OUT DARN STUMP!

[Dogtrainer]

The last two days have been spent digging out an oak stump with my new John Deere 3320 and 485 backhoe. *I only put in about 2 hours each day but the hoe shuck me up pretty good the first day.
* The start of the second day I started out the say way, HIGH RPM AND SHAKE RATTLE AND ROLL, *but then the FOG part of me *(F#%^ old guy) kicked in and said slow down, lower the rpm and scratch away at the hole till you find the roots and rocks and work on them slowly. *
* The work went faster, the rocks came out easier and the roots were exposed and broken one by one. *Then it was time to scratch away at the dirt under the stump. * I was able to accomplish 3 times the work the second day as I did the first day. * Pretty soon I saw the stump starting to rock, then sway, then lean and SNAP! *DONE! *
* In one post here I read about the guy trying to dig a stump and then a pro came in and finessed the stump from the hole. *I can see this as completely true, *just because you take large bucket loads and hit the rocks hard doesn't mean you are going to be faster, just sore'er. * *Thank you for this forum!

 

[creekbend]

Well done. Perseverance does pay off.

 

[igpoobah]

We need pics!!!

 

[Dogtrainer]

First attempt at uploading a picture so lets see if it worked.

 

[igpoobah]

Sweet. I am stalking that same TLB setup if the JD dealer will ever call me

 

[Dogtrainer]

It has a 300CX loader on it. When I got the stump out of the hole there was so much weight on the back that I could just Bearly stear. Using the individual breaks I was able to turn it and nose into the dirt pile and scoop up some ballast in the front. From there I moved the stump to the burn pile. I love this thing.

 

[Big Wave D]

I agree. I don't use a high RPM setting when using the backhoe on my L35. It doesn't allow me to do anything more efficiently.

Here is a link to a former thread where the poster was having a hard time with a very large and stubborn stump. He used water to cause the stump to become boyant. This accomplished two things. One is that it stressed stubborn roots to the point of breaking, or at least their tenacious hold on the surrounding soil. The other was to have the dirt amongst the roots to loosen up and fall off. I thought it to be a pretty clever way of skinning a cat.

Here is the post: http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/kubota-owning-operating/243267-floating-tree-stump-b3030.html

Congrats on you getting your stump out. :thumbsup:

 

[boggen]

start of a day, or i haven't been on backhoe for sometime, will start 1/4 to 1/2 throttle. and then slowly work my way up to about 3/4 throttle of tractor

throttle = gas peddle, or lever, or what not to set how much gas tractor gets.

i rarely ever use full throttle. things move to fast, and causing to much bucking bronco. 3/4 throttle. seems to keep things moving fast. and still let me operate everything smoothly. for a easy ride.

the rare times i use full throttle. is when i am down to that last thing and i simply do not have enough "power" to lift something. or to break that tree root, that will just not break or cut in 2 via using bucket edge. and i need the quick "jerk" of the hoe to free things up.

young kids = go full bore and tear everything up and just smash into things.
it gets different when you are the one paying and repairing things. and wanting to take care of stuff, so there is less repairing / bills to pay down the road.

 

[AGGIE00]

Don't quite understand not using full rpms. Just feather the controls when you need to finness the bucket.

 

[boggen]

Don't quite understand not using full rpms. Just feather the controls when you need to finness the bucket.

*shrugs* perhaps it is just me on the 555c TLB. full throttle and i could take someones head off at how fast the backhoe moves. and lower RPMs slows things down. and gives me better range to operate the levers at.

other words instead of trying to barely budge levers at 1/32" at full throttle for a mili second. at slower RPMs i have 1/16" to 1/8" i can move leavers for better finer adjustments and i have a few mili seconds to make those adjustments.

slower RPMs = flow of oil going into cylinders = slower. you still have your "pressure" of hyd oil and you still have the "weight of tractor" other words you still have your "power" at slower RPMs. you just have little bit more wiggle room on the levers to make fine tuned adjustments.

slower RPMs for me = cleaner trench bottom, without multi re-passes on trench bottom to clean it out

slower RPMs for me = more likely i can keep a root i am prying up on to stay on the bucket and keep on prying on it, vs root slipping off of bucket.

slower RPMs for me = if putting metal T posts in, by pushing them down with backhoe bucket. slower speeds means barely moving bucket 1/16" of an inch. fairly easy, without bending the metal T post, because bucket moved to quickly on me.

slower RPMs for me = lifting something into back of pickup truck, means i do not accidentally suddenly drop backhoe to quickly and damage something.

slower RPMs for me = if using backhoe to compact dirt. i do not need to use the backhoe bucket like a sledge hammer, and hammer the dirt into submission. but rather use the weight of the tractor and backhoe, and focus that weight on small surface area of bottom of bucket. to press down on the dirt to compact it. in that i end up with a smooth ride, constantly raising lowering backhoe as i move the bucket around. ya faster = quicker to get it done, but if i am hammering the dirt. i end up spreading the dirt out across the ground. vs pushing the dirt together to compact it. at least that has been my experience.