Homemade Tree Shear

[Dachshund]

I have about a BAZILLION Red Cedar tress on my place and want them to DIE. I looked into the cost of buying/renting a shear - over $2000 to buy, $75 a day to rent, but only fit a bobcat. Asked around for prices to have it done - over $6000. I decided to build a shear instead. My brother and I scrounged around for a few parts and tore through the scrap pile and came up with something that ain't pretty, but snips the dirty rotten little *X@$*%$#* cedar trees. Cost us about $20 in welding rods and bolts. Slips right onto the lip of my FEL. I've snipped about 500 trees in around 8 hours on my IH 460. I haven't had time to try it on my 454 yet.

[freebird]

Gee, sounds like cedar trees are a nuisance there, right? Good fab job.

[chrpmaster]

Dachshund

Great idea!! :fing32:

How big of tree can you snip with that?

Andy

[Dachshund]

I've cut 10" trees with it, some 20' tall. Most of the ones I have are 6" to 8" around , so I haven't tried it out on anything bigger. Those cedar trees infest this part of the country and are worse than weeds. My brother (not the one who helped with the shear) had the place for 25 years before I bought it and let it get overgrown BAD. There are places where Dad baled hay 35 years ago that now rabbits can't get through. :banghead3

[professor]

Very sharp thinking. :fing32:
Are those the cedars that have that the unique smell? I burned a cedar log once and it gave off a great fragrance.

Mike

[Dachshund]

Smells like pipe tobacco!

[Bruceman]

Necessity is the Mother of invention. Good work and nice design.

Bruce~

[Carl]

Well Bruceman beat me to necessity is the mother of invention. Also the only way to save money is by not spending it, and never pay someone else to do something that you can do yourself.

There is beauty in function. It gets the job done. Go at it and enjoy the fruit of your labor and ingenuity! Looks great.

[draddogs]

Great job of fabricating Galen :fing32: . Looks like it could handle the job. Do the cedars make the popping sound as the hardwoods do with shears? Glad it's working out and look at the seat time you are getting which is a goal for most of us in here to see achieved.

Great job ;)

[Stumpy!!]

That is sweet, and just what I need to build! Thanks for the pic, it sorts out a lot of my problems! You don't mind if I copy you design, do you? :hide: I have an over grown area, about 30 acres to do, chainsaw aint cuttin' it ROF Get it? HAHA. Truth is my back aint cuttin' it!

[Argee]

Nice Job :fing02: I love the smell of western red cedar. How big are the cedars you're removing? What do you use them for?? Why do you hate them so???

[bobodu]

Now that they're coming down...ya need to chip em up...put the chips in little fancy frilly bags and sell them to city people for $20 each!! :bannana:
This'll only work in the MidWest and Eastern cities though.
I gave serious thought to putting some manure,soybeans,a dried ear of corn and a video of a "Real Field" into a container and selling it as "Country In A Can".
Maybe I should sell it in an old McDonalds hamburger box...irony being one of my mainstays,it'd be funny selling 'em their own trash!!! ROF

[Dachshund]

Nice Job I love the smell of western red cedar. How big are the cedars you're removing? What do you use them for?? Why do you hate them so???

I have been snipping mostly 6"-8" ones, since I don't have many much bigger. I have cut a few 10" dia ones. They are a nice tree in a wind break, but they are all over the pastures around here and grow like weeds. They take valuable soil moisture and kill grass. Right now I am just piling them up in a burn pile.

[Dachshund]

Yup! They "pop" right off! I have found that they are easier to snip when it is dry - rain makes them soft. Either Spring or Fall work - Summer is too hot.

[cleatusj]

Great job Galen, just what I needed to see as it gave me some ideas.

[Oslo in NC]

Dash. It looks like it can do the job. Very creative. My hat is off to you for a job well done. oslo

[Keweenaw4310]

Very interesting contraption. I bet they'd work on poplar trees too.

Have you tried pushing them over with your FEL and getting them out stump, roots and all. I'm guessing you did and that's what lead to your cutting approach.

When you do cut them, how do you get them to fall the way you want? Any of them falling back your way?

[Dachshund]

Very interesting contraption. I bet they'd work on poplar trees too.

Have you tried pushing them over with your FEL and getting them out stump, roots and all. I'm guessing you did and that's what lead to your cutting approach.

When you do cut them, how do you get them to fall the way you want? Any of them falling back your way?
Some of the tap roots go down 8-10 feet. Lots of the cedars were to big to push with the FEL and, as long as you get them cut below the lowest branch, they won't grow back (95% of the time). The stumps, if any, usually rot away on a year or so. As far as them falling - they usually fall to the right, due to the design of the shear.I have not had any come back towards me. I suppose a metal guard could be made to stop any, if they did. Most of the ones I've been cutting are 8-12 feet tall ( have cut a few taller ones).

[Keweenaw4310]

8-12' tall? Oh, that changes my perspective on this operation. Not much danger there. I guess I was picturing taller cedar trees.

I didn't think the roots would rot so fast, since cedar posts withstand being planted in the ground for many years before rotting.

[mbkerk]

Nice job Galen. :fing32: Isn't it something how a guy can put something together for pennies on a dollar of the cost of buying a manufactured model?

I would love to build a stump grinder, but I have not figured it all out, or collected the parts yet!

[mbkerk]

Another MTF regular made famous in Farm Show Magazine!

More reading in one of my favorite magazines turned up a tree shear that looked very familiar to me!

Congratulations Galen!

(Sorry for the poor quality... My scanner stinks!)

[bontai Joe]

I missed this the first time around. What a neat invention!