Dude, DO NOT use anything OTHER than a chain...seriously. I've tried recovery straps, rope of varying kinds. Chain is the way to go.

It doesnt flex or stretch, and it wont make the knots impossible to untie once you pull the stump out. Try undoing a knot without a knife after you've yanked out a stump.

I've used my Grand Cherokee and a chain hooked to the trailer hitch in 4-low to pull out dozens of stumps from honeysuckle and yew bushes. It's all in the technique. Don't try to push it too far though, you've got to know when to quit. Some stumps/trees need heavier equipment.

If you use chain, make sure you put some shackles or hooks on both ends. Your local hardware store can usually make one up for you. 12' is the shortest I'd use.

drape a blanket or heavy jacket over the chain when pulling. that way, if a link snaps, the weight of the cloth will pull the hardware down, rather than up, through your windshield or worse, your spotter.

:cool:

Whatever you use, don't hook it to your bumper. They are not as strong as they look!

:D

Are you getting the hints that are not so subtle here?

DO NOT let your wife see this thread.

Her divorce/estate lawyer would have a field day with it.

Dig them out; otherwise you will have sumacs back immediately. It's not that big a deal - 20 3" sumacs? that's 3 hours with a pitchfork and persuader bar to do the complete job. If you could pull them out with a chain & etc, you'd leave some root in which would then grow more back. And you'll be tearing the ground up around them and compacting soil, making it a lot harder to grow anything there in it's place. Even grass. While you're at it...don't plant mowable grass there...if you have sumacs, you have some water underneath, and you can plant all sorts of beautiful shrubs that like wet.

What about whacking 'em at the groud with the chain saw, then drilling a hole and aplying stump remover/acid to the core? A local arborist society/database might help.

Bouncing even a ladder-frame might be lookin' fer trouble.

Go To Ready rentals and Rent a Stump Grinder. They usally have a half day rental. A 30in pine tree Stump takes about 15 min.

If these weeds/trees are less then 4" in diameter, buy yourself a DR Trimmer/Mower ($650+/-)with the Beaver chain saw blade. Most of the smaller growth can be cut with the cord trimmer (weed whacker on wheels). I have cleared 6 arces of trees and heavy brush with mine.
Or you can buy or rent a bush mower that knocks over 1"-2" trees and cuts them up.
The DR was the best piece of equipment I bought for the clearing of my land.
Terry Hastings

I pulled about a half dozen 3" trees in my backyard last summer. I used an electric winch. The only thing I did different was to put a metal pole with a plate I welded to it at a 45 degree angle against the tree. I then draped the wire up over the post down to the base of the tree, where i looped it a couple of times and hooked it. this way when I pulled back it also pulled up. It seemed to work better (in my mind). Physicist please feel free to argue.

Would soaking the area with water help in the extraction?
Joe

ok, i gotta ask. are these trees good looking? are they indegenious? i tried to google them, but i got poison ivy stuff, spice stuff, etc.....

3" in diameter? Ever heard of a chainsaw? Sheesh! Just cut 'em flush...then bore a few 1/2" or so holes down into the stump. Fill holes with undiluted brush killer, let it soak in. They'll never sprout again. These aren't trees, they are toothpicks. To help tree trunks rot faster,. I usually make a criss cross pattern in them with the saw tip, to below ground level. Rain water collects, speeding the normal rot process...so, if these are trees that sprout easily again? Same trick...only the first "rainwater" is brush killer. If worried about pets, place a weighted bucket over the stump until the brush killer soaks in. Fraying the bark with an axe works too...then just pour a bit of brush killer in the layer between the bark and the heart wood..

I would rent a mini excavator on tracks... and you will want to get every root or they will pop back up tenfold... the mini excavator will allow you to compact the ground when you are done and cut your wife a nice rose bed to boot... :)

You know, it just occurred to me RickM lives in Convent Station, NJ.

You should get the nuns to come over and pray those trees outta there.



Are you sure there aren't any bodies buried out there? Isn't that Sopranos' country?



You know that old saying... "where Bambi goes, nuthin grows..."




OK, what else you need help with????

Heh heh, I didn't think pulling trees would inspire such passion.

Warren, tried the cut n poison route and these things are like cockroaches. I'll take a pic for you guys to feast your eyes on.

Sing, look out for the flying nun when near MMU. :)

use an old wheel put the chain over where the tire would be hook the chain around the base of the tree and drive off and it will pull the tree straight up and out with a lot of leverage and it works very well.