I need advice on stump removal

[4570Man]

I'd grind them. Stumps are a PITA to deal with.

 

[4570Man]

Several years ago we rented a mini excavator to remove stumps from our food plots. They were pine stumps. I had no idea how big and deep the stumps would be. For a 15" stump, the hole would be at least 10' x 10' and 6' deep.

We ran the machine for about 30 hours over a long weekend and were able to get them all out. Probably about 50 or so stumps.

We were lucky that our soil is very sandy and we have not had any issues with tractors getting stuck in the holes.

That must have been a pocket sized trackhoe. Even my wimpy tractor backhoe could have done better. I've never even had the luxury of digging sandy soil. Ours is rock hard.

 

[drizler]

Where there is a will, there is a way. Just like the loggers cutting down the giant Redwoods with crosscut hand saws.

There's a reason you don't see any over weight people in old time photos.

Back in the 80's a very old man showed me what they used to use to remove large tree stumps. It was a huge beam as long as his barn with a short length of something like ships anchor chain on one end. He said they yoked up 2 teams of horses to the bare end and wrapped the chain around the tree. They wound them out just like pulling a tooth.

 

[rustyshakelford]

That must have been a pocket sized trackhoe. Even my wimpy tractor backhoe could have done better. I've never even had the luxury of digging sandy soil. Ours is rock hard.

If it's like mine the top is sandy loam. The tree rockets down and gets into a rock hard clay pan. You'll have to remove all the sand to expose the clay and scrape at it until you can get the stump free. It's much easier when the tree is still standing as the weight works with you.

Brett

 

[dragoneggs]

I'm a digger more than a grinder. Round here we have glacial till so lots of rocks up to volleyball size and shallow growing root fir/cedar/hemlock. Grinding out those in my soil type doesn't work well. I dig, burn, and have a stump garden for those beasts I can't transport to the burn pile. Have to hunt for, or take a pic of my 'garden'. The stump roots are shallow growing and they capture rocks that they grow very fond of... The only way to free them is heat!

 

[TomSeller]

People are always saying the old ways were best.

<img src="http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=512237"/>

Bruce

That is a cool picture. I barely see block and tackle anymore.

 

[sandman2234]

I'd grind them. Stumps are a PITA to deal with. View attachment 512274

I am one that would prefer to dig them out.
I had a 38" stump that needed digging, called a guy I had met before at a friends house. I had told him that I had a pair of bare axles that were the same size as the ones on his trailer. (bought them freight salvage for $5.00 ea). He said he would come over and give me a price for removing the stump. He unloaded the backhoe, looked at the axles, and started digging without giving me a price. I backed my F350 with a 12 foot bed in, and it was all the hoe could do to load it. It was a lot larger than the bed of the truck, and HEAVY!!!
When he got his backhoe loaded, I asked him what I owed him, and he looked at me funny... said "just the axles".
Moral to the story...trading old junk laying around is sometimes a great deal for everyone. (The 9,000 lb Dexter-Phillips axles were for a dual wheel setup, and not cheap. I couldn't use them because of the cost of buying all the hubs, wheels, backing pads, etc to make them work)
David from jax

 

[Oldoak]

I barely see block and tackle anymore

I have the old wooden block and tackle hanging in our pole barn to remind me how we constructed it and the hard work it took.

That last time I used it was to raise the 36' rafters built with 2" x 6"s.
A home made "gin pole" and that block and tackle is how we raised them all. No crane, no high lift, just old heavy wooden extension ladders. We worked with what we had and could afford at the time.

 

[bspeedy]

Interesting the clear split between 'dig' and 'grind'.

I'd dig and burn. Those are small stumps. A day's work for a mini-ex, maybe less.