Loader-Mounted Tree Trimmer Eliminates Ladder

Loader-Mounted Tree Trimmer Eliminates Ladder TRACTORS Loaders 28-4-43 When John Neufeld's wife decreed no more climbing into trees with a chain saw, he put away his ladder and got out his welder and wrenches. Working with 1-in. sq. tubing, he built an 18-ft. folding arm to mount on his garden tractor loader. A chain saw bolts to the end of the arm. He cross-welded successively shorter lengths of the square tubing, starting with a 24-in. piece, to connect two long tubes. Each cross support is placed at approximately 2-ft. intervals. Once the boom was built, he cut it in half and made a "piano hinge" joint by alternating short pieces of 3/4-in. steel pipe and inserting a 3/4-in. steel rod. Neufeld welded a cap on the upper end of the rod and drilled a hole for a pin at the bottom so the boom's easy to take apart. Neufeld then welded two lengths of 1 1/2-in. angle iron across the frame several inches back from each of the hinged ends. Neufeld bolts the two angle irons together to lock the framework in its extended form. Additional rigidity and support is provided by a piece of 1 by 8-in. iron plate welded across the framework a few inches ahead of the joint. Back at the loader end of the frame, he inserted a heavy duty 1-in. bolt through the end brace, drilled a hole in the bottom of the loader bucket and bolted the framework to the loader. Neufeld knew if he simply fixed his 14-in. electric chain saw to the end of the framework, cutting would require him to move the loader up or down. Even with a needle valve installed on the hydraulics, it would not be possible to control the movement. "With an 18-ft. framework, moving the loader bucket an inch would move the saw about 12 to 16 inches," he explains. "The saw needed to move on its own to freely cut through branches." So he bolted the handle of the saw to a sprocket which is connected by chain to another sprocket, which can be tightened by a spreader bolt. The chain is moved back and forth by a bracket that bolts to the chain. The bracket bolts to a steel rod that runs along the top of the 18-ft. framework back to a hydraulic cylinder. To hold the chain bracket in line, it slides over a solid rod at the end of the framework. By extending the cylinder, the pipe moves the chain on its sprockets. This rotates the chain saw about 3/4 of a turn. "I move the saw into place with the loader and then use the rod to move the saw down and through the branch," explains Neufeld. Folding the framework required the pipe to be cut at the hinge point. To reconnect the two ends, a pin is inserted through a hole drilled through one pipe end and a solid rod affixed to the other pipe end. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, John R. Neufeld, P.O. Box 344, Inman, Kan. 67546-0344 (ph 620 585-6446).

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