Help me push trees over and not die

[Voodooburner]

Been posting here a bit about my komatsu D41s3. Prior to buying this machine I had never driven anything with tracks so there is my experience level. I have now buried some livestock and feel like I am getting the hang of it. I searched online but finding instructional vids did not turn up much at all (maybe I looked in the wrong places). Anyway would love to learn the techniques for pushing trees over and other grading techniques. I started in a pine thicket but quickly saw where pushing trees into trees could get sketchy fast. Thanks and Happy New Year

 

[skyking1]

using the crawler loader in your sig?
First thing is, some trees have widowmaker limbs in them that can drop down and ruin your day, as soon as you start messing with them. Sometimes when you are just standing there minding your own business!
You need to look at a tree and see which way gravity wants to take it. Look for those limbs. Plan a path where you want it to fall exactly.
I would cut roots on anything that was not just a straight push.
You may have to pick apart that thicket from a different direction than you planned.
You might need to cut a slot through it, felling the trees so they are not stacking dangerously, and then turn and work each way. Sometimes there is room to back in behind one to get a hole started.
The big thing is, no hurry and think about what can happen with each move. Don't bump a tree you have not looked over.

 

[Tones]

2 things to do, only dig around 3 sides of a tree. The 4th side should be the direction of fall and becomes a hinge and stops the tree coming back on you. Don't push trees into standing trees. That's when the tops break off and come down on you. One other thing, before starting figure out where any heaps or holes are going to be then fall the trees parallel to that, it makes cleaning up easier on the machine as you are pushing on the barrel and not the stump. Also the small branches tend to stay intact making the cleanup faster.
If you're going to burn keep the heaps clean, dirt don't burn. Roll the tree on the ground just prior to pushing into the stack.

 

[Steve Frazier]

If you're planning to do much of this I think I'd put some screening on the front and sides, if you're really handy you could make it removable. When pushing brush it's very difficult to watch everything and anticipate danger. Try to keep your bucket at a height where it shields you.

 

[ianjoub]

If you're planning to do much of this I think I'd put some screening on the front and sides, if you're really handy you could make it removable. When pushing brush it's very difficult to watch everything and anticipate danger. Try to keep your bucket at a height where it shields you.

Yes, getting a tree trunk under compression can end VERY poorly.

 

[Bumpsteer]

Wear a hardhat when you exit the machine! Small branches can break and hang in trees that are close.
Not fun when they fall on your head from 50'+ in the sky.

Ed

 

[terex herder]

You don't mention tree size. Size matters. I pushed a lot of trees with a wheel loader. Then I got a hoe and discovered I had been carrying a knife to a gunfight for a long time. When trees are single row, like a fence line, a loader works ok. When you want to clear a grove of trees, a loader is the wrong tool. Its easy to cut the roots on the approach side. But now you need to lift the bucket and push it over. But the hold you dug to cut the roots is in the way. Then you are pushing it into the rest of the trees, so it doesn't want to fall down. Plus, as the top breaks out tops in the remaining trees it creates more widowmakers.

If you tear up your machine pushing dirt, its your own fault. Trees just want to kill you.

 

[OzDozer]

A solidly-built, full scrub dozer canopy with risers, is a necessary addition to a crawler when you start knocking down trees. A tree spear is a useful addition for bigger trees.
Examine trees as you approach them, assess them for dry rot, termite damage, anything that can weaken them, and make them collapse onto your machine.
Watch out for forked limbs that fall onto the canopy, with one limb staying on top of the canopy, and the other swinging under the canopy roof, to smack you in the head!
Watch out for stray limbs poking into radiators, hoses, belly compartments - anywhere where they can cause damage. As terex herder says, tree limbs are out to get you, every minute of the day!
Watch out for a buildup of dry sticks and leaves and debris that builds up in the engine compartment - and especially around the exhaust manifold.
You can start a fire quite easily if you allow the sticks and leaves to build up. Clear them out daily. Carry a fire extinguisher, or at least some water, on the tractor.
It's easy to bend panels and guards and tinwork by not watching stray limbs and branches when you're pushing them.
Been there and done all that, I've cleared probably over 150,000 acres - including many thousands of acres of chaining, in my earlier dozing career.
Nowadays, clearing in my neck of the woods is limited, and very tightly controlled, the problems of overclearing took 30-40 years to show up.

 

[Voodooburner]

Thanks! I had thought of fabbing some guards up. I would love to get an excavator but they are pricey. I have a large fire extinguisher, got that the first time it started smoking (just a loose injector) and I was a mile away from anything.

 

[skyking1]

keep us informed so we know you are OK.

 

[CM1995]

Thanks! I had thought of fabbing some guards up. I would love to get an excavator but they are pricey. I have a large fire extinguisher, got that the first time it started smoking (just a loose injector) and I was a mile away from anything.

Can't say enough about having a fully charged fire extinguisher on a piece of iron. Good friend of mine lost his A model 953 to a fire. He was pushing up a burn pile at dusk, parked the machine and saw a glow from the front around the hydro and fuel tank. Didn't have an extinguisher on the loader and the one in his truck wasn't charged. Off-duty PD officer saw the fire from the road and stopped to help only to find his extinguisher wasn't charged. They had to stand there and watch his loader burn up as the volunteer FD was on the way. Yellow Iron can burn up very quickly.

Cab screens are fairly easy to fab up however if your loader has a certified ROPS drilling or welding on the structure negates the certification.

Back to the original question. Where are you located and what type and size of trees do you need to clear? A track loader is a great clearing machine depending on the trees and underfoot conditions.

 

[skyking1]

^wrap some strap around the ROPS legs and drill the ends and bolt, clamping your screens to the ROPS without drilling or welding it. If you worry about such things.

 

[CM1995]

If you worry about such things.

Being an owner I worry about such things when it comes around to selling a machine since a machine with a damaged ROPS is worth much, much less than one without.

Don't know but OP probably plans on keeping his loader for the long run.

 

[Voodooburner]

I am in GA, mostly mid size pine trees between 6” and maybe 24” in diameter at the base. A lot of them are smaller size just clumped fairly close together. Soil is red clay mostly. I will see if I can post pics

 

[skyking1]

Leave any big trees for fallers to deal with. The roots on a bigger tree will not go quietly, and you're right there to get swatted with any roots you didn't get cut.

 

[Voodooburner]

 

[Voodooburner]

The area in question is to the left and right of the road in the abve pic. Want to clear somI can see the lower pasture from my deck, I am a very lazy deer hunter

 

[showrguy]

Since nobody else mentioned this (I’m surprised)..
Don’t forget about root balls, when the tree does down, the root balls come up..
Good friend of mine (operator) watched a guy several years ago pushing on a big tree, when he finally got it to go over the root ball came up and flopped a CAT 955 over like it was a tonka toy..

 

[Tones]

I'm assuming you'll want the trees stacked on the pasture for burning. If so then start at the pasture end and use the track to drop the trees onto. Do one side at a time and go round any big trees, these can be taken down near the end of job so you'll have more room to work on them. I'd be pulling out the fallen trees with a chain rather than pushing them but that also depends on how big a swath you want. Keep your job tidy and don't go nuts dropping trees everywhere just be methodical and you'll be fine.

 

[Voodooburner]

I wondered if using a chain would be easier for stacking purposes