Stump Grinder Woodland Mills WG24?

[dickfoster]

EA carries the Shaver SC25 at more than twice the cost of the Woodland Mills 24. There are more, easily replaceable carbide bits on the Woodland and to my eyes (viewing you tube demo's) the Woodland looks beefier and does not require auxillary hydraulics for the power beyond. Already have a two stump job lined up. I'll post photos/impressions.

Ken

It looked pretty reasonable to me too. I don't know why the others swing back and forth sideways when it seems so much simpler, easier and cheaper to do it the way Woodland does. As an engineer I've always been a believer in KISS and have often held that in many cases less is more.

Their chippers don't look like such a bad deal either. I've asked for a quote on a package deal. A grinder and an 8" chipper.

 

[Kennyrichmond]

Actually that reference to 20 doesn't seem to be PTO horsepower, but tractor horsepower. The Shaver SC25 with the same flywheel (fewer bits) specifies only a minimum of 15 PTO HP running through a right angle gear box. At worst I drag it through 3 inches of wood at a time rather than 5.
Thanks for the link. I know I'm gonna' like this thing. It just looks so logical to me. I've been using a Brown Bed Edger with a 6 carbide tipped stump grinder blade, and that thing cost 1 and 1/2 times more than the Woodland mill. You know that bull that gored the matador? If you hung on his horns after poking his eyes with a stick, you have an idea of what its like to grind stumps with that. Well, we will know in a few days. They called and said it would leave their facility next Wednesday for overnight delivery.

As for why it cuts going forward - it has carbide bits angled out forward, and it would be smart to have thrust bearings in that direction, although I don't know if they have them.

Ken

 

[dickfoster]

Actually that reference to 20 doesn't seem to be PTO horsepower, but tractor horsepower. The Shaver SC25 with the same flywheel (fewer bits) specifies only a minimum of 15 PTO HP running through a right angle gear box. At worst I drag it through 3 inches of wood at a time rather than 5.
Thanks for the link. I know I'm gonna' like this thing. It just looks so logical to me. I've been using a Brown Bed Edger with a 6 carbide tipped stump grinder blade, and that thing cost 1 and 1/2 times more than the Woodland mill. Well, we will know in a few days. They called and said it would leave their facility next Wednesday for overnight delivery.

As for why it cuts going forward - it has carbide bits angled out forward, and it would be smart to have thrust bearings in that direction, although I don't know if they have them.

Ken

Overnight for a stump grinder? Dayum! They ain't messing around either.

It doesn't seem that tractor HP would mean much when it's the PTO that's driving the thing. In either case I've got it covered with 38 tractor HP and 30 on the PTO.

I'm anxious to hear how it works out for you. You may be the first guinea pig here. Somebody's gotta be first.

 

[Kennyrichmond]

I was a guinea pig on the Landpride APS 1548 with the issue being whether my JD1025R could lift the 750 lbs. or so that it weighs. A lot of folks said FUGEDDABOWDIT!!! I just drilled two more holes an inch and a half further rearward through the flipped lift arms and that 1548 comes up like the factory designed the tractor and overseeder as a unit. The only thing is I can't level out lumpy landscape with it. If the scarifiers are angled too much, my tractor moans, "daddy, you're killin' me".

Ken

 

[topbuilder]

"Again, no disrespect, but I'm just curious if you've had the opportunity to use a pto powered version to some extent? Because I believe that your opinion would be different if so.

If I'm completely off base here then I apologize in advance."

Sorry Piston, I never saw your reply. Didn't mean to ruffle your feathers.
I have not used one in many years. I worked at a dealership where we sold and serviced them. There were a few transmission casualties as well. That was years ago. There could very well be design improvements since then.
My last experience was hiring a man to grind stumps on my property after logging the pines off of it. He had a 50+ HP JD with a PTO grinder. At that time $60 an hour was the going rate. He was at the end of the first hour and I tapped him on the shoulder and handed him $60. I told him It was not going to work out. He was surprised, but I told him the math was not going to work for me. In one hour he was into the third stump and I had somewhere in the neighborhood of 550 to grind.

I totally get that you want to do it yourself and have the time to grind and money for the attachment. I only wanted to bring up other options.
In my case, I was working on tractors 72 hours a week. No way it was going to get done by me. In the end I found a guy who charged $5 per stump... any size. I think he also charged $50 to get there. By lunch the second day he was done.
My 26 HP tractor suffered no harm. I do not have a used stump grinder parked in my row of other seldom used implements.

Yes, a purpose built machine is nice. As you point out, it does nothing else. I was going to post a pic of the monster oak I did today. My phone and Email are slow talking. Maybe tomorrow.
Grind on my friends!

 

[Mikejeakins]

I was talking to a dealer the other day and he said stump grinders on tractors don't work very well. What are y'alls opinion?

 

[woodlandfarms]

So I have a different beast but in a way something like what is being asked about. My grinder mounts to the front of my machine and I drive into the stumps and out of the stumps. Mine is hydraulic.

So here a downside I see no one mentioning. It is really hard from that seat you are in to guage the depth of which you cut. You can only chop so much before the wheel of death stops spinning or bogs or breaks a pin. Also you have to drive very slow as you cut through a stump. Also this shows 12" stumps. Wish my tree stumps were that small but mine are 36" and bigger. I doubt that mine would ever fit under this tractor or this grinder setup.

So, IMO interesting idea and a really great price point. I feel it is useable but the learning curve is going to be huge (clearly the guy on the video has either a ton of experience, has a big tractor behind it, and probably had guidance on getting the right cut height). I don't think this would work well on large stumps and I feel that in a normal tractor setting monitoring and guiding this grinder with any sort of accuracy is going to be difficult and frustrating.

 

[Btown]

I have a Shaver stump grinder. Watching the original posters video, I wondered two things... 1.) wouldn't there be a lot more torque on the flywheel driving forward at a rate faster than the machine could cut -- or taking to big of a bite? My engine will stall if I overdo it (no damage) an go too fast. 2.) how far below grade can this cut? I am curious to see the review!

Would think that it would lift up if you drive to fast. But you would definitely need a creeper gear or HST.

 

[topbuilder]

"Wish my tree stumps were that small but mine are 36" and bigger. I doubt that mine would ever fit under this tractor or this grinder setup."

I really don't think the PTO stumper is made for that type of work. Here is one I had to tackle yesterday.

It was a HUGE blow over. The trunk fell between the house and garage. Never touched the house. The root ball stood up 12-15' high until the trunk was cut and it fell almost perfectly back in its hole. Total grinding area including the outer roots was about a 20' circle. You can see my hat in the middle there for perspective.

 

[roadhunter]

Looks to me like it's a useful tool for occasional use on smaller material.

I'm sure that a large stump grinder would probably be faster if you were doing it all the time but this one could pay for itself pretty easily under the right circumstances.