Using a 300DT to pull out bushes, tree roots.... - Page 3 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

vstech · #31 08-23-2018, 08:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HuskyMan

I have some bushes and trees on the front of the house that need to come out. I'm thinking of using the 1984 300DT in place of a pick-up truck to do the job. I can cut the trees down to size with a chain saw; the bushes can be dealt with as in the youtube video below. I'm thinking of tying some chain around the rootball of the trees then connecting the other end of the chain to the bumper on the 300DT.

Do you think this idea would work or do I need the power and torque of a pick-up truck?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTHQucLY_y8

It can be done with very small trees, and bushes...

The trick is NEVER BE UNDER POWER WHEN PULLING...

let the car roll and nudge the roots repeatedly...

And yeah... don’t use the bumper! The tow loop is safer...

Low speed... very low speed... use weight of the car, not speed and inertia... just a rocking repeat.

The unibody will deform otherwise.

HuskyMan · #32 08-23-2018, 10:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JB3

If you are worrying about a stump, you have enough money to go rent the appropriate equipment, or just have the darn thing ground and bury the remainder.

Broke people live with stumps.

I recently had TWELVE (12) stumps ground for about 400 bucks. Most were less than a foot, two were large, one very large.

Meanwhile you are gonna spend money on a cherry picker you will have to resell, maybe rent a pickup and use it contrary to all auto rentals polices unethically, and as a bonus treat us to some of your usual ranting.

Notice; if you do not like my threads I'd suggest not reading them. Obviously they are a total waste of your extremely valuable time.

HuskyMan · #33 08-23-2018, 10:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vstech

It can be done with very small trees, and bushes...

The trick is NEVER BE UNDER POWER WHEN PULLING...

let the car roll and nudge the roots repeatedly...

And yeah... don’t use the bumper! The tow loop is safer...

Low speed... very low speed... use weight of the car, not speed and inertia... just a rocking repeat.

The unibody will deform otherwise.

I've decided to not turn the 300DT into a truck, tractor, stump puller or other piece of construction equipment. Plus, I've got another problem. IF I did use pick-up truck, I would most likely end up with the truck tearing up my nice front lawn or worse the truck out in the street blocking traffic.

People regularly break 60+++ MPH in a 25 MPH residential zone and god forbid they get held up for 5 nanoseconds while I try to yank some bushes out!!! One of these days either an old man or woman who can barely see or a young child is going to step out in front of these speeding demons and get mowed down.

If their current behavior is any indication of what might happen in such an instance, I fully expect the sociopathic driver to leave the scene of the accident.

tbomachines · #34 08-23-2018, 10:17 AM

Can you get a trailer hitch for the 300td? As others mentioned, the bumper will rip off. I dont think I would strap anything to the subframe without basically load balancing it. I've pulled stumps with my BOF explorer but would be wary in a unibody car. A hitch would distribute the load better.

junqueyardjim · #35 08-23-2018, 10:21 AM

Stump grinding is by far the best way to get rid of stumps. You can rent small stump grinders from rental stores for cheap! When it comes to bushes I have found that my engine lift is quite an effective tool in that with a good quality small chain you can really get a "bite" on the plant just above the ground. I use a couple of 2x8 treated lumber planks to roll the lift on soft soil and most lifts have an adjustable lifting end where you can increase the lift to 2,000 or 3,000 pounds. Watering the plants well a bit in advance really helps in pulling them out. As far as pulling them out with a standard vehicle like a 300D, it doesn't take much, to do more damage on the car then what it is worth.

JB3 · #36 08-23-2018, 10:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HuskyMan

Notice; if you do not like my threads I'd suggest not reading them. Obviously they are a total waste of your extremely valuable time.

well, being cheap and clueless often does not make life easy. You have a lot of options if you want to spend a few hundred bucks, either doing it yourself, or paying someone.

Of course you could still spend a few hundred bucks and waste a lot of time as well, sort of the direction you are going.

you can rent a mini excavator for 300 bucks a day. OR, you could spend time driving around trying to buy a cherry picker which will be a pain in the rear on soft ground, then trying to move it, then trying to sell it, ect.

