A visual torque explanation

[slapshot44]

Just for fun, here is a link to a pic of my truck pulling a 10" birch stump out of the ground. Gotta love diesel power. :D

www.picturetrail.com/slapshot44

[Oongawah]

Years ago I found out the hard way to use a chain instead of a nylon rope for that stunt(hehe) :D

[D/A]

Nice Picture Great to see out trucks in action!!!
Was the chain tight or did you have to yank it out? Do you think this could have been done if it wasnt a dually?

[Maxter]

I pulled a few stomps this summer. I don't have a dually, most of the times, I didn't have enough traction.

I tried from the hitch and from the front hooks.

The stomps came out because of the truck weight I assume.

I even broke a chain doing this so it was not a real bright idea from my part. When a chain is broken, you can no longer trust it because you could have damaged some other part of it.

[thechevyhdman]

Theres a trick you can do if you want to tear whole trees out, I do it all the time for my customers who want aborvites or any other tree removed(to a certain extent) One never use nylon like the previous member said, and never hook up a chain to nylon etc. Its like waiting for decapitation to happen. I cut out small notch in the trunk to keep my chain locked in one spot. I have a tall tractor rim i put that right next to the trunk of the tree between my truck and the tree. so the chain will go around the trunk travel straight up to the top of the rim and straight across to my trailer hitch. This actually lifts the the tree out whole. Because instead of pulling it out sideways your pulling at the tree straight up. Try it out sometime.... but if you use nylon rope and it snaps and rips through your rear window of the truck or kills someone else I dont want anything to do with it. Foewarned is forarmed

[slapshot44]

I've broken enough waterski ropes to not trust rope... ;)

D/A: I had to pull the stump from two sides, 90 degrees apart, a couple of times each way. I kept the chain tight. Eased into the throttle until the tires just started to spin and let off, then repeated several times. Jerking things usually ends up breaking something. One problem was that when tight the chain actually was lifting the rear of the truck a little, but I needed the chain towards the top of the stump for leverage. (I don't have a spare tractor rim lying around. Great idea though. Thanks chevyhdman!)

Maxter: I used a 3/8" chain, doubled up except for the last pull, which was the one in the picture. The stump was already broke free at this point and was just being drug out. This was a good exercise for testing out the Superhitch also. I didn't want to risk tweaking the front end using the tow hooks, and of course I would rather risk a dent in the rear end than in the front if something breaks. :eek:

Although its not fun, you should check your chain, hooks, and hitch components after each pull for stress cracks or bending. They'll usually give you some warning before breaking (except for when jerking slack.)

Some good tactics for the old butt to butt truck pull-off contests came out of this experience. Apply just enough throttle to hold the other truck and let the other guy start spinning his wheels. Then just pull him across the parking lot... :D

[gvt]

I've found that hooking the chain/rope as short as possible works well. This way as you pull harded you also get more downward force on the back wheels. I've pulled out several stumps in my yard on the grass without any traction problems. Happy Pulling! And be careful!