Stumps/Grinders/Pasture

   / Stumps/Grinders/Pasture #1  

dmccarty

Super Star Member
Joined
Sep 7, 2000
Messages
12,573
Location
Triangle Of North Carolina
Tractor
JD 4700
I was just read'n though the forum and noticed a conversation under fiberglass boxes that went off thread talking about stumps.

Well, I got stumps and I need a way to get rid of them. :cool:

Gordan and Dflegar had a nice conversation about stump grinders and I hope they see this thread since they know what they are talking about! :cool:

I have some land that was timbered and in some near clear cut areas I have lots of pine stumps. I have some hardwood stumps as well. I have roughly 8 acres of cleared pines that I want to make into pasture. So, how do I get out the stumps?

- I can have a dozer or backhoe remove the stumps.
- I can rent a machine and do it myself.
- I can get a backhoe for the tractor I'm buying Real Soon Now.
- I can by a stump grinder, preferably PTO powered.
- There is a guy I know of that charges $1 per inch of stump measured four inches off grade to grind the stumps.

Will stump grinding get below grade a good distance? A good distance being far enough that I can dump dirt on the grinded stump but still work the soil to plant a pasture? Should I just forget stump grinding and dig the stumps out?

The pine stumps likely average 24". I have some hardwood stumps that are 36+ inches.

Any thoughts/ideas are appreciated! :cool:
Dan McCarty
 
   / Stumps/Grinders/Pasture #2  
Either dozer or dynamite/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif. Dozer is safer and a lot faster/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif.

Chuck
 
   / Stumps/Grinders/Pasture #3  
Dan,
I would pick a good size dozer.
Even with the stump grinded down you still may want to change the slope of your land little...yep to for the price of one. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif
By the sounds you have days work for a for a good dozer operator.

Take care and stay /w3tcompact/icons/cool.gif

Thomas..NH /w3tcompact/icons/cool.gif
 
   / Stumps/Grinders/Pasture #4  
Don't know which would be better re the dozer or backhoe. Both would remove the stumps which I would definitely do in lieu of grinding. I wouldn't want to be pulling a one bottom plow and catch some of thoses stumps that the grinder left!!
 
   / Stumps/Grinders/Pasture
  • Thread Starter
#5  
I'm worried about a tractor implement hitting one of the
grinded stumps. On the other hand I'm not sure I would have anything except a box blade to hit the grinded stumps.

I've thought about the RemoveWithExplosive option but I don't think the neighbors or the ATF would like it. My father in law was on of the Green Hatted guys back in the early 60's and knows a thing or two about stuff that goes boom. :cool: While this might be the fun option I think I would get in trouble one way or the other! :cool:

I think the cheapest and fastest way would be to get a dozer to do the work or rent a real backhoe. I'm looking at a JD4600/4700/TC40/TC45 or JD5105/5205 tractors. The JD 48 hoe is 6000-7000 and the back hoe for the 5000 lists at 11,000. I think I can rent a real back hoe for a couple of thousand a month.

Part of my problem is that I want to do the work myself and not have someone else to the work.....

Thanks for the ideas! Keep 'em com'n!
Dan
 
   / Stumps/Grinders/Pasture #6  
The fastest and least expensive way is a Dozer. A good operator using a D6 or larger dozer can clear about an acre in 8 hours. I have recently hired a Dozer to do some clearing and push up some pads for building. My cost was $25 hr.
 
   / Stumps/Grinders/Pasture #7  
Dmccarty,

Think I would have to vote for the dozer. I have dug stumps with both my small B21 TLB and with full size TLB's. It can be a real slow job. How about renting a dozer?
 
   / Stumps/Grinders/Pasture
  • Thread Starter
#8  
Does the dozer have to dig to get the roots out? Most of the work is going to be getting pine roots out of the ground. The stumps are cut very close to the ground with only a couple of inches above grade. Which is why I ask if the machine has to dig. There just is not much wood for the blade to get ahold of.

So how hard is it to drive a dozer? :cool: There is an old one for sale down the road from the property, I forget the name but its a fairly small dozer. Its not a JD, Cat or other mainstream manufactuer. How big a dozer would this take?

Thanks....
Dan
 
   / Stumps/Grinders/Pasture #9  
Looks like you're going to have a real mess on your hands with 24"-36" diameter stumps cut to the ground with no leverage, and pine tap roots go really deep. I would suggest at least a D6 dozer. Seriously, blasting may be the way to go, and then use a dozer, just get a permit.
 
   / Stumps/Grinders/Pasture #10  
I have been cleaning 3 acres of pine stumps. also only a few inches of stump above ground. makes pushing them out much harder along with a heck of a mess. I bought an old dozer to do it. fairly large one and it sometimes takes a while to get the bigger stumps out. If you like to to thingsyourself and have lots of time that will work. the cleanup and stump removal has been themost labor intensive. running the dozer is a piece of cake. working on it is not. for me it was a good purchase, as there is years worth of wor to do out back. inspect dozer carefullly before purchase. easy to sink lots of money in old ones. mine is bigger than most i see the road crews using. and happy it is. these stumps do NOT just pop out when your also pushing tons of dirt. good luck
 
 
 
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