Smokn, when pulling out stumps, you will be limited by traction. Good that you left a few feet for leverage. Get yourself some 3/8 chain and hooks (I have two 30 foot lenghts). Wrap the chain around the stump 2 times say 3 feet from the ground than hook it into itself and go to town. Might have to dig a little. If you wait about 2 days or so after a rain, the top soil will be more firm than the deeper soil (still wet and soft) for easier removal. I have a 2305 and always leave a few feet to hook up. Have fun-
Stoon

 

I use the chains from Tractor Supply that are made for chaining the tractor down when it's on a trailer. I think the ones I have are rated at 6,000 lbs. They will cut them to whatever length you want and put the chain hook ends on for you at a very reasonable rate.

Do not hook the chains to the drawbar or 3 point hitch of the tractor, or anywhere else behind or the rear axle, as this will cause the front end of the tractor to raise up in the air if the stump doesn't budge, and you will risk rolling the tractor over. I ran the chains under my rear axle and connected them to the frame of the loader in front of the rear axle. That way, if the stump doesn't budge, the chains actually pull the front of the tractor down against the ground. You can also connect the chains to the loader bucket itself, or any other sturdy part of the frame at the front of the tractor and pull in reverse. Pulling in reverse will definitely keep all 4 wheels on the ground.

 

i got a huge chain rated for 10000+ used to lift mining cars up at the shop but i hook to the draw bar i also dig around the stump with bucket or backhoe first easy removal then. i have r4 and they seem to run out of traction befor anything happens but roll bar up and seat belt on for safty.

this vid may help ya
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twjVvSgVoLQ&feature=fvwrel

 

How big in diameter are the stumps?

 

Hook the chain to the drawbar, that is what it is for (pulling). Attach the chain to the stumps at a point lower than the drawbar. As you pull foreward the chain will cause the rear wheels to be pulled down therefore increasing traction. With the drawbar being lower than the center of the rear tires you don't have to worry about the tractor flippingm backwards.

Good Luck.

Ted

 

A 3/8 inch chain should do the job but make sure to have a large enough hook for the tree end to allow the chain to slide through and tighten around the tree.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_3YcC7VOr4

 

if you dont mind tearing up the ground you could also get a hitch mounted tow hook from TSC and use your truck

 

3/8" chain is WAY overkill for anything your 2320 can muster up, plus they are heavier and more expensive. Get some 5/16" G70 rated "Transport Chain"-it's the gold color (Zinc Chromate) that TSC sells. Always pull (not jerk!) from the drawbar.

 

Good recommendations and lessons learned guys!

Appreciate the information. I will pick up a couple chains and sounds like I'll want to go with 5/16" G70 rated "Transport Chains" from TSC tomorrow.

Kenny, what about the hooks? Should I add a hook on each end of the chains?

As for the drawbar, should I add something to it....as I don't understand how I will hook the chain(s) to it...

I could pull the front yard and some of the side yard stumps with my truck (2006 Ford F350 Dually Powerstroke).

Oh, and the stumps are 3" to a near foot in diameter. What I can't get with my tractor and truck....will have to wait for the rental of a mini-excavator.

Thanks

 

Good recommendations and lessons learned guys!

Appreciate the information. I will pick up a couple chains and sounds like I'll want to go with 5/16" G70 rated "Transport Chains" from TSC tomorrow.

Kenny, what about the hooks? Should I add a hook on each end of the chains?

As for the drawbar, should I add something to it....as I don't understand how I will hook the chain(s) to it...

I could pull the front yard and some of the side yard stumps with my truck (2006 Ford F350 Dually Powerstroke).

Oh, and the stumps are 3" to a near foot in diameter. What I can't get with my tractor and truck....will have to wait for the rental of a mini-excavator.

Thanks

Yes, hooks on the chains. And you put a big Clevis on the drawbar to hook the chain to. My long chain has a grab hook on one end, and a larger hook on the other that can attach to the clevis

 

i have a dring that i run on the tractor all the time had no issue at all with it.

 

What is a dring.
Ted

 

You want a grab hook on each end of the chain. Three wraps around the stump and the grab as close as you can get it to the stump and the chain won't go anywhere. If you want to choke it, once around the stump, over the lead chain and back under and hook the grab part way back around the stump with the open side of the hook away from the trunk.

