Dozer size for remmoving 5' diameter stumps and hill leveling

[Ocean2026]

HI its been years since I used a dozer - enjoyed it however.

I need to flatten a hill and remove some old Douglas Fir stumps. I can rent a Deere 450 or 650 or a D4 - I never removed big stumps but the trees were cut 3-4 years ago in rainy Western Washington and they might not be as tough.

Does size matter? Any other suggestions?

 

[EddieWalker]

Dozer is one of the worse machines for stump removal. Both the 450 and the D4 are under 100 HP and considered finish dozes. They spread loose dirt so it looks nice.

Something closer to 200 HP will have better rests, but they will also tear up the ground. Here in Texas, doing it in summer is very time consuming. In Spring, after months of rain, it's a lot easier to get them out. My dozer is 170 HP.

A much better machines is an excavator. 8 tonne would be the minimum size. Bigger means faster. My neighbor hired a 45 tonne machine to remove thousands of stumps after he had his place logged. It took several months.

I own 555E backhoe and for me, that's a lot faster and easier to use to remove stumps then my dozer.

I really would like to get an excavator in the 15 tonne range, but that's not practical right now.

 

[Ocean2026]

Thanks a dozer is all I've used but maybe a backhoe is quicklu learnable. Would a backhoe be good for removing 3" diameter small Alders on the sides of the road and leveling a hill? I really dont know much about different machines. I also live in Texas but want to escape summers.

 

[radios1]

5' diameter stumps will require the largest dozer made. I've seen dozers easily remove 1' diameter oak trees, but not 5' diameter ones, those would be very rare here!..

 

[Ocean2026]

They are old stumps - maybe 5 years old maybe 4 and Douglas Fir. For large trees Doug Firs dont have huge roots. THanks

 

[crazyal]

My 580K backhoe would most likely handle them but it would be a little bit of a workout until the dirt was removed from the stump. It'll cut through the roots without a problem and rip the stump out but if you want to lift it that'll test it. I usually roll the stumps upside down so I can scrape the dirt off of them.

 

[4570Man]

If you’re wanting to remove 5 foot stumps as the title suggests get a D11. If you’re wanting to remove 5 inch stumps that’s easy. A small dozer, construction backhoe or mini excavator would easily do the job.

 

[rScotty]

They are old stumps - maybe 5 years old maybe 4 and Douglas Fir. For large trees Doug Firs dont have huge roots. THanks

Doug fir stumps last a long time in the ground and some have deep roots. It's a pretty durable wood and favored for exterior construction here in the West.
Pine doesn't last as long unless the ground is dry. But in dry ground pine here will last nearly as well as fir. In dry Colorado weather neither one is going to change much in 5 or 6 years. Coastal Wash. is probably different.

About six years ago I had to take down some two foot diameter fir plus some pines and remove the stumps. It was quite a bit of work digging just four of them out and breaking lateral roots with our JD 310SG. That's a 90 hp machine and pretty strong. About 8 tons plus. Took a few hours each one and was harder on the machine than I like to be. I ended up on one fir tree stump chewing the stump apart with the bucket teeth down to a few feet below the surface and then filling the hole. Really hard on the hoe. That stump won; sometimes that happens.

I've never used a bulldozer, but I wonder do how they would do? Most of what I see them doing is pushing trees around after a storm caused the leverage of the full tree to pop the rootball out of the ground. Never have seen them go after old stumps. It wouldn't surprise me to see a decent size stump win that battle.
rScotty

 

[bcp]

You probably can't find dozers with stump splitter blades now. They converted large stumps to more manageable pieces for removal.



Bruce

 

[Oldpath05]

If you’re wanting to remove 5 foot stumps as the title suggests get a D11. If you’re wanting to remove 5 inch stumps that’s easy. A small dozer, construction backhoe or mini excavator would easily do the job.

I'm thinking more like a D1000............ For big stumps I'd rent the biggest excavator with blade I could find, or something like this>>> Removing stumps the COOL way! - YouTube

 

[MossRoad]

I'm thinking more like a D1000............ For big stumps I'd rent the biggest excavator with blade I could find, or something like this>>> Removing stumps the COOL way! - YouTube

Bees! :laughing:

 

[4570Man]

I'm thinking more like a D1000............ For big stumps I'd rent the biggest excavator with blade I could find, or something like this>>> Removing stumps the COOL way! - YouTube

I’ve seen that before and I’d love to have one and an excavator to go with it. That’s so much better than digging with the bucket. Picking up the pieces would be a pain but most of the dirt stays in the ground and doesn’t make a big hole and the pieces are pretty dirt free that burn easily.

