Skid Steer "Extractor" Great For Close-Up Work

Skid Steer "Extractor" Great For Close-Up Work TRACTORS Skid Steer Loaders 31-6-16 Ripping out overgrown landscaping such as trees up against a house wall, posts or even chunks of concrete can be tricky with skid steers or backhoes. Put an Extractor on a skid steer, though, and you can slip in and out without a problem, says Ed Rehmert, TRC, Greenville, N.C. "Digging with a backhoe can damage the foundation, and a skid steer will often tip before it will jerk out a larger bush or even a small tree," says Rehmert. "With our Extractor on a skid steer, you can pull up close, rest the base on the ground, and exert up to 15,000 lbs. of vertical force. All the leverage is against the ground, not against the machine." Two legs extend out 34 in. from the bottom of the 46-in. wide back plate to form the working base for the Extractor. Angled braces extend back and up to the top of the back plate, adding stability. A 49-in. high center post serves as the pivot point for the lever arm and tow hook that anchor the chain that is wrapped around the item to be moved. It is the 3-in. bore, 24-in. stroke, 3,000 psi cylinder that does the work, pushing off from the base and against the levering arm. The attachment weighs only 380 lbs. and sells for $3,999.99 at outlets like Northern Tool. The wide throat design makes it easy to slip in and around the target. Once the target item is out of the ground, the Extractor can be used like a loader to haul it away. A smaller size unit is also available for use on mini skid steers. It weighs only 265 lbs. and can exert a force of 10,500 lbs at 3,000 psi. It's priced at $3,699.99. "Skid steers are built to use hydraulic pressure," says Rehmert. "A small or mid size skid steer will generate over 30,000 psi, but has a tipping point capacity of only 1,500 lbs. With the extractor resting on the ground, it can utilize the full 15,000 lbs. of force available." Rehmert admits there is a limit to what even the full size unit can do. When testing the first prototype, Rehmert recalls hooking onto a 10-in. diameter mulberry tree and blowing a cylinder. "They're ideal for landscaping, not for clearing land," he says, though the experiment wasn't wasted. "We did find out where the Extractor needed reinforcing so it would hold up." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, TRC, 671 St. Rt. 502, Greenville, Ohio 45331 (ph 937 459-8514; trc1@hughes.net; www. tea mextractor.com).

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