More Utility, Less Sport

[Mark S.]

Here's the scenario:

A windstorm blew over a pear tree in my front yard. The wife and I chopped all the branches off, cut the larger pieces into firewood, and donated it to a neighbor with a fireplace. That left the ugly remnants of the stump sticking out of the lawn. I could either hire someone to come and take out the stump for me (average cost ~$350), or do it myself. I hate paying other people to do things I think I can do myself, so I chopped a nice groove all the way around the stump below ground level and then it was time to press the Badlands into service.

So, what do you think happened (click below to see)?

1. The stump lost.
2. The Badlands lost.
3. Mark pulled the tow hitch off his Badlands.
4. I don't care, pulling stumps is stupid.

Spoiler: Click here to see what happened.

The stump lost!

In case you were wondering, this was a pretty substantial stump.

I used a kinetic rope looped around the stump on one end and attached to a shackle hitch at the other using a soft shackle. Everything held together perfectly. I first slowly pulled the rope taut, then applied power to see if I could just pull it over. I heard the power transfer unit clutches engage as the front wheels started to spin, but there just wasn't enough power/traction there to simply pull it over.

Next, I backed up and took a running start. If you're not familiar, a kinetic rope is made for this kind of operation. It stretches a bit so you can use momentum to apply multiples of your vehicle's weight to the tug. I started out slow—perhaps 3 mph—and increased my speed progressively over a few attempts. The stump gave when I hit the end of the rope at around 7 mph.

This is the kinetic rope and soft shackle I used.
This is the shackle hitch receiver I used.

BTW, the blanket over the rope is a safety measure. It acts as a damper to prevent the rope becoming a projectile should it snap.

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[69cuda340s]

The base of tree broke and Badlands undamaged....Mark for the win and glad he got 2.0 with locking rear diff....

 

[Txsurfer13]

Stump is shorter, but still there

 

[Bluebaru]

Kinetic energy rope, Stump lost if you did a good job of cutting the roots.

 

[Mark S.]

Stump is shorter, but still there

Roots are still there; stump sticking above ground is gone.

 

[Mark S.]

Kinetic energy rope, Stump lost if you did a good job of cutting the roots.

The only roots I cut were those close to ground level. I chopped around the base of the stump below ground level. I'll fill in the hole and cover the remaining roots with soil.

 

[IdahoDirtFarmer]

Great job Cornelius.

 

[Mark S.]

FOOOOOOTBALL!

 

[IdahoDirtFarmer]

FOOOOOOTBALL!

 

[Txsurfer13]

Roots are still there; stump sticking above ground is gone.

Sounds like you accomplished your goal here

 

[Bill G]

Great job Mark! I won't be trying that w/my Sport any time soon -- tree's in my front yard average about 3' in diameter at the ground <lol>

 

[sajohnson]

Great job Mark! I won't be trying that w/my Sport any time soon -- tree's in my front yard average about 3' in diameter at the ground <lol>

In all seriousness, generally speaking, what you can do (with adequate space and something to tie off to) is use a 'snatch block' -- so you aren't pulling the tree toward the BS -- notch the tree, and use the BS to pull it down, rather than risking the tree falling in the wrong direction.

There are many snatch block designs, we use some similar to this:

Of course, the higher the rope is in the tree the better. That's the most difficult part.

Remember to take photos/video!

 

[Robins21]

The tree stump broke.

 

[SquarePants]

Congrats! Glad you didn't take the mailbox out too.

 

[tRex]

Here's the scenario:

A windstorm blew over a pear tree in my front yard. The wife and I chopped all the branches off, cut the larger pieces into firewood, and donated it to a neighbor with a fireplace. That left the ugly remnants of the stump sticking out of the lawn. I could either hire someone to come and take out the stump for me (average cost ~$350), or do it myself. I hate paying other people to do things I think I can do myself, so I chopped a nice groove all the way around the stump below ground level and then it was time to press the Badlands into service.

So, what do you think happened (click below to see)?

1. The stump lost.
2. The Badlands lost.
3. Mark pulled the tow hitch off his Badlands.
4. I don't care, pulling stumps is stupid.

Spoiler: Click here to see what happened.

The stump lost!

In case you were wondering, this was a pretty substantial stump.

I used a kinetic rope looped around the stump on one end and attached to a shackle hitch at the other using a soft shackle. Everything held together perfectly. I first slowly pulled the rope taut, then applied power to see if I could just pull it over. I heard the power transfer unit clutches engage as the front wheels started to spin, but there just wasn't enough power/traction there to simply pull it over.

Next, I backed up and took a running start. If you're not familiar, a kinetic rope is made for this kind of operation. It stretches a bit so you can use momentum to apply multiples of your vehicle's weight to the tug. I started out slow—perhaps 3 mph—and increased my speed progressively over a few attempts. The stump gave when I hit the end of the rope at around 7 mph.

This is the kinetic rope and soft shackle I used.
This is the shackle hitch receiver I used.

BTW, the blanket over the rope is a safety measure. It acts as a damper to prevent the rope becoming a projectile should it snap.

Nice Watch5 Pro.

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