hillrunner
PMA Member
Can you catch a video of that thing working? Are you pre-clearing branches in order to get the shear that close?
Hardwood11
It is going to be a good fall!
Looks good ! I wish I had 10 days of that on my place
Oh yes. I got good video
. I started with chainsaw & that’s how I was tackling lanes. Too slow. So disregard cut branches!!
Video soon.
Yes. Most were way too big. I tried digging roots & pushing tree with puller. That huge CL fabrication one. Couldn’t do em. Sheers were like butter.
Spysar
Well-Known Member
Have you ever run cattle through cedars? Seems like after cattle bust through and make lanes, the deer like them more(after the cattle are gone). The cedars you have don't look like a rabbit could get through.
Now you have to have a bonfire party, how else to get rid of those tops?
Now you have to have a bonfire party, how else to get rid of those tops?
I find them to be fantastic for erosion control. Most end up in ditches and drainages for me.
Bucksnbears
Well-Known Member
Looks like it get real close to the ground.?
I have not done the cattle but that does make sense. The fire is gonna be INSANE!!!!!! As of now- I’ll have so many that I will need to burn some. No rush & not a big deal.
I’m running 1/2 to 1 acre an hour. That really isn’t too bad. The first part I really hacked an acre super hard. The rest - I’ll probably leave trees about 20-30’ between them.
For larger cedars, I’ve tried mulchers, chainsaws, dozers, tree pullers & now tree shear with grapple. IMO- tree shear with grapple is the ideal tool. Everything has its +/-
Tree shear w/grapple..
POSITIVES:
-fast cut on any cedar about 14” or smaller as long as not too top heavy. instantly opens the area up
-not hard on machine like mulcher & with so much top material - way faster. No residue on ground to choke out new growth.
-control tree with grapple to put in pile out of the way & burn later.
-no top soil loss like dozers can do.
-impressively fast. To me, 1/2 to 1 acre an hour on over run cedars is pretty darn fast.
-trees 4-8”….. u can usually figure out a way to grab several at a time by pressing tree u cut into next tree & bundling them.
Negatives:
- giant trees (u will understand the size for a low small machine like skid steer) are a no go.
-does leave a stump. Would be a “no-go” if u wanted to farm this area. Need an excavator, dozer, stump remover, etc if stumps will be an issue & don’t use shear in that case.
- a bit of extra time to move the tree to a pile. Will probably have several piles. Which likely mean u will burn them later or have fantastic rabbit hunting.
-really small cedars…. Probably need to mow or snip them somehow. Shears would take too long.
COST: chainsaw the cheapest of course. Then tree puller. Then shears. Mulcher next. finally dozer & excavator.
*side note for shears with grapple…. This one came with a built in sprayer. U press button & herbicide like garlon would go on the stump. Not needed for cedars but the sprayer would be a dream for black or honey locust, multiflora rose, bush honey suckle, ironwood, etc.
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Very. If you wanted to get them at ground level- just take an extra second to make sure it’s seated deep. U really can get them to cut barely BELOW dirt if take time & tree isn’t too big. Only ones above ground were the giant ones I did.
That’s a legit tool!!!! Not the tool for cedar thickets cause need to get em out & into a pile. Unless u wanted to switch to a grapple bucket after. Those would be amazing for any farmer that wanted tree branches off field edges too. I can’t bring myself to prune back field edges since I want the scrapes & expanding edge. But I’m about polar opposite of most farms.
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hillrunner
PMA Member
Do you still have the sheer or did you abandon it for the mulcher? I'm looking to try a new attachment for dealing with cedars and some other junk this year.
A puller would be the most economical but limited on size. Is a sheer worth the cost?
I don’t like the puller. Unless the trees are small. That’s just preference though. Big trees are just a pain in butt with puller.
Mulcher for sure gets stumps gone the best. Tree shear is nice but for sure will have the worst results of 3 for stumps.
They all have their place I guess. Mulcher is by far the most versatile.
DMarley83
DMARLEY83
Did running the tree sheer cause any damage to the machine( cosmetic or otherwise, windshield wipers/lights/hydo hoses?)
Haven't personally used those but wondered if the cedars would be tough to get to the trunk....
After doing the project would a small escavtor w/ thumb have been better? Little soil intrusion around root balls but no stumps left behind...
Haven't personally used those but wondered if the cedars would be tough to get to the trunk....
After doing the project would a small escavtor w/ thumb have been better? Little soil intrusion around root balls but no stumps left behind...
Old post but wouldn't they be good for structure in ponds? Pile on the ice and let them sink in spring?