Harley rake - what if ?

[Reg]

What if I find a stump that has been ground down to an inch, two or three
"below grade" ?
e.g. ground down to grade and then covered with the minimum amount of
"contractor's dirt".
I think there is one under a mound that I have been asked to grade out.
The home owner wants it flattened, but to me it looks like it might be a
stump's "flare" and I think I might run into surface roots.
If that is the case they could run a long way out and it might explain why
the contractor "featured" this mound.

From having "touched" a concrete path with mine it seems those carbide nubs can
do a lot of damage, e.g. they could probably take the top off a concrete driveway
and maybe rip black top ?

Anyway, given that I have more WIDTH with the Harley than I have with the stump
grinder and being kinda lazy - could I grind stump flares with it ?
{without doing TOO much damage to it}
I expect it would make for a bumpy ride, but I think I could take that, heck the
stump grinder is a bumpy stationary "ride".
I would come at it very slowly, lower the rake a tiny bit on each pass, etc., maybe 1/4 inch
at a time.

I guess my other question is how do Harley rakes handle (near) surface roots ?

It isn't practical to raise everything else up to meet this mound, too much fill
would be needed and in any case the homeowner has a "want" about leveling it down.

 

[Tags]

You probably "could" do it with a Harley rake but I wouldn't. A concrete grinder,asphalt planer or stump grinder may have the same carbide teeth but are designed to grind those surfaces and a Harley rake is made to kick rocks out of soil, loosen compacted soil, and hit an occasional large boulder or clump of roots, but to sit there and try to grind a stump is going to beat the snot out of the bearings and frame work on the unit. You could try it but the end result may be an expensive repair to an expensive attachment.

 

[Reg]

I agree, but "in the normal course of events" one could reasonably expect to run into surface roots.
Stumps that had been cut JUST below grade and covered with 3/8 inch of what contractors (laughably) call "loam" may be another reasonably expected hazard.
I suspect that this is the case in my neighbor's yard.

Not that I want to sacrifice my Harley rake in the interest of experimenting with it AS a stump grinder replacement (-:
Just speculating that the designers have anticipated scenarios like this and HOPEFULLY have built enough brawn into it to take on surface roots and such.
Yeah, "HOPEFULLY" - - when I see other people using that I often wonder if they have just had a "Wish Dream" and expect things to become so.