Pulling Rebar

[CaveCreekRay]

Today I pulled out a nice little tree that was sitting right where a gazebo was going. There were steel pipes that were driven in deep when the tree was small, probably 15 years ago. And next to that pipe was some 24" rebar.

I used a 15' section of heavy Harbor Freight chain with hooks on each end. I dropped one hook over the upper bucket edge, which was curled fully down to the stop, and then wrapped the chain around the pipe, then hooked the other hook to the bucket. I took out the slack and then curled the bucket back, sliding the pipes out as sweet as can be. Same with the rebar though one gave me a problem because it was short. The chain was large enough to fit the rebar in the eye of the chain and the put a bind on the rebar that wouldn't let go and it slid right out.

I also chained the last seven feet of the tree stump to the bucket. I then chainsawed the two large horizontal roots I could uncover. By backing up in low range, the trunk broke free of the remaining root. It was a small tree (10") but it came out without any blood or broken tools.

 

[William1]

Ain't it great?
Hardest stump for my so far was a 24" cedar. Those roots (bigger than my fat thighs) did not want to let go. But they did. Next time, I'll use the winch and a couple of snatch blocks along with the tractor.

I have two manhole storm grates in my driveway. Had not been touched since installed 10 years ago. I saw some of the original form wood let go and was sitting in one. Bugged me. Threw a chain on it and looped it around the bucket. Lifted it out as if it was not even attached. Got the wood out, cleaned out the rim, lowered it back in.

You have to love a job where setup takes the time and the job itself is so easy to be nearly embarrassing. Manual stumps were a two or three day ordeal. Now thirty minutes.

 

[CaveCreekRay]

Wil,

The Foreman (wife) was out supervising as I pulled all the steel and then the tree. She kept giving me thumbs up with a smile. When I was all done, I got off and bowed down at the front of the tractor in a Wayne's World parody of "I am not worthy, you awesome tractor!" which I then followed up by doing the same to her because she approved the purchase of the "Great Orange Beast" a few years back. She came over laughing and said, "That thing is paying for itself one job at a time."

How could I not hug her?

Our first major use of the machine after we got it was to set three concrete collars and two manhole frames along with the manholes. She ran the machine for the first time and I handled the load positioning. They wanted over $1000 to set those and we did it in 30 minutes for two bags of mortar and a quarter gallon of diesel. My wife was wowed by how easy it was to operate the machine. (We had the load high in this picture so she could see where she was going. I have since figured out that the chains will shorten by sliding a hook into the chain for the desired length. We were new at this "lifting stuff back then...)

The point of my post is chains are awesome. They don't store energy like ropes do and if something lets go, its a non-event. I also bought some monster 13,000 lb yellow ratchet straps at Home Depot that have nice hooks on each end that hook on the bucket as well for adjustable jobs. (I shortened the strap by more than half for bucket use...) By using these tools on the rear of the upper bucket lip, you can really take advantage of the superior lifting capability offered by "curl" which is much higher that straight FEL lift capability.

Have fun out there and BE SAFE!!!

 

[Lil Foot]

With a much smaller tractor, I needed an advantage when pulling small trees & t-posts & the like. I use the old wheel rim trick. Sorry, no picks, I was having so much fun I forgot.

 

[CaveCreekRay]

Great idea.

 

[Lil Foot]

Yeah, can't remember where I first head it. I found an old 12" wide 15" car wheel that works for me. The taller the rim you use the more leverage you get, and the wider it is the more stability you get. Had a buddy in Black Canyon City (gone on now) who used a semi-tractor wheel, but it was too tippy, so he welded three together & used the middle one. That is probably the ultimate setup, although kinda heavy & bulky to move & store.

Side note:
A new subdivision was being laid out near me & someone had dumped a couple of those concrete collars, and the guy surveying was P.O.ed he'd have to haul 'em off. I asked if I could have 'em & he said I'd be doing him a favor, so I hauled 'em to my place up north & used them for lilac tree rings.

 

[MagKarl]

With a much smaller tractor, I needed an advantage when pulling small trees & t-posts & the like. I use the old wheel rim trick. Sorry, no picks, I was having so much fun I forgot.

