Stump grinder..

[RadarTech]

Well, if you have been watching closely, you’d have seen I recently upgraded tractors from a 34 hp to a 59hp with a cab..
And rear hydraulics..

Its a whole new world.. and many formerly not possible attachments.

I will soon be cutting 8-10 more trees.. and I need to just consider spending the $400 rental fee on a stump grinder myself..

Now, there are also another few trees that might be going away.

Anyway..

It appears the better ones and the more efficient ones have hydraulic side to side and up and down controls.. since I have rear remotes, this appears to be the better but more pricey option.

Titan, worksaver, and quick attach seems to be the more prevalent..

What do yall have?

 

[oldballs]

For my purpose and the price, the Woodland Mills WG24 has served me well. ...since 2017. Did lots of stumps for several years , but not so many of recent. My tractor is only 26 HP...(19 PTO) without rear remotes. There are better ones out there however. I have had no issues with the grinder nor the service from the company.

Cheers,
Mike

 

[Piston]

I have the Shaver SC50. It goes up/down and side to side.
I’ve been extremely happy with it and have made a fair bit of money using it on random jobs when it’s needed.

I think the cheap Woodland Mills stumpgrinder can do a good enough job for the average homeowner considering how cheap it is, and value wise, probably hard to beat. That being said, I personally wouldn’t buy one for my own uses now that I’ve had the Shaver for many years.

The terrain you will use it on may contribute significantly to your decision. However, with that much power and the fact that you have rear hydraulics, I’d highly recommend this style in various manufacturers.

 

[Runner]

I have a Woodland Mills WG24 and it seems to be a good unit for my situation: hydrostatic tractor and not a huge number of stumps to deal with.

It is simple, just drive shaft and flywheel. Literally a pain in the neck to use without the rear facing video camera setup, but I can live with it. Gets the job done with a little patience... Seems rugged and well built, but I've only had it a short time.

Would be terrible to try to use it with a gear-drive machine.

 

[oldballs]

Mr Piston,

Your rig is more capable and convient to operate........ However, I, personally, would not refer to the Woodland Mills Stump Grinder as "cheap"....... just sayin'

Cheers,
Mike

 

[Captain Dirty]

To answer the OP directly, I have a Quick Attach 24" 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.

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, like myself, 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.

The reasons I went with QA were: Teeth on both sides of the wheel allows it to cut L to R and R to L. Many similar machines (24" "buzz-saw" chippers) grind only in one direction. The frame has provisions for additional (suitcase) weights, and weight is your friend. QA is a brother company to Erskine who has a good reputation. I bought on a Black Friday sale so freight was "free". None-the-less, total was about $5.5K which is ballpark for comparable from Shaver, Baumalite, and others.

A consideration I was unaware of at the time: Most of the smaller grinders have proprietary teeth, usually approx. 3/4" cubes and rather expensive. Some like Landpride, use Green teeth, a standard, industrial machine type that may be more economical in the long run.

 

[5030]

I have a Landpride and I use it on either one of my geared M9's. I just have to run in creep range. My Landpride was around 5 grand last spring and it 'jumped' around until I added 100 pound suitcase weights on each side. That cured that issue.

The Landpride uses Green Teeth which are indexable to 3 different cutting edges and if the OP buys one like I have, he will need 2 complete sets of remotes, ie: 4 couplers. 2 for the slew and 2 for the lift.

I've wailed through some very large stumps with no issue.

The Landpride and the Shaver and the Erskine are all similar to each other.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

I have a Woodland Mills WG24 and it seems to be a good unit for my situation: hydrostatic tractor and not a huge number of stumps to deal with.

Would be terrible to try to use it with a gear-drive machine.

NOT true at all, if the gear drive tractor has creep trans...

SR

 

[wirlybird]

NOT true at all, if the gear drive tractor has creep trans...

SR

I'll have to respectfully disagree with this.
I had a Woodland Mills WG24 on a JD 3038E and never once was I able to just creep forward at a constant speed. It's move a tiny bit, stop, move a little , stop. You have to vary the forward movement based on the current cut and the wood etc. You may start out moving some but then get into harder wood in the stump and have to stop or slow to barely moving at all. All of this while running the 3-point lever while twisted around so you can see what you are doing.
I'm sure people use these on tractors with a clutch but it would be beyond a pain!
I sold my Woodland Mills WG24 because I can take out a stump faster with my hands operated grinder.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

I'll have to respectfully disagree with this.
I had a Woodland Mills WG24 on a JD 3038E and never once was I able to just creep forward at a constant speed. It's move a tiny bit, stop, move a little , stop. You have to vary the forward movement based on the current cut and the wood etc. You may start out moving some but then get into harder wood in the stump and have to stop or slow to barely moving at all. All of this while running the 3-point lever while twisted around so you can see what you are doing.
I'm sure people use these on tractors with a clutch but it would be beyond a pain!
I sold my Woodland Mills WG24 because I can take out a stump faster with my hands operated grinder.

And yet, I have THAT grinder on MY tractor,

and using creep gears, it works perfectly, I only have to touch the clutch when switching directions.

