Brush grubber/rake

[bikerdib]

I’m in the process of clearing an old creekbed at my weekend property where I intend to make a small pond. I’m going to widen the creekbed into about .5 acres of water. I’ve been pulling down the larger trees with a chain (I have horse panel attached to the back of the ROP in case of a chain failure). Now I’ve gotten to the point that I need to remove lots of choke vine and Yaupon bushes around the perimeter of what will be the pond. Eventually, I will be clearing Yaupon from other areas of the property also. Since using the chain would require LOTS of getting on and off the tractor to hook & unhook, I decided to make a grubber/rake attachment. I considered the Ratchet Rake which looks like a well designed and heavy duty piece of equipment. However, I didn’t like the fact it is made to go on the front of the FEL bucket because I have the Kubota Quick Change and I made a carrier for some pallet forks that I use to move the trees and brush to a burn pile away from where I’m building the pond. At first I thought about making the rake fit the carrier similar to the way the forks attach but decided against that because it would involve changing back and forth between the forks to move brush and the rake to take it down. So, I came up with the idea to make the rake slide onto the forks, that way I’ll have both at once. I was going to make the rake fit at the end of the forks for more flexibility of angle and reach but decided to make it slide all the way back on the forks giving me more lifting power to pull out the brush. I also welded some 7/8 inch nuts to each tube with a bolt through that will cinch down on the forks to prevent the rake from coming off when I dump a load of brush. I guess if I find a need to, I could slide the rake to the end of the forks and use the bolts to hold it in place. I made it so the small teeth will be up and out of the way for larger bushes but I can turn the rake over and slide it on the forks with the small teeth pointing down for dragging vines and such. OBTW, sorry I didn’t find the need to grind and make it real pretty because I figure it will be digging and sliding on the ground right away anyway. BTW, I'm open to suggestions on how I could have or still could make this work better.

 

[bikerdib]

76 views and no one responded so I will. I finally got a chance to try it out.

The teeth of the rake bite into the trunk of the brush/small trees and remove it with the roots. I can take out several bushes at a time by driving into them with the rake skimming the ground, then when I have a few bushes moving along with me I use some lift along with curl. The curl keeps the bushes locked into the teeth so I can back out and put the pulled bushes on a pile nearby. I can then go back and pull out some more and repeat. When I have a pile I think is a load, I use the forks to pick it up and move it to the burn pile. It's all working as I hoped. This is in sandy soil, I'm not sure if it would take out bushes as easily in harder ground. They might just break off instead of coming out with the roots still attached.

I'm definitely glad I decided to make it with both the rake and forks on the fork carrier at the same time. Doing it that way really streamlined the operation.

 

[mike sacc]

did it take long to make. it looks like it,but if it saves the back its worth it

 

[gktilton]

What did you make it out of, can we get some pics of it mounted.

 

[bikerdib]

How long did it take to make? Really don't remember because I worked on it on two different evenings. Not really that long but I've done LOTS of metal fabrication in my life (used to be a iron worker/fabrication foreman).

I'll try to remember to get a pic the next time I'm at my place in the woods, that's where the tractor and all the implements are at present. It's made out of 6"X6"X3/8" angle. I started to buy some 0.5 inch angle but thought that would be overkill for my needs. As you can see, I put bracing on each tooth anyway. The 3 channels where the forks fit are out of some 4"X3"X0.25 inch angle I already had in my collection. I've already abused it quite a lot and nothings even started to bend (yet ).

 

[Eddie Jr.]

Well done! Glad to hear it's working well for you. A little ingenuity will save you hours of back breaking work by the sounds of it.
Grab us a pic when you can, I would like to see it on the tractor as well please.

M.

 

[mike sacc]

i was wondering what the teeth on top do?

 

[bikerdib]

i was wondering what the teeth on top do?

As you can see, I use 3 forks on the carrier when I move brush so the shorter stuff doesn't fall through. The middle fork has to be offset one notch either way on the carrier thus the middle hole being offset some. For larger brush I have the small teeth pointing up with the large teeth just below the forks. That way I can get the grubber right down on the ground and even digging in some. I can slide the middle fork over to the opposite side and turn the grubber over with the small teeth pointing straight down. I use this for vines and such. I can still use the larger teeth on brush with the smaller ones facing down but the larger teeth will be higher off the ground due to the side with the small teeth hanging down. Hope that makes sense. I can also tilt the forks all the way to dump and use the small teeth and the large teeth at the same time to pull vines out of trees.

I'll try to get some pics in the next couple of days since I'll be out at the property.

 

[DJG]

That looks very inventive and I'm glad it's working well for you.

I was wondering the size of tractor you have. I've got a B7800 (30HP) and have a toothbar which bolts to the FEL. It seems my loader isn't strong enough to yank/push out multiple saplings (1-2") because our ground is clay, not sand.

Instead, I hung a pallet puller off a ball attached to the center of the loader and lift out single saplings that way. It works well but requires a second person to position the puller.

I need a bigger tractor, sandier soil, fewer saplings (buckthorn mostly), or a clone/avatar to work with me.

Best of luck with your very cool invention.
David

 

[mike sacc]

pics would be great,thanks.

 

[DJG]

pics would be great,thanks.

Yep, pictures are always nice. I've attached a Word document with photos embedded, but sometimes they don't come through, so you can go to these sites to see the manufacturer's photos.

If you'd like to see the toothbar you can find it at H&H Mfg.:
http://www.ezattachments.com/index.htm

These guys at H&H are great to work with and their product is heavy duty.
They fabricated my tooth bar in a slightly different configuration with three teeth fairly close together in the middle of the bar and two together on either ends.

I was hoping the ones in the middle would work to "pinch" saplings, and they do somewhat, but my loader still couldn't pull them out easily, and of course, all seven teeth impact the ground at the same time so you're pulling against all of them. Anyway, that's why I tried the pallet puller, which is pretty inexpensive and also heavy duty (about $35, then add about $35 freight).

The pallet puller can be seen and is for sale on ebay at:
http://cgi.ebay.com/PALLET-PULLING-...452?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4157896d54

It works very well except for the tinier saplings (less than 1/2") where it tends to slip as I raise the loader. It's jaws open to about 5 1/2" but there's no way I can pull something out that large here in heavy clay country.
I was thinking maybe sharpening the tines might help. Had I the equipment and skill, I might offset the grabbing section like the Brush Grubber sold by Northern Tool: (http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200365512_200365512)

That might help but I've also read reviews about these grabbers slipping too.

Upon looking at a new photo of the pallet grabber, maybe I'll try pulling backwards with the tractor rather than pulling up with the loader. I'm sure that will provide more power for extracting these damn buckthorns.

Sorry about being so long-winded. Hope this helps.
David

 

[ipz2222]

I have 2 of those from Northern, 1 large and 1 small. No problems with either. Unless you try to pull a small sapling with the big grabber.