Home made stump grinder

[Nightrain1]

Has a 6' half inch thick wheel with teeth from a trencher. Hydraulics will slide the wheel back maybe a foot and half or you can back the tractor over the stumps. I bought this off an elderly gentleman who built it himself. It will flat chew threw a 8 inch stump in less then a minute, depending on how aggressive you want to be. If the tree is leaning correctly, I can go after it without getting the chainsaw out. I really like how there are very few grindings to pick up. If tractor is level and top link is set level, I can go an inch or 2 below grade. Adjusting the top link down and she will really throw some dirt and dig down. She can throw some chunks when cutting aggressively, if I take my time, she's not bad at all. Works pretty well on the homesite where we cleared out land in the middle of the woods. I already have done 20+ stumps, think I got my $1100 initial investment out of her already.

 

[bcp]

Any idea what the gearbox ratio or wheel speed is?

Bruce

 

[Nightrain1]

It runs 540 pto and originally was a 310 MCCORMICK-INTERNATIONAL ROTARY CUTTER (1/62-12/66). I have diagrams and part numbers for every part on the gear box from the seller. The heavy wheel creates a lot of momentum. Speed is very comparable to a regular bush hog cutter. My pto is rated at 29 hp, have to feather it up to speed a couple times to get it spinning. It's all the lil Mahindra wants.

 

[allischalmerman]

Hi,

I really like the looks of your stump grinder. I was wondering where you got the big 6' diameter wheel? Also, is it hard on the pto and tractor when you start hitting the stumps? I read somewhere that tractors can have pto damage from 3 pt stump grinders. Any thoughts? I can get a 75 hp gearbox online for under $200. Do you think that is big enough? I appreciate your help as I consider building one myself.

 

[newbury]

Hi,

I really like the looks of your stump grinder. I was wondering where you got the big 6' diameter wheel? Also, is it hard on the pto and tractor when you start hitting the stumps? I read somewhere that tractors can have pto damage from 3 pt stump grinders. Any thoughts? I can get a 75 hp gearbox online for under $200. Do you think that is big enough? I appreciate your help as I consider building one myself.

Nightrain1 hasn't been around since 2013.

 

[CincyFlyer]

Hi,

I really like the looks of your stump grinder. I was wondering where you got the big 6' diameter wheel? Also, is it hard on the pto and tractor when you start hitting the stumps? I read somewhere that tractors can have pto damage from 3 pt stump grinders. Any thoughts? I can get a 75 hp gearbox online for under $200. Do you think that is big enough? I appreciate your help as I consider building one myself.

If you really want to build one yourself, do it the easy way and essentially copy the Woodland Mills WG24 Stump Grinder (WG24 Stump Grinder | Woodland Mills US).
It's dirt simple, doesn't require a six-foot wheel, and will go six inches down in the ground (actually more, if you make the grinding area larger.) I bought one, after contemplating building one, and I've used it a bunch.
I do note that they do not recommend using it with a manual tractor, as you drag it across the stump; an HST is much better for this. But for me, I can get on a slope for about half of my stumps, and can "roll the bucket" to drag the tractor for most others, so I don't need to do any furious clutch slipping!
If I were to build one of these myself, I'd give it a foot or two of hydraulic travel. I'd not use a gearbox and "sweep" system, I'd keep it simple! A 24" wheel is plenty large; I removed a 54" x 44" stump last weekend. Made a huge amount of mulch!

 

[Shady oak]

If you really want to build one yourself, do it the easy way and essentially copy the Woodland Mills WG24 Stump Grinder (WG24 Stump Grinder | Woodland Mills US).
It's dirt simple, doesn't require a six-foot wheel, and will go six inches down in the ground (actually more, if you make the grinding area larger.) I bought one, after contemplating building one, and I've used it a bunch.
I do note that they do not recommend using it with a manual tractor, as you drag it across the stump; an HST is much better for this. But for me, I can get on a slope for about half of my stumps, and can "roll the bucket" to drag the tractor for most others, so I don't need to do any furious clutch slipping!
If I were to build one of these myself, I'd give it a foot or two of hydraulic travel. I'd not use a gearbox and "sweep" system, I'd keep it simple! A 24" wheel is plenty large; I removed a 54" x 44" stump last weekend. Made a huge amount of mulch!

I just got one this summer. Have taken about about 13 stumps of varying sizes and hardness. It works good, and is ridiculously simple. My only concern is that when you over work it, it will make itself "chatter". And that makes me wonder how hard it is on the PTO. I don't use it commercially so it will likely be ok. I run it behind a JD 955 and it can make it grunt a little. But it takes little time to turn a stump into chips.

 

[CincyFlyer]

I just got one this summer. Have taken about about 13 stumps of varying sizes and hardness. It works good, and is ridiculously simple. My only concern is that when you over work it, it will make itself "chatter". And that makes me wonder how hard it is on the PTO. I don't use it commercially so it will likely be ok. I run it behind a JD 955 and it can make it grunt a little. But it takes little time to turn a stump into chips.

Yeah, it can shake the whole tractor, due to the direction it's transferring forces. Make sure your sway chains/bars are tight, that helps a lot. You'll quickly learn what kind of stumps can be plowed through and what kind need to be "shaved". I did a two foot diameter rotten walnut in about a minute, I have a "fresh" three foot walnut stump that's just gonna take a while.