Stump Grinder Woodland Mills WG24?

[LouieJunior]

Would think that it would lift up if you drive to fast.

OR Bend it -- like hitting a stump with your bush hog.

 

[dickfoster]

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?

I think there are a number of folks who grind stumps with PTO grinders that would disagree with him. Tractors are like a swiss army knives, not perfect for every job they do but usually gets a variety of jobs done well enough that many people keep on in their pocket like I do.

 

[dickfoster]

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.

I've already thought of mounting a camera back there so I could see the line and depth of cut. I need to get some cameras on this thing anyway. They would come in handy in many ways including the front bucket, looking rearward etc. I've got six cameras on my truck already so it wouldn't be a hard thing for me to rig up.

 

[oldballs]

Thanks for posting about the WG24. Since it is affordable for a homeowner with a couple dozen pine stumps that are up to approx. 30 inches diameter, I may consider such a purchase. The web page suggest that my 26 HP (19 PTO) Kubota could do the job.

My Pine trees I cut at about 24-36 inches off the ground. Hum -m-m-. Ten to 20 years old, they are dirty with rot etc. Guess I'd have to get the chain saw going first..........which means some chains getting dull. But that sure would clean up the place and remove some mowing obstacles.

Cheers,
Mike

 

[topbuilder]

Just grind 'em. If they are that old they will come apart fast.

 

[GreatWhitehunter]

This is an affordable option at an reasonable price point. The lack of slip clutch would be a deal breaker for me as I can't imagine how many shear pins you'd eat up. I've not run one of the feature packed pto grinders but I hired out a 38" red oak grind last year to a guy with a 80 hp morbark tracked grinder.
It was $250 for the one stump and it took him a solid 1.25 hr to grind it 3-4" below grade. I can't think that the pto version would have been much slower.
If I had a large amount of stumps to grind it seems the pto options are pretty cost effective over hiring out at least in my area.

Matt

 

[oldballs]

Just grind 'em. If they are that old they will come apart fast.

Yes, but i don't think the WG24 will lift that high viz., 24-36 inches. ..... just wondering.

 

[Kryton619]

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.

Hey Dick......if you don't mind me asking, did they give you a break by buying the grinder and chipper?

 

[Btown]

This is an affordable option at an reasonable price point. The lack of slip clutch would be a deal breaker for me as I can't imagine how many shear pins you'd eat up. I've not run one of the feature packed pto grinders but I hired out a 38" red oak grind last year to a guy with a 80 hp morbark tracked grinder. It was $250 for the one stump and it took him a solid 1.25 hr to grind it 3-4" below grade. I can't think that the pto version would have been much slower. If I had a large amount of stumps to grind it seems the pto options are pretty cost effective over hiring out at least in my area. Matt

How many three point post hole diggers have only shear pins. Mine does. I have not broken one in in the last 200 posts I put in. But in the first 12 posts I put in I went through 6 shear pins. I then figured out how to use it. My brush hog also has a shear pin. Never broke any on that.

 

[JFoy]

This topic has recently become relevant to myself as well. I'm planning to have a house built and the wife wants it back in the trees - joy:banghead: Soooo... The area is full of pine trees upwards to 18inches diameter so not that bad but still, a bunch of them. But with the BX25, options are limited and the $6000 units still require hydraulic controls I don't have. This WG24 is looking mighty attractive. Either that or farm the work out to someone with a bulldozer or big excavator.