Bushes/hedges removal

Got these horrible bushes on side of house that have grown as high as the roof. I was hoping under the mess would be a single trunk but instead each bush has about a 100 small to medium trunks sticking out. I tried a pruning blade on my reciprocating saw but it just grabs the trunks and shakes them. Tried to cut them one at a time but it's taking forever. Any suggestions? Thinking a strap around all them tightening then cutting them? Fire? Hate yard work

chainsaw baby. That's what I did. I kept pruning mine with electric trimmers that do up to 3/4" branches. Well, I had trimmed all the 3/4" branches I could and they all got so fat and big that I just walked down my sidewalk with the throttle wide open on my 26" bar Jonsered. Made one heck of a mess.

Took care of that little issue.

Hire someone to do it. Problem solved.

Oh I'm buying a chainsaw!

rotard wrote: Hire someone to do it. Problem solved.

This. Unless you have an easy way to get rid of them after you yank them.

The root system of hedges "usually" isn't very deep and pulling them out isn't too bad. Still not easy work...

Let me guess....Laurel?

I have the same curse. That crap seems to grow 5 feet a year.

A laurel patch on one side of the lot and a damned Locust tree on the other.

Tie a rope around the base, hook it to the car, yank it out in one piece, roots and all.

I cut mine down to the base then wrapped a chain around it and pulled it out with a hydraulic engine hoist.

Is that GRM enough?

Hire someone???? I'd do my own surgery if my wife would let me..

shotgun?

or

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??

I've always used my truck and a chain.

As someone with a yard full of heavy equipment, I reccomend heavy equipment.

There is nothing wrong with chains, ropes, and a bumper to rip them down, but I suggest you watch a few episodes of AFV before trying it. - or a quick search on youtube might at least show you what NOT to do. :)

That is IF you want to remove them completely. If you just want to cut them back, chainsaw first. The worst that can happen is they die, then your problem is solved anyway.

Suggestions from my farm experience: Cut most of it down first leaving a significant "stump" with several branches. I've seen so many people yanking on 6" of stump and then wondering why the chain keeps coming off. Use a clevis or a hook that is bigger than the chain so it slip over the links instead of staying on one link. That way, as you pull, it tightens around the trunk. As the trunk starts leaning and the chain wants to slide up the trunk, it would have to get bigger to go around the branches and it wont.... usually. sometimes it just strips the branches off and sends 150 pounds of forged steel chain at lighting speed toward your back window.

If there aren't significant branches to hold the chain, dig under the stump and pass the chain under and around the roots.

Don't use a tow strap, recovery strap, ratchet strap, or anything less than 3/8" chain.

and don't do this... hook it to something strong. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1qJ5IT72Aw

I pulled out 5 12ft tall bushes in front of my fathers house and it was a pain in the ass. The first 3 came out easy but the last 2 almost killed me and cost my father a hospital trip. The trick to get a nasty bush or tree out is to dig around the trunk, don't be stingy digging. Then you link it up with a truck and tug the damn thing out. Keep the chain high as to maximize leverage. You might also consider soaking the bush roots with water before tugging it out.

I like the suggestion Curtis made about a chain which tightens as you pull I'll keep an eye out for one of thems. Also protect the rear window of the truck, I'd hate to hill the camper shell doing something stupid.

Truck (or tractor) and chain. Throw it around, pull a few feet, move back to the next section. Take out whole sections that way.

If you cut, you have the root mass and the stumps to deal with. That's a pain.

this is one of those situations where a good old fashioned full size 4X4 American truck with a receiver hitch comes in handy..

wrap a tow strap (the kind that doesn't have any hooks, but rather loops on each end) around the base of the bushes, setting it up so the strap tightens as you pull.. put the other end on the 2" ball in the receiver.. get in the truck and give her all she's got.. anything with a trunk smaller than about 3" in diameter doesn't stand a chance.

Huh, my V6 Toyota must be more truck than a full sized American 4x4 then. I never need to give the truck all she's got to go yanking things out of the ground. Especially with 3" diameter trunks. Just a little gas and it gets pulled.

rent one o these...

... more fun than an amusement park

GrantMLS wrote: Hire someone???? I'd do my own surgery if my wife would let me..

1) Honestly, why are you asking this here? Rip them out. Done. It ain't rocket science.

2) As mentioned, the only reason to hire someone is if you have no easy way to dispose of the remains. If you do, then see #1 above.

Sorry... I've ripped out shrubs and hedges a bunch of times over the years and it's not a task I ever felt the need for a "how-to" lesson first...

Down here, most hedges are ficus, a truly evil plant. Roots will seek out and destroy any water pipes, lift concrete foundations, sidewalks have no chance. But, they're pretty! My son bought a house that had well established hedges. The roots had grown under the crawl space, and some were a full 6" thick. It took 6 migrants a week to clear that mess out.

stuart in mn wrote: Tie a rope around the base, hook it to the car, yank it out in one piece, roots and all.

My neighbor tried this and put two large paths across his lawn as their Dodge 4x4 dug in.

curtis73 wrote: Don't use a tow strap, recovery strap, ratchet strap, or anything less than 3/8" chain.

Why not a tow strap? I've done it with tow straps before. We do it all the time for dragging trees and brush around. It helps to have a choker strap.

I have heard to use a large diameter tire right next to the item and the strap over the top of what you're trying to pull out of the ground to help direct the item up rather than ripped sideways from the ground.

My newsed place had some enormous azaleas (like 8'-10' tall) and some sort of plant I can't ID growing out back, those were probably 15 feet tall. Azaleas twist and turn as they grow and if a limb touches the ground it will start sprouting roots, meaning a chainsaw is pretty much a waste of time.

So I took the plunge, bought a 'compound leverage' pruner and cut the damn things by hand. Took me about six hours to cut them all back and three trips to the solid waste collection point but now I can see out of the porch.

If you want to keep them, as I did, leave some limbs and leaves so the stump doesn't die. On azaleas, the stumps will sprout small shoots and then after a year or two of careful pruning will bush out nicely.

If you want to yank them out entirely, the chain and 4x4 method will work. But my suggestion (saw this done when I was a kid): hook the chain to the rear trailer hitch (bumper mounts are not strong enough), then run the chain under the front and then to the stump. Like curtis says, don't cut the stump too short! Leave only about 5'-7' of chain sticking out from under the vehicle. That way if it comes loose it will fly under the truck, missing the glass etc. If you have a really solid place under the front to attach the chain, like a frame mounted forged tow hook or etc then you can run the chain the other direction. But most trucks won't have anything as solid as a receiver hitch up front.

RossD wrote: Why not a tow strap? I've done it with tow straps before. We do it all the time for dragging trees and brush around. It helps to have a choker strap.

They're great for the dragging part, but they tend to snap with scary results... like driving your car through the neighbor's living room, denting the back of your car, etc.

tow straps are stretchy and they use that stored energy to rip cars out of the mud, but we're talking about a tree trunk. It will have its own "give." What you need is sheer force.

Its kinda like prying up on something with a 2x4. When it finally gives, the 2x4 slingshots it into the air. What you need is a metal rigid prybar that transfers all your force to the load. Same idea here. Rigid chain will take less effort than trying to load a stretchy strap.

I've had fine luck hauling out big boys with a come-along and a tow strap. Wrap the strap around the trunk a couple times and tie the come-along off to a large tree or vehicle. It's a gradual pull and since you're looking right at the thing you can see if something is going awry.