3 PT stump grinder

[foggy1111]

I don't have many rocks to contend with....but there is always a few to watch for. On the few stumps I operated on when trying out my grinder.....I found their is a whole lot less shaking and movement than many folks fear on tractor/grinders. When you plant your 3 point (and thus the "frame foot" on the grinder) and then firmly plant your loader on the front....and add your tractor weight (+ fluid in my rears)....you got allot of mass to hold things still. (In my case about 5500+ lbs.) MUCH more than on a walking-type machine.

All the chips and debris spit away from the operator....plus I'm quite a ways from the action (when sitting in the seat) so I don't see much of an issue with stuff flying about. (But then I never saw that to be an issue with the walkies either.)

Stay in touch as we both gain some experience. :thumbsup:

 

[Reg]

Dave,i'd agree that a hoe is money better spent than on a stump grinder.

That being said..... a PTO stump grinder is high on my list of tractor wants. I kick myself in the rear for not buying the ONE pto grinder i've ever come across used, that was actually within a reasonable driving distance. Seller was asking $2 grand..... i won't make that mistake again!

Well, kinda sorta...
There are cases where grinding is just more PRACTICAL than digging, e.g. root balls that are suspected to go fairly close to underground utilities - may be best to just grind 'em off a couple of inches below grade and let the root ball rot.
Sometimes you just KNOW that the root ball is going to be bigger than you can handle too - not that I'm scared of a challenge, but it also has to GO somewhere when dug out... puzzle.

Other cases where you absolutely can NOT afford to have a large decomposing stump left in the ground.

Yes, I agree that a hoe has more general utility and it is probably cheaper/easier to rent a crawler type grinder for the once in a while stump, or hire a guy in.

 

[Reg]

I don't have many rocks to contend with....but there is always a few to watch for. On the few stumps I operated on when trying out my grinder.....I found their is a whole lot less shaking and movement than many folks fear on tractor/grinders. When you plant your 3 point (and thus the "frame foot" on the grinder) and then firmly plant your loader on the front....and add your tractor weight (+ fluid in my rears)....you got allot of mass to hold things still. (In my case about 5500+ lbs.) MUCH more than on a walking-type machine.

All the chips and debris spit away from the operator....plus I'm quite a ways from the action (when sitting in the seat) so I don't see much of an issue with stuff flying about. (But then I never saw that to be an issue with the walkies either.)

Stay in touch as we both gain some experience. :thumbsup:

OK, a tip I picked up from a guy at Global.
Since the wheels on the Woods TSG-50 do not have teeth on the faces of the wheel - the wheel itself is subject to wear.
You can regard it as a wheel with only rim teeth.
I take this to mean don't take BIG bites, i.e. don't try to get through a stump with the minimum number of passes.
I have a picture that I will try to post of a different type of wheel that has face teeth, it looks sort of similar to a planing disc for a radial arm saw (remember those ?) and from that analogy it seems clear to me that it is meant to cut with the FACE of the wheel, unlike ours which are designed only for cutting with the rim.
So basically... don't rub the face of the wheel into the stump by trying to cut too deep or you will wear the wheel out and see a $700+ bill for parts.

Teeth will be on this web page "soon", they are old style sandvik teeth but not the ones currently shown.
Stump Grinder Teeth / Sandvik Teeth and Nuts -- Global Equipment Exporters Online Store
This is NOT an upcoming typo, the part number for our wheels has one fewer digits;
04501211 is shown and is NOT for us.
0450121 is NOT shown, they ARE for us and should be in a few days.
They are $13 a piece and given that the next best price I have seen is ~$25 that seems like a good deal.
I may get a half dozen just in case I break some - a full set ? maybe not this side of the Gift Grabbing, Gorging and Guzzling season.

BTW, Happy Hols, Seasons Greets, etc. (-:

 

[Reg]

An update;
I FINALLY got to try this thing out on some surface roots, but...
There is always a BUTT.

The tractor that I was using has been used mostly for some harley and york rake stuff where it is best to let the rake float side to side and follow the ground, i.e. not tip side to side as the tractor tips.
SO, it has chains from the rock shaft to the lift arms to allow this independence, it works very well for mowing, raking, harley raking and a lot of rear blade work.

It does NOT work at all well with the stump grinder if/when the swing cylinder gets extended close to it's max.
Basically the weight of the cutter head gets so far to the right hand side of the grinder's A frame that the whole thing tends to tip.
Well, things like saw blades don't act well when suddenly tipped sideways and/or plunged too quickly into the cut.
Despite that, no damage or injury.

Yeah, a "DUHH" moment.

Next trials will probably be with the original rods between the rock shaft and lift arms.
OTOH, I might just extend the width of the A-frame base.

 

[foggy1111]

Good info Reg. I noticed too that the weight of the head can provide lots of leverage on the tractor (especially when its swung to the operators right side).

As said, that can make the unit dip, or "plunge" into the stump. After my limited operating experience, I considered adding a piece of steel to the 3' wide "foot" of the unit (see pic) in order to make it the width of my tractor tires (about 5 feet). This may provide a better "plant" and more stability.....or it may get in the way.

Good post on the spare teeth and other info Reg. Any stump grinding around here is going to wait till spring. Our ground is frozen and we just got several inches of snow.

