Which style Tree Shear to suit a 14 ton

[HB256]

Hi all, 

 

I'm planning on getting a tree shear to suit a 14 ton excavator, and torn between the basic OMEF, TMK style. Vs the ones that grab and then shear at base, like the Westtech, Trevi Benne and Dymax style. 

I'm aiming for something around 400mm cutting capacity and wondering how safe the TMK style shears are with large trees ie will large trees with a lean fall out of the grab? Or do I need to bite the bullet and get the other type, there's a big price difference between the two is my only trouble.

 

Any wisdom much appreciated

Edited May 28 by HB256

[slack ma girdle]

With the simpler ones the trees do wobble about when you shear them, but i have only lost a tree when the dead wood was to brittle to support the tree. If you are going to do alot of roadside trees, then i would get one with an extra grab.

Have you considered a grapple saw, a GMT35 would tick most of your boxes

 

[HB256]

17 minutes ago, slack ma girdle said:

With the simpler ones the trees do wobble about when you shear them, but i have only lost a tree when the dead wood was to brittle to support the tree. If you are going to do alot of roadside trees, then i would get one with an extra grab.

Have you considered a grapple saw, a GMT35 would tick most of your boxes

 

Okay well that's reassuring, and that's on quite large stuff?

I have thought about a grapple saw but the extra maintenance and risk of chain shot puts me off. Also nearing the same price as the extra grab type shears too.

[Conor Wright]

Tmk are decent, but they have their limits. A guy I work with sometimes has a scorpion tree shear from m large. Much better able handle side branches and leaning trees as it has a tilt function. It's a reasonable compromise between cost and versatility imo.

[HB256]

28 minutes ago, Conor Wright said:

Tmk are decent, but they have their limits. A guy I work with sometimes has a scorpion tree shear from m large. Much better able handle side branches and leaning trees as it has a tilt function. It's a reasonable compromise between cost and versatility imo.

Hadn't heard of Scorpian shear, they have an interesting design. Got a Geith tilting hitch on the machine so will be able to tilt any shear on the end

[slack ma girdle]

16 hours ago, HB256 said:

Okay well that's reassuring, and that's on quite large stuff?

I have thought about a grapple saw but the extra maintenance and risk of chain shot puts me off. Also nearing the same price as the extra grab type shears too.

The chain speed on grapple is below 25m per sec, so chainshot isn't an issue.