Stump Buckets

[LD1]

You can dig it out with a shovel if you want. certainly a 3000# tractor is gonna do much better.

Stump buckets concentrate the force. There is a technique to keeping the rear on the ground. Gotta work around teh stump, loosen and break roots til its to the point your lift capacity can lift it.

I have plucked MANY stumps with nothing more than my old L3400 (similar sized tractor) and a standard bucket. Takes a big hole, bit it can be done.

The stump bucket, while may still take some work, is gonna be ALOT better than the grapple or your standard bucket

 

[Jchonline]

A piranha or wicked bar might be a better choice. Combining lift with force driving forward puts more pull on small trees. Cut roots on bigger stuff.

View attachment 769873
Danuser Intimdator. Never underestimate what a 26 hp tractor can do. Grab low and drive forward to pull up trees works best. Excavator teeth and saw bars break roots before pulling if needed. Then use the FEL to shake off dirt.

Yes BUT you have B26. Overbuilt FEL with above class lift capacity, and much more weight for an equiv size tractor.

4000lbs (with backhoe no loaded tires) and 2300lb FEL breakout.

 

[Jchonline]

OP asked for opinions.

I think a stump bucket is a good way to tear up the FEL on a smaller machine. I would advise against it.

 

[rScotty]

OP asked for opinions.

I think a stump bucket is a good way to tear up the FEL on a smaller machine. I would advise against it.

Yep. Same opinion here. A FEL is made to scoop and carry things in a bucket. Digging is hard on them. Especially hard on 4wd axles and lightweight removable FELs.

Sure, you can get away with using it for digging for awhile. Just know that digging with the FEL makes compact tractors get old real quick.

 

[mikester]

I don't bother chain sawing small stuff. A 2-3" diameter tree is nothing to push over lifting the roots a bit, then use the bucket to push all the way. Gravity and the weight of the tree helps you push out the root ball. If you cut the tree first then it's all grunt and brute force of your tractor doing the work.

After a good rain or when the soil is moist is the best time.

A root bucket is a great way to wreck your tractor. Rent a SS or CTL. Use a root grapple.

 

[Vigo327]

In the car enthusiast world it’s called ‘driver mod’. I used to rebuild automatic transmissions. People always had concerns about towing, and i would always try to point out that the only way to overwork the transmission is with the gas pedal. Or 3pt backhoes tearing tractors in half. Pretty sure it’s a control lever on a 3pt backhoe that resulted in a broken tractor.

If you can operate within limits of machinery then it doesnt matter what those limits are, you stay inside them and don’t break things. It’s people who have no sense of physics or ‘mechanical empathy’ or especially, no patience, who tear things up.

So depending on which camp you’re in you may not want to put a stump bucket on your tractor. But the same way you dont end up in the hospital if i hand you a spade shovel, is the same way you don’t break your tractor with a stump bucket.

 

[HawkinsHollow]

Yeah, I had a stump bucket once, broke my FEL so I sold it. Luckily they were crappy welds with poor penetration so I got it replaced under warranty. The stresses digging trees with a stump bucket puts on an FEL are too much.

Part of me wishes I kept it to so small digging projects but in the end selling it was probably the right choice.

 

[sd455dan]

Branson 2515​

Dimensions
Wheelbase:	65.7 inches 166 cm
Length:	120.9 inches 307 cm
Width:	56.3 inches 143 cm
Height (ROPS):	104 inches 264 cm
Gear Weight:	2989 lbs 1355 kg
Hydro Weight:	2969 lbs 1346 kg
Ground clearance:	14.4 inches 36 cm

To be clear that weight is for the bare tractor no FEL

with his FEL~ 4020 lb

Add a 1000lb 3 point implement and load the rear tires and operating weight is well over 5000lb.
edit to add:FEL break out force is 3660lbs.

Not recommending a stump bucket or against

Just pointing out possible real world operating weights for the Branson 2515 tractor

 

[prometheus303]

Yeah, I had a stump bucket once, broke my FEL so I sold it. Luckily they were crappy welds with poor penetration so I got it replaced under warranty. The stresses digging trees with a stump bucket puts on an FEL are too much.

Part of me wishes I kept it to so small digging projects but in the end selling it was probably the right choice.

yea, I decided against it. I don't want to abuse my FEL.

 

[prometheus303]

A piranha or wicked bar might be a better choice. Combining lift with force driving forward puts more pull on small trees. Cut roots on bigger stuff.

View attachment 769873
Danuser Intimdator. Never underestimate what a 26 hp tractor can do. Grab low and drive forward to pull up trees works best. Excavator teeth and saw bars break roots before pulling if needed. Then use the FEL to shake off dirt.

It's pretty cool. It's way out my price range though.