Clearing Pine Tree stumps

[rustyshakelford]

I wouldn't even think of using a dozer to get out stumps, you would end up with hundreds of holes and stumps piles full of dirt that wont burn. If you were to rent a machine, get an excavator in 20-30,000 pound size with thumb and front mounted blade and uproot them with on swipe of the hoe, pick up the stump, shake off the dirt and stack them and fill in the holes. We had a dozer clear our fence line, taking out the underbrush and most of the trees and ended up with more dirt than wood. Ended up about 18 month later, getting another dozer to roll all the wood out and move it further from the fence line where we could then burn it and luckily the dozer owner was able to leave the dozer for a week or so and we had him spread out the dirt and ashes after ward which was full of barbed wire, steel fence post, rocks and tin from an old shed that was pushed out also. Dozers are good for moving dirt but not so great for digging stumps, although the size stumps that you mentioned it would likely do a fine job of getting them out of the ground, but for the same money an excavator can do it faster and neater.
I think a 3/8" chain and your tractor will be able to get them with ease, just going to take some time. If you have a back blade or box blade, you could fill in the dirt after pulling the stumps.

Sounds like the first guy was a bad dozer operator. My piles burn great and I'm not even putting the rake on. Sometimes when you get dirt in it, you have to spend the time to roll the piles until they are clean.

Brett

 

[foggy1111]

Have you considered grinding them? You have plenty of HP to run a PTO stump grinder and this approach would be faster than pulling them out individually.

I have used a stump grinder to clear over 1600 (and counting) pine stumps from my land. I do mostly trails and some wider areas for food plots.....but mostly trails that wend through my wooded property. With my Woods SG50 a pine stump only takes a few minutes to grind.....and then I have no loading, hauling burying, or burning to contend with. Poof.....it's gone. Most of my stumps are 12 to 14" diameter and are sheared rather low when harvested.

I grind mine about 8" below ground level and run my tiller thru the area later for food plots or trail cover. Pine stumps around here will last up to 20 years before becoming rotten....but I realize this varies elsewhere.

Not sure on a large area like your doing here......but I thought I would share how I have done my stumps. I would choose my method again.....as I do the long trails and such on my land. I don't get where folks use a hoe to dig large numbers of stumps out of a large area....not for me.

 

[soulasphil]

Like many others, I think the best way to go about it is renting a mini excavator, even a very small one like mine if you are not in too much of a hurry. Much more efficient than a tractor to get a stump out.

 

[ETpilot]

I was clearing a small area today. I used a tool that was posted on a forum. Not sure if it was on this forum but the tool works good. I have used it many times before. I work alone so this is a slow process. Lots of up and down on the tractor.

Some of the brush that I pulled.

The largest tree pulled today. It is 4" just before the root. I pulled it out with the engine idling. I have pulled larger trees out but my tractor is on the small side so I am a bit limited.

The tool I used. It has a 6' chain. I should have used a 10' chain. I plan to add a straight rod to the end of the chain. This will make wrapping around brush and threading thru the pipe easier.

Here is some info on the bipod puller that was mentioned earlier in the thread. Again I got this info off a forum.

 

[crazyal]

Is there a lot of stumps or a few? With the selection of equipment I have the dozer would be the go to option for me. 9" pine stumps would hardly slow it down. Simply push them into a couple of piles and let the rain wash them off and the sun to dry them out before burning. A few trips back and forth and you can fill in the holes. You'll want to plant grass or something else to keep the soil from being eroded. A stump grinder would be another good option but it would be slower since you would have to move from stump to stump. Also unless you'll need it in the future I don't think it would be cost effective to buy one and finding one to rent for a tractor could be hard. For larger stumps a self powered one would work but would require you to move stump to stump. You could look into renting a SS with a stump grinder attachment, could be cheaper than a dozer.

 

[Bdavis]

Well, I don't believe you're looking at the right tractor. My JD 4010 is not a lawn tractor...but a 10,000 lb., 85 horse, farm tractor that I have plowed literally hundreds and hundreds of acres with, utilizing a 6 row tandem disc plow. My dad bought it in '78, and it was 15 years old then...has been maintained with excellent care, and will probably be here when I pass on.

I have pulled pine tree stumps up with a track hoe with rippers attached, basically a D6, and there were no problems. Pine trees don't have a tap root, such as oak or mesquite. I can't afford a track hoe, and I've never tried stump busting with my JD, so...hence the question.

As far as I know, all pine trees have tap roots. THe size and length of the tap root varies according to the water table and soil conditions. If you are fortune enough to have pine stumps with small tap roots( I was not so fortunate) then you have all sort of options. I like grinding , letting them rot or burning them if the stump is fat pine (lighter knot) . I have tried all three options. This I know for sure, you are going to be dealing with holes in the future no matter what you do. To me it is all about time and money and how quick you need to convert the land into useable pasture you can bush hog.
Good luck