I agree about stumps being hard on a loader. The ones I removed were 8 years old, most of them were Balsam or Poplar so the roots were shallow, they pretty much popped right out but there were a few I could not get.
I see you have a D40. Has it served you well? How do you like the gear shift, are the shift linkages still nice and tight or do they get play in them over time? I never drove the gearshift, I kind of wish I had.
I don't have a hook on my bucket yet although it would have come in handy a few times already. I read some of the threads on bucket hooks, looks like you should mount them over the loader arms. Jinman has his attached with a hitch pin and chain, they would be easy to remove and flexible.
JJ