My FIL has a home made post puller very similar to your sketch Lilfoot, but his has a stick of box tubing or channel, can't remember, welded onto the wheel, and used for increased leverage. It stands vertically with the pick chain hooked to it, then the lever is rotated down and the post or root pops up. He pulls a lot of stuff by hand that way.

 

[bcp]

My FIL has a home made post puller very similar to your sketch Lilfoot, but his has a stick of box tubing or channel, can't remember, welded onto the wheel, and used for increased leverage. It stands vertically with the pick chain hooked to it, then the lever is rotated down and the post or root pops up. He pulls a lot of stuff by hand that way.

Sound like a steel version of Paul Bunyan's hammer.

Bruce

 

[sheepfarmer]

I too would like to be able to pull t posts up as well as 4 x 6 fence posts, but know nothing about chains...what to buy, kind of hooks, how to attach to the post so it won't slip, how to attach to tractor without wrecking something or myself...anyone know where I can find real beginner info? I have a 6 ft light materials bucket so not sure how to attach to it without bending something.

 

[Grouse Feathers]

I too would like to be able to pull t posts up as well as 4 x 6 fence posts, but know nothing about chains...what to buy, kind of hooks, how to attach to the post so it won't slip, how to attach to tractor without wrecking something or myself...anyone know where I can find real beginner info? I have a 6 ft light materials bucket so not sure how to attach to it without bending something.

If you do a google on pulling fence posts you will find some manual post pullers as well as some tools to attach a chain to steel posts. A chain with a grab hook will work okay for steel posts and really work well for wood posts. A boom pole on the 3 point hitch would eliminate rigging up your bucket for pulling chains.

 

[CaveCreekRay]

SF,

I'll take some pictures to show what I used. I should have shot some during this exercise.

I get heavy chain from Harbor Freight. Its 5/8" heavy chain, 20' long, with two hooks on either end. Its rated for a few thousand pounds so you'll never have to worry about breaking the chain. I think I bought another one there that is shorter, like 14'.

The hooks go on the back side of the upper bucket box. Most buckets are made for lifting here and mine even has a "divot" in the back edge to hold a chain centered. You don't want to use the lower lip of the bucket to attach your chain to as it can bend. The upper box frame is reinforced.

Here's a couple of shots from my backyard demolition last Spring. The nylon straps have hooks on them and hook to the same edge the chains slide on...

I'll get some chain shots soon...

Ray

 

[In Utopia]

Like you, I've been using nylon straps the same way. Lot of the time I use they nylon "tape" the phone company has used to pull wire.
One improvement I made was to take a piece of 1-1/2" PVC pipe about 2' long and cut a slot down it. When using straps, I put it on the bottom of my bucket, and that prevents the straps from being cut when the load swings.
No need to ask how I know.

 

[CaveCreekRay]

IU,

Good safety tip!

My lower loader lip is pretty rounded and I would use the lip to stop swinging. I'll have to look at sticking a PVC sleeve on there.

Mule tape is pretty handy stuff but be careful. I was warned by the local utility guys when they pulled the power at my last house. They gave me 2000' of mule tape because they don't like to re-use it. It only has about 1000 lbs of strength and it will stretch and store a lot of energy. Definitely double it up if at all possible.

By the way, if you are at "The Freight of Harbors" buying chain, be sure to pick up a pair of those 6600lb load straps. They make picking up odd-shaped items sooo easy using the nylon ratchet straps. Moving those granite boulders was cake as the nylon stuck to them almost like Velcro. Their capacity is way beyond whatever our tractors could dish out and they were cheap. I think I paid under $10 apiece on sale. Sure makes your loader more versatile.

 

[sheepfarmer]

Thanks guys that's the kind of information I need... I was imagining walking into the local hardware and asking for chain and not knowing the answer when they asked how heavy or how long. Or what kind of hook. Seems like there are three general problems to avoid: chains that break, chains that come unhooked, and chains that you can't get unhooked when you are done or maybe want to retreat and regroup. And maybe chains that are so heavy you can't carry them

 

[eipo]

Today I pulled out a nice little tree that was sitting right where a gazebo was going. There were steel pipes that were driven in deep when the tree was small, probably 15 years ago. And next to that pipe was some 24" rebar.

