Stump Grinder Woodland Mills WG24?

[screamin400]

I am thinking about purchasing one of these and hire out with it. I would be the only one running it so not to get run too hard. Would this thing work commercially for a few years? What else would be better but near the same money?

 

[dickfoster]

I am thinking about purchasing one of these and hire out with it. I would be the only one running it so not to get run too hard. Would this thing work commercially for a few years? What else would be better but near the same money?

I'd think you'd want something a little better and more versatile to be doing commercial work with. I look at this one as strictly a homeowner grade tool. A no frills, just the basics and just enough to get the job done but not the most efficient by any stretch of the imagination.

 

[screamin400]

My thinking is I could never get the return on a real stump grinder as I would be new at it. I have the tractor. The grinder is not expensive to test the water. Speed would not be a concern as my business pays the bills. What do you think is the weakest link on this thing? I am thinking the pto shaft and gear box should be fine and after that it is a guess? If I did 5 stumps a week I would think that would be a lot.

 

[Piston]

What do you have for pto hp? If you got one of good commercial grade stump grinders it would cost you from 5-7 grand, and you would certainly make your money back if you are going to put some effort in.

It would be a lot better if a stumpgrinder than this one, nothing bad about the woodland mills one, it's just not designed for commercial work.

I use a shaver SC50 and it is an excellent stumpgrinder all around, I've made well more off it than the cost of new.

 

[Gary Cotz]

I would be interested in getting one here in South Carolina... slightly used would be perfect.

 

[dickfoster]

My thinking is I could never get the return on a real stump grinder as I would be new at it. I have the tractor. The grinder is not expensive to test the water. Speed would not be a concern as my business pays the bills. What do you think is the weakest link on this thing? I am thinking the pto shaft and gear box should be fine and after that it is a guess? If I did 5 stumps a week I would think that would be a lot.

For one thing you are limited to how tall the stump is and how high you can lift this thing. I think think you'd be better off with something else that is more versatile for commercial work. You never want to start any business by shackling yourself from the get go. When folks try to save money this way they end up more often than not spending more.

 

[Fallon]

Mowing was how I got my start down the commercial road. Not as much profit I'm sure, but easier to find work.

My insurance isn't cheap, but isn't to bad. However I can't do any digging more than post holes or sprinkler installs & driveway repair. Digging insurance gets expensive quick. Not sure if stump grinding rates as digging or not. You'd need to talk to your insurance agent.

 

[screamin400]

What do you have for pto hp? If you got one of good commercial grade stump grinders it would cost you from 5-7 grand, and you would certainly make your money back if you are going to put some effort in.

It would be a lot better if a stumpgrinder than this one, nothing bad about the woodland mills one, it's just not designed for commercial work.

I use a shaver SC50 and it is an excellent stumpgrinder all around, I've made well more off it than the cost of new.

31 pto hp. If I did 5 stumps a week that would be a lot. I may do no stumps a month. Need something to test the water

 

[screamin400]

Pretty much it is this or nothing as I see nothing near this range and it is not important enough for me to invest more to possibly make less. If this grinder lived through 100 stumps that would probably be plenty. I could then make the decision to advance or retreat. Not looking to start a business just something to do through the summer when my business is slow.

 

[Piston]

31 pto hp. If I did 5 stumps a week that would be a lot. I may do no stumps a month. Need something to test the water

The key to making money with a PTO stumpgrinder, is by marketing towards jobs that have numerous stumps to grind such as small scale clearing cleanup. I wouldn't bother marketing towards single stump grinding jobs as it's really not worth your time (and the dedicated machines are much better for this)

When you figure you have to hook up the grinder, load the trailer, drive there, unload, grind, load up, drive home, unload etc, it's just not worth it. You might make maybe 120 bucks on a decent sized stump, unless it's a giant 4' stump or so and you could charge more, but the majority are smaller.

So since the way to make money with these is multi stump jobs, you want something that lends itself to that, which with 31 hp your obviously limited, but I'd recommend looking for a used Woods TSG 50 or Shaver SC 25.

If your just doing your own stumps then this seems like a good cost effective value priced grinder that will work, especially with level ground and an HST TRANSMISSION, but if you have any incentive to do commercial work with it then you would be better off in the long run with a more commercial style offering.

If I hired someone to grind a stump for me and they showed up with this grinder, I'd be less than impressed.

On top of that, the resale on the woodland mills is going to be very low, whereas the woods and shaver models hold they're value quite well, which is certainly something to consider, when your looking at overall cost of ownership.


For instance, I could sell my grinder now for more than I paid for it, yet it's already made me back more money than it would have cost me new.

Just something to think about.