Pulling grape vines out of trees

[m32825]

One of the repetitive tasks I can see I'll be doing is pulling grape vines down out of trees. If you get them while they're small, no big deal. Let them play with no supervision for a year, bigger deal. Working on free-range vines that have never been touched by a pair a loppers, big deal.

I've got a grapple and it is great for most things related to tree/brush removal, so I'm thinking: wouldn't it be great if I could do some kind of mod to grapple a vine and pull it down?

So, two things I'm looking for here: #1 is the safety dimension, how do I pull on a vine safely? #2 is ideas for how to grasp the end of a vine that could be anywhere from 1/2" to 2" in diameter?

I've got a WR Long grapple as shown in the picture below (courtesy of CBeal34 on TBN). I've seen attachments that screw onto a bucket to temporarily modify it, I wonder if the same approach (fabricating something and screwing it on when I want to pull vines) could work on the grapple for vines? I'd like to be able to use the grapple controls to grab a vine, pull it, drop it, grab another, pull it, etc, without having to leave my seat.

As always, this a an excuse to use the welder in search of a problem, so think accordingly...

-- Carl

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

If I had to deal with vines like that I would just make a pincher, like this but sideways, and bucket mounted.

 

[Paulemar]

They don't want to pull out of a tree very easily when freshly cut. If you cut them off and let them sit for a year they break off and come down much easier. I'm removing some that are 3 or 4 inches in diameter that I killed last year and they practically fall out of the trees and don't damage the tree so much.

 

[skeets]

Paul you took the works right out of my mouth, once they die and get brittle they pull out pretty easy

 

[tthorkil]

June 2013 someone posted the following links for a horizontal grapple.
http://mytractortools.com/newgrap.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wslMngZt5Jc

 

[The_Al]

One of the repetitive tasks I can see I'll be doing is pulling grape vines down out of trees. If you get them while they're small, no big deal. Let them play with no supervision for a year, bigger deal. Working on free-range vines that have never been touched by a pair a loppers, big deal.

I've got a grapple and it is great for most things related to tree/brush removal, so I'm thinking: wouldn't it be great if I could do some kind of mod to grapple a vine and pull it down?

So, two things I'm looking for here: #1 is the safety dimension, how do I pull on a vine safely? #2 is ideas for how to grasp the end of a vine that could be anywhere from 1/2" to 2" in diameter?

I've got a WR Long grapple as shown in the picture below (courtesy of CBeal34 on TBN). I've seen attachments that screw onto a bucket to temporarily modify it, I wonder if the same approach (fabricating something and screwing it on when I want to pull vines) could work on the grapple for vines? I'd like to be able to use the grapple controls to grab a vine, pull it, drop it, grab another, pull it, etc, without having to leave my seat.

As always, this a an excuse to use the welder in search of a problem, so think accordingly...

-- Carl

I have these all over my property, and try to just tie the largest roots onto the grappler, and then pull them out. Slow but works.

Your way sounds like fun. I am curious to see how your changes work out. Good luck.

 

[m32825]

You guys are giving me good stuff to think about. I hear you about cutting them and letting them sit a while before pulling, a few days makes a big difference. Letting them deteriorate works, too, but after everything else is cleaned up, having the option to remove them is a nice touch.

I haven't had an "aha" moment yet on an easy way to adapt something on the grapple, so I started thinking about a different approach. I remembered seeing how some folks pin attachments to the edge of their bucket and drew up the idea using "Carl Draw" below.

The idea is to have a triangular opening pinned to the front edge of the bucket, you maneuver to get the vine to drop into the triangle, then as you back up the vine pinches into the narrow end as you pull. I drew it as a triangle cut into plate, but angle stock might be better. After pulling the vine you could plunge the narrow end into the soil to unwedge the vine from it, back up a little to extract it from the triangle, then go after another vine without having to get off the tractor.

Seems like visibility might be a challenge getting the vine into the triangle. That's one of the reasons I liked the grapple originally, it has more openings to see what's going on. What do you guys think about this approach?

-- Carl

 

[The_Al]

You guys are giving me good stuff to think about. I hear you about cutting them and letting them sit a while before pulling, a few days makes a big difference. Letting them deteriorate works, too, but after everything else is cleaned up, having the option to remove them is a nice touch.

I haven't had an "aha" moment yet on an easy way to adapt something on the grapple, so I started thinking about a different approach. I remembered seeing how some folks pin attachments to the edge of their bucket and drew up the idea using "Carl Draw" below.

The idea is to have a triangular opening pinned to the front edge of the bucket, you maneuver to get the vine to drop into the triangle, then as you back up the vine pinches into the narrow end as you pull. I drew it as a triangle cut into plate, but angle stock might be better. After pulling the vine you could plunge the narrow end into the soil to unwedge the vine from it, back up a little to extract it from the triangle, then go after another vine without having to get off the tractor.