Wrap the chain around your ballast box and lower the box to a few inches from the ground. That way you have the added traction from the box and can have the chain pulling from just above axle height without fear of flipping the tractor. It will only stand up high enough to put the weight box on the ground and then you lose traction, but you will have the full weight of the tractor plus the ballast box on your rear wheels until that point. A bucket full of dirt will usually keep the front end down.

Take the small stumps out with the bucket. Put the cutting edge straight down and push it into the ground as far as it will go about a foot from the stump. That will shear the smaller roots. Do this on four sides and roll the bucket back while it's still in the ground and the front wheels in the air. You should be able to pop the 3" and 4" stumps out of the ground this way, or at least loosen them enough to push them over.

For the larger stumps, first strip the overburden from around the stump with the loader, then shear the roots and give the stump a push or two with the bucket up near the stump top. That will help loosen the roots for pulling.

As the stumps get bigger, so do the roots. Try shearing at 2 times the stump diameter away from the stump. You may have to be further than that for the largest ones.

Good luck on the largest ones.

 

You want a grab hook on each end of the chain. Three wraps around the stump and the grab as close as you can get it to the stump and the chain won't go anywhere. If you want to choke it, once around the stump, over the lead chain and back under and hook the grab part way back around the stump with the open side of the hook away from the trunk.

Good advice...

Wrap the chain around your ballast box and lower the box to a few inches from the ground. That way you have the added traction from the box and can have the chain pulling from just above axle height without fear of flipping the tractor. It will only stand up high enough to put the weight box on the ground and then you lose traction, but you will have the full weight of the tractor plus the ballast box on your rear wheels until that point. A bucket full of dirt will usually keep the front end down

Bad advice...chain should be hooked to the drawbar since it's below the centerline of the axle. Raise the BB to clear the chain. Plus you also risk putting a side load on the 3PH that way.

 

Thank you guys.

Bob, yes I am new to owning my own tractor, but I would rather not use the BB as I really don't want to damage, if I can help it, the 3PH. It may be fine to do this, but this rookie already spent enough on the tractor and implements.

I was thinking more on the lines as Kenny points out. I could leave the BB on with raising it just enough to clear the chain. I do have some weights I can add to the front of the tractor as well as scooping up a load of dirt to help hold down the front of the tractor when pulling.

I really do appreciate the input and further discussion on his subject guys. Good to hear from those that have 'been there and done that'.

 

Do you have a owner's manual? If so it might just give you the correct information you need.

Ted

 

The drawbar is for towing implements and trailers. it is not made for pulling things that might not budge at all. It doesn't matter how high the drawbar or 3 point hitch are in relation to the rear axle. If you connect the chain to any spot behind the rear axle and the stump does not budge, the torque from the rear wheels will cause the front of the tractor to rise up off of the ground. It's the same as a dragster doing a wheelie. It doesn't matter if the chain is pulling the rear axle down for more traction, there's nothing holding the front axle down. You will risk flipping the tractor.

 

I will disagree with you, if you take a small tractor and hook a large piece of tillage equipment to it, say a 20ft chisel plow, it will pull it when it is in the transport position, but drop it in the ground while moving one of two things will happen, the tractor will stall or it will spin its tires. It will not flip over backwards.

Ted

 

Here's my stump pulling (& trailer towing/drag anything) setup...

For stumps up to about 3-4" diameter the proceedure is this:

1) Back up to within 2" of stump & lower 3PH to ground
2) Wrap chain around stump tightly 2-3 wraps and use grab hook to fasten as tightly as possible
3) Fasten the chain to a grab hook on the unit with the minimum slack possible
4) Get back on tractor
5) Raise 3PH until it stops
6) If roots are still attached, back up 1-2 feet
7) Raise 3PH until it stops
8) Slowly drive forward, ripping stump from ground.


I've used this method more times than I can count with a very high (+95%) success rate. The cross tube is 2"x2"x0.25" box tube, using it to shove the tree over backwards will do no more than scratch the paint a little. Lifting the stump with the 3PH simultaneously strains the roots to the breaking point AND adds nearly 1200 lbs to the rear axle... no need for a ballast box with this toy! (not pickin on ya TUDOR, just dislike wrestling that heavy thing onto the 3PH!!)


