Is this safe?

GeneMO · Mar 9, 2011

I have an almost new Bush hog brand front end loader on my 1968 Farmall 706. I also have a "carry all" and " pig carrier" I built while in high school.

What I am thinking about doing, is adapting them to fit on the front end bale carrier that came with the loader. More specifically the pig carrier as it has a steel cage around it.

I have a bunch of trees hanging over farm roads and field edges. I want to put a person in the loader with a chainsaw to cut the overhanging limbs.

I only have one hydraulic port, the tilt function comes from a joy stick.

Is there a safe way to do this? some sort of valve or coupler I can install in the hyd. line that in the rare event of a failure will not drop the person?

If not, I will not attempt this.

Thanks, Gene

Tyler Jackson · Mar 9, 2011

It would be easier and safe to find one to borrow or get the county to get one of those bush hogs with the arm that you can stick up in the air and just drive down the road and bush hog he trees. The county here does it on occasion. Your idea isn't bad but it would take longer depending on how much you have to cut.

LaBoyteaux · Mar 9, 2011

Well Gene, I do this with my 580CK backhoe, exactly as you describe, stand in the bucket with a chain saw and cut off low handing limbs. I do the sawing and let my employee drive the backhoe. We have a joke about this called, "lift me up and crash me down". No it is probably not safe but I do it anyway. I suppose I could put a limiter on the lift cylinders so if a hose blew the bucket would come down slowly. Also some hazard of falling out of the bucket or getting knocked out by a falling limb.

GeneMO · Mar 9, 2011

This is around farm field edges, and down a long private lane. The county wont do the public roads around here. No way they would do anything.

Unless I could find three or four, 18 year old, blonde, swedish virgins, 6 cases of Jack Daniels and about $10,000 to bribe the county commisioners with.

Gene

Lou from Wi. · Mar 9, 2011

Gene. The safest way would be to get a POLE SAW and do it from the seat of the tractor. at one heck of an angle. No need for the booze and the 9 Virginians.lol. and what ever. Have a safe one. HTH. REGARDS LOU.p.S these you can rent.

NCWayne · Mar 9, 2011

Everything we do in life is inherently dangerous, especially for those of us that mess around with any kind of powered machine. That said like another post mentioned what your talking about doing is alot safer than someone working out of a machine's bucket. As far as a 'safety valve' I wouldn't worry about that. I say that because people ride up in manbaskets on the forks of a forklift everyday and lifts have no type of safety valve to keep them from dropping the load if the hose broke. In other words don't worry about it being 'safe', it's as or more safe than many other things people do everyday. So modify your basket and get the job done....

RayP(MI) · Mar 9, 2011

Probably not safe, but how many times have you seen a failure in a hydraulic loader, properly maintained? You probably more likely to fall off the thing than have it let you down suddenly.

60 acre hillside · Mar 9, 2011

The greatest risk would be bending up the tractor when a falling limb could fall on the hood of the tractor. I considered making such a rig on a forklift because there would be a mast between the tractor and limbs being cut. sold the fork lift for all it was worth and am happy with my limb saw.

Doug in Illinois · Mar 9, 2011

I wouldn't want the steel cage around me. I think better off just to work out of the bucket.

Branches and limbs can do crazy things, sometimes worse than dropping a whole tree.

Depends on how big and long the stuff is. I would say to take your time and only cut short pieces, meaning like about 3 feet at a time. It will take longer, but reduce the chance of getting knocked off or impaled.

One of the best tools I have used for trimming branches is a long handle fiberglass pole with a saw on it. I have VERY CAREFULLY trimmed branches getting into the power lines back at the Nebraska farm this way on our side of the meter. DOUG

jm. · Mar 9, 2011

Gene we have done what you are considering. You do not want to move with the loader all the way up. The thing moves a lot up there if you fall in a small hole with a wheel. Have to be carefull. I think you are worring about something that is not a big deal on the droping . IF a hose were to fail completly I don,t think it would come down fast enough that a man couldn,t jump out near the bottom . Stand a bigger chance of getting hurt by falling out than loader failure.

IOWA NORTHEAST · Mar 9, 2011

It has been done for decades, safe is not a probability. Your insurance company will have coments no doubt, and OSHA will kill you if someone does die on the rig.

