Patent ID: 8863667

Claim:
A railroad tie removal machine for removing a railroad tie from beneath a pair of spaced rails of a railroad track, the tie removal machine comprising: a frame movable relative to the railroad track; and a tie shear workhead mounted to said frame, wherein said tie shear workhead includes: a first pair of shears configured and arranged to cut the tie being removed at a first cut location; a second pair of shears configured and arranged to cut the tie being removed at a second cut location, wherein said second cut location is different from said first cut location, and further wherein said first and second cut locations are both located within a workspace defined between said pair of spaced rails, whereby said first and second cut locations divide the tie into a center portion and two outer portions; and a tie shear raising/lowering mechanism for raising and lowering the first and second pairs of shears with respect to said frame, and a kicker workhead mounted to said frame, wherein said kicker workhead includes: at least one kicker configured and arranged to outwardly kick a corresponding outer portion of the cut tie from under the associated rail, wherein the outer portion of the cut tie is located within said workspace, and further wherein both said first and second pairs of shears and said at least one kicker acts on said workspace sequentially without moving said frame relative to the track; and a kicker raising/lowering mechanism for raising and lowering said at least one kicker with respect to said frame.