Do a search for "tannerite". It's a binary explosive, legal to ship by UPS in unmixed form. Tannerite is not that expensive. When you are ready to make a bang, mix the 2 ingredients together and set it off with a blasting cap.

You may get some of them out with your quad but it's not going to be easy and it's not going to be easy on your quad. On most trees, the roots go down almost as far as the tree is tall. It took a dozen tries to yank a live 20' tree out of my neighbor's yard with my F250 4x4, live trees are a lot tougher than you'd expect.

 

My JD has 36 shaft HP, I think. It's the 3 cyl turbodiesel. Nice little tractor, except for the (*^&^$@# starter switch relay (not the solenoid, up by the key) that goes dead on every JD tractor in this range.

 

As my handle indicates, I'm a Tree Doctor or "Arborist" more properly. I own and operate a Tree Service Firm and we deal with this stuff every day. Trees of that stature would be unscathed by even the biggest of quads. How many stumps will you need to remove? Stump grinding is an option and if you have a large quantity to do, someone with a Hydrastumper would be your best bet. Dozing them is easy but then you have a whole bunch of stumps to get rid of and that can be a real pain in the azz! Grinding makes the trunk and primary roots go away while the remainder of the root system just eventually decays in the ground. The chip generated by the machine will mix with the soil and actually ammend it which is beneficial in most cases.

As for tree roots....please allow me to clarify. As previously mentioned that they are as deep as a tree is high, that is a misunderstanding of how trees grow. They can be as extensive as the canopy of a tree and reach well beyond the circumference of the canopy (sometimes great distances) but you will typically never find a tree root that extends beyond about 24-36" below grade. The reason is that the soil will not sustain the roots from a nutritional stand point and a tree will only extend it's roots as long as it is beneficial and integral to their survival. Soil has none to little fertility down beyond those ranges in the soil profile so therefore no reason for a tree to produce root in that direction.

A good analogy of what roots might look like underground would be if you could pick up that giant tree, turn it upside down, and then squash it back into the ground. The canopy would then spread out laterally and make up a very extensive network of root branching. That's how it works....I hope the lesson helps! [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

 

Thanks for the lesson. Even if the roots don't go that deep, they are still a bitch to yank out of the ground.

 

Oh absolutely..without a doubt!!! What you have to consider is that you might have tens of thousands of pounds in the canopy of a large tree then you add windthrow forces and their dynamics in to the equation and you quickly realize just how incredibly strong that tree roots are. Ever seen a car hit a tree at high speed? Thousands upon thousands of pounds of force exerted by the car....the tree is still standing!

 

i guess you guys don't realize that im going to be cutting the tree down first any thing other then that would be stupid, and i would also be helping it along by uncovering some of the roots.

 

msm1018 - if you're definitely going to "pull" the stumps yourself, then don't cut the trees very short. I have cleared many acres of farm land (two hundred trees or more) and one thing that I have learned is that it's hard work no matter how you do it.
1. Carefully (I mean safely) cut the tree at about 8 to 10 ft. above the ground.
2. Dig and chop as much of the root system as you can around the tree. Dig deep man, dig deep! And chop, chop, chop!
3. Use a logging chain or heavy wire rope and attach it as high on the remaining tree trunk as possible. This will give you a tremendous amount of leverage to pull the trunk over. The chain or wire rope must be much longer than you might think.
4. DON'T even think about using your ATV. There isn't an ATV built that can handle this job.
5. Use a tractor or a four wheel drive pick-up. A dozer would be better but sometimes not practical.

Plan ahead and think of all the ways you and your equipment can get hurt. Trees are tough to remove by hand but you can do it. Just think of the pioneers - they cleared hundreds of thousands of trees and didn't even have any motorized equipment.

Good luck.

 

[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif[/img] Are you assuming we thought you would just pull the tree over, canopy and all? Uhhh..no..no, you're talking to the wrong guy here! [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-blush.gif[/img] You gotta make the top disappear before you can deal with what's underground.

I was about to suggest what swizzler was recommending though we usually cut things at about 4-6 feet high. It gives you the leverage you'll need to get them out.

 

I helped a friend try to remove several dozen HUGE stumps at a site where he was going to be doing some construction work and we stopped after doing one. It was a ton of work even with an endloader, pulling with a tractor and our trucks. The smaller trees weren’t bad but the big ones were brutal and just did not want to budge. He ended up getting a guy he knew who worked at the company that did quarry blasting and had them come and blow the stumps out. Got some sort of friend of a friend deal plus they used the occasion to do some sort of training. Made it pretty cheap.

Too bad you can’t just walk into the hardware store and buy a box of dynamite and blasting caps like you could in the old days. Kinda like when you could walk into the drug store and buy morphine or cocaine without a prescription.

Wished we still had freedom like that.

 

MSM1018...A friend of mine wanted to thin out the woods for a better view. He had just bought a Rubicon and I used my Foreman 450ES. Most of the trees were 2-3 inches in RADIUS. We used 20 foot chains and attached it to the highest point we could on the tree. We would stand on the back of the quad and attach chain to tree, so chain was 10 foot high on the tree. The other end of chain was attached to the trailer ball hitch. Back the quad up to the tree, you have at least 10 foot slack in the chain, put the quad in gear and give it half throttle. You will probably hit 5mph before you all the slack is out and the quad stops! You and the quad WILL come to a complete stop. After a couple of times(bigger trees might take 15 tries) the tree and most of the roots rip rite out.

I would only attempt the above method if:
1. There is no access to heavier equipment.
2. The soil is water logged. Don't even bother if it's super dry!
3. And if you want to practice what it feels like being thrown of a bull!