Work Tool Innovation for Farm Land Management and Wildfire Abatement

For rural farmers and ranchers with small and mid-sized operations who suffer losses in efficiency due to unproductive pastures and damage and property loss due to wild fires, the envisioned tree saw is an auxiliary tractor attachment with the potential to rapidly and safely remove large trees, brush, and undergrowth. Unlike current heavy and expensive attachments that require non-traditional farm equipment, the tree saw, when commercialized, will be a light-weight, low-cost solution that will mount on the landowner & #39;s existing equipment.Hill Manufacturing, Inc. will partner with the New Product Development Center at Oklahoma State University to engineer and design a new tree saw. The project team will develop a body of knowledge acquired through research, testing, and analysis that will be used to drive design decisions in the radical transformation of a cutting system; develop specifications for a set of model offerings that can be paired with a range of tractors/equipment commonly owned by farmers/ranchers; and generate computer models and basic drawings for the set of new machines.Given the large number of small farms throughout the U.S. and the regular and routine need for land management to employ fire wise practices, clear pastures, and battle invasive species, the commercialization potential for a tree shear that mounts to existing farm equipment is extensive. A cost-effective, light-weight, and efficient tool could be used by farmers, ranchers, private land owners, small tree farms, local and state utility crews, state and federal forest services, and other businesses and contractors.