bnew17
Bronze Member
Does anybody here use their tractor to pull/dig fat lighter stumps out of the ground? I know a back hoe would be more practical but can it be done with 60-70 hp tractor with FEL, or is it not reccomended? Just curious. Thanks
Getting Fat Lighter Stumps out?
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herd
Gold Member
A light'ard stump would be very, very deep compared to say an oak. How big is it, if big you could up with a hole large enough to park a car in. Some are even a challenge for a backhoe.
LD1
Epic Contributor
Short answer is YES it can be done.
How long will depend on just how big and how fat the stump is as well as how soft/hard the soil is around the stump.
You could dig out a 48" diameter oak stump with a small one handed garden shove if you wanted too:laughing:
gvhicks
New member
I have a JD 4300, 420 FEL and I have dug up several pretty large stumps on my property. I took my time digging around the stump. Put my loader in a pretty good angle and cut the roots. After that, just pushed that stump right out. I did attempt a large white oak and gave up on that one. I think its going to depend on the type and size that you want to remove.
most of the stumps i see are about as big around as a golf cart tire. I know they wont be any trouble to get out,,,but i have run into a few big ones while looking in the woods that are roughly as big around as a car tire. Those are the kind im asking about :laughing:
As far as the soil. Its pretty soft...at least right now during the winter. Only a few hundred yards from a river.
As far as the soil. Its pretty soft...at least right now during the winter. Only a few hundred yards from a river.
clemsonfor
Super Member
Why do you want to get it out? The reason i ask is do you want to whittle some starting wood off it, Sell it to Hercules Stump (dont think they will buy singles and dont even know if they are still in business, or do you just want it gone? If you want it gone you can easily burn it out, after all you say its a lighter stump, just hack a fresh cut in it and put a match to it, it will burn every root left on it out and you can back fill it. If you want the fat wood, there are much easier pickings than a stump your about to spend hours on digging out. My loggers burn barrels fulls of the stuff this time of year. Some of it is sorry stuff i would not take home and some is good wet tight grained stuff that the termites have refused for 30 years or so. I quit picking it up i have found trees that i got 10 pieces 10"s in diameter the size of fire wood sticks. I do work around the sandhills and longleaf though so its eacy. But even on upland loblolly sites its fairly easy to find a decent stump as long as your in the right spot, and after all you only need a tiny piece unless your tring to start green wood. And if your thinking of selling it to hercules or to the yuppies id forget the stump idea there are easier ways to earn a dollar. I looked on ebay and other places there were a few folks selling it but the prices they were getting was hardly worth my effort to split it. Duraflame sells like 3 lb boxes for a few dollars each in the grocery store. And yes if you had a market like that it would be worth spending a few hours here and there for it but just to make $50 or something sometime is not worth it to me. I also looked into selling Longleaf cones (the really big ones) to the yankees or craft folks through ebay, boxes of cones seemed not to be selling so i acraped the idea.
N80
Super Member
I've dug many lighter stumps with my 45 hp tractor. And as I'm sure the OP is aware a lighter stump is not like a hardwood stump. By the time it has become fat wood there are few shallow peripheral roots but the tap root can go down 4-5 feet or more.
I find digging them out with the FEL to be hard, tedious and very hard on the tractor.
Why do I do it? Mostly to get the fat lighter. I use it myself and split it up neatly and give it as a gift. I love fat lighter even just for starting bonfires in my fire pit. It works far better than kerosene or diesel. It would certainly not be cost effective as a money maker. Maybe with a backhoe.
P.S.: I assume that one day fat lighter will be a thing of the past. In order to be of good quality it requires that the pine die while still standing so that all the sap runs down into the root. Not very many mature pines die around here while still standing. Most are cut for pulp/timber. A cut pine stump might have some 'fat' qualities, but nothing compared to mature tree that died while standing.
I find digging them out with the FEL to be hard, tedious and very hard on the tractor.
Why do I do it? Mostly to get the fat lighter. I use it myself and split it up neatly and give it as a gift. I love fat lighter even just for starting bonfires in my fire pit. It works far better than kerosene or diesel. It would certainly not be cost effective as a money maker. Maybe with a backhoe.
P.S.: I assume that one day fat lighter will be a thing of the past. In order to be of good quality it requires that the pine die while still standing so that all the sap runs down into the root. Not very many mature pines die around here while still standing. Most are cut for pulp/timber. A cut pine stump might have some 'fat' qualities, but nothing compared to mature tree that died while standing.
Clemson to answer your question i do NOT want to get rid of the stumps (as far as burning them) I would like to salvage the stumps and keep them for myself. I have heard of this Hercules place but i believe its a few hours south of me. Do they give good money for these stumps? I have dug up some of the smaller ones with a shovel and like to cut them up and give them away to friends/family and sell some occasionally on the side. I pulled one up this past weekend where the tap root went down in the ground 3 ft or so...and the size of the stump pertruding the ground was only the side of a 8" wide :laughing: As if that wasnt a suprise enough i almost stepped on a 3ft timber rattler :confused3: It was in the 40's all afternoon.
herd
Gold Member
George, what part of SC are you in. You provided some good info on light'ard stumps, I did not know that about the ''standing tree dying'' part. I too love fat lighter, not just for fire starting but just to smell it. Nothing smell better than a rich stick of light'ard.
I am surrounded by light'nard stumps and knots. Won't run out in my lifetime.
I am surrounded by light'nard stumps and knots. Won't run out in my lifetime.