# Fabricating a small tree uprooter/claw.



## treesquirrel (Mar 12, 2010)

I am always looking for reason to go to the shop and build something so after I was hired to do a clearing job that motivated me.I am going to build a claw that will be used to pull them right out of the ground. Carry the tree over to the chipper and drop it for the guys to cut off the stump and feed it into the chipper. Then stack the stumps.

This job is around 80-100 little scraggly pine trees about 8 inches or less spread over about an acre of land.. The area will be sodded so getting the stumps out will be required reather than grinding.

I could do this job with my grapple but then I'd have to swing around sideways to pick it up and carry it to the chipper. This little gem will allow me to hold onto the whole tree and not have to do all that spinning in place. Also, being able to just hold the tree it will not fall onto the ground where lots of branches and junk will break off increasing the labor for cleanup.

Anyways, I will be posting the pictures as soon as I am done. Probably tomorrow.


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## ATH (Mar 12, 2010)

http://www.gemplers.com/product/163095/Brush-Grubber-Xtreme

http://www.gemplers.com/product/159986/Brush-Grubber-Tree-Post-Puller


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## Bowhunter01 (Mar 12, 2010)

That sounds cool. A buddy of mine has a set of pallet clamps, which are heavy duty short pallet forks with a big grapple arm that closes down in between them. Used to pick up pallets and hold the cargo down while moving them. He uses them to rip out trees, works the forks around the stump a few times and then flips the tree out. Then he can pick it up with the clamp and carry it. I've seen him dig up a 14" diameter sweet gum with his S250. Only drawback is you can't really carry it like you're wanting without playing around with the root ball some. 

I've got a set of really huge heavy forks off a wheel loader. I've been wanting to make a frame for them to use for ripping trees out. Figured I'd mount the forks about 10" apart, and maybe even get a little fancy and put a cutter bar in between somewhere up near the frame for cutting roots. Haven't built it yet, but I need to get on it. I used my regular pallet forks on a couple jobs last year, prying out holly stumps up to about 12" diameter. Worked great on the smaller ones, really fast. Bent them up on the bigger ones. 

I think your claw idea sounds like fun. Please post your pics, I'd like to see that.


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## treesquirrel (Mar 13, 2010)

ATH said:


> http://www.gemplers.com/product/159986/Brush-Grubber-Tree-Post-Puller



I nearly went with this kind of design base but could not find a good way to hold and release the way I want to. After figuring I would need to incorporate a cylinder to do that I decided on a claw instead. The claw will be useful for other tasks as well


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## BigE (Mar 13, 2010)

I was going to suggest something like this:
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/build-yourself/129506-tree-puller-hard-get-trees.html

But it sounds like you've already got something in mind...


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## treesquirrel (Mar 13, 2010)

BigE said:


> I was going to suggest something like this:
> http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/build-yourself/129506-tree-puller-hard-get-trees.html
> 
> But it sounds like you've already got something in mind...



That looks like a neat way to get better leverage from your tractor. Very simple too.


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## John Paul Sanborn (Mar 13, 2010)

*Weed Wrench*

Tom Ness of new Tribe fame, came up with the product in the late 80's












This one can get out some pretty stout sprouts.

There are a few vids showing use

http://video.google.com/videosearch...nt=firefox-a&emb=0&hl=en&q=weed-wrench&view=3


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## brnchbrkr (Mar 13, 2010)




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## John Paul Sanborn (Mar 13, 2010)

brnchbrkr said:


>



how does it work in rocky soil?


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## pdqdl (Mar 14, 2010)

Save yourself some headaches. Rent a small excavator, and rip them all out in one day. A 6000lb excavator should be more than enough for that size tree. Most are available with a "thumb", so carrying the trees would be a snap too. Grade the hole out with the same machine when completed.

Perhaps a cheaper alternative: sometimes a full sized 4x4 rubber tired backhoe rents for less, and travel quicker. You can often drive them to the job, rather than paying for delivery. The front bucket can drive through 2"-3" trees at the ground level, popping them out of the ground like garden weeds.

It's probably faster to drag them to the chipper with a small tractor and a set of tongs than to use the slow excavator.


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## John464 (Mar 14, 2010)

in the case of 8" stumps i would grind them. reason being is they hardly leave much grinding behind and when you grade it out you will not even know there were any stumps, plus would save you time and expense of hauling. a site with larger trees is diff story, excavator time


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## brnchbrkr (Mar 14, 2010)

John Paul Sanborn said:


> how does it work in rocky soil?



Hello John:

Only have seen it used around good soil. 

After rereading original post, probably not the best for 8" Diameter tree removal, but have seen it done with a bobcat grubbing out 8" Lindens. Dig out on one side then go over to the other side and push over. Takes some time rocking tree over but have seen it done. 

Have seen this tool used on landscape removals, and plantings. Can dig a hole then go over and pick up B&B material and walk it over to set by hole.

Many have been fabricated, just thought I would bring it up incase it might be of use. 

Some start with a round Tube/Pipe then cut out the shovel.

Depends how thick the gauge of steel you want for rocks! And the size of machine you want to attach it to.

Excavator/Backhole sounds like a better idea.


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## John Paul Sanborn (Mar 14, 2010)

What is the smallest excavator that a stump shear will work with?


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## pdqdl (Mar 14, 2010)

I imagine that you will never find a rental for a stump shear. That is a pretty exotic toy, and the hookups would need to be matched to the excavator.

That cute little shovel for a bobcat is for transplanting trees and bushes. While it is capable of doing the job, it will bring dirt up with the root ball, and is designed to carefully shear roots in plants placed in good soil. It might not stand up to a plan of ripping 6"-8" trees out of the ground as fast as you can.

I recently rented a Caterpillar 4x4 backhoe (from the Cat dealer) for about $600 total expense for one week of use. New and powerful, it would have been capable of stripping all the small trees off of several acres in a week. Of course that all depends on how thick the trees were growing, and how big they were. I would not have even worried about digging up an 18" DBH tree and pushing it over, then push it to a common disposal area. 

I did break one tooth off the 'hoe bucket by trying to split a large locust stump by hammering down on it with the bucket...for about 1/2 hour. I ended up giving up, but the dealer gave me another tooth at no cost: lifetime warranty. They would have charged labor to install, but we did that before we gave it back to them. 

I could have dug the entire stump out easier, but that wasn't part of the job, and the HO might not have liked the huge crater in the front yard. Besides, I was just subbed out to some hack to haul off the trunk that he didn't have the saws or equipment to handle. All my big saws were down and out; I have just about got that fixed now.


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