Most trees in the 4-8" range get shoved over with the FEL first, then cut into firewood. I find that catching them around 5-6' high will knock many trees over in a single try! If not dig around to break the roots on your side of the tree, then reach up and shove again! Just keep the FEL bucket edge-into the tree so you don't bend it up...

 

his best bet is to go talk to an old farmer about a log chain I kind of doubt very many people that work at TSC know what one is that or go buy a heavy chain obviously you dont need an elephant chain but you do want a strong one better safe than sorry since you want the tree to give before the chain

 

SmoknZ28

From all the replies you got you're probably 100% confused. I was raised on a farm, 86 acres, worked at Case Corp. for 38 years, starting in design and then moving on into production. I have driven a good deal of different tractors so I do have some idea what I'm talking about.

No matter what anybody say the only correct place to hook something for pulling is the draw bar, that is what it is designed for, not the ballast box.
The 3pt hitch is for 3 pt equipment, when the the equipment is engaged, it will transfer the correct weight to the rear wheels and raised you you can transport equipent wit ease.

You got your tractor set up for the loader and a ballast box for counter weight, in order from your unit to get max pulling power safely would be to remove the ballast box and adding an equivalent of weight to the rear tires either cast iron wheel weights or fluid in the tires or leave the ballast box on raise it just high enough to clear the chain. Don't worry about braking the chain, 3/8 chain would be more than enough.

Good Luck,
Ted

Now being that your tractor is only 24 hp any of the suggestions might work.

 

This is how I dug out a 24" sweet gum stump
http://youtu.be/1BiDX1eZufA

 

This is a great thread, and probably he is like me and really doesnt have anyone to ask. AND, an old farmer might not be doing it correctly either.

Its nice to see people have different ways of doing this, and different thoughts.

 

This is a great thread, and probably he is like me and really doesnt have anyone to ask. AND, an old farmer might not be doing it correctly either.

Right you are sir. I'm an old farmer and find I know less every year.

Mike

 

Lots of great ideas, some of a questionable nature (one of mine), and a few of limited but specific value. I would never think of lifting a stump out with the 3PH. My GT can only lift about 450 lb back there and the 3PH on my SCUT is hidden by the backhoe, which is now my number 1 stump pulling implement.

So many types of trees and so many different approaches required depending on type of tree, soil conditions and the lay of the land that it is difficult to find the one right method that will work on all. Brute force is what is needed to pull stumps and what method you use will be determined by how much force you can apply in which direction.

Removing overburden from around a stump is always a good idea. This exposes some of the root network so that it can be broken/sheared/ sawn to lessen the weight of dirt that holds the stump. Applying force at the top of the stump loosens the remaning roots from the ground to some extent. (Good idea leaving a tall stump.) Hooking the chain high on the stump gives the best leverage.

One thought that hasn't been mentioned, and that I only read about and haven't tried, is to put the byte of the chain on the opposite side of the stump from the pulling direction. This applies torque to the stump while pulling, in effect screwing it out of the ground. I can see where this might work with a tree that has a tap root.

Something for you to consider.

 

Are trees screwed in with right or left handed thread?

 

yep lots of good ideas. and far be it for me to say exactly how to do it but i have done battle with stumps myself. No such thing as to heavy a chain when hooking onto stuff that does not want to move. I do wonder why you choose to fight with the stumps in the first place though.Are you turning this land into yard real soon? If so I guess ya gotta get some of em out.in which case yes leave some up out for leverage,otherwise ya might want to consider cutiing them flush or just under ground level and let em be.An axe will make short work of anything under 10" in diameter to get it below ground level. They will rot out sooner than you think.shove a little ground over em and move on. Pullin stumps is time consuming fuel sucking and can be dangerous. It's hard on you and your equipment,pull enough and something will break. Pick your battles,let time and rot do the work if ya can. you can cut 50 trees a day but literaly removing the stumps is gonna take a lot longer and be much more difficult. just something else to consider

 

I agree:fing32:


I held off on saying anything at first. If you have that many stumps and really want to make this into a yard, I would hire a very large cat and have them out in a couple hours. Push them in a pile and burn.

