Stump grinder

[RalphVa]

The wife was down below again, marking stumps. She bought another 100 flags and used them all up! Must be 200 stumps, mostly small ones, that we have to remove to be able to bush hog without keeping jamming them.

Looking at buy vs. rental. Best buy seems to be the WM 24" one that goes on the PTO for $2,400. Experience with this one? First shipment not until near end of the year.

Can buy a pull behind one for about $1,700 but would have to pull to near the stump, unhitch and then muscle the thing around to the stump and then muscle it back and forth, etc. to cut the stump. Don't think I can do it.

Can rent a big one (think it's a Vermeer SC30TX) for about $1,100 for a week. Guessing it would take a week of constant running for the 2 to 4 hours/day that I'd be able to work it. Experience with this one?

Gotta clear out a lot of tree parts and chip up some stuff first to get it all out of the way. So, year end start is about right. First, gotta get my tractor back from JD shop.

Ralph

 

[4570Man]

I’d buy one to go on the back of your tractor. I have no experience with one but they seem to work fairly well. Any self contained unit that’s not self propelled is going to lead to disappointment.

 

[LittleBill21]

 

[LittleBill21]

Baumalight 3 Point Hitch Stump Grinder - 1P24

www.shopgreendealer.com

 

[RalphVa]

This Bauma Light one seems to be almost identical to the WM one but about $500 more.

 

[mcfarmall]

I'm a rental fanboy. I rent a tracked Vermeer walk-behind unit for a weekend and run it dawn to dusk for $325 and took out more 18" stumps than I could keep track of, countless smaller ones and chased dozens of deck-killer roots across the yard.

 

[Steppenwolfe]

My Land Pride stump grinder is a beast. Look it up on you tube

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[Sawyer Rob]

I bought the Woodland Mills WG24 and I'm glad I did...

I have it on a 45 pto hp tractor with creep gears. It works just fine, although it wouldn't be much fun on a small tractor...

SR

 

[JCoastie]

I have the WG24, have done 250+ stumps, mostly small like yours seem to be, though there were some good size ones too, don't get me wrong, almost all pine, so soft wood. We started with the flags like you did, after 150 we just went with sticks we found in the yard to mark things. With the flags, doing the grinding myself, it meant I had to get on/off the tractor every single time to get the flag before grinding every darn stump. That was a lot of extra effort.
Owning it means you can grind at your leisure, you aren't racing a clock, and with that many, you are going to keep finding them. I mark them during the week, as we walk the property and grind them on the weekends, the new puppy has been pulling my marking sticks out the ground though lol

 

[Captain Dirty]

There are a great many threads on stumpgrinders; due diligence requires you read them, a daunting task. If I may summarize my own findings, the Woodland Mills is the smallest grinder most would consider. Many, who presumably did their research, are satisfied with what they have, but it is what they decided to buy and probably the only one they have experience with. Most of those who moved up to a heavier, more powerful tractor or larger grinder and powered it with a bigger machine opine they would never go back to the original "'underpowered" set-up.

In your original post you did not say how big "small" stumps were. Your profile says you have a JD2025R, about 20hp at the PTO and 1600 lbs. The rotary cutters that tractor will power will probably "jam" on a stump greater than 2". Could you dig or pull such a stump with a scarifying shank or with a spade or even a toothbar on a FEL? If "small" stumps are 6-10" in diameter grinding those with your tractor would be unpleasant and problematic. I have a
Quick Attach 25" hydraulically slewed and raised stump grinder on a 32hp, 5500 lb (+700 lbs for the grinder) tractor, and it bucks and bogs down on 10-12" stumps unless I take small passes at slow slewing speeds.