 

[foggy1111]

Just giving a little more thought to making the "foot" wider on the stump grinder.......Possibly just adding a 1' wide triangle to the right side would provide more stability. It could be attached to the existing frame with two bolts.

What kinda tractor (weight) did you put this on? (IMO the left side seems more stable when it's swung in that direction....as the cutter head is mounted to the right.)

 

[Reg]

I've done a bit more surface root grinding experimenting.
It most DEFINITELY works a lot better with the rigid side links than with the chains.
I will probably not bother with widening the base, though I think the tractor I am using this on may be a bit heftier than yours.
4,000 lbs basic, plus 1100 tire ballast, plus 1300 for the FEL, nearly 6500 all up.
Now that I think about it I am wondering if it would be as stable with the unfilled turf tires on, they are noticeably more bouncy than the filled R4s when riding.
I will probably find out about that some time next Spring.

I am finding it very easy and convenient to stand by the right rear wheel to see the action and work the controls.
Since it is the same side as the loader joystick it is very easy to move the tractor backwards/forwards a few inches after I have stood the bucket on it's edge and taken the front wheels off the ground.

BTW, global has the TSG-50 teeth up on their web site now;
http://store.globalequipmentexporte...in-cutter-tooth-for-alitecsg-series-p367.aspx
should get you there, if not search their site for 0450121
NOT for that number with an extra digit on the end of it.

Hey, I might have a job for mine, just a couple or three dozen stumps under 2ft across.
Any idea what the going rate is for grinding ?
New Hampshire, small city ex-burbs, a small horse farm.

PS I just looked up the 3320 weight, around 2900 open, 3500 cab.
So, maybe mine is 1,000 lbs heavier and some more in the bigger loaded tires.
Perhaps 1500 lbs more than yours ? (guessing).
I think the tendency to rock as the cutter head gets all the way out to the right
depends on how tight(or not) all the linkages are.
Any slop in the lift arms, rocker shaft, side rods, etc would allow the rocking.
Mine is still pretty tight, but if yours has done more real 3pt work then an
extension on the right side of the foot would be a good idea - probably a
good idea anyway. I would do it both sides and add about a 4x4x2 pad at
the ends, to avoid rocking on center.

 

[CompactTractorFan]

what about a stump remover like this.
YouTube - John Deere 8100 and Rotor S stump grinder

Very neat!

 

[foggy1111]

Thanks for the tip on the sandvick teeth Reg. I will order some spares from these guys. I did read where one owner had ground over 200 hardwood stumps on his original teeth so far....and he claimed the teeth still looked like new....still had paint on 'em. :thumbsup:

Your about right with my tractor weight. I do have fluid in the tires...and I also plant the bucket pretty good. I have rigid side links and everything on my tractor is pretty tight. It may be just fine as it is now. I need some more run time before making any changes.

I may operate from the ground....but my pine trees are finished pretty quick so it may pay to stay in the seat when operating. If I can get located properly on the stumps.....grinding a 14" pine stump takes less than 5 minutes. So...it hardly pays to get on and off the tractor. Big thing is going to be how hard it is to see from the tractor seat.

As far as the price for grinding stumps......I think prices are all over the map. So much depends on how many, how much clean up, the type of wood, and how hard to get to the stump etc. I have heard everthing from a low of $10 for pine stumps (in quantity on a plantation) to $300 and more, for a single hardwood stump in a guys yard.

I just grind my own stumps on an old timber company property I own. But I think if it were me....and I was trying to make a profit.....I'd try to get $80 per hour, plus fill, plus a loading / traveling fee. So if my job took three hours....I would like $240. plus travel charges and fill (dirt) costs.

One guy I read about was getting paid for hauling the dirt and doing any hand work. Was one way to offer the complete job....and get paid for it.

I gotta believe that your tractor and grinder and equipment and your time are worth that $80 per hour.....or more. No?

 

[Reg]

{Gee, I just read through this in preview before posting.
It looks like a treatise on sales strategy; foot in the door tips and tricks.
I'll leave it this way - some of it may be useful to others}
=============================
I have set an expectation of $85 an hour.
I have hinted at 3 or 4 stumps per hour,
without knowing how practical that is.

So right now they probably have $20 to $30 per stump
in their heads.
Since they have a tractor (details unknown) and a back hoe
for it, which I caught a glance of, the easy ones
have already been dug'd or tug'd and they
know that the rest are beyond their tractor, and/or
beyond their patience.
The equation for digging out is not attractive to them
in time or disposal.

I'm being asked to price the first 20 stumps for reasons
of cash flow - so I am GUESSING that they have a figure
of ~$500 in mind for a first phase. I'm saying I would rather
do "it all" in say 3 days if that is what it takes and that I would
prefer to not haul the equipment back and forth for a phased
project. I am trying to get a Harley raking added in at the end
so they are "seed bed ready" when I'm done.
That will mean grinding 3 or 4 inches below nominal grade.

It is a 2 hour trip each way, I think my strategy will be to get
paid for a first day then and there.
By the end of that day I will have calibrated the time guess
to a good working average per THEIR stumps.
Then I will propose that I come back the next day to finish up.
If necessary I will negotiate a payment schedule but try to
avoid negotiating price. I want the $85 an hour, especially if
I am not charging for travel time.
I will take the Harley rake the first day anyway and if I can finish
in one day I will - don't want to earn a rep for dragging out
the hours - as in "Gummint job".