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Clearing Land

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Gary Richard
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2001-03-06          25084


I purchased 43 acres last year and would like to clear 5 or 6 acres. The land is flat with small and mid sized pine and oak trees. I can pay somebody $2500 an acre or use the money as a down payment on a new tractor and do it myself. I plan on buying a JD4600 or comparable tractor in the near future but have been told that clearing land would tear it up. I would appreciate any advice on this subject as well as what implements would work best(ie:backhoe, bucket, etc...).Thanks, Gary



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Bird Senter
Join Date: Jun 1999
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2001-03-06          25086


Gary, you definitely want a front end loader and a backhoe would certainly be a big help. There are different types of buckets available, i.e., 4 in 1 bucket is handy, but not absolutely necessary, for moving brush and limbs. As for tearing the tractor up; just depends on the operator. There's no reason to damage the tractor if it's operated right, but you might consider hiring a dozer and operator to do the initial clearing, then do the finish work with your own tractor. It'd be a lot faster. ....


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JeffM
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2001-03-06          25091


Gary, the big question here is how fast do want to clear this land? I agree with Bird, if you don't abuse the equipment, it will do the job, given enough time. If you want the result in the near term, then hire it out. If you have all the time in the world and enjoy this type of work, then a JD 4600 or 4700 with 460 loader (get a toothbar!), 48 backhoe with 18" bucket, and a good medium-to-heavy duty landscape rake can do the job. This is assuming a rough graded finish surface. If you want a lawn then you will need more toys (tiller, etc.) ....


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JeffM
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2001-03-06          25092


Oh, I forgot, if you got a lot of 1-3" trees on this land then a Brush-Brute would also be a good investment. Search on the word "Brush" to learn more. ....


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Gary Richard
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2001-03-06          25100


Thanks for responding so quick. I'm still wondering if it would be a pain to push small and medium trees over with the backhoe? I wouldn't mind the work but would hate to spend an hour on each tree digging up roots. I watched the larger tractors pushing over trees when they cleared our house lot with ease. What can I expect from something like the JD4600 coupled with a 48 backhoe? Or what would the correct technique be for knocking down a tree? I don't mean to sound so stupid. I don't expect a small tracktor to compete with the big boys. I just have no knowledge on this subject. ....


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Anthony M. Parente
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2001-03-06          25101


The 4600or 4700 with a Brush Brute is ideal to clear your land. I recommend a counter weight box or 48 Backhoe and chains on all fours, (saves a lot of tire wear). You should be able to rip the small trees out including the roots with no problem. You may need a scarifer to remove the rest of the roots. Murph is the BB expert. Good Luck. ....


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Murf
Join Date: Dec 1999
Posts: 7249 Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada
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2001-03-06          25107


Actually..... I'm presently working on (if it will stop SNOWING long enough) a much larger device for removing trees with compacts. A Brush brute is a wonderful device (on of my favourites) but is slow on a small machine (since you can't remove as many trees in one shot) and useless on anything larger than 3" in diameter. They say out everything bad, comes some good, this is the case here. I got the inspiration while watching my local fire rescue unit working to get people out of a wreck with the "Jaws of Life" (everyone was absolutely unhurt, but the car buckled and the doors wouldn't open). It occurred to me that this VERY powerful tool was powered by only a small Honda gas engine (5hp) and hydraulic pump mounted in a frame like a small generator. This got me thinking, what I came up with was the following. 1) a hydraulic line set including auto-rewind hose reel, 2) a self-contained hydraulic 'jig' which clamps the tree trunk (up to ~1' diameter) and forces down against the earth, ripping it out by the roots, 3) a 'tool carrier' which is quick-tach loader mounted, which transports the whole affair. The way I envision it working is like this, you drive up to the tree you want out, place the 'jig' around the trunk with the tractor, back away the length of the line set (a safe distance) and activate the hydraulics, causing the tree to be up rooted and fall over. All thats left is to release the 'jig', drive up and retrieve it. The now horizontal tree can be cut up traditionally, and the stump cleaned up / taken away at leisure. I am predicting that ANYTHING with a loader and a remote will be able to remove trees up to 1' in size. So, am I nuts or what? Let me know. ....


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JeffM
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2001-03-06          25108


Murf, your creativity never fails to amaze me! As an engineer, I think the basic theory will work, but as always, the devil is in the details. Here are the tough parts that I see immediately: 1) How will you effectively clamp around trunks that vary in size while also being able to sustain the high lateral forces needed to uproot the tree. A conventional grapple or jaw clamp handles different sizes well, but can't typically handle the lateral stresses that well. 2) Your jig is going to be pretty good-sized and will need multiple feet capable of handling uneven ground. After the uproots and falls over, you release the tree from your jig hydraulically, but the jig could now be horizontal or possibly inverted if it rolls off wrong. This will make it tough to retrieve with your quick tach. 3) How long a hydraulic reel are you envisioning that will provide safety via distance? What happens when the tree falls on your hydraulic line? Obviously you will have to cut or move the tree first then. Will the hydraulic line handle this level of abuse repeatedly? Now you will have me awake at night puzzling this over in my mind! ....


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Rob Munach
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2001-03-07          25130


I had an idea (before I go my tractor) for uprooting 1" trees. I tied a snatch-n-strap from my Nissan 4x4 to the base of a 1" tree. After a few running starts, the tree came out.I decided it wasn't worth my time or the abuse on my truck to continue. For pines up to 2" diameter, I use my bushog. The stumps rot out within 6 months. For the other stuff, I am having trackloader come over next weekend to take care of it. ....


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Murf
Join Date: Dec 1999
Posts: 7249 Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada
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2001-03-07          25137


Jeff, it takes a curious mind to appreciate one I guess. While I had already thought of your points, I have yet only to solve the tree on the lines problem, and I think I now have it 'licked' also. While I'm sure you will all appreciate that I can't go into a LOT of detail (patents in the offing) suffice it to say that the Jig will be sectional so as to allow removal regardless of the position it comes to rest in. As for the clamping, that is accomplished by the 'sectional nature' of the Jig itself, and the feet are self levelling since no one foot can apply pressure until all other cylinders in the circuit are under an equal load. The key to all of this is that a tree is remarkably easy to uproot if you pull straight up (same way a Brush Brute works) as anyone who has ever seen the aftermath of a twister or tornado will tell you. Now, don't you ahve anything better than this to keep you up at night? LOL..... ....


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JeffM
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2001-03-07          25138


There you go, Murf, made me blush again! When you get to a point where your patent concerns are covered, I'd love to see more detail on this idea. I think for a larger tree, say 8-12" in diameter, that I would fell the tree first, leaving sufficient trunk for your gizmo to do its thing to uproot the rest. Seems to me this would be safer and allow the hydraulics to focus more on uprooting, rather than lifting the whole tree. Your thoughts? ....


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JeffM
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2001-03-07          25139


Murf, I thought of a name for your gizmo. You are free to use this idea without compensation. Root-Brute! I will now refer to your jig as the RB going forward! ....


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Murf
Join Date: Dec 1999
Posts: 7249 Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada
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2001-03-07          25149


Thanks Jeff, I will take the name into consideration, "she who sometimes says no to things" thinks I should call it "Tornado" because it up-roots the trees (and because of what my 'test area' looks like... ooooops!). I personally like Stump-Buster, but who knows Root-Brute has a ring to it too.... more beer required. As for the trees being cut first, I thought of that before but it would nescesitate getting (at least part of) the fallen tree out of the way first in order to get to the stump. If your going to do all that you may as well spend your money on a Stumpster. More thinkin' required (snow plowing too, back later). Best of luck. ....


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