Seems like visibility might be a challenge getting the vine into the triangle. That's one of the reasons I liked the grapple originally, it has more openings to see what's going on. What do you guys think about this approach?

-- Carl

I wonder if you could also add in deep edges to the triangle so that it catches more of the vines, or perhaps make it cylindrical with notchesl? Seems like a (fun) and reasonable enough idea.

 

[Russell King]

I think you would drive yourself crazy trying to get a cut end of a vine into the triangular area.

On your grapple, can you get a flat bar across two or three of the teeth and another flat bar to span the teeth of the two top grapples? Weld some small to medium angles to the flat bars so they are Vees to grab better with.

The flat bars could be clamped and unclamped as needed.

If that does not make any sense, let me know and I can try to sketch something up.

 

[m32825]

I wonder if you could also add in deep edges to the triangle so that it catches more of the vines, or perhaps make it cylindrical with notchesl? Seems like a (fun) and reasonable enough idea.

For the cylindrical suggestion, are you picturing something like a piece of pipe with a notch in the side? Tilt it forward to get a section of vine threaded through it then stand it up and pull the vine into the notch. The bottom part of the pipe would push the free end of the vine down to help capture the vine in the notch. I think I like that better than my triangle idea...

-- Carl

 

[m32825]

On your grapple, can you get a flat bar across two or three of the teeth and another flat bar to span the teeth of the two top grapples? Weld some small to medium angles to the flat bars so they are Vees to grab better with.

Yeah, that's the direction I was headed initially. I still like it, but looking at my grapple I'm not coming up with a good way to do the "bolt it on" part. The lid has long, thin, curved "fangs" that are great for piercing through dirt and brush, but challenging to attach something to. Look at the picture I posted of the grapple. If you have some thoughts, please share. Thanks!

-- Carl

 

[Forge]

Am I missing something here? I've been pulling all sorts of vines out of trees for years and use a simple chain with a slip hook. Wrap once around the vine and pull with tractor. Never fails.

 

[m32825]

Am I missing something here? I've been pulling all sorts of vines out of trees for years and use a simple chain with a slip hook. Wrap once around the vine and pull with tractor. Never fails.

Yep, that works. I am trying for an approach that doesn't require getting off the tractor.

-- Carl

 

[greentigger2]

I once was doing a lot of tree clearing and had a 2 inch wild grape hanging out of a tree. Tried pulling it out by hand with no luck. We had a 14inch Vermeer chipper on site. I ended up sticking the vine in the fees chute and dang near pulled the tree all the way to the ground. Point being those suckers are strong.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk

 

[skeets]

Yep and that is why I cut them off at the base and forget about them for a year come spring the vines are mostly all dried out and when pulled come out pretty easy

 

[Russell King]

Yeah, that's the direction I was headed initially. I still like it, but looking at my grapple I'm not coming up with a good way to do the "bolt it on" part. The lid has long, thin, curved "fangs" that are great for piercing through dirt and brush, but challenging to attach something to. Look at the picture I posted of the grapple. If you have some thoughts, please share. Thanks!

-- Carl

Sorry I haven't been back to this post for a bit.

I think I have an idea or two. I will try to sketch them up and post back soon. Here they are in words but may not make sense:

On the bottom part of the grapple I think you could build something to sandwich the grapple (meat of the sandwich) between to give you a flat bar (bread on top of sandwich). I can see that the fangs will be more difficult but perhaps some tube to go around the fang tips and use some screws to tight up on the fangs.

 

[m32825]

Sorry I haven't been back to this post for a bit.

I think I have an idea or two. I will try to sketch them up and post back soon. Here they are in words but may not make sense:

On the bottom part of the grapple I think you could build something to sandwich the grapple (meat of the sandwich) between to give you a flat bar (bread on top of sandwich). I can see that the fangs will be more difficult but perhaps some tube to go around the fang tips and use some screws to tight up on the fangs.

No worries, this problem is in the "things to ponder" pile until I've got a clear idea of what to do.

I think I can picture what you're getting at. Kind of like a sheath for each fang, then bridge the space between them to trap the vine against the flat bar?

-- Carl

 

[Russell King]

I think I can picture what you're getting at. Kind of like a sheath for each fang, then bridge the space between them to trap the vine against the flat bar?

Yes, that is what I was trying to describe. You could try to make some wooden or plastic shaped pieces inside the sheath to fit the tooth better...

Sounds like a dentist putting a crown on a tooth!

You might be able to use some type of nylon ratchet strap to hold this bar up onto the "roof of the mouth" of the fangs. weld an eye to the top of the bar and figure some place on the grapple to pull to. (I can't see your pictures while typing this...)