Re: Pulling stumps

Posted by Dan-IA on May 24, 2006 at 20:32:41 from (207.177.13.221):

In Reply to: Re: Pulling stumps posted by Bill in TN on May 24, 2006 at 19:11:21:

I like to pull trees early in the year, preferably as soon as possible after the ground thaws out. Here the ground freezes hard in the wintertime and that makes the soil good and loose. I wouldn't do this in wet weather, because you'll dig more ruts and pull less. (That's also a reason why I leave the tire chains on year-round. Better traction for pulling trees.) For smaller trees, I'll still pull 'em through the summer, but if it's fall when I decide to remove a tree, I'd put it off until after the winter.

That reminds me, another good reason I wouldn't pull a tree by backing up... The tires have the tread going that way for better traction pulling forward (many tires even have a traction arrow to indicate this.) You lose that by trying to go at it backwards.

Oh, if you dig around a tree and you still can't pull it, a neat trick I learned is to throw a bunch of stuff in the U-trench (like a bunch of old sticks) and set it ablaze. If you get a good hot fire going there, the fire will help burn out the roots, further weakening the tree and making it easier to pull.

A caveat: burning a tree stump rarely burns up the stump--it just chars it black and makes it waterproof. A stump of a dead tree will rot away with time. If you burn it, it'll be there a LOT longer. So be prepared to pull it or dig it out if you do burn it. I've seen stumps rot away in 4 years and less. I've seen burnt stumps last more than 20 (and were still there last I saw 'em.)

Honestly, I'm surprised people here are discouraging this, but I guess it's maybe a liability issue. Hey, if you just got the tractor, get used to it before you start trying something like this. You really need to understand the weight and power of the equipment you're working with first.

(Did you know, if you have an outbuilding and you tie on a logchain, you can pull a building down? Been there, done that! Be very careful, that's all I'm saying.)

Heck, you could use the crank trick too, particularly if you're worried about doing this. Tie on the chain, drive the tractor forward until it's almost tight, kill the motor and leave the kill switch set so it can't start, put the tractor in low gear and go turn the crank out front. This puts the tractor between the chain and you in case you're worried about the chain breaking or slipping (which it shouldn't do anyway because you'll be going so slow at this that you won't jerk that chain.) Yes this is really slow, but it's quite a bit less dangerous. (It's how they tightened wire fences years and years ago.)

But absolutely, if the tree is taller than the tractor, I'd cut it down first. You don't want it falling on you and the tractor. Just cut it as high as you think you'll need to be able to pull it.

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