Chances are those were survey markers placed at some point in the past. The tree may have been part of a "meets and bounds" survey prior to the markers being placed. Or its parent from long ago.

 

[Russell King]

Chain hooks come in two basic styles - grab and slip. Others types exist but these two are common. The grab hook will grab onto the chain links and not move, the slip hook will not catch on the links and will slide along the chain and pull a tight choker loop (think lasso).


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[ShaunBlake]

Thanks guys that's the kind of information I need... I was imagining walking into the local hardware and asking for chain and not knowing the answer when they asked how heavy or how long. Or what kind of hook. Seems like there are three general problems to avoid: chains that break, chains that come unhooked, and chains that you can't get unhooked when you are done or maybe want to retreat and regroup. And maybe chains that are so heavy you can't carry them

Well, you've got it figured out and reduced to the essence. And your summary is dead on: the only chain worth having is the one too heavy to lift.

I was disappointed with the first chain I bought, Grade 40 and either 3/16" or 1/2". Snapped like dry wood. Did a bit of research, settled on a 5/16" Grade 70. I bought a vehicle recovery chain, which came with forged grab hooks on each end, so I cut it in half and put clevis grab hooks on the ends. Now I can take a hook off and put a shackle on it and easily hook up oddball stuff, should the need arise.

 

[CaveCreekRay]

Out West, people plant mesquite and palo verde trees because they thrive in this climate, even though they're not always native. Most of these trees get started on water and that causes them to grow very fast. Because of the rocky soil, the tree upper grows faster than the roots can grow, leaving the tree top heavy. To let the roots catch up, they inevitably stake the tree either to the ground (not good) or stake a post to the ground and then tie the tree to the post (better). They use rebar for the ground ties and that is what I have all over my back yard, often from trees that died years ago.

I have one last piece to pull and I'll take pictures of the chain I use today.

Ray

 

[CaveCreekRay]

Hokely-Dokely,

This is one of the chains I use with my tractor. It is a Harbor Freight chain that runs about $27 on sale. Its 14 feet long and that is about the perfect length for most tractor uses. It has nice hooks on both ends that slide on your bucket and are just loose enough, you don't have to worry abut them "jamming" on under load.

If you look at the hook, it shows a Working Load Limit (WLL) of 5400 lbs. I figure those just might be "Chinese pounds" but, usually chain and hooks are under-rated. Still and all, I could probably hang Mr. K from his hitch on this chain and he wouldn't break it. Given a FEL lift limit on my FEL of about 1150 lbs or a "yank" limit of a ton or so when backing up, I think its plenty safe for what I use it for.

I cannot remember what size chain this is but, you can see its pretty good size. The larger chain is both safer and the larger chain eyes allow you to grab small things like rebar.

My bucket (2012 L3800) has a notch in the back of the upper bucket frame just for chains. It holds them in place under load if you are using a single-chain pull. I usually use double chain pulls so I just slide the chain hooks on wherever. Take a hint from the notch and try and keep your load centered on the upper bucket frame. That will spread the load evenly across your loader cylinders and into the tractor.

A double-chain pull can be attached anywhere along the upper lip. Just try and keep them fairly centered and symmetrical...

 

[CaveCreekRay]

The rebar pull...

Whether pulling a tree, tree roots, rebar, or whatever, just remember to keep your bucket upper edge reflexed nearly all the way over (full dump) to get your lower lip out of the way. And, get you bucket as low as possible with your tractor in a stable position for more stability.

Having said that, to get the lighting right for these pictures, I had to back Mr K up on my patio with the 3pt about a foot from my kitchen door. And to add to that, the rebar was barely above grade level so there wasn't much to grab ahold of. So, I ended up doing a single-chain pull by putting the chain over the rebar. When pulled up, the chain eye binds on the knobby rebar very nicely and won't let go.

Here's the short piece I had to grab, hence the use of the chain eye...

Here is the 24" rusty rebar snatched out of the rocky hard AZ soil. The Kubota grunted a little at 2000 RPM but broke it free.

Without the help of Mr K, I have no idea how I would have gotten that rascal free without digging half of it out and then using lining bars and more chain to grunt it out myself. At nearly 60, I prefer to leave the heavy lifting to my Orange helper.