When we trim trees with a bucket truck we have a disabler valve so if a branch falls on the control levers we don't imitate amusement park rides.

Asking if it is safe is like asking if cars are safe...........alot depends on the opearator and his likes and dislikes of the person in the bucket.
When trimming trees, the problem is usualy the saw operator is not high enough, rather than machine failure.

I would not think twice about it, but I do have scars telling me I should have know better on several things in life.

VicS · Mar 9, 2011

Some loader cylinders have a orifice in them already, I have had loader hoses blow and they just started leaking slowly , and I had time to drive to the house. I use my deer stand safety belt, and tie it to the center hook on the bucket. A pole saw is 100% better than a regular saw, It is long enough the limbs will mis you. I agree on not moving with the man in the bucket raised up high. We have a Case backhoe and it will move off without jerking, but it is still scary, if you are the one up high.

gbs · Mar 9, 2011

instead of using a person in a basket i know of man that mounted an arm on his loader mounted a hyd motor with a circle saw blade at the end of the arm to do the cutting just had to be careful about limbs falling on the tractor or operator

Bill Tom · Mar 9, 2011

I've rented a pole saw from Home Depot several times. $36 per day. It extended out 13 feet. They give you bar oil and a gallon of mix. Like another fellow said, cut short pieces.

E R · Mar 9, 2011

Gene, I did what Lou done. I wanted to trim tree limbs like you. I bought me A 10ft. pole saw. It sure does work good. Just don t saw too big of A limb. You can cut high enough to drive most any cab tractor under.

Working A saw out of the bucket can be dangerous. Be careful.

E R

old · Mar 9, 2011

Safe well only as safe as any hyd system can be and the human working the levers. That said it is done all the time in factory's with fork lifts and man cages that are made from them. I use a loader to do many things but I do it all my self which I know you know since you have seen my place and how the building look etc. That said if your on your own place and doing it with family do it just be careful doing it. If you have to hire help then I would not since the help can fall if for no other reason then to sue you

sws55 · Mar 9, 2011

Pole saws work well and have good reach, even the manual push-pull ones, but they all require a lot of leverage to control them. You need to have very good footing underneath you. I'd never want to try to use one from a loader bucket, too easy to slip and fall on an edge of the bucket.

We always used a hay rack or an old barge box as low portable scaffold for painting, siding, and trimming low tree branches. They are roomier, flatter and much more stable than any loader bucket. A pickup box would work too if the bed isn't too slippery.

Gchase24 · Mar 9, 2011

No it,s not safe! I had a safety cage from the plant.It was made for a fork truck so I put my forks on my loader ,put safety chains so it would not slip off the forks.Thought everything was safe. Had my nieghbor lift me up ,started trimming with my chain saw.Everything was going fine and was about to finish when I cut a 2" limb about ten feet long.When I cut it it fell towards the tractor lodging between the joystick and the fender of the tractor. I was ejected from about ten feet on to my head. Split my scull, major concussion three days in hospital and saveral weeks recovering.Do,nt do it

flying belgian · Mar 9, 2011

I do something similar to that but I chain the bucket to the loader arms so it can not dump. Then raise the loader up and cut some angle iron to put between lift cylinder pins. drive to where you want to be and set a ladder up and crawl up to bucket. Think of it more as a portable scaffold. Completely safe that way. and only takes one person.

BCnT · Mar 9, 2011

wish i had a nickel for every time i been in a bucket either installing or taking apart different machinery or tank battery's...FarmHand loaders are the best tool for tree trimmin since chainsaws.
worryin about fallin off something and getting killed didnt get this country built...its no wonder its falling apart.

