Loader-Mounted "Tree Puller"

Loader-Mounted "Tree Puller" TRACTORS Loaders 28-1-20 To get rid of trees, most people either cut them down or bulldoze them away. Either way, you have a big cleanup job afterward. This new loader-mounted tree puller pulls the tree - roots and all - up out of the ground with minimum disturbance to the environment around it. "The Claw", as it's called, quick-taches to any front-end loader and can handle trees up to 7 in. in diameter. It consists of a rectangular, heavy duty steel plate equipped with two sets of offset, semi-circular steel fingers operated by a pair of hydraulic cylinders. As the cylinders extend, the fingers mesh together in a scissors-like action to clamp most of the way around the tree. The operator uses the loader to rock the tree back and forth until the roots are loose. Then he raises the loader to pull the tree straight up out of the ground. A curved steel plate mounted above the plate provides additional bracing and makes it easy to move the tree. "It does a nice job and leaves the ground so level you can almost plow it," says engineer and designer Brian Lang, with Dralco Inc., Weatherford, Texas. "My dad, Dave, uses it with his Massey Ferguson 65 hp 4-WD tractor. So far we've made only one prototype, but we're considering going into production. "Dad came up with the idea because he wanted to remove some trees from around his house without digging up a lot of ground and leaving a big hole like a bulldozer would do. It leaves a small hole, but nothing compared to a dozer. It works better than a tree cutter because it doesn't leave any stumps. To protect the driver, the tractor should be equipped with a canopy." According to Lang, the Tree Claw works better in some conditions than others. "It's easier to pull a tree out of wet soil than dry soil, and it's easier to pull it out of sandy soil than clay soil. Trees that have a large, extensive root system will obviously be harder to pull out," he notes. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Brian Lang, Dralco, Inc., 1219 Ft. Worth Hwy., Weatherford, Texas 76086 (ph 903 338-3218; cell phone 903 477-9139; fax 903 338-3219; email: landiscreekfarm@ispwest.com).

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