3 PT stump grinder

[n92687]

What is the latest on this attachment? Anyone offer a good one at a reasonable price that I can use on my compact tractor 33HP Massey?

John

 

[daBear]

$4 to $5 thousand if you call that reasonable. and up and up. Not too practical unless you are going into a sideline business. I rented a Vermeer 252 not long ago and got about 20 done in a day for $150. I have a fellow coming over in a couple of days with a big Vermeer on tracks with a 60 HP Cat engine and he is going to do 20 more big ones for $300.

As long as I can rent or get it done for this price I don't believe I will be sinking $5K into one. Give a little more detail of what you are doing and what you plan do do with it after you grind everything in your place.

 

[n92687]

I actually had pines cut on 3 acres, but now I am just trying to clear 1 acre and prep it for planting. Trees were 8-10 in diameter. It is a mess, but I figure if I can clear the acre of stumps and let mother nature take care of the other stumps on the other 2. I can use the other 2 acres later.

I recieved a quote of $150 per day for a rental. That it probably the way to go. $5000 is far too much. I thought they might be about $1500. Then it would be well worth the investment to have it sit around after I am done.

JOhn

 

[MReeb]

If you have some time to wait before you remove the stumps use some 28% nitrogen. I've done it by taking a cordless drill and popping some hole in the top of the stump. Fill the holes with 28% and once in a while go back and top the holes up. By the next year the stumps will be rotten enough to chip up with a shovel.

 

[Treemonkey1000]

Why grind stumps when this stuff works pretty quick.. Might irritate the neighbors though.

Ethylene glycol dinitrate, 70% and Nitroglycerine, 30%
1 or 2 sticks under a stump light the fuse and run like crazy

 

[Charlesaf3]

where does one get 28% nitrogen?

 

[MReeb]

Why grind stumps when this stuff works pretty quick.. Might irritate the neighbors though.

Ethylene glycol dinitrate, 70% and Nitroglycerine, 30%
1 or 2 sticks under a stump light the fuse and run like crazy

Grampa taught me that trick too but he used a dash of diesel fuel and urea as well. That'll make a stump jump real high.

As for where to find 28%, around here we get it from our local ag-fertilizer dealer. What do local farmers around Martha's Vineyard, Mass. use on their corn? 28% or straight anhydrous?

 

[Rara Avis]

Homeland Security will be visiting you real soon now...

 

[Charlesaf3]

we aren't oversupplied with corn farmers, but I'll drift by and ask. Most stuff is bought off island in any case. And most farming is organic - don't know if that makes a difference.

 

[MReeb]

I've been off of the farm now for quite a few years so I'm not sure what the organic guys use to get the nitrogen content up in their soils. You could always try a place that sells yard fertilizers. On the bags of fertilizer there is usually a 3 digit code X-X-X. The first number is the nitrogen percentage, the second is the phosphorous and the last is the potassium. Just look for one that has a really high value for the first number and really low for the last two.
Try mixing the fertilizer up with some water and pour the paste in the stump holes. Might be a quick solution instead of hunting down some 28%.

 

[Redbug]

I also looked into the stump grinders. Woods has 2 models, one for larger tractors, the other for smaller ones. This is the smaller one:
Woods Equipment Company - 15-50 PTO HP Stump Grinder - Model TSG50
A bit cheaper than the other brands.

I was quoted in the range of $3600. That included the hyd fittings to go on my 2 rear remotes. One remote works the horiz cyninder, the other works the vert cylinder.

After thinking about it some more, I decided to hold off and not get one. I figured for another 3 or 4 thousand I should just get a backhoe and be done with it. More money, but better spent?

 

[daBear]

I actually had pines cut on 3 acres, but now I am just trying to clear 1 acre and prep it for planting. Trees were 8-10 in diameter. It is a mess, but I figure if I can clear the acre of stumps and let mother nature take care of the other stumps on the other 2. I can use the other 2 acres later.

