Short answer
Tree removal is not finished with one attachment but with two or three used in sequence. The general order is: loosen the ground around the root with a ripper, grip the tree with a grapple and bring it down together with its root mass, collect and load the remaining root and trunk pieces with the grapple, then dress the hole with a bucket. Attempted with a single attachment, either the machine is overstressed or the job is left half done; getting the root out with its soil depends on the ground around it having been loosened first.
Three different parts of the job
Once the three parts are thought of separately, attachment choice follows on its own. Trying to do all three with one attachment is the commonest source of lost output.
- Separating the root from the soil: this is cutting and loosening work. The ripper enters around the root with its single tooth and cracks the soil.
- Gripping and lifting the tree or stump: this is gripping work. The grapple holds the trunk safely and brings it down under control.
- Collecting and loading the remaining pieces: grapple work again; a bucket is both slow and dirty at this.
Why the order matters
A pull attempted without loosening the ground around the root breaks the root off and leaves it in the soil. The root mass left behind has to come out later, and the second attempt is harder than the first because there is no longer a trunk to hold on to.
Worked in the right order, the tree comes out in one piece with its root mass. That removes the second job and makes filling and dressing the hole easier.
At the grapple stage, the direction the tree will fall is decided beforehand. A tree falling uncontrolled can damage nearby structures, or the machine itself.
A grapple is not a lever
The commonest site mistake is pushing the grapple under the root and using it as a lever. A grapple is designed to grip; side load and prying stress the jaw pins and the cylinder. Where the root has to be pulled before it has been loosened, the right attachment is not the grapple but the ripper.
Do and don’t
Do
- Loosen the ground around the root with a ripper first, then try the pull.
- Decide the felling direction beforehand and keep that side clear.
- Grip the trunk with the grapple at as balanced a point as possible.
- Collect the remaining root pieces in the same shift; a piece pushed into the soil is hard to find later.
- Check for buried services beforehand; digging around a root is still digging.
Don't
- Do not use the grapple as a lever or pry bar.
- Do not pull the tree directly without loosening it; the root stays in the soil.
- Do not try to break up the root with a breaker; a breaker is made for rock and fibrous material absorbs the energy.
- Do not grip without allowing for the direction of fall.
- Do not slew the machine quickly with the grapple loaded; a swinging load creates a tipping risk.
What decides the attachment choice
- Trunk diameter and root structure: a tree with spreading surface roots and one with a deep tap root do not want the same method.
- Ground: roots come out more easily in loose sandy ground, while the loosening stage takes longer in stiff clay.
- Carrier size: grapple and ripper are chosen for the tonnage of the machine; fitting a large attachment to a small machine upsets its balance.
- What happens next: where the tree is processed on the spot a grapple may be enough, where it is transported, loading capacity counts as well.
- Sensitivity of the area: in parks and gardens, limiting ground damage becomes a selection criterion.