 

[MickeyDBC]

If you have lived a good clean life you should be able to get an explosives license. You can use a tractor auger to drill through the stump and then use an inexpensive explosive like anfo (basically fertilizer and diesel) to quickly remove the stump. When I was young the feed stores sold dynamite to use on stumps. Probably a lot cheaper and more fun than a big dozer.

 

[mapper]

Douglas for stumps have big roots, 3-4 years old is a very fresh stump with little or no decay. A 5' diameter stump makes a really good tail hold for high lead or skyline logging. It's going to take a big dozer to push it. Years ago while working for a timber company on a road location survey, the cat skinner and his pitman got their D7 stuck in a side hill swamp hole. After pulling about 7 18" alders out in one go we found about a 3' fir stump up the hill a ways. It was probably about 20 years old. It held to winch the cat out of the mud, the winch cable was sparking from the strain, we were standing a long ways out of range of that thing let me tell you.

 

[homesteader13]

Not sure if you meant 5 inch stumps or 5 foot stumps.
Pine and Fir trees have long root systems but are very shallow and run just under the surface along the ground (pretty easy to uproot and push over) and are not deep rooted like hardwood trees in the midwest. (At least in the Pacific Northwest and Northern Rockies)
I have properties in both places.

For my evergreens in Northwest Montana I am able to use my 1944 John Deere 420 crawler ~ that boasts a 2 cylinder gasoline engine and push over anything 2 feet diameter or less in 1-10 minutes. Anything bigger and drill some holes and fill with diesel a few times and burn them out, or if I'm in a hurry or want to have a little fun with it, auger bit and a fuse and special ingredients...

 

[hslogger]

Mickey has good input. Being that you are in western Washington, your are in timber country. Big stumps are a challenge to remove . i used to "shoot stumps" . We were building logging roads in the coast range and still in an old growth economy. Any fool can blow a stump to smitherings and leave a BA crater. That is not what you want to do. You want to split them with a blast. If you do it right it is split in thirds and then a larger dozer can push the pieces out. You have a minimal hole to fill but you will have a hole and not a crater.

Messing with powder is not child's play even if you can qualify for an explosives's handler card.Modern road builders have been using excavators to pioneer roads because of insurance, accuracy and speed. I could tell you how to shoot stumps but that is really what I don't recommend. I suggest you contact some locals through the logging supply shops. Tell them that you have some big stumps you need help with. Pushing around big stumps with a small cat is foolhardy. Digging stumps out with a larger excavator is really the way to go. You need to consider what you will do with your stumps when done and how you are going to fill the holes and compact them. You could hire it out safer, quicker and better than you will messing around.

 

[mikester]

5 inch stumps are nothing to a JD650 or a D4. Just cut the roots on one side in the first pass and push out. Bigger stuff like 10+ inches you will bounce off and you need to cut more. Its better to push out trees not stumps...if you have the option, dont cut the trees just push them out, they will be top heavy and gravity will be your friend.

I will push out 5 inch trees with my M59 all day long without much effort.

A 10+ ton excavator with thumb will make short work of the stumps and would be my first choice. A 15+ ton crawler loader works good.

 

[EddieWalker]

Not sure if you meant 5 inch stumps or 5 foot stumps.
Pine and Fir trees have long root systems but are very shallow and run just under the surface along the ground (pretty easy to uproot and push over) and are not deep rooted like hardwood trees in the midwest. (At least in the Pacific Northwest and Northern Rockies)
I have properties in both places.

For my evergreens in Northwest Montana I am able to use my 1944 John Deere 420 crawler ~ that boasts a 2 cylinder gasoline engine and push over anything 2 feet diameter or less in 1-10 minutes. Anything bigger and drill some holes and fill with diesel a few times and burn them out, or if I'm in a hurry or want to have a little fun with it, auger bit and a fuse and special ingredients...
View attachment 665564View attachment 665565View attachment 665566

Those are some pretty cool pictures!!! Do you have a youtube channel?

 

[Egon]

D9 with root rake tilt blade and ripper should work nicely.

 

[homesteader13]

Those are some pretty cool pictures!!! Do you have a youtube channel?

I don't but I do take a lot of pictures and video, maybe I'll have time over the winter to do that.