Pushing trees with a trackhoe.

[A. Stanton]

Kubota Tractor 1 Oak Tree 0

Used my little Kubota today to finish off some stumps that I'm clearing. This oak stump was a mother.

 

[pickwood]

Man thats got to hard on the little Kubota. I like to use a 45# plus excavator on the big trees-we use a Cat 963 with sweeps on the smaller stuff. We clear a lot of acres with two good operators.

 

[dieseldave]

A company around here shears the trees, than has a couple of 245's fitted with railroad cribbing buckets, pop the stumps out. Than, its off to the tub they go.

Hey Nils, I'm in mullica, too, how 'bout that? I didn't know anyone had any 245's around here. Here's a pic of my old D9- good for pushin trees, but ya gotta watch your head.

 

[Cowboy Billy]

I have been pushing over a lot of trees in the last three years. Making roads to and around our 120 acres in michigans UP. I had to make a road across a 1/4 mile of my uncles property just to get to ours through woods. Started off renting a case 550.

We bought a old case W-14 loader 16000lbs then a JD-450 dozer 14500lbs. Both are kinda small for clearing but I have pushed over 22" poplar and pine/spruce with both. And up to 20" birch. All I have for a back hoe is a 21hp B21 kubota. And that doesn't do much for digging out stumps!! I found for what I am doing if I don't push the tree over I cant get the stumps out with my little dozer. You have to be really carefull cutting off a big root ball from the trees as they want to fall over on you. Also it can get quite a side load on the trunk and when you cut it off it can jump sideways a couple of feet.

The Biggest problem I have is having the tree I am pushing hitting a dead tree and having that come down and fall over the cab or dropping limbs on the hood. You also have to go really really slow pushing over a dead tree or the will break apart as it comes down.

Billy

 

[poulson01]

What I do is, after pushing it over, I pick at the root ball and get as much weight off it as I can. All the loose dirt and roots that will come off.
I'm using a mini mind you.
I start limbing at the skinny end and work my way to the stump. I usually wind up holding the stump with the machine while I cut it off the tree.

 

[AKDoug]

I knock 'em over. Grab the stump down as close as I can to the root ball with the thumb and shake off as much dirt as possible. I let go and grab the tree about 4' up and let the cutter cut off the stump. I set the tree down and while the cutter limbs the tree. While he's doing that I grab the root ball in the thumb and put it on the burn or haul off pile. Once the tree is limbed and topped i grab the log and put it on the pile. Every once in a while I will swing around and grab a few tops and put them on the burn pile.

I used to fall trees and move them with the excavator. It's way faster and safer to do it the way I now do it above. 315 or 320 Cat works perfect for this in my country.