Long story short, cut down a Rhododendron last fall, needed to remove the tangled stump left behind this spring. Decided it was a lot of work, so I hooked the Cherokee to it with a tow strap. The neighbors chose that moment to go somewhere, hence the laughter and the "hold my beer" comments. The joke is on them because it worked like a charm.
I did the same with my Disco last year.. pulled a stump right out of the ground.. didn't even hurt the grass.
When I was a kid, a neighbor tried that with his Volvo 240 wagon. That was a tree, though.The stump was mightier than the bumper.
Keith Tanner said:When I was a kid, a neighbor tried that with his Volvo 240 wagon. That was a tree, though.The stump was mightier than the bumper.
My neighbor did the same thing with his brand new early 80s Mercedes wagon. I'm assuming he was drinking and figured the bushes lining the driveway were no longer necessary. He threw a rope around the bumper of the Benz and got the first few out. But one was stubborn, so he got a running start. The back bumper popped off and he launched up his driveway, across the street, and partly into our front yard. It was hilarious.
In reply to pinchvalve :
I've done the same with my old cherokee... Sweet beast to have around.
I miss my XJ. It sucked DDing it the last year or so (because I ruined it with a 3" lift, mud tires, and yanking the carpets out), but as an extra vehicle it was great to have around.
They're even better when you put a proper push bar on them. Then they can pull and push. I've got one on extended loan right now and I've used it to move a few dead vehicles around.
I've done the same thing with my 4runner, but mainly large bushes.
i removed several bushes at my old house with my fj80. most recently i took down a 10'-12' tree at my new house with my 2wd f250 because i was too lazy to cut it down, didnt dig it out at all, just waited for a damp day so the dirt would be soft and strapped a chain about half way up it. it fought me for a little bit but i still came out victorious.
We had them at work for mobile dispatchers. They work fairly well to push buses around too.
So in a semi related note, when is the proper time to trim rhodedenrons if you want them to live?
I need to take about 6 feet off the top of mine, it's growing onto my roof.
I've thought about doing this to pull out bush honeysuckle; even the big ones are pretty shallowly rooted. What do you guys suggest as far as equipment to tie on and procedure? I was thinking chain would be safer than a tow strap since it doesn't stretch and store potential energy. I was contemplating using my truck or using my mower. (Mower is 1000lb commercial mower, not a little garden tractor or something.) Any tips?
I noticed OP has a rag over the tow strap. Is that to absorb energy if it breaks?
In reply to dculberson :
its always a good idea to have some sort of weight over the top strap so itll fall to the ground rather than shoot around
In reply to dculberson :
A tow strap would be fine. Just make sure it is a Tow strap and not a Recovery strap. Tow straps do not stretch and Recovery straps are supposed to stretch. I prefer a tow strap over a chain because of less mass flying around if it does break. And always throw a tarp, blanket or similar over the strap for dampening purposes in case it does break.
It was my understanding that chains don't fly if they break, they just drop. Even tow straps have some stretch and thus stored energy.
In reply to Keith Tanner :
Well, my old Econoline had a nice dent in a back door from a chain that was too small for the job. That was before I learned about putting a damper on it. A chain might not fly as far but has a good bit more mass.
In reply to Keith Tanner :
Chains don’t fly like straps or cables but they don’t drop usually just drop dead to the ground. If you break a chain there’s often quite a bit of energy at work.
This is how I've removed PO landscaping at the last two houses I've bought.
Not sure why, but I have the world's worst luck with buying houses with horrendous, overgrown landscaping. Our first and current house had shrubs, flowers, etc. lining the driveway so closely and thick, that you couldn't get out of your car. Silverado and a tow strap to the rescue.
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