LAA · Mar 9, 2011

I put in line ball valves on my haybine so the lift cylinder can't bleed down in transport mode as has happened before and bend the PTO shaft. Also use an in line ball valve on the fold up cylinders on my batwing.

glennster · Mar 10, 2011

gene , if you are going to use the loader, i agree with the shut off valve. i bought and old ford 1 ton van with a 28 ft stick on it for up in the air work. i prefer to use an electric chainsaw on a pole run off a generator. a lot less fooling around when you are airborn. farm and fleet ect sells a remington 10 inch electric chainsaw bolted to a fiberglass pole for about 90 dollars. works good, and pretty cheap. you can also hit your local rental place and see if they have a personnell lift. i rented one for the weekend one time to work on a corn crib. basically a boom lift with a bucket on a single axle trailer. has a lawnmower engine driving a hydraulic pump. 4 out riggers to stabilize. has about a 40 ft stick on it. about 200 for the weekend. if you do use a bucket and boom, take a big diameter rope with you in the bucket, long enough to reach the ground. if something fails, its a lot easier to slide down the rope than shinny down the boom. dont ask me how i know!!!

JML755 · Mar 10, 2011

GeneMO,
I agree with a lot of the other replies. It would not be an "approved" method by OSHA, etc. but probably as safe (maybe more so) than doing it from a ladder and risk falling off.

As for "dropping like a rock", I've had a few hoses blow on my backhoe in use. They were pretty bad and I just hadn't gotten around to replacing them. They've ALWAYS blown when I put a strain on the hydraulic system, not just sitting in a static condition or even just normal operation. Even then, I've been able to operate the bucket or hoe (i.e. use the cylinder that the hose has blown on), but with hydraulic fluid spraying out, lots of chatter and decreased functionality, just to get out of what I was doing and back to it's parking spot. Unless the fitting comes out of the cylinder, a hydraulic hose will fail (crack/split) in a manner that will relieve pressure through a relatively small opening size. I've got one right now that will get a new hose before start up use this Summer. Was leaking all last summer. My biggest concern is the loss of hydraulic fluid ($$$).

Think of it this way: a blown hose could act about the same as operating the control valve to return the fluid in the cylinder back to the reservoir, only the hydraulic fluid will end up on the ground instead of the tank.

So, if your hoses are in good condition and all connections tight, trimming a tree from a bucket is a pretty low risk operation, IMO. Unless of course you fall out. :wink:

buickanddeere · Mar 10, 2011

Nothing is "safe" but there is no reason not to make something as safe as possible.

PJH · Mar 10, 2011

I've worked on highway lighting fixtures that were just tiptoe too high for a 40' knuckle boom truck. If I stretched, I could barely reach the fixture. The truck was controlled from the ground, boom was jerky - had to keep your knees bent to keep from feeling like you were going to get flipped out of the bucket. It was equipped with pilot operated check valves to keep the boom up if something failed, so I worried more about getting down in a failure, but my greatest fear was that some fool would run into the truck while it was fully extended. It would be like riding a flyswatter.

My point - the guy in the bucket has to trust the operator, and if the operator hasn't proved himself - the bucket guy will balk at getting in the bucket. I have refused to work with some operators, sometimes because I did not know them, sometimes because I'd seen them in action.

Be careful
Paul

MissouriPete · Mar 10, 2011

You don't live in my county here in southern MO, do you? Sounds just like the problems we have around here. Though I shouldn't complain, poor roads keep the riff-raff out.

Personally I would vote for the pole saw. I have cut branches from a loader bucket, though not fully extended. I think your set up sounds a lot safer than what I have occasionally done. Good luck whatever you decide.

Christopher

Bill in IL · Mar 10, 2011

I do LOTS of work out of the endloader. I use pallet forks and nailed two pallets together width wise to make a 4X8 pallet. Even have a 12 foot pallet for big jobs. I know it would not be OSHA approved but I feel much safer on that than I do on ladder jacks and walk plank. A self leveling loader would be a big plus for you.

I did some tree trimming a couple years ago and rented a tow behind man lift. Cost about 350 for a 50 foot lift for a weekend. Got up much higher than the endloader. The shorter ones are cheaper.

Ken Macfarlane · Mar 10, 2011

Ever since I watched a pallet load on a forklift basically free fall from near full mast extension because a spring in the relief valve broke, I'm not too keen on jumping in a loader.

I have worked off forks before though and I'll probably do it again in a pinch.

hd6gtom · Mar 10, 2011

NO NOT SAFE good friends of mine did that for years, the last time she fell out of the bucket and is now paralized from the neck down.

ksredneckpullingteam · Mar 10, 2011

if you had to ask---probaly not

Is this safe?

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