I have some bush stumps that I would like removed. I can dig them out, but that will take a while. There are several that need to be removed and I am just looking to save time.

I was wondering if anyone else had done any stump pulling? Is there anything that I should worry about? Any special techniques? I figure I would just tie a rope around the stump and attach it to the trailer hitch. Will this work?

Thanks all.

 

just to clarify, please use a strong tow strap, not just any old rope. you seems to know this already, but just in case, do not use any metal, chaines, or hooks. if the strap snaps those pieces of metal become like missles.

 

I have a specific tow rope that I can use.

I was more worried about potential damage to the truck.

Can the truck handle it? I think it can. But I just want to be sure since I have never used it for this before. I have the 5.4 engine w/ tow package.

 

The truck can more than handle it. Dig down, get the tow strap around the base of the roots, put her in 4L and hook up to the front tow hooks. If you have a heavy blanket, place that over the two strap to dampen the blow if it does decide to snap. Slowly backup and RIP that bad boy out!! Woo-Hoo!!

 

i was at my cousins and the had stumps they needed to get rid of.

he made a fire around them , we roasted marshmellows and the next day the stumps were gone.

 

I have a 4x2.

The campfire idea is interesting. But these are stumps from some bushes. And it would take 2 weeks and ~many~ marshmellows to burn them down.

 

Oops.. then still use reverse to pull and make sure your rear tires have traction!!! Slow and steady! Might be tough, though!

 

deep6blue
have removed many a stump with a 4X2...as stated above use only a tow strap/rope and a few old blankets wrapped around them for safety....DO NOT be temped to get a running start/jerk the strap....could be very ugly!!!!!

depending on the size of stumps you may only need to put a little tension on them and up they'll come....if they've been there a long time....or are large...you will have to do a little digging...find the "tap root"...usually one large root growing straight down under the stump...put just a little tension on the tow strap and give the tap root a wack with an ax....may take a little sweat on your part but beats paying someone to do it for ya....

 

The stumps are out!

Very easy to do. We tried pulling the stumps first, just to see how loose they were. Then dug around them to loosen/break some of the roots. Then pulled them out. Using the truck saved us tons of time and sweat.

Thanks for all the hints and tips.

 

Good advice, with one exception - use a front tow HOOK (not both as implied by saying tow hooks). If you use both, you can end up bending them in towards each other.

 

I always let the weight of the truck pull the stump by letting off the gas just before the slack comes out of the tow strap. If you take the slack out slowly, then try to power the stump out, all you'll do is dig holes in the lawn where your tires spin. This also allows one to pull stumps with a 4x2 just as efectively as a 4x4.

 

Too bad you don't have a 4x4 with the standard tow hooks in the front. Pulling from the front (tow hooks) with the truck in 4x4 LOW would give you the best torque, traction and control. Plus, you could easily see what's going on. You could pull them babies out with no trouble at all.

 

I can see someone doing that now... "but you said tow hookS!!".

 

did this guy use the wrong tow hook?

 

You're going to get more power by pulling the stumps using the rear of the truck as an anchor point, not to mention the wear and tear you'll save on the tranny.

You shouldn't ever pull from the front. The transmission isn't desinged to have that much stress put on it while in the reverse gear. Couple that with the fact that it's a 2 wheel drive truck we're talking about, the back tires would just spin. Using one tow hook on the front, and pulling backwards, once those tires break loose, it's going to cause the back of the truck to swing to one side.

Not so much of an issue here, but doing this with a stump that takes any appreciable power to pull, one would always want to do it pulling in a drive gear. IMO.