Grapple-Equipped Shear Cuts And Carries Full-Grown Trees

2013 - Volume #37, Issue #4, Page #11

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Cutting and hauling trees away is a fast and easy job for Ross St. John, Ebenezer, Sask., who built a skid loader-mounted “V” cutter tree shear fitted with grapple arms. It lets him cut and haul away trees up to 45 ft. high.
  “It works fast. We’ve cut up to 10 cords of wood in just 3 hrs.,” says St. John.
  The unit is equipped with stationary, V-shaped guide arms on top. Below them are a pair of curved metal grapple arms that overlap around the tree. The cutting blades are at the bottom. A pair of 4-in. cylinders are used to open and close the blades, and 2 1/2-in. cylinders control the grapple arms. All the cylinders are hooked up in series.
  To operate, St. John closes the blades against the tree, which causes the grapple arms to automatically wrap around it. Once that happens the blades automatically cut the tree off at ground level. He then hauls the tree to an opening, where he lowers the tree and tilts the skid loader arms at the same time to lean the tree forward. Opening the grapple arms allows the tree to flop down onto the ground.
  “It works slick. I’ve used it on poplar trees up to 45 ft. tall,” says St. John. “Such tall trees can get a little top heavy, so when setting them down I have to be careful the skid loader’s rear wheels don’t lift off the ground. Most of the trees I cut only have a few dead branches on them, and flopping the tree down on the ground usually breaks them off.
  “Commercial tree shears sell for $15,000 or more, but I was able to build mine for less than $5,500 using mostly scrap metal. I used 3 by 8, 3/8-in. thick box iron to build the base and old 1-in. thick by 2-in. wide field cultivator shanks to make the grapple arms. Each arm rotates on a 3/4-in. dia. pin that came with the shank. I got the steel blades from a welder friend who got them free from a local company. The blade was too long for my use so he cut it in half to make 2 blades. I used 1-in. thick metal to reinforce the edges of each blade.”
  St. John recently had a stroke, which has slowed him down a bit. “I can still build stuff but I’m not too good at using it any more, so my tree shear is now for sale,” he says.
  Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Ross St. John, P.O. Box 36, Ebenezer, Sask., Canada S0A 0T0 (ph 306 783-5639 or 306 641-4255; stjohnross@yahoo.ca).

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Grapple-Equipped Shear Cuts And Carries Full-Grown Trees WOODLOT EQUIPMENT Miscellaneous Cutting and hauling trees away is a fast and easy job for Ross St John Ebenezer Sask who built a skid loader-mounted “V” cutter tree shear fitted with grapple arms It lets him cut and haul away trees up to 45 ft high “It works fast We’ve cut up to 10 cords of wood in just 3 hrs ” says St John The unit is equipped with stationary V-shaped guide arms on top Below them are a pair of curved metal grapple arms that overlap around the tree The cutting blades are at the bottom A pair of 4-in cylinders are used to open and close the blades and 2 1/2-in cylinders control the grapple arms All the cylinders are hooked up in series To operate St John closes the blades against the tree which causes the grapple arms to automatically wrap around it Once that happens the blades automatically cut the tree off at ground level He then hauls the tree to an opening where he lowers the tree and tilts the skid loader arms at the same time to lean the tree forward Opening the grapple arms allows the tree to flop down onto the ground “It works slick I’ve used it on poplar trees up to 45 ft tall ” says St John “Such tall trees can get a little top heavy so when setting them down I have to be careful the skid loader’s rear wheels don’t lift off the ground Most of the trees I cut only have a few dead branches on them and flopping the tree down on the ground usually breaks them off “Commercial tree shears sell for $15 000 or more but I was able to build mine for less than $5 500 using mostly scrap metal I used 3 by 8 3/8-in thick box iron to build the base and old 1-in thick by 2-in wide field cultivator shanks to make the grapple arms Each arm rotates on a 3/4-in dia pin that came with the shank I got the steel blades from a welder friend who got them free from a local company The blade was too long for my use so he cut it in half to make 2 blades I used 1-in thick metal to reinforce the edges of each blade ” St John recently had a stroke which has slowed him down a bit “I can still build stuff but I’m not too good at using it any more so my tree shear is now for sale ” he says Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Ross St John P O Box 36 Ebenezer Sask Canada S0A 0T0 ph 306 783-5639 or 306 641-4255; stjohnross@yahoo ca

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