Dozer tree spear

Hey y'all,

Here's a project that I've had in mind for a few years. The property that I work on has hundreds of junipers that ultimately will need to be removed. Previous workers have cut the trees, chipped the tops and left the stumps and logs to be dealt with by some future worker (me). I'm not too pleased with that method as it was all manual labor and it seems to create as much work as it completes (make work).

My thought has been to add a tree spear to my dozer to be used either in conjunction with the Rockland root rake that I have or just by itself. Then I would have the option of using the loader to transfer either the tops and root mass or entire trees to burning piles.

I have no experience with tree spears so any advice would be greatly appreciated!

The first option that I had been considering was to build a long spear that attached to a point somewhere near the side of the operators station. My plan had been to use 4" x 6" x 1/4" rectangular tubing for the arms of the spear, have mounting plates, gussets and a toothed plate all cut on the water jet and bent on press brake as needed. I thought about removing the pin that attaches the rear of the blade lift cylinders and replacing it with a new, longer pin and attaching the arms of the spear there. Then the spear would rest on the top of the blade but would be able to move upward independently of it. kinda like in the second picture.

The other option is to build a spear that attaches to the same points that the root rake attaches to. This would also pivot freely on those pins and rest on the blade at the bottom. Kinda like in the second picture. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I think the longer pin would add a lot of stress to that joint unless you could support the outer end some way. I would be inclined to add pin gussets on top the dozer arms near the trunnions on the second picture and install a push like the top picture. That would keep the push on the trunnions where it belongs. On more thought I don't recall you saying if your dozer was a inside or outside mount. If you have a inside mounted 6 way blade forget what I said. Might be a good time to convince the boss that you need a excavator also.

I'm guessing that you are talking about the cedar trees that I see in the background of the first picture? When I lived in MA, I never did any land clearing so I'm not sure if those are the same or not. If they are basically the same as the cedars that I have here in TN, they will be shallow rooted and easy to uproot with just a basic blade. A 6 way will be easiest as it will facilitate some steering of your tree wads on the way between save trees and your burn piles.

Cedars are a soft tree and easy to crack in halves. When I had my JD 550G w/ 6 way blade, I had a Mann pin on root rake that would take these out easily and allow me to pick up logs with the weight of the rake pinning logs between it and the blade. Personally, I have never seen the need for a long push arm on any dozer. I've seen them but never used one. If you are dealing with huge trees and a tiny dozer, then you might gain an advantage. If they were needed, you would see a lot more of them around. Just my opinion.

Would this be any help?????

Old iron, I agree with what you said about the stress on the unsupported pin end. That's what got me thinking about the second blade mounted design.

Internal mount. '88 John Deere 450E.

Got the excavator...

Tree muncher, I appreciated your opinion. Yes, many people call them cedars. And yes, the smaller ones pop out easily with just the blade. Most of the trees that are left are fairly large hence my interest in the extra leverage. Thanks for the input.

Ps where about did you live in MA?

Thanks Tones, I appreciate that.

Cedars around here which are much bigger than 8” will break off at the ground before you pull the stump. If you push a cedar here you will be digging the stump up, which is not near as bad as other species. Maybe your soil is different enough to prevent this.

Blocker, most areas on this property the top soil runs fairly deep so they will go over without breaking, especially in early spring.

Now at my place about 20 miles north it's nothing but a pile of rocks.

Thanks for the comment.

I posted these photos of the spears we have on our dozers on another thread just a couple of days ago.
If you were considering some serious tree work the trunnion mounted version is easily the best.
As OIH mentioned, it transfers the push to where it belongs, can be left on and won’t interfere with piling timber or dirt work.... I don’t like the look of the one on the float because of this reason.
We put the blade mounted version on the D6R because it won’t be seeing the same amount of serious tree work that the older dozer has and it can be removed easier to fit a rake.
With all these versions, smaller trees can still be pushed lower down with the blade to avoid snapping them off.
I should post a video to demonstrate what a huge difference a well designed spear can make when pushing over big timber.
Gaining increased leverage is only part of the story.
As the spear locks into the tree up high and the dozer pushes forward it can place a huge amount of down force on the tracks.
In the right soil type it is not uncommon to stall out the converter on a particularly stubborn tree, something that would never happen on a level push.
Bearing in mind that most of our trees are hardwoods, any dozer working in timber here would be considered almost useless without a spear.

Queenslander, thanks for taking the time to post the pictures, that helps a lot and I appreciate your advice.

I'd love to see a video if you have the time...

What diameter are most of the trees you would be pushing? How big are the biggest ones?

Orest Anhel said:

What diameter are most of the trees you would be pushing? How big are the biggest ones?

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I'd say 12" diameter. Anything bigger and I would prolly dig it out with the excavator.

I don't own a spear, my crawler isn't big. It's in my avatar. I don't own an excavator either. For my needs a backhoe serves better.
I stick teeth into the trunk, extend the dipper. Usually, I have to reposition, and try again. The trees in your picture push over easy. Bigger trees, I dig some roots out near side before pushing.

The crawler is perfect for smoothing out the hole & pushing away the debris.

A tree trunk makes a big lever. 15' above ground you have a significant advantage.

In the old days I had no backhoe, only a BIG winch mounted rear of a 1956 Dodge Power Wagon. I needed three trees to pull one down. I'd use a ladder to chain a snatch block high in the tree, run winch cable through. Truck chained to one tree, cable to the other. Healthy trees 30" diameter came down where liberals could more easily hug them.

doublewide said:

I'd say 12" diameter. Anything bigger and I would prolly dig it out with the excavator.

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I've pushed over quite a few 12 inch trees with my 450C but I think my manual outside dozer might lift higher than yours

Don't know what you have for a dozer, but for just one project I wouldn't bother with building a tree spear. I've cleared many cedars with just a straight tilt blade (D6c). Tilt the blade and drop the corner in just ahead of the base. Tip the tree a little then back up and push the bottom of the root ball to lift it out. Catch the roots with the blade and roll the tree a little to knock the dirt off the roots. Back drag the dirt back to fill the hole. If you have deep topsoil they should push pretty easy. I'd do it when it's pretty dry so the dirt comes off the root ball easier, otherwise the fine roots hold the wet soil. I have shallow topsoil over heavy clay so pushing with a spear would probably break off a lot at the base....yours might not do that as much.
Older cedar stumps roll out easily once the fine roots have decayed.

Your tractor is close in size to my Dresser TD7G. Mine has a line pull rating of something like 24000 LBS. I think a 6' ladder is tall enough for you to chain to the trunk of the tree. Any of the trees I see in your picture are small enough to uproot easily first pull.

If you can recruit a tractor operator, you can clear the whole lot faster than drawing plans for a tree spear. I'm worried that pushing from top of the blade, you might bugger that pretty blade. I think a tree spear ought to pivot at the point the blade frame attaches to the back of the blade. It still might put a bunch of down pressure on the assembly.

My laziest tree uprooting tool is the rear hoe. Mine at present is a John Deere 410C. pound the teeth into the trunk enough they won't just slide up the trunk. It takes a bit of trial & error to find the right angle (height in the trunk) so it won't slip up the trunk. Trees your size push down immediately. Bigger trees (30" Approx) I need to rip out some roots first. I've taken 3' Maples that way. Save the dozer for smoothing out the ground afterward.

DO KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR DEAD BRANCHES OR NEAR TREES THAT MIGHT FALL ON YOU!
I'm sure OSHA wouldn't approve of pushing trees down. For me, I prefer the protection of a closed cab/ROPS over just a hard hat & chainsaw.