Pro stump digging

[TxTom]

My neighbor dug out about 125 pine stumps that were left from the previous timber cut. As usual with big machines and work, I had to take some pictures. Here's a reference shot to my size 12.

Thomas

 

[TxTom]

So he would simply drive the air conditioned (very important) track hoe to the target and dig. After digging down about 3-4 feet on 2 sides he would move 90 degrees and usually pop it right out.

 

[TxTom]

He would lift each one and drop it a couple of times to get the dirt loose. Standing 30-40 feet away you could definitely feel the thud on the ground.

 

[TxTom]

I would push all the stumps to a burn area where he stacked them to burn. What's the black smoke from? One old tire standing up at the bottom filled with motor oil and sprinkled with a couple of ounces of gas to start. Then he made a pyramid around this. Some piles had about 40 stumps and were completely burned in about a week with a couple of restacks.

Thanks for looking
Thomas

 

[dsb5610]

Good pics TxTom. Track hoes are amazing machines but very slow moving. I would have been a little nervous sitting right next to the burn pile.

What are you doing with the ground where where the stumps were removed? I imagine there are some pretty good sized holes left over.

dsb

 

[GeneD14]

Thanks for the pictures. That was pretty impressive. It would take me forever to dig out those big stumps with my little crawler. I dug out several 12" diameter pine stumps in clay soil a while back and they took about 15 minutes each.

 

[TxTom]

As far as the holes, I just rough graded the area to get everything filled in. After all the clearing I've done on this 7-8 acres, I've got lots of dirt to move back. And I'm also doing some redirecting of the drainage areas.

Thomas

 

[Highbeam]

I don't know of a better tool for stump removal than a trackhoe with a thumb. My logger used a trackhoe like that and would take the next step of splitting the older stump in half to aid in burning and dirt removal.

125 stumps as big as the one with your foot on it definitely make it worth hiring that job out.

 

[3RRL]

Tom,
Man that looks like fun...digging, lifting and dropping those stumps. Great pictures man.