Another stump removal question...

[Industrial Toys]

Bring in a big machine and he will make short work of those stumps. I had one do it (as he was here for another project) and didn't like the mess he was making, as I wasn't planning on doing anything with the area, still covered with mature trees. You must have other equipment coming on property anyway. That would be a no-brainer.

 

[CADplans]

A 24" stump,, with a 7,500 pound machine ?? That could take a half day per stump, depending on tree variety, and soil,,

I had a 18" maple, in clay,, it took 2 days,,
I refused to get in the trench and cut roots, that would have helped,,


That stump was ALL that my 584 IH 4WD could move,,, if it had been 24 inches DBH, I doubt that my tractor cold have moved it ,,

 

[hks003]

Everything was either an oak of some sort (mostly pin oak), or pine. The bigger stumps might have been a red oak or white oak. Most oaks around here have relatively shallow root systems, so I hope that helps me.

 

[4570Man]

That size machine is too small for that job. It would probably take a week to do that job. A full size backhoe would be way better if he had that. You really need an excavator that’s at minimum twice that big.

 

[hks003]

Reviving this old thread as it's finally dried up enough to try tackling this! I found a place through my work that cut me a deal and I can get a 13k lb excavator for the same price as the 7.5k lb above (~$300 a day). That's what I've got to work with, so now I'm trying to figure out how long I need it. Most of the stumps are 4"-8" pine stumps (at ground level) with a few hardwoods mixed in that were a little larger, 10"-16", and 3-5 24" hardwood stumps.

Now, my main priority is where the building will be, roughly 60x60 to get my parking pad and all included. Should I be able to clear that on two days? Anything outside the building site is bonus and I plan to get it a little at a time later on down the road.

 

[Peter 315]

You should in two days, start early and work late....... No lunch.....

 

[kthompson]

Are you experienced with running excavator? Depending on your soil and type of hardwood...it took me from say 30 minutes to an hour and left them with my 5 ton mini on hardwoods about 20 inches to 24 inches. Had a hardwood with roots that run not only around the tree and deep. Would not want a wide bucket for breaking roots, digging dirt is not what most important, it is pulling on the roots and stumps.

If you have a subsoiler run it beside the stumps as soon as you can to cut the roots you can save that much time for the excavator.

 

[4570Man]

A 35 series Deere mini is weaker than my M59 and I wouldn’t undertake that job with it. I just got done digging about an acre of oak stumps. There was probably a dozen in the 18-24” range but most were 12”. I dug all of them with an 18,500 pound excavator. It took me about a day to dig, load, and half way level up an acre of stumps with the 80 series excavator. Using a smaller excavator and digging twice as much I really doubt you’ll get done in 2 days. It had the muscle to dig them pretty good but it wasn’t strong enough to lift some of the biggest ones on the truck and I had to help it with the M59.

 

[4570Man]

Everything was either an oak of some sort (mostly pin oak), or pine. The bigger stumps might have been a red oak or white oak. Most oaks around here have relatively shallow root systems, so I hope that helps me.

Pines dig pretty easy and red oaks aren’t bad. White oaks and hickory put up a real fight.

 

[hks003]

Pines dig pretty easy and red oaks aren’t bad. White oaks and hickory put up a real fight.

Those stumps are a whole lot bigger underground than I would have ever thought!

Thanks for the info guys! Looks like I may have to take a couple days off and work on this for 3-4 days...