Land Clearing

Kubota-monkey · Apr 25, 2000

I have an L35 and I also have a large field about 6acres that was just cut. It has stumps in it about 20 in in diameter and I know an L35 could pull em eventually but I know it would take a great deal of time. Do you think I should hire someone or rent an excavator?

gordon · Apr 25, 2000

I would either rent or hire an excavator for that job. There is no doubt the L35 could do it but you would end up with a loose hoe in the end. Another option is a stump grinder a very large one could get the job done for you.
Just remember this---When in doubt it's much smarter to hire it out.

Anonymous Poster · Apr 26, 2000

I would ditto Gordon's comment. My new L35 can make frightening noises snapping big roots, but with my stump field I'm going to do what I did last year, rent a machine. For about 400 in my area you can rent a 28000 lb machine which is great for fitting in between the trees you want to keep and digging stumps. In 1-3 scoops you can get them out and put them in a nice tight tall pile which will burn faster and hotter. If I had just a few I'd of course use the L35. In a day or two you can get a TREMENDOUS amount of work done, plan ahead on any other jobs you might want to do when you have the excavator there so you don't have to waste rental time planning. Also great for pushing over trees you would have a hard time cutting down if there's no place for them to "gravity fall" without a push. Be sure to get one with a thumb. You can also grab a dead tree with the hoe extended by the bucket and thumb and pull them sideways and break them down safely without being near them.

If you're like me, you'll have so much fun you'll think you're at Disneyland and will try to then justify buying one ! Unfortunately they are expensive and repairs and parts are ungodly $$$$$. I like to make a big mess get lots done and then do the clean up with my "little" hoe.

The bigger track hoes 44,000 lbs and the like aren't usually too much more expensive if you can get them delivered without special permits, that drives up the cost. The bigger ones are much faster if you have A LOT of stumps but if you have any other trees you may find it diffcult to get around and not go nuts trying to get that huge hoe through the "holes" HAVE FUN!

Anonymous Poster · Apr 26, 2000

As to what Gordon said about having a loose hoe, I think (correct me if I'm wrong Gordon) he's basing that on the opinion (popular and prob right) that stump digging is the hardest thing you use the hoe for as it is constantly being stalled, curling with maxium force etc., as compared to normal digging which is more of a fluid non stressful job. The exception to this is of course hard pan or rock. I have hard pan (thank you glaciers!) about 4-6 feet down. I always felt a bit impotent that my "little" hoe could only go into it about 6 inches without doing nothing more than making sparks, groaning and going nowhere. The 28000 track hoe I rented would only go down about 6-12 inches more and then it was out of the game also! If any of you have hard pan rent a BIG hoe and/or rent a specifically set up one with a "tiger tooth" for digging rock/hardpan. Again, my wordy 2 cents...

Anonymous Poster · Apr 26, 2000

As to what Gordon said about having a loose hoe, I think (correct me if I'm wrong Gordon) he's basing that on the opinion (popular and prob right) that stump digging is the hardest thing you use the hoe for as it is constantly being stalled, curling with maxium force etc., as compared to normal digging which is more of a fluid non stressful job. The exception to this is of course hard pan or rock. I have hard pan (thank you glaciers!) about 4-6 feet down. I always felt a bit impotent that my "little" hoe could only go into it about 6 inches without doing nothing more than making sparks, groaning and going nowhere. The 28000 track hoe I rented would only go down about 6-12 inches more and then it was out of the game also! If any of you have hard pan rent a BIG hoe and/or rent a specifically set up one with a "tiger tooth" for digging rock/hardpan. Again, my wordy 2 cents... email: oldcarparts@mygarage.com

MarkV · Apr 26, 2000

Kubota-monkey, Down here in the south we find that if you have the time to leave those stumps in the ground for a year it takes much less to get them out. Our cutting is mostly pine but after a year a track loader with teeth can normally take a bite and bring them right out. Loaders are alot cheaper to rent/hire but not near as much fun.

MarkV

Kubota-monkey · Apr 26, 2000

Thank you very much for the info. I use my BT900 to move rocks and I noticed that it is alot more wobbly (sp?) than when I first bought it. I think a good bolt tightening would do the trick. Yes I think I will most certaintly rent an excavator rather than wait a year to pull my stumps.

Alan L. · Apr 26, 2000

Well 11 months later and I still have about 200 locust trees I need to remove. They have multiple trunks right at ground level - about 3 to 5 inches or so each. I have cut some off at ground level with the chain saw (which is pretty difficult with all those branches reaching out and grabbing you, plus the dirt ruins the chain pretty quick, then you still have the stump to deal with) but I wish there was a better way. The smaller ones I pulled out with my 2710 or ran the cutter over, but these rascals have some kind of root system - they won't budge.

I hate to have a bull dozer come in because they would push up all my topsoil in the process and I'd really have a mess.

I'm in no real hurry if I could just come up with a plan to plug away at them and have them out over the next couple of years.

gordon · Apr 26, 2000

Stump digging a couple stumps is one thing but when you have a few hundred to deal with that's another matter alltogether. It might not be the worst thing you can do with a hoe but it darn sure rates it the top five ways to tear up a hoe.
Waiting a year on pine might work great but for trees with a long tap root a stump can be pretty darn rotten and still feel like its been cut yesterday with the husquvarna once you try to pull the stump.
I do have two junk saws with carbine chain--holds up in the dirt to cut the roots around the stump. I use this method say in a tight area where I can't get the stump grinder.
Last fall I sold my 580C backhoe one main reason for this was the poor thing was loose as can be and what caused alot of that---STUMPS--Now I have no hoe and an missing it pretty bad-but thats another story alltogether.

Anonymous Poster · Apr 27, 2000

Thought I'd throw something out. I've dug up some pretty big fir, cottonwood, etc stumps with my Ford 1710 and 758 backhoe. Eventually the size gets to be a problem as I have to go farther and farther away from the stump to break the roots. I went to dig up a 6 inch diameter willow I think it was, couldn't break a root kept going farther away, finally cleaned the ground off so I could see it. It was 1" in diameter! I thought the hoe was screwed up. It wasn't. That 1" willow root was as tough as as steel cable, I finally hooked a chain up to it and pulled. It was 12 feet long, no kidding, that little 6" diameter tree had a 12' root that I probably could have used as a tow strap! Sometimes the little guys can fight!