Woods Stump Grinder

[foggy1111]

300+ stumps now. Teeth still cut like new. I dont see any appreciable wear to the teeth or the wheel.....but most of the paint is off the teeth and the right side of the wheel has qutie a bit of the paint wore off. Still.....I dont see any major wear....and I expect to grind another 300 stumps and still be going strong with the original teeth (I hope). I do not have any rocks... but my soil is pretty sandy and I grind the stumps without regard for the dirt and sand to a depth of about 8".

I have ground a few oaks and some other hardwoods...but most are pine and a few years old....so they grind quite nicely. I suppose the oak take 3 to 5 times longer. I get up to 30 pine stumps ground per hour.

For my purposes....this grinder has proven to be the right machine.

 

[daBear]

Wow, my email did not let me know this conversation was going on until this morning. I haven't checked this thread in a while. A while ago foggy1111 asked where I got the flow control valves. Surplus Center I went with the needle valve bacause it controls flow in both directions. If you only want to slow down the movement in one directions you can do that with the other inline valve they have. This is less than half price of my local hydraulics shops.

 

[Redbug]

Foggy, Reg, DaBear...Being able to grind down 6-8 inches below ground level is about what the tree guys grind down to. Out of curiosity...can it go deeper?

Also looking at it...it looks like it needs 2 sets of remotes to run it. One for back and forth, and one for up and down. Is that right?

Your outfit has gotten me to thinking...

 

[Reg]

Foggy, Reg, DaBear...Being able to grind down 6-8 inches below ground level is about what the tree guys grind down to. Out of curiosity...can it go deeper?

Also looking at it...it looks like it needs 2 sets of remotes to run it. One for back and forth, and one for up and down. Is that right?

Your outfit has gotten me to thinking...

Supposedly it can grind from 16 inches above, for TALL cut offs and 16 inches below, I assume they mean the same very flat and even horizontal plane that the tractor is on.
You could probably grind very vertically with it if you wanted to - i.e.just grind away at a standing tree and drop it (on yourself ?).

Yes, two rear remotes, but it is kinda nice to use it with the hydraulic top link, especially if you are working into a bank.
So three is handy and you would need four if you have top 'n tilt - - Yeah, tilt could be useful for this.
{A bank of the dirt type, not financial institution, although I could probably cut a hole in the wall and....... Oh, fergettit}

I think I will saw off anything above about ankle bone height in future, so the 16 above isn't useful anyway.
I can't see needing to go the full 16 below grade... not for anything I would want to do later.

 

[daBear]

I already had top and tilt and added a second power beyond joy stick two spool controller. I think woods sells a kit that will enable you to use it with a single spool valve. I like the top and tilt with the grinder and it enables you to grind on slopes a little deeper. I think the bottom plate on the grinder will keep it from going much deeper than 6-8 inches. But is plenty for me.

 

[GreatWhitehunter]

Is there any reason you couldn't plumb it to the power beyond circuit and mount a dual spool valve on the grinder? This way you could stand beside it to operate rather than looking over your shoulder.

Matt

 

[daBear]

I guess it is possible, but may not be practical. I don't have any problem not seeing and I am standing beside my tractor at the right rear wheel when operating it. Not in the drivers seat.

 

[deereman75]

I am surprised how fast that thing can work, i have herd those little handle bar stump grinders (DR stump grinder like) can take up to 15 mins for a 12 inch pine stump from 5 inches high to a few inches below ground.:thumbsup:

 

[foggy1111]

I use the loaders joystick valve to operate both the sweep and the up / down cylinders on the grinder (plus the rockshaft to set the "frame" on the ground). I use my 3rd svc to operate the loader boom...and do not have use of the curl function when I have the grinder installed. I have the hard-line kit that goes to the front...and that has a set of couplers near the other loader couplers....so its all "plug and play" for me. :thumbsup:

I think you could grind em to 16" deep if you were so inclined as has been said.

I stay in the tractor seat....and I am getting pretty good at chewing up pine stumps as my technique improves. It would take me longer to mount / dismount than it takes to grind some of em (plus I hate getting on and off the tractor). I grind em deep enough to run my tiller and or my disc over the top after I'm done.

 

[scoutcub]

Foggy -

great thread! I own a property that the wife and I want to settle on in the future....but right before we bought it the previous owner logged all the good timber, and left us a "stump farm", as well as a bunch of useless tops. So I've bought a coupla big yellow stumpmovers, but after digging out numerous stumps, I'm now of the opinion that I should drill/rot or grind the majority of them. It took me several hours just to get one monster out, then I'm piling them up to burn them, more work.

Soooo...I definitely appreciate this thread, gives me a new direction to explore. Now just need to find a deal......when did you say you might be done with yours??!!