Uprooting a Tree Using a 45 to 1 Pulley System

Pulleys are one of the simple machines we all learned about in elementary school that work to make life easier when used properly. If you use several of them together, you can create and insane amount of force thanks to the physics behind how they work. This intrepid YouTuber decided to use a bunch of pulleys, some rope, and his lawnmower to uproot a tree that has had it’s top half broken off.

With camera in hand, the homeowner walks us through his pulley setup, explaining how he’s rigged the system from the tree to his mower using a couple of sturdy trees as anchors for the pulley system. With everything in place, he fires up the mower and begins the pulling process. With the pulleys running at a 45:1 ratio, he has to drive forty-five feet to make the tree move a single foot, so this means he has to drive, then reset the pulleys to give himself more rope to work with, then drive and repeat. Eventually, the forces at work do their task and the tree begins to slowly lean with the tug of the rig. One last reset is required, then the pesky tree is as good as done as the mower eases away and pulls it to the ground.

You too can set up a pulley system to greatly reduce the amount of physical force a job requires, all you need is some pulleys, some rope and a few straps to wrap around your anchors. Then you can hook up your mower, four wheeler, side-by-side or pickup truck and carefully pull down just about any tree or other obstacle that may stand in your way. We love seeing our fans getting out there and putting their brains to work on projects like this, so get out there and show us what you can do with some pulleys!