“Ankle Biter” Hydraulic Clean-Up Tool

“Ankle Biter” Hydraulic Clean-Up Tool WOODLOT EQUIPMENT Miscellaneous Dale McLaen rips out old railroad ties wood and steel fence posts brush old wire and trees up to 5 in in dia with his Ankle Biter “I built it from scrap iron about 3 years ago when pulling up old fence lines ” says McLaen “I could have bought one but decided to save some money It was hiding in my scrap pile in ‘kit’ form It just required some assembly ” The sawtooth jaws are mounted to a quick-attach plate with the left jaw rigid The right jaw opens and closes courtesy of a 2 by 8-in hydraulic cylinder The jaw pivots on a 1 1/2-in pin at the quick attach plate The jaws were cut out of a single wide piece of steel that McLaen believes came off an old Oliver plow To get the jaws to mesh perfectly he marked out a tooth design and then used a plasma cutter on the steel “By cutting both jaws from the same piece of steel any little imperfections in one were matched on the other so they didn’t matter ” says McLaen “The jaws mesh tight to pull out even little 3/8-in electric fence posts small diameter brush and barbed wire ” He notes that trees can be tough to pull straight out He grabs them several feet above ground and then works back and forth to loosen them up “Then I grab them at ground level and drive forward while prying upward with the teeth to pull them out ” says McLaen “I pulled out about 200 ft of old lilac bushes roots and all in one afternoon ” He likes being able to poke the nose into the ground several inches to grab half buried objects McLaen explains painting the jagged edges red “The red color reminds bystanders what would happen if they got their ankle caught in my Ankle Biter ” he says Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Dale McLaen McLaen’s Service 13756 Hwy 11 Rutland N Dak 58067 ph 701 724-6232; mclaen@drtel net

To read the rest of this story, download this issue below or click here to register with your account number.