Clearing large trees for more solar.

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Biggkidd

Biggkidd

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I need to remove some trees from around the house for more solar panels. I'd like to get them stump and all in a fairly quick manor if possible. The D4 will push a tree out about 6 inches across at the base. Most of these go up from a foot across at the base to 20 inches or so. In all I probably need to clear somewhere between one half acre and one acre. Just depends on how far the shadows are cast. Which I won't know until I start clearing and work my way back.

Most of my life I've dug around trees with the TPH backhoe and then pulled them out with the tractor. This is a slow labor intensive practice involving a lot of hard backhoe hours. It probably takes 2 to 4 hours to dig 3 feet deep all the way around a 16 inch wide tree far enough out the backhoe can whittle through the roots. This method also leaves one with a huge mass of dirt stuck to the stump and roots as large as 8 foot across and 3 to 5 feet thick. Plus you're left with a huge hole to fill. I also have a TPH mount auger / post hole digger with a 12 inch bit. Now it can dig a 3 foot deep hole 12 inch around in about a minute unless it gets stuck in a large root or large rock. So I could probably dig around a tree in 20 minutes or so BUT I wouldn't be cutting any roots bigger than about 1 inch. I would also probably be able to get closer to the tree trunk and take less dirt out with the stump. While at the same time hopefully getting more of the roots out intact with the stump.

So what I'm planning to try tomorrow is digging around the stumps with the tractor mounted auger and pushing or pulling with the D4. Do you guys think this plan has any chance of working?
 
Biggkidd said:
I need to remove some trees from around the house for more solar panels. I'd like to get them stump and all in a fairly quick manor if possible. The D4 will push a tree out about 6 inches across at the base. Most of these go up from a foot across at the base to 20 inches or so. In all I probably need to clear somewhere between one half acre and one acre. Just depends on how far the shadows are cast. Which I won't know until I start clearing and work my way back.

Most of my life I've dug around trees with the TPH backhoe and then pulled them out with the tractor. This is a slow labor intensive practice involving a lot of hard backhoe hours. It probably takes 2 to 4 hours to dig 3 feet deep all the way around a 16 inch wide tree far enough out the backhoe can whittle through the roots. This method also leaves one with a huge mass of dirt stuck to the stump and roots as large as 8 foot across and 3 to 5 feet thick. Plus you're left with a huge hole to fill. I also have a TPH mount auger / post hole digger with a 12 inch bit. Now it can dig a 3 foot deep hole 12 inch around in about a minute unless it gets stuck in a large root or large rock. So I could probably dig around a tree in 20 minutes or so BUT I wouldn't be cutting any roots bigger than about 1 inch. I would also probably be able to get closer to the tree trunk and take less dirt out with the stump. While at the same time hopefully getting more of the roots out intact with the stump.

So what I'm planning to try tomorrow is digging around the stumps with the tractor mounted auger and pushing or pulling with the D4. Do you guys think this plan has any chance of working?
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Sorry I cant answer your specific question since it is above my pay grade but may I ask...

Could you get a heavy chain or cable up high enough into the trees to be able to pull them over with the D4 ?

Ben
 
Neb said:
Sorry I cant answer your specific question since it is above my pay grade but may I ask...

Could you get a heavy chain or cable up high enough into the trees to be able to pull them over with the D4 ?

Ben
Click to expand...
Yes and no. That's a more loaded question than you know. lol Dead pulling the trees without digging absolutly not. With pre digging and some precautions maybe. Here's what I have to work with.

I have a mix of chain some high tensile 5/16 and some standard 3/8 and 7/16. I don't trust any of it for the amount of weight and traction the dozer has in a straight pull. I know the damage a breaking chain or cable can do from having broken many over the years with the tractor and trucks. I also have some 5/16 cable with a higher breaking strength than the chains but not high enough for my liking for straight out pulling the trees.

As far as going high for leverage I have always done that. I can hang chain 13-14 feet up by standing in the tractor bucket. There is another problem with pulling high, evergreen trees will often break and most if not all these are evergreens. I want to save them for the sawmill. A couple are large enough to make nice beams and most of the others will make boards. I'm hoping to start on the sawmill build before years end...
 
The D4 has a blade, not a bucket, correct? Can you angle the blade to dig with one corner? You could sever roots that way. You could also dig that blade into the ground and push toward the tree, scraping the dirt towards the base of the tree and weakening the roots.
 
