Home-Built Root Plow Rips Out Tree Stumps

Home-Built Root Plow Rips Out Tree Stumps MISCELLANEOUS EQUIPMENT Miscellaneous 12-4-6 i "This homebuilt "root plow" tears out big brace roots and pushes out stumps, saving me the cost of $75 an hour to hire a bulldozer," says Dennis Roddinghaus, La Porte City, Iowa. Roddinghaus, who built the "root plow" last year, used it to rip out about 100 tree stumps along an old fence line. "We cut the trees for firewood, leaving 4 ft. high stumps," explains Roddinghaus. "Then we went in with the `root plow'. We put it in the ground about 10 ft. from each stump, going about 3 ft. deep. After cutting roots on one side of the stump, we hydraulically raised the root plow, backed up, and plowed another side of the stump. After all 4 sides were cut, we centered the root plow on the stump and pushed it out. "After using the root plow, we can remove it from the frame by pulling two 2 1/2 in. dia. pins. Then we mount a 12 ft. dozer blade in its place and use it to level the ground." Roddinghaus used $50 worth of scrap metal, purchased at a local salvage yard, to build the root plow. The 3 1/2 ft. long cutting blade is 1 ft. wide at the bottom, tapering to a 1/2 in. wide cutting edge on top. Roddinghaus welded a 1/2 in. wide cutting blade from an old road grader, to the top edge. The root plow is welded to a 4 by 6 in. steel tube which attaches to a frame at the front of his 4-WD Massey Ferguson 1805 tractor. The operator drives forward to cut roots. According to Roddinghaus, the root plow can cut the brace roots of any stump less than 18 in. in diameter. For larger stumps, he hires a bulldozer. The root plow weighs about 400lbs. "Two people easily can tip it up and install the 2 pins in the frame," notes Roddinghaus. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Dennis Roddinghaus, 9702 S. Canfield Road, La Porte City, Iowa 50651 (ph 319 342-2453 or 319 342-3156).

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