Labor-Saving Techniques and Tools

SouthSoundTree

Treehouser
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Location
Olympia, WA
Another thread started with more ideas than time.

Post up.

I have posted my hand truck mods before, and just got a bit more done on it. A huge labor saver, which for some reason I get a lot of resistance on from the ground crew, maybe sometimes because they would rather do it the old way that their used to (their backs and bodies).
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I will get some new pictures today with the hand guard and log holder, hopefully.


The chains don't work very well. rope or a cam strap would do. This attachment works for brush, logs, and a big Rubbermaid garbage can. You can fill the can with climbing and rigging gear, peavey, upside down rakes, tarps and saws, then roll back 1-200 pounds like nothing. one person, one trip, not two people, 4 trips.
 
I was hoping you were going to start this thread. I will grab some more pics tomorrow as well, but our little secret is the DR Powerwagon. Today I loaded all the wood from a 70ft by 24 in red oak tree onto our dump trailer without breaking a sweat. Not to mention I got all the brush to the chipper in 3 trips.

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New.... Maybe $2500 I think. We got ours on CL. It quickly became one of those tools I won't be without again.

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That thing isn't doing you a bit of good on the job I'm on right now.... Removing oak trees from a raised deck. Everything gets rigged down. Once on the deck everything gets diced up and tossed over the edge to the ground below.

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That thing isn't doing you a bit of good on the job I'm on right now.... Removing oak trees from a raised deck. Everything gets rigged down. Once on the deck everything gets diced up and tossed over the edge to the ground below.

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Sometimes blood, sweat, and tears is how it gets done no matter what toys you have.
 
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  • #15
Spinning logs on a pivot to roll them where they're desired. A branch sometimes works fine, or a chunk of wood, especially if it has a 'spine'.

I've spun a 20' log for loading. Roll it onto the pivot point at/ near the COG, and rotate as you like. I've rolled a log along the side of the house, as it rolls in an arc due to taper, we would roll it up on a pivot, rotate it back straight, and keep on going. Get to the corner of the house, roll onto the pivot, spin ninety degrees, and you're off.
 
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  • #17
please, do. that is the idea.

top fab'ed w/ hand guard and top log holder, and blade beefed up w angle iron. pics today, hopefully. wheel guards stiffened (i went for the $60 HF, then went thru many cheap wheels before replacing w bigger, tougher, wider HF wheels and wider cold rolled steel axle).

http://promocodesforyou.com/index.php?id=58&gclid=CKeF7YLY070CFdBqfgodRRAASQ


original w cheap bolt together wheels,,, http://www.harborfreight.com/material-handling/hand-trucks/bigfoot-hand-truck-97568.html

better tires http://www.harborfreight.com/materi...x-5-inch-heavy-duty-pneumatic-tire-37767.html

they should have a tougher stock one in the store, wide tires with the stronger rims and wider tire guards. couldn't see online.


maybe a different retailer, or the discount price with promo coupon code.

flat free would be good. these tires/ rims have held up well, tho.
 
I've owned my 4X4 Muck Truck power barrow for 5 yrs now and still zero problems with it, best piece of mobile equipment for my tree service to date. Never had to go back and repair a customer's lawn for damage.
Still on the fence about buying a mini skid steer or loader, been looking at a 12,000 lb Tree Farmer C4 cable skidder with a clam grapple on the front blade.

Here's a neat site on ideas on low impact labor saving techniques with a Muck Truck setup.
http://microarbtruck.co.uk/index.php

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  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #19
Willard, are you still lifting wood into the bucket? Seems like a really small mini (Treesmith's Ramrod might have a hauler with Carl to Minneapolis, MN as an economical partway haul) with small loads would do the same impact as the power barrow, without you lifting, plus you can add attachments. Carl is showcasing a hydraulic stumper that might or might not alleviate the need for the 252 dedicated machine.


Also, always wondered about dumping chips and having to drive over them with your set-up. 4x4 probably doesn't care.
 
For the heaviest rounds I tip the barrow's bucket into dump position and roll the round in, then with one hand pull the bucket back to transport position.
For hauling brush with extensions slipped inside the 4 upright stakes I've stacked a pile of brush on twice the height of the machine, then as fast as I can walk I drive the load and dump at my chipper.
Stump chips and rounds I now haul and dump with the barrow by driving right up my trailer's stump grinder ramp into the trailer's side dump box, through a rear door in the box that I recently installed.
The barrow only weighs 285 lbs, 27" wide and is rated for 800 lb loads. I've hauled double that weight and could still climb a 40% grade in 1st gear. Pound for pound best little work horse out there for low impact hauling.

I've looked at stump grinder attachments and besides the 38 special few can equal my 252 in speed and efficency.
 

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My 15 feet telescopic fishing pole to put and retrieve my rope in the tree, or between trees, nice for deadwooding and dropping hanging limbs. It's a huge time and energy saver for me.
 
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Here's mine while hauling wood today. I didn't get a pic while hauling brush. The power wagon has similar stats to Willards muck cart. Mine weights about 300lbs and is about 30" wide. Like Willard, I feel this is one of the most useful items we have. The bed tilts or power dumps to make loading and unloading easier. It also come with a poly bucket, like a wheelbarrow has but we have never used that. Oh yeah, it also had wooden sides.... Again we have never used those.



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Eric you got a good machine there. Those DR's turn on a dime and with that big flat deck you can haul more then my MTruck plus your lower to the ground too.
I remember watching the DR inventor's videos years back when he first introduced it, pretty impressive hauling a 5ft diameter stump round up a steep hill.
 


That's how I save labor. I say "Joey, take that wheelbarrow and start wheeling rounds out".

No really, I just bought a mini and BMG and am not sure how I got by. Joey is rather happy about the mini.
 
:lol: I been there done that too. I used a big hand dolly for years and moved a lot of rounds to the curb with it.

Presently on the look out for a Tree Farmer C4 cable skidder in around 1980 or so, not sure when they quit making them. I'll mount a clam grapple to the blade and it will be a good versatile machine. Haul it around in a decent size dump trailer for the big jobs.
 
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