DR Power Stump Grinders

[Old Red]

About a month ago I brought up in a thread on here a DR Power Kinetic Log Splitter vs a Home Depot log splitter. I went with the DR Power and couldn't be happier with it. It's a little splitting beast. Please remember this....... I am an OCCASIONAL use user.

Anyway, back in 2013 I was sawing down trees here at the house and cleaned out an area. Rented a very nice toro log splitter on tracks for $275. Probably ground out about 15 stumps. The closest place for me to rent a log splitter is about an hour and ten minutes away. If I do the $275 dollar over the weekend thing I have to turn in vacation time for the Friday afternoon pickup and the Monday morning return. I get to put a max of 10 hours on it. This is a commercial very nice stump grinder on tracks. Works great but very inconvenient and requires vacation and quite a bit of Tavel.

Now in this scenario where I rented a machine, if I take the grinder back on Monday, then on that same Monday night I have a tree die or fall over then I am SOL cause the stump grinder is 1 hour and 10 minutes away and another $275 rental fee.

The DR I was looking at is a homeowner grade stump grinder. About 1700 bucks. The benefit of it is that I would have a stump grinder the rest of my life sitting in my garage, can pick and choose when I want to drop trees and not really have to think about it....I have had a dead one now for a couple years making a mess on my driveway but didn't want that darn stump to deal with. I finally cut it down so here we are and I am now going to start dropping the rest of the dead tress and trees I wish I would have dropped the first time around as well as the ones in the way of my sons basketball court. I really am trying hard now to not add any additional engines, tires, batteries, spark plugs etc. to my arsenal of equipment. I don't want to set myself up for more complication as I get older which played into the factor of purchasing the electric kinetic splitter. So anyway, Dr Power little cheaper stump grinder that will get the job done when I need it on occasional use. (like my wood splitter) or rent an awesome one for $275.

I am leaning toward the Dr Power to have one here at my disposal to use for the rest of my life. Any thoughts? Anyone used a DR Power stump grinder? As with the DR K10 Splitter there are tons of glowing reviews about it. And I was very skeptical on my splitter but am convinced now.

 

[mcfarmall]

I'm in the rental crowd. Time your tree cutting operations so that you have a bunch of stumps ready then go rent the thing for the weekend. If you buy one then you inevitably will have to work on it because it won't start when you want to use it because it sat around with ethanol gas in it. You'll have more room in your garage/shop/barn because you won't have to store it.

I just get sick of having to fix junk every time I want to use it. With a rental you're pretty much guaranteed it will work when you turn the key. Just my opinion...yours and others may differ.

 

[the old grind]

I bought the 14hp model sans the extra bling. I can pull it around the yard with the EZ-GO by holding the handle offset just right and turning only to the left. :laughing:

Anyway, here are two pics taken 23 hrs apart. Jon is pushin' 68, stands 6' 2" and weighs 170lbs, no linebacker, he. The Poulan "Wild Thing" has an 18" bar, and the bike's wheels are 26" type. I shoveled-up nine 5 gal buckets (right after the second pic) and still left a mess. Best to haul off as much chips as is easy because when left they will suck nitrogen until they are thoroughly blackened and unrecognizable. (add 28N ferts).



I did a maple for a guy that was all of 24" diameter where he cut it off 5 or 6 inches above ground. Beware if you ever charge by the inch diameter (I get free coffee ) and take that number where the stump breaks the surface. 4" - 6" stumps don't take 10 minutes. Trees set shallow or cut 'tall' (>4") will be a bit of work. You may end up grinding quite a ways out from such to get roots. "Depends on the terrain>"

Easy to spend someone else's bucks too, but suggest that you buy the DR and don't look back. It'll earn it's keep. I've rented 'junk', but take care of my own stuff (clean off, check fluids, etc ... park some things indoors ) After 20-some stumps of all sizes (and some >2 feet out) it'll take me a while to wear it out. Yeah ok if you buy 'new'.

Did I mention not filling the hole with chips because nothing will grow in that s__?

 

[Old Red]

I bought the 14hp model sans the extra bling. I can pull it around the yard with the EZ-GO by holding the handle offset just right and turning only to the left. :laughing:

Anyway, here are two pics taken 23 hrs apart. Jon is pushin' 68, stands 6' 2" and weighs 170lbs, no linebacker, he. The Poulan "Wild Thing" has an 18" bar, and the bike's wheels are 26" type. I shoveled-up nine 5 gal buckets (right after the second pic) and still left a mess. Best to haul off as much chips as is easy because when left they will suck nitrogen until they are thoroughly blackened and unrecognizable. (add 28N ferts).

View attachment 538693View attachment 538694

I did a maple for a guy that was all of 24" diameter where he cut it off 5 or 6 inches above ground. Beware if you ever charge by the inch diameter (I get free coffee ) and take that number where the stump breaks the surface. 4" - 6" stumps don't take 10 minutes. Trees set shallow or cut 'tall' (>4") will be a bit of work. You may end up grinding quite a ways out from such to get roots. "Depends on the terrain>"

Easy to spend someone else's bucks too, but suggest that you buy the DR and don't look back. It'll earn it's keep. I've rented 'junk', take care of my own stuff (clean off, check fluids, etc ... park some things indoors ) After 20-some stumps of all sizes (and some >2 feet out) it'll take me a while to wear it out. Yeah ok if you buy 'new'.

