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Front-End Mounted Spade
When John Carson, Sherwood Park, Alberta, wanted trees to landscape the grounds around his home, he decided to move them from wooded areas on the farm. To get the job done he built a tree spade.
He figured since driving forward is easier than backing up, the logical place to put the spade was on the front of hi
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Front-End Mounted Spade TRACTORS Loaders 26-4-6 When John Carson, Sherwood Park, Alberta, wanted trees to landscape the grounds around his home, he decided to move them from wooded areas on the farm. To get the job done he built a tree spade.
He figured since driving forward is easier than backing up, the logical place to put the spade was on the front of his tractor. He started by building a square frame from 2-in. sq. steel tubing. The frame actually incorporates two 5-ft. squares, held apart about a foot by additional lengths of square tubing, so it looks sort of like a very short hay feeder.
In each corner of this frame, he mounted wedge-shaped spades, which he fashioned from three triangular pieces of 3/8-in. thick plate steel. The two outside pieces are welded to the center section at a 45-degree angle, with the points of each toward the ground. Across the top, each spade measures 32 in. and they're 4 ft. from top to point. Each spade mounts in a frame along with a 3-in. dia., 32-in. stroke hydraulic cylinder, and they're angled so the four come together at a point about 32 in. deep.
Carson located a control for each cylinder on the spade itself, rather than using controls in the tractor cab. He says getting off the tractor to run the spade is no problem and it gives the operator more control as the spades dig into the soil.
Once the spade points are in the ground, Carson says it takes a few seconds to get the tree out of the ground by raising the loader. It leaves a hole about 32 in. deep and 3 ft. across.
He figures the spade cost about $4,000 to make and took about 50 hours in the shop. Figuring out the angles for the shovels is the tricky part of building a tree spade. Placing the cylinders on the inside of the shovels makes construction much easier.
Carson has moved more than 500 trees with the spade, most of which are now along his driveway and around the lawn. He sold several trees to neighbors and people in town, as well.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, John Carson, 52277 Range Road, RR 225, Sherwood Park, Alberta T8C 1C7 Canada (ph 780 464-7475; E-mail: jcarson@ interbaun.com).
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