Diggin' oak stump out with a 758C BH

[Dave1953]

My neighbor cut down a healthy red oak tree today. The butt is 20" to 24" across. I have dug out smaller stumps but nothing like this. I have a TC34DA with the 758C BH and a 9" wide bucket for stumps. Do I have a chance or not of getting this thing out? C'mon, give me some chatter.

Dave

 

[SteveInMD]

You could certainly do it...but, you would have to dig a huge hole. You will not rip the thing out of the ground by plain force. In my opinion it's not worth the wear and tear on your equipment. The right tool for this job is stump grinder.

 

[groundcover]

I'll second the stump grinder.

 

[GreatWhitehunter]

Just take you time, I had several oaks about 10",12" in cluster stumps so the overall stump for the three tree's was over 4' diameter. I dug all of them out with a jd 448 hoe. It's alittle more powerful than the 758 but not very much. The biggest issue was getting the stump out of the hole once they were free. I needed to dug a ramp and drag them out. I then lifted one side onto my dump trailer and then lifted the other and pushed it into the trailer. It took several hours to do the work and the next day I loaded them onto the trailer. Be persistant!

Matt T.

 

[EddieWalker]

Oaks come out pretty easy as far as stumps go. You'll have to deal with the roots, which will be substantial. Just work your way out from the stump until you can break through the root. Once you cut it, the rest of it, right up to the stump will come out easy.

The trick is to get the dirt out from under the root ball. Oaks go outwards, but they have a sort of suction onto the ground under it. you will struggle to break that suction effect, but once you do, it's totally loose and ready to remove. How much power/traction you have and the weight of that stump will be challenging, but otherwise, it's a pretty simple stump. Not like a pine with a massive tap root, those are the very hardest to get out. Cedars are about the easiest.

Good luck,
Eddie

 

[billfires]

Dave, I have a NH 1920 with a 758C on it and have removed stumps even larger than that. The key is to take your time and not get frustrated (frustration leads to dumb, EXPENSIVE decisions). As Eddie said start near the stump and work out until you can break all the roots. You also need to undermine the soil below the root ball. You will end up repositioning the machine 3-4 times. Hopefully there is a 3 foot high stump to give you some leverage to pull on. When the stump breaks free you will need to spin it to try to scrape as much dirt as possible off. Jf you have a hook(s) on your front bucket you can lift it out with a chain. As I mentioned before take your time and enjoy. Bill C

 

[Willl]

All stumps are removable, bigger ones just take a little longer.

 

[Doc_Bob]

I had a bulldozer knock mine down
Bob

 

[Willl]

In fact, started on one today myself.

A triple trunked fir in a gravel pit. Should be fun.

 

[Dave1953]

Dave, I have a NH 1920 with a 758C on it and have removed stumps even larger than that. The key is to take your time and not get frustrated (frustration leads to dumb, EXPENSIVE decisions). As Eddie said start near the stump and work out until you can break all the roots. You also need to undermine the soil below the root ball. You will end up repositioning the machine 3-4 times. Hopefully there is a 3 foot high stump to give you some leverage to pull on. When the stump breaks free you will need to spin it to try to scrape as much dirt as possible off. Jf you have a hook(s) on your front bucket you can lift it out with a chain. As I mentioned before take your time and enjoy. Bill C

Bill,

Thanks for the encouragement. I feel confident in doing it now. I told my neighbor it was gonna be a big hole and it was gonna mess up his front yard but he said go ahead. Thaks again.

Dave