Stump Grinding Business? Should I?

[OKnewguy]

Hey gang, I am interested to see what you all think about starting up a stump grinding business. I have recently been layed off, I was given a decent severence package, but I am not really that intersted in staying with the same field. My wife has been self employed for 5 years now, so we have alot of the tax/LLC stuff taken care of.
Enough of the history, I am thinking about buying something along these lines
EquipmentTraderOnline , but not this machine because it is really far away from me. I would eventually probably need to get a smaller unit to get into tight spots. I have talked with my insurance man, and he said I would need liability insurance and then some on the machine. I have contacted graphics companies and I could get my truck done up pretty cheap for some inexpensive advertising, and my brother has offered the use of his truck too, for advertising. I am already doing some handyman stuff to boot, so if things start out slow it is okay, besides my wife makes enough for us to live on.
So-do you think that one can make any money grinding stumps???
Thanks for your input, Dave

 

[Shimon]

All the stump grinders I know are part of a tree removal business. They chop down the tree, take away or chip the remnants and grind the stump. I think if all you offered is stump grinding then you are limiting your opportunities and possibilities.

 

[diyDave]

If you are determined, and are willing to work harder at it than you would work for someone else, you can make it work. Learn as much as you can about it, like what the competition is charging, how much repair parts for your machine will cost etc. I suggest you try this question over at arboristsite.com, lots of info there.

 

[OKnewguy]

Thanks for the replies guys, I actually got the idea when I had some stumps done about 6 months ago. The guy owned a tree service company, but he said that alot of his business was just stumps. Here in Ok, they range from $25 to $35 per stump. His price averaged out to be about $22, but he took out 25 stumps, he was done in 5 hours. One of the things that I do not understand is, why is it that more self employed people not advertise on their vehicles? Does this method not work? This guy had a little magnetic sign on his tailgate, but you really could not see it with his trailer, I have since kept on eye open when at the home centers, and I know that a lot of self employed people are their getting stuff. I just seems that this would be a great way to "get the word out".
When he was finishing up, his unit started to develop a knock, if I remember it had a kohler engine on it, he was very disappointed because he had around 1200 hours on it and he was hoping for atleast 2000. The bigest expenses seem to be engine upkeep/replacement, gas, and teeth.
Thanks, Dave

 

[AlanB]

We ran a stump grinder for a while for a close freind of ours.

Upkeep on the older machine is phenomonal. Some was probably the machine we had, and the previous lack of maintenance, but the long and the short of it is that you are running a high hp machine, spinning a big heavy chunk of metal, digging in varying conditions from soft dirt, to varying wood to rock and steel.

The trick in advertising too me if we were to do it, is to advertise to the other tree guys that do not have a stump grinder. And that really adds up to a bundle of business cards and a lunch at the local restaraunt to intorduce yourself.

Yes, you could make a living at it.

The trick to me is knowing which jobs to walk away from. (danger / risk / compensation)

My machine advice is that I would probably think of buying new (nahhh, but it is nice to think of) but look for a well maintained machine, and when you are doing your billable hours, I would figure it at least at 2 to 1 for hours on the jobsite (ie, you figure you need $50 an hour to operate, then you figure that will be a "one hour job" then it needs to be worth $100)

I would try and stay ahead on the maintenance. I could never catch up. They absolutely run in a terrible environment and are trying their best to beat themselves to death all the time they are running.

Good luck.

Contact your local landscaper and let him take you to lunch and give you some of his cards so that when you leave that big pile of dirt and chips in the front yard, you have a card to give the person to get that junk removed and topsoil brought in.

 

[OKnewguy]

Thanks for the reply Alan. I was researching last night, and only one stump grinding place is listed in the phone book. It seems about half of the (or a little less) of the tree guys advertise that they grind. This would definetly be the way to go. I was looking at the arborist site (thanks for the suggestion above!) and a number of the post talked about teaming up with the landscapers and smaller tree outfits.
Thanks for the replys so far, I appreciate all of the input.
Dave

 

[bontai_Joe]

So you want to get into just stump grinding? I'd think that if I had to pick a power equipment job to get into, that one wouldn't be at the top of the list. Machinery is expensive, needs major and constant maintenance because of how it operates, and the liability when grinding that you might hit wires, fiber optic cables, pipes, etc. Yeah I know those things are supposed to be buried deeper than you would be working, but they ain't always where they belong. I'd probably first look into doing lawn maintenance, especially if you can score a couple of commercial accounts. Less expensive machinery to buy, less liability, and with cutting the same lawns all summer, a lot less chasing after new customers day after day. I did a lawn service of my own for over 6 years, added garden tilling in the spring, eventually added wood chipping (NO CUTTING OF LIMBS OF TREES FOR ME!) As soon as I mentioned chainsaw to my insurance carrier, the premiums multiplied by 5 times. Seems chipping was ok, but cutting of limbs or trees was considered dangerous as I could drop one on a house or car or person, or injure someone with the saw (including myself) and I could fall out of a tree, so for what the insurance was gonna cost (this was back in the early 1980's) I avoided tree work. Check with a good insurance broker on what it will cost to cover a stump grinding business vs. a lawn maintenance business.

Oh, and my advertising consisted of a 4 line ad run in the local weekly newspaper for 10 weeks each spring for a total cost (1980 dollars) of around $20 and a box of 1000 business cards of which I still have half of.

 

[bigtiller]

A stump grinder that small or smaller will take a long time (hours) to grind a 30 inch hard wood stump. I hired a guy for some tree work and he rented one that was about the size of the one you pictured. He spent 4 hours doing a 20 inch stump. With two bigger ones yet to do I told him we need to call another guy with a bigger grinder. The bigger one did two 36 inch stumps in less than 30 minutes each.

 

[OKnewguy]

So far my insurance guy did not think that things would be that cost porhibitive, but I have yet to see a quote. As far as machines, the guy that did my stumps had the same model vemeer that was in the link, and it seem to work very well on the variety of native trees that he did for me. These constisted of a number of elms, pines, red and white oaks and a number of black jack and post oaks. The black jack and post seem to be one of the harder trees around here, but they do not get that large. I agree that real tree work, can be very prohibitive insurance wise. I do know that a lot of the tree crews are not carrying the proper insurance that they should be, this is something that I will not even consider. I WILL make sure that I have myself covered. Is the maintenance that bad? These machines are basically a huge pump, engine, hydro motor, valves and cylinders. I will try and research more on the mainetenance. I am a decent shade tree, but I do not want to get into something that is eating up a drastic part of the profits and time.
Thanks for all the replies, I read them all and am considering them all. This is exactly what I need, a reality check.
Dave

 

[circlelake]

I'm with Joe, OK. Repeat business is the only way to go. Most lawn care businesses are doing well up here.