Backhoe Dug up first stump

k0ua · Jul 11, 2016

I remember watching dad blow out stumps about 55 years ago. That was back in the day when if you wanted some dynamite you just went to the hardware store and bought some. It sure blew those stumps and big wads of dirt way up into the air.

RaydaKub · Jul 11, 2016

k0ua said:
I remember watching dad blow out stumps about 55 years ago. That was back in the day when if you wanted some dynamite you just went to the hardware store and bought some. It sure blew those stumps and big wads of dirt way up into the air.

Hehe! My dad told a story about a new guy on a crew blowing stumps. They were clearing old cottonwood trees out. These trees can get to be huge, 6-7 feet diameter trunks is not unusual. So the rookie dug a hole and asked the foreman how much dynamite to use and the foreman said 2. The rookie set it and they backed up to light it off. Blew the stump a few hundred feet in the air and across the road darn near 1/10 mile. When they all picked themselves up off the ground the foreman asked the rookie what he had done and he said "I just used 2, like you said." Only he had used boxes, not sticks. I don't know how many sticks to a box, but safe to say it was several.

k0ua · Jul 11, 2016

RaydaKub said:
Hehe! My dad told a story about a new guy on a crew blowing stumps. They were clearing old cottonwood trees out. These trees can get to be huge, 6-7 feet diameter trunks is not unusual. So the rookie dug a hole and asked the foreman how much dynamite to use and the foreman said 2. The rookie set it and they backed up to light it off. Blew the stump a few hundred feet in the air and across the road darn near 1/10 mile. When they all picked themselves up off the ground the foreman asked the rookie what he had done and he said "I just used 2, like you said." Only he had used boxes, not sticks. I don't know how many sticks to a box, but safe to say it was several.

The Stumps dad was blowing out, I thing he was using 1/4 and 1/2 sticks to achieve the desired effect. I don't know how many sticks are in a box for sure, but I bet somewhere around 24.

old gray · Jul 11, 2016

I did many the same way. I found it is much easier to dig and knock over the entire tree if you have that option that you did not in this case. Do it when the ground is wet helps a lot also.
Just for your info.But I did get better at it. still a chore.

pmsmechanic · Jul 11, 2016

A real easy way to get rid of a stump is to cut it off as close to the ground as you can. Then take a skill saw with a carbide tipped blade and cut a two inch crosshatch into the stump as deep as you can. (Make sure you use cheap saw blades.) Once the stubs are dried out knock them off with a hammer and cover the stump with dirt. Keep wet and in a year or so the stump will be mostly rotted away.

Gary Fowler · Jul 11, 2016

That stump planer looks like an extremely slow stump grinder. Anyone care to expound on why a regular stump grinder couldn't be used in the situation given in the video. I could see a use for the boom mount if the stump was where you couldn't get the rear end of the tractor but then again, if you can mount that thing, why not just mount a hydraulic stump grinder on the boom.

Gary Fowler · Jul 11, 2016

k0ua said:
I remember watching dad blow out stumps about 55 years ago. That was back in the day when if you wanted some dynamite you just went to the hardware store and bought some. It sure blew those stumps and big wads of dirt way up into the air.

I also helped Dad blow some stumps, nothing as large as the video and mostly less than 1 stick would take out our largest oak tree stumps. The biggest chore was getting all the dirt gathered up and back in the hole. We didn't have FEL's back in those days and an 8N with a slip bucket was what we had.

JFoy · Jul 11, 2016

Gary Fowler said:
That stump planer looks like an extremely slow stump grinder. Anyone care to expound on why a regular stump grinder couldn't be used in the situation given in the video. I could see a use for the boom mount if the stump was where you couldn't get the rear end of the tractor but then again, if you can mount that thing, why not just mount a hydraulic stump grinder on the boom.

Seems to me it would be a cost issue. If the planar is just a different attachment for the post hole digger, it would cost less than $1000. I haven't seen a stump grinder for less than $6000 otherwise.

SteveM70 · Jul 11, 2016

I love digging up stumps. I've dug up many Red Oaks, Cherry, Maple, and Poplar stumps as well as one or two of many other varieties. The big old Maples have came closest to whooping me with root balls that were just crazy thick.

The first stump I dug up with my little scut was a Silver Maple with a root ball about 6' in diameter. I ended up channeling water from a nearby creek to the hole I dug around it. After about 24 hours of soaking it finally popped loose. It's just a good feeling once you see them start to move after hours of digging.

dickfoster · Jul 11, 2016

chinton said:
Dug up an old stump that's been annoying us for some time and drawing termites too close to the house.
This took approximately 5 hours on the tractor's gauge to dig up and drag away. It was heavy enough that the FEL wasn't able to lift it, even after spending some time clawing the dirt off the rootball. I was unable to roll it out of the hole with the BH too. I ended up just pulling it out of the hole and off a way before pushing down a hill to other stuff to be burned.

Stump's on it's side. Paused while clawing dirt from root ball:
View attachment 474223

Pulled out of hole:
View attachment 474224

I'll be paying somebody to grind the stumps in the front yard.