Storm Cleanup and hung up limbs

[JeremyBX2200]

Hi All,
Had some storms roll through the area and as usual it means downed trees/limbs etc.

As long as there are no injuries or big property damage, it is always fun to help out with my BX, chainsaw etc. Figured I would share some pics.

I live on a dead end country road, so we pretty much take care of any issues. Clearing fallen trees and even plowing the road. Waiting for the county to do it means a fairly long wait. Wish I could send the county a bill...lol.

Got home from work and had a decent sized tree down across the road. Fired up the BX. I was able to get over half of it pushed off the road before the Amish kid down the road saw me having fun and rushed down in his Bobcat to finish it up. Didn't have to cut much up in this case, just push it off the road. At some point I might cut it up and haul it home. I don't heat with wood, but we like having campfires and bonfires.

On my property I have a large tree pretty close to my house (probably about 20-30 ft). Had 2 big limbs break off in the wind. One just fell to the ground, but the bigger one got hung up on what was left of the other broken limb. It was a giant upside down Y about 30 ft up in the tree. The 2 sides of the Y were long enough to hit the ground. Limb was probably 6-8" in diameter.

I was able to throw a rope over it and back so I could pull a strap up and synch it around the top. Tried using the BX to pull/rotate it free it up and keep it from hitting the house, but the bottom parts of the Y were too long/heavy. I might have been able to pull it off with the strap if I got on my roof, but then it would have fallen in to the house.

I couldn't safely get up to it with my regular chainsaw, but I was able to get up in the bottom part of the tree and then reach the bottom parts of the Y with my electric pole saw.

That lightened it up enough I could pull it out with the BX. Also used the BX bucket to hold the limbs so I could cut them up and then transport them over to the wood pile.

BX limb Video

 

[ve9aa]

Awesome pix and great job !

Love reading about the great work y'all do.

I don't have much for trees near my house, so you'll see very few of those from me.

(Maybe mid winter I'll post a cleanup of 4' of snow or something....Typically that's what my BX handles for me.)

But this thread is about you not me.

Keep up the excellent and safe work you do.

 

[JeremyBX2200]

Awesome pix and great job !

Love reading about the great work y'all do.

I don't have much for trees near my house, so you'll see very few of those from me.

(Maybe mid winter I'll post a cleanup of 4' of snow or something....Typically that's what my BX handles for me.)

But this thread is about you not me.

Keep up the excellent and safe work you do.

I clear snow in the winter, but definitely not 4'. Usually 4-5 times a winter I have to clear the drive and the road in front of the house.

Used to be a lot more often then that, but recently we aren't getting as much.

I do need to add some ROP lights before next winter though. Headlights don't work at all when you have a bucket on the front.

 

[JeremyBX2200]

Small limbs etc go back to the big burn pile at the back of the property. One of these days I will get some forks or a grapple, but for the time being it is a chain and some of Ken's bolt on hooks. Stack the limbs together, lay out the chain and then use the FEL to roll the pile of brush over the chain a few times. Once the chain is wrapped a couple of times connect it as snug as you can to the bucket hooks. Made it to the burn pile without loosing much.

 

[B737]

holy crap dude do not pull with the loader!! pull with the drawbar

 

[JeremyBX2200]

Yeah, I know yanking on things with the loader is not a "best practice" since you can tweak/bend the arms.

In this situation I ran the chain through the loop in the strap and lined up so it would pull evenly. Also, it took almost no force at all to pull the limb down once I had cut all the excess I could off.

To do it right I probably should have hooked it to the draw bar.......just wasn't thinking I guess

 

[DustyRusty]

I would get that tree away from the home, before a limb or worse damages it. In a Noreaster or a hurricane the tree can do major damage to the home, causing you to find housing elsewhere until the damage was repaired.

 

[OrangeKrush]

Nice work Jeremy, and yes keep the pics coming.. always interesting watching the BX working.

I ended up getting a receiver for front and rear of my BX for pulling on trees and limbs. Have not had a chance to try them out but now I have them when needed.

Forks do come in handy for the large stuff, I just gather up what I can and haul it to the burn pile then cut it up there.

 

[JeremyBX2200]

I would get that tree away from the home, before a limb or worse damages it. In a Noreaster or a hurricane the tree can do major damage to the home, causing you to find housing elsewhere until the damage was repaired.

I might get the at some point. I have a number of other trees to take down this fall that are half rotten.

 

[JeremyBX2200]

Nice work Jeremy, and yes keep the pics coming.. always interesting watching the BX working.

