Simple, Dozer-Mounted Tree Puller

Simple, Dozer-Mounted Tree Puller WOODLOT EQUIPMENT Miscellaneous 28-4-25 "I use it to rip out wild cedar trees in my pasture. It's the poor man's version of a tree saw," says Curtis Ernst, Mankato, Kan., who used part of an old road grader blade to make a dozer-mounted, wedge-shaped "tree spade". The tree spade consists of two 4-ft. long sections of grader blade bolted together at one end to form a "V". Vertical supports welded onto the blades are bolted onto brackets attached to one end of the dozer blade on his tractor. To rip out a tree, Ernst lowers the spade and drives it into the tree, then raises the dozer to jerk the tree out of the ground. When he backs up the tree falls to the ground. "It's simple but it works. We've used it to clear a lot of trees," says Ernst. "It's a lot easier to use than hooking a log chain onto a tree, which I had been doing. And I didn't want to spend thousands of dollars on a tree cutting machine. "It pulls cedar trees right out because they have a shallow root system. I've used it to pull up to 4 or 5-in. dia. trees. Of course, it works better on smaller trees and when the ground is somewhat moist." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Curtis A. Ernst, Rt. 2, Box 14, Mankato, Kan. 66956 (ph 785 378-3301 or 785 648-0079).

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