Komatsu PC130

WoodChuckDad · Mar 19, 2016

This is the only excavator I have ever operated. Can't make a comment about how much power it should have. I can tell you that I have been impressed with what it can do. And I have been able to get some stumps out of the ground that are ridiculously large.

EddieWalker · Mar 20, 2016

How are you filling the holes after you remove the stumps?

WoodChuckDad · Mar 20, 2016

EddieWalker said:
How are you filling the holes after you remove the stumps?

Knocking the dirt off the stump, smooth in over the hole with the excavator bucket and moving on to the next one. When we finish with the stumps I'll use the tractor and box blade to tear out surface roots and make things more uniform.

newbury · Mar 20, 2016

Are you keeping track of your cost per stump?

Like for every $1,000 you spent (and continue to spend) divided by the number of stumps you've done.

/edit - It looks like with the amount and power you are clearing with it costs less overall than my B7610

.

japody · Mar 20, 2016

WoodChuckDad said:
View attachment 461548

Man, that looks like fun!!!!! :thumbsup:

WoodChuckDad · Mar 20, 2016

newbury said:
Are you keeping track of your cost per stump? Like for every $1,000 you spent (and continue to spend) divided by the number of stumps you've done. /edit - It looks like with the amount and power you are clearing with it costs less overall than my B7610 .

I'd like to say that I am not, but my mind works like that. I will calculate the total area we stump and then divide that into the total cost ...sale price plus fuel plus maintenance. I'm not sure how I will figure the roads and bridges and foundation work I will do with it. Maybe as a value added figure. In that area, hiring someone to pull stumps runs between 3 and 5 thousand per acre.

WoodChuckDad · Mar 20, 2016

japody said:
Man, that looks like fun!!!!! :thumbsup:

It is fun, but that is my 16 year old at the controls. I am grateful for the help, and was hoping he would pitch in, but he doesn't want to get out of the seat. Worked all day Saturday and most of Sunday....I had to bribe him out of the seat by reminding him that we just got a canoe for the pond.

farmer2009 · Mar 20, 2016

WoodChuckDad said:
It is fun, but that is my 16 year old at the controls. I am grateful for the help, and was hoping he would pitch in, but he doesn't want to get out of the seat. Worked all day Saturday and most of Sunday....I had to bribe him out of the seat by reminding him that we just got a canoe for the pond.

Be glad you're 16 year old enjoys something like that, and is willing to work. Also nothing wrong with having a heavy equipment operator in the family.

EddieWalker · Mar 21, 2016

WoodChuckDad said:
Knocking the dirt off the stump, smooth in over the hole with the excavator bucket and moving on to the next one. When we finish with the stumps I'll use the tractor and box blade to tear out surface roots and make things more uniform. View attachment 461626

The reason I ask is because when I first started clearing my land and digging out a few stumps, I didn't do a good job of filling in the holes. After a big rain, I found that they turned into quicksand traps that swallow up anything that drives over them. You can walk over those areas without knowing where they are. Grass will grow and blend them all together. But after enough rain, those holes get saturated at the bottom and with more rain, it just gets worse. I got stuck in one that I had dug out several years early while out mowing an area that I had mowed multiple times before.

Now I make it a point to get a bucket full of dirt, or two, and really pack it into each hole. I dump the dirt in, then drive over it with my front tires again and again until it is solid. Then I build it up higher then the surrounding land to force water to go around that spot. Since doing it this way, ant taking the time to do it right away, I've never had another problem.

I also found that if it rains before I can fill a hole, that I either let it dry out, or I scoop out all the water, and all the loose mud before filling it up again. Another lesson learned the hard way. It is impossible to fill a stump hole with dry dirt that is full of water. You just end up with soup that never dries. Guaranteed to swallow anything that drives over it in the next year!!!