My neighbor and I have cut off over 170 red pines that are 12-16" in diameter. I wouldn't dream of trying to pull them out. We cut them off at ground level and in about 4 years they rot away.

This pic although poor is where all the red pines were. The two blue spruce are on top of what was about 20-25 pines "telephone poles" that were closely spaced in a grove.

The trees on the right are what I am talking about.

Last year I pulled a stump from one of my apple trees 12" that tipped over in a storm when the soil was very saturated. After cutting off 3 of the biggest roots with a saw the 2305 wouldn't even budge it. My Suburban was stopped in it's tracks and finally got it after the 3rd tug, but 3/4 of the roots were cut off and then it wasn't easy.

 

IMHO Rent the excavator and dont even bother trying to get them out with your Deere! The big ones you dont have a chance to get out and the little ones will be a joke for the excavator. Start in on the little ones for practice and then move on up to the big ones. Save the wear and tear on your tractor for the ground work for which it is made to do.

 

Did the question about the trunk diameters get answered?


What kind of protection do you have in mind in case the chain and/or trunk snaps?

 

Raise the bucket and push them over. Then you can take your chain and drag them to a pile somewhere.

 

:sidelaugh:sidelaugh:sidelaugh:sidelaugh

Have you ever done that with a CUT on an 8" tree???

:sidelaugh:sidelaugh:sidelaugh:sidelaugh

 

I agree that this is a good discussion. The forums was designed for just that.

I will tell you all...the other day I spent about an hour working with my tractor and pickup (2006 Ford F-350 Diesel Dually) on pulling an 8" width stump and will say....I will be taking the advice pointed out earlier in this thread. To leave the stumps in the ground that I can live with.

The stumps in the front yard are really not an issue for me leaving in the ground covered with soil.

I have been dropping trees in the front, sides and backyard. I did plan on removing all the stumps, but dayum, that's gonna be a lot of stumps. I wasn't expecting to get them all removed with the JD 2320, of course, but did want to get out as many with the tractor as possible before renting a mini-excavator. Well now, after realizing what I'm up against with these stumps....it will take me quite a while to remove any stumps possible with the tractor....and will take me probably a few days of a rental of a mini-excavator to remove the remaining stumps.

For the front and sides of our home....I am considering taking the earlier advice on this thread and live with them. Cut them down as low as possible and move on. The reason for the removal of the trees from the front and sides of our home is because I really don't like the trees being so close to our home and having the majority of them being Pine. When our winds pick up here in my area....these 40 to near 70 foot trees get to swaying so bad that I really fear for my children being outside playing and worry while sleeping. Worry thinking how terrible it would be to have a tree land on our home and worse in one of our rooms... We had a 60' healthy Pine tree snap about 8' above the soil a month ago and landed in our cul-de-sac's street. Which happened during the day and luckily no kids were playing in the street or cars on the street at the time. My children were outside playing while in our yard while I was working on some outside chores when it happened.

Some of the tree bases are within 18' from our home and many of the front and side trees...if they lay, will hit our home. We had this home built just over a year ago...and if I was a bit wiser when I was building the home...I would have had the builders clear these trees at the time. We had a lot going on at the time though...I had just retired from the Marine Corps, we just relocated from California to Virginia, busy getting the children in school and my starting a new career....so our heads weren't completely clear when building our home.

As for the back of the home, I would like to pull as many of the stumps as possible. This is because I'd like to plant a large vegetable garden, set up a play area for our children and plant some more grass to extend our back yard. ****, I'm paying high property taxes here....might as well use my land.

I am wondering though...if the mini-excavator would even be enough to pull the stumps I plan on pulling up in the back yard though in a couple days. May want to step up to a larger size....but guess that's another story. My JD 2320 certainly isn't a match for stumps at around 8". I'm still working one of these in my front yard...and getting ready to cut it short and cover it up with soil and call it a day.

Again, you guys have been great in providing your insight on how to pull stumps with your tractors. I appreciate you all taking time out to post up what you've learned along the way. Though we may not all agree, again, it's good to read about what has worked for some and I believe we can all learn a little something from one another.