Glad I don't have it on a deere!

SR

 

[Piston]

And yet, I have THAT grinder on MY tractor,

and using creep gears, it works perfectly, I only have to touch the clutch when switching directions.

Glad I don't have it on a deere!

SR

It is undeniable that this style grinder works more efficiently on a HST tractor.

Creep gears are considerably better than no creep gears for sure. Just as the HST is considerably better than creep gears for this style grinder.

Can it work perfectly adequately on any tractor? Absolutely, and all that matters is the operator is happy with what they have. It sure beats a shovel!

 

[Piston]

Mr Piston,

Your rig is more capable and convient to operate........ However, I, personally, would not refer to the Woodland Mills Stump Grinder as "cheap"....... just sayin'

Cheers,
Mike

Mike, I appreciate your opinion here. I admittedly did sound like I was putting down the Woodland Mills! What I mean though, is I’m using the term “cheap” in a relative way. Cost wise, it is considerably cheaper than the alternatives, so relative to the others it is literally “cheap” as far as money goes, and as I stated above, I think value wise, you can’t beat the woodland mills! The stumps don’t know the difference anyhow!

 

[Sawyer Rob]

It is undeniable that this style grinder works more efficiently on a HST tractor.

Creep gears are considerably better than no creep gears for sure. Just as the HST is considerably better than creep gears for this style grinder.

Can it work perfectly adequately on any tractor? Absolutely, and all that matters is the operator is happy with what they have. It sure beats a shovel!

I'm just wondering, have YOU tried one on both types of trans??

I have both, so I'm not guessing on what one works properly or better, and what one doesn't. Mine works just fine on the tractor in the pict., and a hystat doesn't get the stump ground any faster...

I ground over 30 stumps in one day with the above combo, and made half of the money back that I paid for the grinder. IF it would have been better with a hystat, then that's what I'd use.

Maybe those deere creep trans, aren't geared right? I've never tried one.

SR

 

[Runner]

Would be terrible to try to use it with a gear-drive machine.

Wow, had no idea this could be such a controversial statement. I'll just say "I" wouldn't want to use it on a geared tractor.....

 

[steve tym]

I also have a Woodland Mills and a geared tractor. My old tractor did not have a creep gear and I wished it did. So, I bought a tractor with a creep gear. I have not used the grinder with the new tractor yet, but certainly was not disappointed with it on the old tractor. Point of note, with this type of grinder, you have to cut into the pile of cuttings, move the cutter from left to right as looking at it from the drivers seat, or it will hop really bad. You need the teeth to be pulling down into the stump, not trying to climb out of it.

 

[Runner]

I can see where a "creep gear" would work pretty well on the forward movement (especially on a higher horsepower model where you could have the slip clutch cranked down harder).

However, to use this grinder you are constantly having to go from forward to reverse. I think constantly having to be clutching and moving a gear lever in that manner would be a pain (not to mention, kind of hard on the equipment). And I'm no amateur when it comes to manual transmissions, I've been driving them for 50 years.

My experience so far has been that I have to go from forward to reverse anywhere from 10 to 20 times or more, depending on size, species and age of the stump.

Edit: I guess many "geared" tractors these days might be "power reverser" type units, so the F - R changes aren't really much of a consideration?

 

[5030]

My tractors are both hydraulic shuttle M9's with creep gears so I never touch the clutch pedal when grinding with my Landpride ever. I just put them in creep and use the column mounted lever to advance or regress the grinder. I don't have to twist and look over my shoulder either. I have a cam mounted center rear as well as a rearview mirror in the cab tractor. Takes a bit of coordination but is certainly doable, least for me it is.

 

[LouNY]

I'm interested in a bit different stump tool, slower speed should be easier on cutting edges when in stoney ground.
Stump Planer Auger | Premier Attachments

 

[Captain Dirty]

For further discussion of vertical axis stump grinders/planers see mahar's thread of Feb 8, 2022 "Stump Plane" Stump plane.
While the American manufacturer Fecon makes a 6" auger for mini (walk beside) skid steers, most are hydraulically driven and require high-flow and high torque. Premier states "Our stump planer augers are also not compatible with 3 Point PTO Augers for tractors." In the videos of 3-point PTO planers, note the reactive movements of relatively large tractors.

 

[LouNY]

For further discussion of vertical axis stump grinders/planers see mahar's thread of Feb 8, 2022 "Stump Plane" Stump plane.
While the American manufacturer Fecon makes a 6" auger for mini (walk beside) skid steers, most are hydraulically driven and require high-flow and high torque. Premier states "Our stump planer augers are also not compatible with 3 Point PTO Augers for tractors." In the videos of 3-point PTO planers, note the reactive movements of relatively large tractors.

Many of the compact tractors can provide close to or above the minimum hydraulic requirements of many auger drives. They certainly would not spin it rapidly, but that's not the point.
Of course "Our stump planer augers are also not compatible with 3 Point PTO Augers for tractors." they would not be compatible for 3 point drives with no down pressure. Also many or most 3 point augers have quite light weight gearboxs.