gear. It works very well, but you
have to get off to hook and unhook the chain. What you are trying to do is too much for the loader in my opinion. They will pull out effortlessly with very little strain on
the tractor.
Zach
 
Ramming something is never a good idea or rolling fast then dropping the bucket. Things seem to
break doing stuff like that. Maybe brush hog it down then run through it with a box blade with the
ripper teeth down.
 
When you are pulling up shrubs and bushes with a chain it is a lot easier if you place the
chain over an empty rim. This lets the chain pull the bush up before trying to pull it out
of the ground. Much easier than a straight pull.
 
Ramming with loader is good way to break something, I will do taps.

My dad ended up putting new transmission case on customer's 861 when it cracked in two due to ramming.
 
A tractor with a loader is meant for loading LOOSE material not grubbing brush , ya want a loader to grub brush then get a crawler loader , a dozer with a root rake blade , trac hoe , not a FARM TRACTOR More people have been hurt trying to remove shrubs and small trees using a tractor.
Same as dragging logs with a tractor unless you have a logging arch to get the log up off the ground .
 
I've dug a lot of brush out with my toy
Tonka. A terramite. It does a great job on
honeysuckle and trees up to about 6 inches.
No way will a loader work unless it's a HST.
Otherwise you will have a good chance
burning clutch.
 
I do this quite often with small trees using the same technique but I use a wheel loader. It has a much stronger loader frame, better hydraulics and a torque converter powershift transmission. Even better would be a crawler loader or dozer. As stated you will either break the loader, tractor frame or burn up your clutch doing much of this with a tractor.

I have had good luck using a 3pt box blade for small trees/brush.
 
You learn how to fasten a chain to the brush so when you pull the chain gets tighter around the stump other end to clevis on drawbar and pull. You dont have a CAT you have a tractor.
 
Could you use a block and tackle with a heavy rope? You'd need a strong tree, bush or another tractor/truck to hook one end of the tackle to, other end to the tractor, and a chain with slip hook around the bush. You can multiply your pulling power maybe 4x-- pull out the bushes, then use the loader to haul them away.
 
Some of it is small stuff growing densely, which the tractor doesnt seem too good at getting out either. So a rope isnt going to work for a lot of it.
I think it's going to have to be a box blade/ripper. I dont have one: due to cost, would either a blade or a ripper work or does it need to be both on the same implement?
 
I've used a john deere B to remove brush. Rented a large Bobcat worked the best though.
If you could kill off the brush first and let is sit a little it would be a lot easier.
 
I have a MF-240 with a MF-232 loader. As was said, it is not a bulldozer. Don't get a run at things and drop the blade, you will damage things. I have bent the bottom of the bucket down, so it is possible. DO NOT life things up in the bucket high. NOTHING over your head, or over anyone else. It is meant to slowly lift. And dump. That's it.
 
Not sure what loader controls you have but for me I follow your instructions except push the brush over with the bucket up about 6" to 2 ft above the ground depending on
diameter, get cutting edge under the root that pops up and push then curl and lower the bucket so the heel stays on the ground. Once its loose you push it back and start the
next one.

My 50 hp tractor can get up to maybe 3" brush out without being rough. My bigger 100 hp tractor maybe 4" brush or 6" if its a softwood.

Bigger than that its really hit and miss and I've popped some hydraulic hoses being a bit impatient.
 
(quoted from post at 13:16:11 10/11/16) Not sure what loader controls you have but for me I follow your instructions except push the brush over with the bucket up about 6" to 2 ft above the ground depending on
diameter, get cutting edge under the root that pops up and push then curl and lower the bucket so the heel stays on the ground. Once its loose you push it back and start the
next one.

My 50 hp tractor can get up to maybe 3" brush out without being rough. My bigger 100 hp tractor maybe 4" brush or 6" if its a softwood.

Bigger than that its really hit and miss and I've popped some hydraulic hoses being a bit impatient.
Click to expand...

None of the stems are over 1", most less. When I said large, I meant in terms of height and diameter. But I'm struggling with even these small stems. Either it's my technique or I shouldn't be attempting any kind of digging out with a loader bucket except mounds of loose stuff.
 
Over the years I found the best way to
remove brush and roots and not abuse my
loader or make a huge mess to clean up
was to use the backhoe or mini
excavator. Not the answer you want I bet
but I assure you a weekend rental of a
mini excavator will save your loader and
you will get way more done and lose less
soil being able to lift them and tumble
them around to get the dirt out
 
(quoted from post at 13:51:00 10/11/16) Over the years I found the best way to
remove brush and roots and not abuse my
loader or make a huge mess to clean up
was to use the backhoe or mini
excavator. Not the answer you want I bet
but I assure you a weekend rental of a
mini excavator will save your loader and
you will get way more done and lose less
soil being able to lift them and tumble
them around to get the dirt out
Click to expand...

Used to hire a guy with a bobcat or bigger: can't hire the machine on it's own round here. Then got a tractor so I wouldn't have to hire. Couldn't afford a used bobcat. I've got 80 acres of dense woodland containing many over-grown tracks, an invasion of large prickly bushes everywhere and mountains of dead brush lying all over which is a really bad fire hazard. So this isn't a weekend job and it's ongoing every year.
I got the best I could afford and fixed it up. Obviously I dont want to wreck it as I put a lot of effort into it over the last year.
Looking into a box grader at the moment.
 
