Bucket-Mounted "Brush Buster"

Bucket-Mounted "Brush Buster" TRACTORS Loaders 28-1-4 "I tried using the bucket on my skid loader to dig out roots on trees and brush, but I wasn't having any luck. So I mounted a length of 4-in. wide channel iron on the bucket that's pointed inward at one end. It bites into the roots so that I can raise the bucket and lift the trees and brush out," says Larry Johnson, Ontario, N.Y. To form the inverted point, he cut a 45 degree angle into two pieces of angle iron and then welded them together onto the end of the channel iron. The bottom end of the channel iron extends 8 in. in front of the bucket and is held in place by a piece of flat steel that slips under the bottom of the bucket. He welded two pieces of flat steel onto the sides of the top part of the channel iron, which rest on top of the bucket. A pair of welded-on brackets fit under the lip at the top edge of the bucket to keep the channel iron from tipping up. A small piece of welded-on channel iron extends between the two pieces of flat steel. A vise grips is used to hold the bracket to the flat irons. "It lets me push under the trunk of the brush and bite into the roots. When I just used the bucket, it would slip up over the over the roots without grabbing," says Johnson. "Once the channel iron bites into the roots, I raise the bucket until the skid loader's rear wheels come off the ground. Then I rock the bucket back and forth until the brush pops out of the ground. It'll work on trees up to 6 in. in diameter as long as the root system is shallow." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Larry Johnson, 1740 Kenyon Rd., Ontario, N.Y. 14519 (ph 315 524-8244; email: joylarjo@aol.com).

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