Stump Removal and Brotek Ripper

[spk64]

I'm wondering if the ripper tooth would have saved any time? Oaks would seem to be likely candidates, with their shallow roots.

I would say if the majority of your time was trying to pick through roots with the backhoe bucket and an ax. Then yes the ripper would help. Took me a few hours to get a perimeter around my stump

Reg
Those frost pickers look like they weigh more than my tractor! I have read of others using frost picks on larger backhoes for roots also.

 

[Reg]

I would say if the majority of your time was trying to pick through roots with the backhoe bucket and an ax. Then yes the ripper would help. Took me a few hours to get a perimeter around my stump

Reg
Those frost pickers look like they weigh more than my tractor! I have read of others using frost picks on larger backhoes for roots also.

I think 225 pounds for the smallest one.
Given that it doesn't have "capacity" to fill and lift a load in I'm guessing my little hoe can probably handle it.

 

[Tdog]

Yeah, but I did not [& usually do not] use an ax. If a root is too tough, I move out a little further - - once you sever it, you can usually break it off closer to the trunk too. I admit is is frustrating trying to fit the bh bucket teeth between roots so that you can get a good bite. And, I've wished I had an implement on the bh that was narrower than the 12" bucket. How much was the ripper?

Jack

 

[spk64]

Yeah, but I did not [& usually do not] use an ax. If a root is too tough, I move out a little further - - once you sever it, you can usually break it off closer to the trunk too. I admit is is frustrating trying to fit the bh bucket teeth between roots so that you can get a good bite. And, I've wished I had an implement on the bh that was narrower than the 12" bucket. How much was the ripper?

Jack

The Brotek ripper was $230 shipped to my door.

I would have to say that I could not have removed the roots from this stump like I have so far with the bucket alone. They are tightly woven and grown together such that the "dull" bucket teeth barely did anything. This particular stump limited me from going too far out to break any roots with the bucket. In the first image with the trench around the stump was as far as I could go with the bucket alone. By going back to the ripper I was able to remove a large amount of the roots.

 

[denmansoft]

Reg:
Send your measurements to richard at Bro-tek, He does make things for other than 'small kubotas'

 

[kthompson]

Here is another company who makes them. No idea on their price or quality. Located near Charleston SC.

D&E Manufacturing - Custom Miscellaneous - Heavy Equipment Attachments for the Demanding Contractor - Timber Tamer, Thumbs, Rakes, Grapples, Buckets, Forestry, Dirt Movin Box Blades, Roller Blades, Couplers, Stump Shears, Stump Splitters

Just thinking, a heavy duty subsoiler shank looks about like this.

I have dug a dug a lot of stumps this year and am impressed with the ripper work for you. I found using my bucket's teeth I could rotate the bucket to about level and catch many roots and tear them.

 

[Jabroni]

The performance of the ripper tooth is largely dependent on the type of tree you're removing. I found it performed poorly with the large number of white pines I'm removing. It can't handle anything over 10" in diameter. The stabilizing roots of the pines are too large for it to tackle, due to the nature of the tree's root system, a large amount of soil must be excavated from around the tree to expose the root system. Then there's a lot of manual work with a digging bar, and cutting roots manually with a hand saw.

 

[spk64]

The stump was finally broken free this morning with small amount of backhoe work to free the stump from the concrete like dirt underneath.

There was some dirt still attached to the bottom side.

A short time later and it was cleaned up and I could barely lift and move it out of the hole with the thumb.

Replace the dirt I moved away while cutting through the roots and now ready to plant another tree in it's spot.

I was able to accomplish what I set out to do. Remove the stump without a large deep hole and eliminate the need to cut though the roots with an axe or saw. The ripper did perform its job well. It had no problem cutting through the roots by taking bites until they were weak enough to break. I may have cut the roots back farther than I really needed but it let me see how far I could cut them back. As others have stated your mileage may vary depending on the type of tree. Pines and their deep tap roots might not see a benefit. Any tree with roots on the surface and accessible by a bucket will come out easier with the ripper.

I have a couple smaller stumps from a norway spruce. It will be interesting to see what type of root structure they have. I am expecting a tap root of some sort.

 

[Tractor Factor]

Good post, spk64. Thanks for the detailed write-up and those great pics. Your writing style is thorough and systematic...just like the way you attack those roots. I have a bunch of stumps on my to do list when the new machine arrives. Look like I'll be budgeting a ripper sometime down the road. Thanks again.

 

[samofsweden]

good post so far. I am wonddering how long does it take to actually swap the bucket to ripper and back ? is it hard/easy or just time consuming ?

Heres a quick coupler for my BX24
More pics on the "best modification on your bota"
/Sam