Fixed blade only goes up and down. I'd like to disturb the hillside ground little as possible on account of erosion.

I dug a few trees in another area the other day by pushing / digging the base as you mentioned.
 
The roots will extend all the way to the end of the tree branch length, so a large tree will have a large disk of roots 12-20', I've seen threes that wend blew over after several days of heavy rains, and the roots are the worst, usually less than 4' deep but they make a big circle....

That being said I like the Idea of using an auger to dig holes about every foot around the tree, possibly a foot from the tree. But there is a big danger as you drill those holes you will weaken the base of the tree and you could have it fall while you are digging holes. I would suggest that you drill hole half way around the tree (on the side you want it to fall towards) then attach a chain about 10 to 15 feet above the ground with some slight tension in the direction you want the tree to fall to and continue drilling the holes around the tree listening for tail tail signs of movement.... Once all your holes are dug you could increase the tension in the chain a little more and give the tree a push with the D4's lifted blade. You should end up with a hole about 3 times as big around as the tree and 3 or 4 feet deep...
 
Actually I have enough chain or cable length to keep the D4 out of the fall zone. Although I would feel a lot better pushing than pulling. About time for me to go get started...
 
Can you just fall the tree and then grind the stump down? Might be easier.
 
Biggkidd said:
Actually I have enough chain or cable length to keep the D4 out of the fall zone. Although I would feel a lot better pushing than pulling. About time for me to go get started...
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Dad always said, "When you get done with a project you'll how to do it next time." You'll figure an efficient way of downing the trees by the last tree.
 
Made a fair dent in this project today. Using the auger doesn't make a lot of difference until you start fooling with larger trees so far not really worth the effort so I've mostly been pushing with the dozer. I've got 8 or so on the ground now waiting for me to come delimb them and cut them in pieces. Already cut a few.

Lord what a mess!

I can see it starting to take shape though.
 
Made the second payment on the dozer today. lol I told the man I got it from it had already paid for itself as far as I was concerned. I asked if I was happy with the deal then I said happy is an understatement! lol

Picked up 30 gallons of diesel today and put most of it in the dozer. I kept enough back to fill the tractor up. The fuel shut off valve came in today so I also installed that. Don't have to keep my vise grips on the fuel line anymore to keep all the fuel from leaking out when it's not running now. I'll have to order a new seal and gasket one of these days to fix the actual problem but for right now it's get by cheap and get some stuff done. Hopefully tomorrow I can get back on my solar clearing project. I did work on it a little today. Got some of the brush cut and out of the driveway so I can get through with the 4 wheeler again. Still an hour or so of daylight left I might go take another whack at it here in a few minutes... Gotta feeling I am going to need to order more saw chains and such here soon. I had plenty enough for cutting firewood for a couple years yet but now that I am doing all this clearing I am putting a lot more hours on the saws than I have in a long time.
 
Spikedriver said:
@Biggkidd run them saws til they die! 😁
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Ha ! I'll probably die first. Echo and Dolmar saws last for dang near ever! I still own every Echo I've ever bought and they all run. Only have the one HUGE Dolmar bought it back in the 000s never had a minutes trouble with it so far. Then again I try hard not to use the big heavy SOB just carrying it is a job 24 pounds without a bar. It can accept a bar out past 96 inches. I am not even going near there. In fact I have a 24 inch on it and that's under the recommended size the smallest recommended bar is 28. The dealer said I was over speeding the chain by running a 24 but that's all I want to handle. It's cut a few trees I had to take multiple wedges out of all the way around just to reach through cutting from all sides. The wedges were larger than most firewood rounds at 30x24 or so.

My go to saw is a Echo CS 330T next is a CS 510 and when nothing else will do the Dolmar PS7900. Dolmar does make one even larger @ 90 some CCs this one is 79.5 CCs
 
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I had an Echo 702 back whahen I was logging beetle killed pine in Colorado back in the late 70's, it was a real hotrod, it would cut like crazy, trouble is, when in ran out of fuel I couldn't get it to start, I ended up selling it when we left Colorado. It cost me more for fuel and bar oil as well as the fuel for my truck than I made logging, turns out the the guy I was logging for was a real crook, I even heard a guy threaten his life one time, I'm just grateful I didn't stay very long in that business. I love the 345 Husky we have now, it's just right for getting firewood.
 