HuskyMan · #37 08-23-2018, 10:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tbomachines

Can you get a trailer hitch for the 300td? As others mentioned, the bumper will rip off. I dont think I would strap anything to the subframe without basically load balancing it. I've pulled stumps with my BOF explorer but would be wary in a unibody car. A hitch would distribute the load better.

I've decided given the 60+++MPH speeders drag racing down the street and not wanting to tear up my lawn, the cherry picker/engine hoist method is going to be the best solution for my situation.

HuskyMan · #38 08-23-2018, 10:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JB3

well, being cheap and clueless often does not make life easy. You have a lot of options if you want to spend a few hundred bucks, either doing it yourself, or paying someone.

Of course you could still spend a few hundred bucks and waste a lot of time as well, sort of the direction you are going.

you can rent a mini excavator for 300 bucks a day. OR, you could spend time driving around trying to buy a cherry picker which will be a pain in the rear on soft ground, then trying to move it, then trying to sell it, ect.

It's funny, I recently watched an online video about doing repair maintenance on a car. The presenter stated the obvious, "Hey kids, this is what I recommend but ultimately it is YOUR car and you can do what you want".

HuskyMan · #39 08-23-2018, 10:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by junqueyardjim

Stump grinding is by far the best way to get rid of stumps. You can rent small stump grinders from rental stores for cheap! When it comes to bushes I have found that my engine lift is quite an effective tool in that with a good quality small chain you can really get a "bite" on the plant just above the ground. I use a couple of 2x8 treated lumber planks to roll the lift on soft soil and most lifts have an adjustable lifting end where you can increase the lift to 2,000 or 3,000 pounds. Watering the plants well a bit in advance really helps in pulling them out. As far as pulling them out with a standard vehicle like a 300D, it doesn't take much, to do more damage on the car then what it is worth.

I'm with you on this. Thank you for the advice on using the 2X8 treated lumber plans, great idea!!

Diseasel300 · #40 08-23-2018, 10:51 AM

Since you're going with the cherry-picker method, make sure you remember to thoroughly saturate the soil around the stumps you're planning to pull the night before, and I do mean SATURATE. It makes it a lot easier to get the roots to let go. You'll get a lot more of the roots that way and lower the risk of breaking the stump off partially in the ground. If you have clay soil, make sure you have some heavy planks as mentioned above under the wheels on the cherry picker to distribute the weight, otherwise it's going to sink right into the ground when you pump the handle and leave the stump right where it was!

vwnate1 · #41 08-23-2018, 08:46 PM

I was hoping the OP would try the spare tire method, it looks and sounds pretty clever and well thought out .

Few here seem to care that I have extensive experience with animals and all of my dogs are rescues, my Sire was due to be killed in the local pound because he wasn't friendly ~ not aggressive, just had zero interest in anyone .

He's now 20 years old and liked to climb (his jumping days are long gone) into my recliner when I'm tired or in too much pain to work ~ the rest of the time he lays near me when I'm working (good supervision).

I'd be bereft if anything happened to my pups, why they're trained to not leave the yard when the gate is open for vehicle ingress/egress even when loose dogs are passing by and they don't -ever- go off my fenced property unless they're properly leashed ~ I'm a responsible pet owner, unlike many near me who allow vicious dogs to roam loose .

vstech · #42 08-24-2018, 08:35 AM

The dog comments need to be in OD, or politics section. Let me know if you want the posts there.

HuskyMan · #43 08-24-2018, 10:27 AM

What I just posted is why got into this forum in the first place. I have spent thousands of dollars with incompetent, idiotic indy car repair mechanics who in some cases, left my car in worse condition than when I first brought it to them.

I still can't perform all the necesssary maintenace/repairs myself but I figure the more car repairs I can do myself using the informaiton available on this forum the less likely I'll pay a $5000 repair bill to a moronic, incompetent mechanic.

vwnate1 · #44 08-25-2018, 09:05 AM

So ;

Did the bushes ever get removed ? .

HuskyMan · #45 08-25-2018, 10:06 AM

I'm looking around for a good quality made in china cherry picker. Once I acquire one, I'll need to train the neighbor's dogs to operate the hydraulic pump.