Did I mention not filling the hole with chips because nothing will grow in that s__?

What does "sans the extra bling" mean? Did you get the 14.5 pro or the 16.5 pro? Pull start or electric start? Who is Jon?

So you sound like you are pleased with the DR. That is what I am reading on the DR website reviews, plenty of pleased buyers. How many stumps have your ground up with it? How long have you had your machine? Have you replaced the teeth yet? How long did it take you to grind up the stump in the picture?

And to poster #2. I am right there with ya 100%. Except the problem for me in this situation is the closest place that rents a grinder is over an hour away. I actually like renting small equipment for the reasons you state. Heck I even rent a power washer once a year but the rental yard that has the washer is literally 5 minutes from my house.

 

[the old grind]

I got the 14.5 hp without the remote start and cup-holders. Personal info was to assure that I'm old (for my size?) but can muscle the stump grinder without it being on a 3PH or self-propelled. The Stump in the pic took > than 1 hour, but understand that I took several breaks to shovel chips out of the way and/or off-site. IIRC, the second pic was taken just before my final chip-scooping. By then I had 6 or so buckets full, and had dumped/refilled 4 of them once. I got four or more from the garage, and filled them from what's in the pic. What wasn't snow-dampened, later became oil-dry, and the wet was compost. I left more than I wanted to in place, but my topsoil pile was under snow just then.:laughing:

Imagine pushing a walk-behind rotary lawn mower, then raking up as much as you cut. Balance of fun/work is similar and how much of either that is would be very much YMMV. btw, I have little/no cartilage in either knee, no L-5 disc in my back, and the five ribs I broke in 2013 are often sore when I wake up. My point there is that athleticism isn't a requirement, and IMO that should explain we happy DR owners.

So, I've ground maple, fir, and elm in the 14" and up sizes, one or two of each there, way over a dozen ash that were from say 4" to not more than 10". Only the ash were ever cut <4" above their surroundings. The larger trees were always higher up with roots exponentially further out from the bole (trunk). Shallow-rooted willows do that a lot from frost heave, so I suspect those with long taps roots do as well over time.

I'm a retired tool grinder (toolmaker's j-card) and have watched the teeth closely. When installed, they index 120^ apart into one of 3 positions. Whatever grade carbide, (C-6?) they don't seem to chip and haven't noticeably worn, and that elm next to my d'way was plenty gravel-bedded from the place's 3 decades (and >two ago) as a gravel/sand pit.

Anyway, I looked at the faces to see what it's take to 'sharpen up' on my T&C grinder. The teeth are cupped at what I'd guess is ~1' radius (I'll 'gauge' tomorrow) with say a .020" flat to toughen the edges. I'm actually anxious to set up and grind a set (1 1/2" is my smallest dia 'diamond' wheel), but guess if I'm a few dozen trees from even rotating them yet. There a dozen or more elms in my lawn to grind this Summer. Trunks at 3" height run 12" - 22" and one ~28" at that height. I suspect I might rotate the teeth once by then. We'll see ...

OK, tmi, but even banging the 'wheel' on the concrete hasn't nicked a tooth when scooting the stumper in & out of the barn. That kinda surprises me because I always expect it.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

There may be a better long term option, or you might be able to rent one like this, grind your stumps, and return the rental the same day.

https://woodlandmills.ca/product/wg24-stump-grinder/?locale=us&return=/product/wg24-stump-grinder/

 

[Old Red]

There may be a better long term option, or you might be able to rent one like this, grind your stumps, and return the rental the same day.

WG24 Stump Grinder – Woodland Mills Canada

Oh my! Thank you for this..... Just now opened this and looking over it a little. It appears one reviewer used a subcompact Kubota BX....that is the tractor I have available to me here at the house. I am going to read more bout this in the morning. I wasn't sure if an inexpensive grinder was out there for a subcompact tractor.

 

[bigtiller]

I hired a guy to do some tree work for me. The ash tree was cut down and cleaned up leaving a 24" stump. He came back the next day while I was away, with a rented DR stump grinder. When I got home, he was sitting in the shade with some ice water and a wet towel. He had been grinding on that stump for over an hour. Judging by his progress, it would be another hour before the stump would be completed and it would only be about 2" deep.

I told him to stop working before he hurt himself and that I would call a guy I knew with a 50 hp Vermeer stump grinder. He ground a 12" deep hole and left a giant pile of wood chips the size of my thumb, all in about 10 minutes.

I,ll never operate one with handlebars after watching that.

 

[thepumpguysc]

There IS another option.. & I hate to write it..
Personally, I would NEVER DO IT..
DR offers a 1 YEAR try it-before you by it.. on a lot of their equipment..
Get it.. use it.. return it..
& you have a whole year to fall all your trees.. lol

 

[Old Red]

I think I have watched every youtube video, read every forum post that pertains to the DR Stump Grinder on the web. The recurring theme over and over is that they will get the job done and a lot of satisfied owners out there. I kind of see it like a "subcompact" stump grinder. None of us would move piles of dirt for a living with our BX buckets but we would sure move a pile of dirt in our own yard. I think the same analogy can be made for the DR Stump grinder. I also like that it is a dedicated machine and I don't have to hook up something else.