I received a quote of $150 per day for a rental. That it probably the way to go. $5000 is far too much. I thought they might be about $1500. Then it would be well worth the investment to have it sit around after I am done.

JOhn

Nope, $1,500 will not get you into the ballpark and the $4 to $5K grinders are probably not suitable for going into business. The man showed up yesterday afternoon with a $50K Vermeer on rubber tracks and made quick work of over 20 NICE SIZE stumps in less than an hour. If I had rented one it would have taken me the full day to do what he did. He pocketed $300 and was off to another job at 5:00 PM. Well worth the money I paid him.

To the other post about using 28% nitrogen - why not just use pure amonimum nitrate? Isn't that 100% nitrogen???

 

[Ductape]

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!

 

[Charlesaf3]

mreeb - thanks, great suggestion, seems obvious now that you mention it, I could kick myself.

Ductape - if there is a used pto stump grinder in the area at that price, we'll be racing each other for it

That said, I don't think they make any sense to own unless you can find a used one cheap. For that money cheaper and easier to get them done by a proper professional machine.

 

[oliver28472]

John, What are you going to plant where the pines were? If you don't get the stumps out they will eventually rot down and you'll have a depression everywhere there was a stump.

 

[MReeb]

To the other post about using 28% nitrogen - why not just use pure amonimum nitrate? Isn't that 100% nitrogen???

It is close to 95% to 99.9% nitrogen depending on moisture content. If you could find a supplier for it that would be even better.

 

[Reg]

we aren't oversupplied with corn farmers, but I'll drift by and ask. Most stuff is bought off island in any case. And most farming is organic - don't know if that makes a difference.

That post hole digger on your avatar...
Just wondering if there are wood boring bits (augers) available for that kool tool.
It seems a few cuts of 6 or 9 inch diameter holes through a stump would make it much easier to destroy with say a bucket edge or box blade ?
Might be able to just reduce the whole thing to holes ?

 

[wedge40]

To the other post about using 28% nitrogen - why not just use pure amonimum nitrate? Isn't that 100% nitrogen???

I'm pretty sure Home Land Security watches this stuff real close also.

That post hole digger on your avatar...
Just wondering if there are wood boring bits (augers) available for that kool tool.
It seems a few cuts of 6 or 9 inch diameter holes through a stump would make it much easier to destroy with say a bucket edge or box blade ?
Might be able to just reduce the whole thing to holes

I've always wondered about that also. Take a PHD and just put holes a few feet from the stump to rip through the roots, then pop the stump out.

Wedge

 

[dangerdoc]

I actually had pines cut on 3 acres, but now I am just trying to clear 1 acre and prep it for planting. Trees were 8-10 in diameter. It is a mess, but I figure if I can clear the acre of stumps and let mother nature take care of the other stumps on the other 2. I can use the other 2 acres later.

I recieved a quote of $150 per day for a rental. That it probably the way to go. $5000 is far too much. I thought they might be about $1500. Then it would be well worth the investment to have it sit around after I am done.

JOhn

My brother had some stumps to get rid of. He bored into them with a long drill bit. He would go out a few time a week and fill the holes with diesel. After about a month he lit the stumps. They burned for close to a week but burned the stumps and roots down to about 4 feet. He back filled with dirt and was done.

 

[RonMar]

I've always wondered about that also. Take a PHD and just put holes a few feet from the stump to rip through the roots, then pop the stump out.

Wedge

I tried this, but it didn't help with the roots. the auger bit either stops on top of the root, or it corkscrews down alongside it and you need to unscrew the auger by hand. For removal, the backhoe is the tool of choice. I too was wondering what the OP intends to plant. Any kind of tilling will most likely still encounter the ground stump heads...

Now the center bore idea using a PHD sounds interesting... But any way you look at it, stump removal is a lot of work, at least with the backhoe, the heavy work is done by the machine.

Gotta go and dig out another stump now, Good Luck with your field.