One word , You ask, in reality, no You need something larger than a MF 240 you will get the tractor clutch quick doing what you are trying to do.
 
(quoted from post at 14:30:34 10/11/16) you will get the tractor clutch quick doing what you are trying to do.
Click to expand...

Do you mean with the loader or even with a box blade?
 
Understandable, but a farm tractor
loader will not take what you want to
do, they just are not made for it. Best
bet would be buy a subsoiler / ripper to
break roots and such or find a small
backhoe to mount on back. I guarantee
you will break either the loader or
damage the clutch trying to pry them out
with the loader. I have a construction
loader, Deere 210C, and while that is
much heavier built to take such abuse I
know it would be very tough to use it to
remove roots and such.
 
Thanks everyone; I do get that the using the bucket isn't an option.....honestly I do :lol:
Good to get the message [b:422ea5363a]before[/b:422ea5363a] I broke my tractor!
As I said, I'm looking at a box blade/ripper, to see if that is the best option for me.
Good ones aren't cheap and I dont think I can go cheap on this as it will be made to work harder than what they were intended to be used mostly for (I think) ie grading.
 
If you've got acres & acres, hire someone who has a skidloader with a Fecon atch (or some other company's similar atch). You're into a lifelong project, otherwise, one where you'll never be done enough to circle back and start again. You might go read George's post today about his old gravel pit project and how many hours he's put in.
Fecon mulchers
 
(quoted from post at 20:18:55 10/11/16) If you've got acres & acres, hire someone who has a skidloader with a Fecon atch (or some other company's similar atch). You're into a lifelong project, otherwise, one where you'll never be done enough to circle back and start again. You might go read George's post today about his old gravel pit project and how many hours he's put in.
Fecon mulchers
Click to expand...

No one within 200 miles of here got any kind of fancy equipment like that. Best you can get round these parts is a guy with a hand fed mulcher on a trailer, which sometimes works on the day.
Anyway, I 'aint hiring no more...got a tractor, fixed it up and goin to use it. 3 tine ripper may do the job.
 
Japanese barberry all over my central Pa camp. Tough bush with thorns. Killed about 1000 this year. Hit them in reverse with the brush hog in the spring. Then mid summer back pack sprayer with roundup. Dead shrub.
 
(quoted from post at 04:41:45 10/12/16) Japanese barberry all over my central Pa camp. Tough bush with thorns. Killed about 1000 this year. Hit them in reverse with the brush hog in the spring. Then mid summer back pack sprayer with roundup. Dead shrub.
Click to expand...

Tried roundup: soaked big ones, tiny ones....I think they thought it was fertilizer...totally immune.
There really is only one way to deal with them, dig them out, move them to one place and burn them. If burnt where they stand, it signals the seeds to germinate.
Don't have a bush hog and dont really have a need for one....and if I cut them up where they stand, they would still germinate and need to be dug out.

I did the deed today and ordered a box scraper/grader. I figured that a one or three tine ripper on its own would only drag the big ones and their thorns into the back of the tractor, my new paintwork and me. With a double sided blade I can push them over, then with the blade holding them down I can pull them out with the tines. Got a 4ft one which is still pretty heavy but more tines probably be too much for my tractor.
Looks really well made, much more so than anything else I could find. Cost was about the same as a bobcat and driver for a day.
http://www.implementsdirect.com.au/sierra-box-blade-4ft-heavy-duty
 
"...With a double sided blade I can push them over...." I assume you're going to push in reverse? If so, same cautions as for your FEL - you can hurt your tractor if you push too fast & too hard: bend/break lift arms & lift arm pins. Others have found learned this the hard way when using a back blade to push snow.
 
(quoted from post at 05:16:41 10/12/16) "...With a double sided blade I can push them over...." I assume you're going to push in reverse? If so, same cautions as for your FEL - you can hurt your tractor if you push too fast & too hard: bend/break lift arms & lift arm pins. Others have found learned this the hard way when using a back blade to push snow.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip. Yes, backwards. Even the 6 foot ones have stems probably no bigger than an inch and that's right at the base...the rest is much thinner so I dont think there would be a strain on the tractor. The real strain on the loader came from the roots which is where the tines come in. Forward pulling is about the only thing in this situation which the tractor was designed for!
But I will be careful.
 
Yes, I'm afraid you run the same risks of damaging the tractor and will encounter the same power/traction problems pushing them over with a box blade, or even tugging them out with a chain. It is the same tractor after all.

A brute force frontal attack is not the way to go about this, with this tractor.

The way to do it is to rip the root structure of the bushes to weaken their hold on the ground, THEN start pushing.

The golden rule of loader work is, if you push it and it moves, you're good.
 
I meant pushing over the upper part only sufficient to get it at the back of the blade, so when I pull it out, it doesnt flip towards the tractor. I didnt mean push as in part of the attempt to uproot.
 
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