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 | jeff r
Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 428 burton. michigan 
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2003-06-28 58495
It took 2 hours plus with much digging, chopping and swearing but I dug out a 18 in diameter monster apple tree stump with my PD backhoe. It was so big I had to get my neighbor's 4X4 Suburban to pull it out of the hole once it was freed up from 20,000 roots bigger than my thigh. Stump removal with a CUT be done without breaking something but GO SLOW AND BE PATIENT. Roots under the ground bigger than 3 inches have to be chopped or cut with a chain saw. Any CUT backhoe WILL NOT break 3 inch or bigger underground root, so plan on getting OFF the backhoe and using an Ax or chain saw. I figure this stump after we pulled it from the hole weighed close to a ton and that is after I worked it over with the backhoe to get the dirt off. The height of this stummp laying on it side was up to my chest and I'm 6'4".I figure if you get down 3 foot around the stump you have got 100% of the hold roots and the stump is just sitting on a mushroom hunk of dirt. Under cut the dirt under the stump as best you can which makes it easier to POP loose. It can be done but it won't be easy or pretty. Your chain saw chain will need re-sharpening too.
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 | TomG
Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 5406 Upper Ottawa Valley 
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2003-06-29 58509
Big piece of work and I'll bet you're happy it's done. I don't know which tractor you have but I'm sort of surprised the tractor couldn't drag the stump out of the hole but using whatever works best is the key.
Here are a few vaguely relevant experiences. We had the reverse problem of a truck that couldn't drag a big rock from the bottom of a grave even trying to ramp it up the side with prybars. Well, the problem there was that we only had one choker chain and the rock wouldn't quite stay in it.
Since I had to go home for my cable choker I figured I might as well bring the tractor. I was able to lift/drag it out using chain ran through the pipe between my loader arms. Got to be careful doing this kind of work. I took care to balance the rock on the edge of the grave and pull it the rest of the way by backing up the tractor. I needed a spotter to tell me when the rock was about to clear the edge. Lifting it out may have allowed the rock to swing and bash the tractor. The spotter also kept helpful people from jumping into the hole to adjust the slings we rigged when I might be about to work the loader. I couldn't see the hole because of the bucket and worked only from the spotter's hand signals. Sometimes extra eyes are more important than extra hands.
Dirt and chainsaws sure don't mix. Some people who make firewood from logs even wash and scrub logs that have been skidded because it takes less time than sharpening saw chain. Working with a chainsaw in a cluttered hole has its own set of problems.
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| jeff r
Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 428 burton. michigan
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2003-06-29 58517
TomG,
I have a B-2150 HST with Woods 1006 Laoder and Hoe. The only reason I didn't use the tractor to pull it out was is that the tractor with the hoe on doesn't have any real good places to hook a chain on and I sure wasn't going to hook the chain on the tow hooks of the loader and possibly tear them up pulling on this stump. Plus the pure inertia of a 5000 pound Chevy Suburban 4X4 with tow hooks has better strength than tearing up my tractor. Once it was out of the hole and broke loose my tractor towed it all the way to the burning pile no problem on the loader tow hooks. Most stump removals scenarios will never include a stump of this size. The numerous 5- to 8 inch stumps I have removed were a 5 to 10 minute pieces of cake and I lifted them out of the hole "tucked" up under the backhoe. The I just drove the tractor with the stump "tucked" under to the burning pile. ....
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 | Chief
Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 4297 Southwest MiddleTennessee
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2003-06-29 58522
Whenever possible it is far better to hook a 100' 5/16" or 1/2" steel to the tree before cutting it up as far up the tree as possible with a ladder. Then pull the entire tree over and cut the root ball off. This way as many of the roots as possible are pulled up with it when it goes over. This method allows you to use the size of the tree against it with increase leverage. You may need a pretty good size tractor or dozer in some cases but if you cut enough of the lateral roots prior to pulling it over, it is not too bad. ....
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 | Misenplace
Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 875 Michigan 
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2003-06-29 58529
Ya Chief, I'd go with the dozer, short and sweet. ....
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 | WillieH
Join Date: Feb 2003 Posts: 543 New England 
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2003-06-29 58530
Another method to clear the subsurface root network, is to use a hoe bucket with side cutters. I have dug out many of stumps similar in size to what you described jeff r, with amazing success - like you say though, slow and easy and she'll come.
The last one I dug, was a 3' elm stump. After I cleaned around and under, it was definitely time for the truck and cable for yanking it from the hole. After that,I was able to take that stump for a ride, off to the pit using the little orange!
Willie H. ....
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| jeff r
Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 428 burton. michigan
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2003-06-29 58534
Willie,
I know what you mean but in my case a windstorm had felled the tree for me crashing it into my elevated deck and doing 1800 bucks worth of damage. This stump removal was not by choice to say the least. A bulldozer was a option but the damage it would have done to my lawn was unacceptable. The side cutters were another option I thought about but since this is the only monster I will attempt on a non-regular basis I didn't have the time to weld up a set. ....
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| WillieH
Join Date: Feb 2003 Posts: 543 New England
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2003-06-29 58537
jeff r -
OUCH! that must've been a surprise for you, hearing and seeing that baby come down!
Having the dozer work done, probably would've made for alot more site clean up work for you at that close proximity to the house - good point.
Yah, the side cutters work out real well - my hoe came with the bucket that had them on it already, so I just take advantage of them where ever and when ever I have a need - Like Tony the Tiger says...I think there great!
Willie H. ....
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| TomG
Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 5406 Upper Ottawa Valley
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2003-06-30 58551
Looking on the bright side; maybe the deck saved the house from damage although it sure isn't a very pleasant reason for working the tractor.
It does sound like the truck was the better choice. My tractor probably would work better for me. I have to realize that my tractor with loader and 3ph implement weighs about the same as my 1/2-ton, and the truck doesn't have 4wd. I also have to realize that a drawbar isn't available with many sub-frame hoe mounts. Mine is always there hoe or not. I just stick a 1" clevis in it and run a grab hook and chain through the clevis loop and out underneath any implement. I've always heard that chain is better than cable if yanking is required since chain doesn't have near the tendency to fly around.
I wonder if anybody had tried stump pulling the way it was sometimes done with horses (not that the idea would apply here). A rope was tied fairly high to gain leverage on a stump to be pulled and then run to an anchor point fairly low on another stump. The rope was run through a pulley on the anchor and the horses pulled back towards the stump. I think the idea is to gain leverage from pulling high on a stump but provide a more stable point and better pulling angle for the horses.
I don't know if there'd be an advantage to the idea for tractors but I suspect there might be. If a tow point is above the drawbar then pulling tends to unload the rear tires.
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 | Art White
Join Date: Jan 2000 Posts: 6898 Waterville New York
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2003-06-30 58558
Tom, chief talks about doing it without the the pulley fastened to the bottom of another tree just straight to the pulling veichle. That is where when cutting and removing it is handy to have a long stump to push and pull from for the hoe or dozer to work from. I lost a big maple 48" plus stump in my yard a couple of years ago and used an L-35 to do the digging honors, no chainsaw or Axe used but it still took a 100 horsepower four wheel drive to get it out of the hole with the L-35 hoe directing the stump onto the roll back to haul away. ....
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