I ended up getting a receiver for front and rear of my BX for pulling on trees and limbs. Have not had a chance to try them out but now I have them when needed.
View attachment 86354 View attachment 86355
Forks do come in handy for the large stuff, I just gather up what I can and haul it to the burn pile then cut it up there.
View attachment 86356

I like the receiver on the front. I was considering adding one to mine and then running power for a winch…..probably one of those things I will never get around to though.

 

[Fladogman]

Wait, what? An Amish kid with a bobcat??

 

[JeremyBX2200]

Wait, what? An Amish kid with a bobcat??

Yep.They use it all the time on their cattle farm. Not sure how all that works.

 

[DustyRusty]

My guess is that they are Mennonite, not Amish. Very close in relationship to each other of their deep religious beliefs, but not the same.

 

[JeremyBX2200]

My guess is that they are Mennonite, not Amish. Very close in relationship to each other of their deep religious beliefs, but not the same.

Could be, I am not sure what all the rules/guidelines are for the Amish in my area. I know it varies area by area and bishop by bishop.

 

[PortTackFarm]

Not to hijack the thread, but the Amish builder who put up our barn had heavy equipment to die for, including a bulldozer, tractor, boom lift and super duty truck with 30' construction trailer. They worked off a generator on site. That said, the lights in his house were all battery operated, no line electricity into the house, only the shop. His wife kept her washing machine in the shop to take advantage of the electricity.

 

[ve9aa]

You need a set of pallet forks.
Before I had my SSQA forks I did stuff like that 2 ways with $0.00 solutions.

I wanted to pick up a couple different things with a single "fork" so used a huge ratchet strap and attached a beam under my bucket and then "speared it" with a 4x4x8' pc of pressure treated lumber/beam. I guesstimate the things weighed around 200lbs...probably near the limit for my BX out past the cutting edge of my bucket.

Then I "made" a set of forks from some 2" galvanized fencing pipe (cut at an angle at the far end) and put eyebolts through them in 2 locations. Again with 2 biggie ratchet straps with hooks under and around my bucket. The only downside was that it was hard to see where I was at with the "forks".

Just a couple ideas !

 

[JeremyBX2200]

You need a set of pallet forks.
Before I had my SSQA forks I did stuff like that 2 ways with $0.00 solutions.

I wanted to pick up a couple different things with a single "fork" so used a huge ratchet strap and attached a beam under my bucket and then "speared it" with a 4x4x8' pc of pressure treated lumber/beam. I guesstimate the things weighed around 200lbs...probably near the limit for my BX out past the cutting edge of my bucket.

Then I "made" a set of forks from some 2" galvanized fencing pipe (cut at an angle at the far end) and put eyebolts through them in 2 locations. Again with 2 biggie ratchet straps with hooks under and around my bucket. The only downside was that it was hard to see where I was at with the "forks".

Just a couple ideas !

I know they have bolt on forks that hook to my bucket.

I have also considered converting my FEL setup from the pin on bucket to the SSQA.

I would really like the SSQA. I just have to decide if I am keeping the BX until it dies or if I am going to eventually move up to a different machine. If I keep it (which is what I will probably do) I will convert it to the SSQA and then get a set of SSQA forks

 

[DustyRusty]

Rarely do old Kubota's die, except when they are not well maintained. Yours looks to be in great shape, and from the looks of you, you have many decades ahead of you, unlike many of the old guys on this forum.

 

[JeremyBX2200]

Rarely do old Kubota's die, except when they are not well maintained. Yours looks to be in great shape, and from the looks of you, you have many decades ahead of you, unlike many of the old guys on this forum.

Thanks

It fits my needs pretty well. Current plan is to keep it/maintain it until it or I die.......

Always have stuff I need to add to it though. Tooth bar, SSQA adapter etc. That is what makes it fun

 

[William1]

I like the receiver on the front. I was considering adding one to mine and then running power for a winch…..probably one of those things I will never get around to though.

I did that for a winch. Ran power to the back of my pickup too. Winch on a receiver plate. Stays in the garage and not out in the weather. If I need it, I attach it to what ever needs it. If...the BX battery is ever dead, I can attach jumper to the plugs and not have to deal with the cramped batter box.

Winch

Anyone who has mounted a winch on the front of their tractor? I've been tossing around the idea and I've seen one in the Harbor Freight ads recently with a wireless remote. For my B tractor the 2500# capacity would be adequate. Any thoughts?:confused:

www.orangetractortalks.com