Got all the brush cut off the logs and stacked sort of out of the way for now. Chained a large pine about 7 feet up and tried pulling it over with the dozer. Broke the chains like 4 times before I got that one over. Bad thing is the stump broke so only 1/3 or 1/2 came out. Hopefully I'll make more progress tomorrow.
 
Got another half dozen or so trees out today, stump and all. Now that I've had a little time learning how to use the auger around the trees to loosen them up it has really sped up the process. Still getting more dirt with the stump than I'd like but way less than using the backhoe. Using the auger cuts at least two hours over using the backhoe around the stumps. That's how I managed to get 7 or 8 out today working by myself. Did all the pulling with chains and the dozer. Turned out I didn't brake chains yesterday I have a bad end on one of my chains it was letting the links slip through.
 
This project really took it's toll last night. I ended up going to bed before 9 and slept until a little after 6. Think maybe I was worn out! The yard is a bit brighter this morning than it has ever been in the past. Getting more light in to the yard and specifically on the solar panels is the point of all this work so seeing more is a good thing.
 
Biggkidd said:
Just before 9 am full sun on both sets of panels. That's slightly more than an hour earlier than when I started this clearing project so a major improvement in my opinion!
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Or could it have been the end of Daylight Savings Time when we all turned our clocks back an hour. ;)

Does your tractor have a reverse for the auger? Can't tell you how many times I've snagged an auger on a rock or root and was unable to pull it out without having to detach the auger then hand turn with a huge pipe wrench.
 
zoomzoom said:
Or could it have been the end of Daylight Savings Time when we all turned our clocks back an hour. ;)

Does your tractor have a reverse for the auger? Can't tell you how many times I've snagged an auger on a rock or root and was unable to pull it out without having to detach the auger then hand turn with a huge pipe wrench.
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DST was taken in to effect. lol I was waiting for someone to make that comment.

Nope no reverse. I bought one with a much larger gearbox (like all my equipment) that can power through. I have seen so many gearboxes get toasted as a young man that when I started buying my own equipment I always go with 3X oversize gearboxes. IIRC all my gearboxes are rated for 150 hp and my tractor is only 35 hp.
 
Today was pretty much a bust. Slept in late again. Once I got chores done I drug 5 logs up the hill out of the immediate way of the clearing project. Then started boring holes around 2 more trees and snapped the sheer pin in the auger drive shaft. Didn't have any 3/8 sheer pins or grade 2 bolts so it got a grade 5 bolt. By the time I finished digging holes on those two trees I decided filling the dozer back with water at a quarter to 4 made no sense since it will soon be dark and I'd just have to drain it again. So that rounded out an easy day and the weather was beautiful and windy.

The covered hay feeder trailer seems to be doing well and I have never seen my cows with such large bellies! lol Very little hay is getting wasted so far compared to the other methods I've tried. Granted I just put it out on the 11th. For any who are interested it is nothing but an old worn out 4x8 trailer for hauling lawnmowers. I welded bed frame rails on the corners as posts and across the top to lay an old 8x8 roll up garage door on as a roof. So the hay is off the ground where the cows can't walk, lay, poop in it and covered from rain. I'm feeding 4x6 bales. A bale like this usually lasts the three of them about 3 to 4 weeks.
 
Took down another three trees. Kind of working or have kind of worked myself in to the proverbial corner. To much debris and to little room to put it. I only need to get 4 more trees down and 2 saplings before I can start burning the slash (AKA stumps, limbs & trash) I already have pile of limbs roughly 30X12X8 ready to push in once I finish getting these last trees down. Problem is there is just no where left to stack stuff right in this area until I finish.
 
Biggkidd said:
Took down another three trees. Kind of working or have kind of worked myself in to the proverbial corner. To much debris and to little room to put it. I only need to get 4 more trees down and 2 saplings before I can start burning the slash (AKA stumps, limbs & trash) I already have pile of limbs roughly 30X12X8 ready to push in once I finish getting these last trees down. Problem is there is just no where left to stack stuff right in this area until I finish.
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I have a pile of limbs and branches dealt with a brush hog reducing it to mulch...

Not sure if that helps you.

Ben
 
Neb said:
I have a pile of limbs and branches dealt with a brush hog reducing it to mulch...

Not sure if that helps you.

Ben
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A lot of these branches go better than 4 inches thick.
 
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