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I would think it could push over 12" trees, although you are probably going to struggle some. I would think that's sort of "pushing it" for a machine of that size. Although I know a guy that used to be a farmer and he had a small dozer that he said he could remove tough stumps with it, even big ones. He would just dig around them as much as necessary before popping them out. So I would assume you could handle trees in the same way by digging around the base before pushing it over. I have a loader thats 21k lbs 80 hp and it pushes trees over nicely, but its a loader. It really helps to raise the bucket up and to push on the tree from the top. But I've also found that prying under the base/roots really gets the tree leaning too. If I had a smaller dozer and I had some fairly large trees to deal with, I'd think about getting a welded steel triangular raised arm thing to push the tree over with (I don't know what they call them, but they were fairly common on old dozers). Also you can use a cable or winch to pull the tree over, but you have to be careful and ensure you have long enough cable and also a good safety cage on your machine. There are also somewhat "outdated" not commonly used methods of using block and tackle rigging systems in order to multiply your pulling force that might be helpful in getting a bigger pull out of your machine. Lastly, it also depends on what type of trees you're talking about and what kind of soil you'll be in. It's real easy for me to push over a 12" pine tree, but it requires quite a bit more effort for an oak of the same size. Softer and/or sandier soils also make it easier to push trees over, although those soils also make traction more of an issue as well. Anyway, if you have a lot of trees of that size to deal with I would consider getting a bigger machine, and maybe a loader instead if a dozer. Those D31 Komatsu loaders with 4-1 bucket are really nice.
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