Stump bucket discussion

[gladehound]

I removed another tree today and paid attention to visibility. With the bucket tilted down as it would be to remove a stump my visibility is as follows:

- Sitting all the way back on the seat and looking straight over the hood I cannot see the bucket teeth but I can see most of the bucket.
- Scooting forward on the seat allows me to see to where the teeth contact the ground
- Standing I can see several feet of ground between where the teeth touch ground and the front of the tractor.

Today when removing a small stump I stayed seated for the removal. It was a 15 second removal. But when working on a large stump where I've already made a decent size hole I like to stand so I can see the stump, bucket teeth and the ground between the bucket and the tractor.

For anyone thinking about getting a stump bucket for a tractor, you might want to take note of your visibility before you commit. Some have reported that they cannot see anything and are constantly getting on and off the tractor to see what they are doing. This doesn't surprise me because many tractors have high hoods and low seats. Being a shorter operator would make it worse as well. In my case, I am 6'3". I have remounted my seat 2" higher than it was from the factory to improve ergonomics and my tractors hood is relatively low compared to the seat. My high seat to hood relationship and my height surely make my visibility much better than some others have reported.

 

[SPYDERLK]

I removed another tree today and paid attention to visibility. With the bucket tilted down as it would be to remove a stump my visibility is as follows:

- Sitting all the way back on the seat and looking straight over the hood I cannot see the bucket teeth but I can see most of the bucket.
- Scooting forward on the seat allows me to see to where the teeth contact the ground
- Standing I can see several feet of ground between where the teeth touch ground and the front of the tractor.

Today when removing a small stump I stayed seated for the removal. It was a 15 second removal. But when working on a large stump where I've already made a decent size hole I like to stand so I can see the stump, bucket teeth and the ground between the bucket and the tractor.

For anyone thinking about getting a stump bucket for a tractor, you might want to take note of your visibility before you commit. Some have reported that they cannot see anything and are constantly getting on and off the tractor to see what they are doing. This doesn't surprise me because many tractors have high hoods and low seats. Being a shorter operator would make it worse as well. In my case, I am 6'3". I have remounted my seat 2" higher than it was from the factory to improve ergonomics and my tractors hood is relatively low compared to the seat. My high seat to hood relationship and my height surely make my visibility much better than some others have reported.

Since most of the "gotta see" work is slow, standing up can be a real good option.

 

[gladehound]

Since most of the "gotta see" work is slow, standing up can be a real good option.

Exactly. I typically work in 1st gear between idle and 1500 rpm when digging with the stump bucket. This gives me a speed of 0.4 to 0.6 mph. Standing is real convenient given how my controls are set up. The shuttle lever is on the left side of the steering wheel and the loader joy stick comes off the loader arms near the right side of the steering wheel. As such, it is just as easy to operate standing as it is sitting since I don't have to do anything with my feet except stand on them and neither of the critical controls are near the seat but instead are near the steering wheel. This probably isn't a real common set up anymore, but boy is it nice for high visibility loader work from the standing position!

 

[gladehound]

Found a use for the old barn footer/piers that I dug up previously. Stump bucket efficiently dug 36" holes and dropped in the old piers to support the post for the shed roof that I'm adding to the barn.