Backhoe stump grinding vs. backhoe

farmerpsv · Nov 13, 2003

Hey all.

I've noted that stumps are the number one excuse...er eh reason for getting a backhoe, which makes a certain sense to me. On a different level though...i do organic vegetable market growing, so soil is pretty important to me. i'm looking at some new properties that are wooded and would need clearing to create tillage. the good news is forested soil is often very nice, having years of leaves composting. the bad news would be stump removal. using a backhoe or dozer generally takes alot of soil i'd rather keep, stump grinding would turn the stump back into soil (after a fashion). of course, that doesn't create instant tillage, but seems to be the least intrusive way of removing stumps and preserving the soil. I have a NH TN65 and wonder about the cost and feasability of a pto grinder. any experience and input would be much appreciated.
thanks,
paul

markie61 · Nov 13, 2003

Here's one on ebay. Requires a minimum of 35 pto HP and hydraulics to move left to right, ie "sweep" the stump.
I've rented a self-contained stumpgrinder for a couple of days to handle 50 stumps for about $400 for comparison.
Mark

Hambone · Nov 13, 2003

I would get some estimates about having the stumps ground out. I think they are reasonable and definetly cheaper than purchasing.
Might check out this link, just did a simple search to find.

http://www.timcorbinstreeservice.com/servStumpRemove06.htm

cowboydoc · Nov 13, 2003

If you want to use the area for tillage forget about stump grinding. It will be 15 years before you can till the soil even with the grinding down of the stump. I'd go the backhoe route. Knock all the dirt you can off of them and leave them by the hold for awhile. Some good rains will get alot of the dirt off them.

bebster · Nov 13, 2003

If you remove the stump with a backhoe, you really don't loose any soil. Sure, there is a hole where the stump used to be, but that can be smoothed over when preparing the soil for planting. Or you could dump some sand or clay into the deep part of the hole if you wanted to fill it and save the loam for the top.

If you grind the stump, you have to grind fairly deep to prevent a tiller, for example, from hitting it if you have the depth of the tiller set at any reasonable depth. I think I'd feel better knowing I can move around and into the soil without hitting anything that wasn't ground down really low.

b6200hst · Nov 13, 2003

One question would be - How deep are you going to have to grind in order to use the ground as you choose to? Hidden stumps could really do some equipment damage. The best way I have ever seen to remove stumps is to connect a dozer mounted winch 15 to 20 feet up the tree, have the dozer a safe distance from the tree, and pull the tree, roots and all, down. Of course, this is done before you cut the tree. This was done on 2 foot diameter hardwoods.

have_blue · Nov 13, 2003

( pull the tree, roots and all, down )

That's the best way by far. Trees are far easier to manage than stumps! I have made the mistake of sawing trees down. Never again! Now I pull them down. Many would be surprised at how effective cutting a few big roots and a big NH can be at annhialating trees.

normde2001 · Nov 13, 2003

Depending on acreage/area and size of trees, I would hire a bulldozer/operator to push them over and into a pile for burning, then smoothe over holes. After burning you can spread ashes and dirt over area, ready for growing.

GregJ · Nov 13, 2003

I would definitely vote for the BH option. You didn't say what type of trees or their size, but if I were wanting to till an area that had stumps in it, I'd want to make sure that all the roots and every part of those stumps were out of the soil. I just removed a bunch of stumps and it is a real good feeling that there will be no "surprises" when I work in the area where the trees used to be. The most important thing though, is don't think this will be the only thing that you will use the BH for. I use mine all the time. This sounds like the perfect "excuse" for a new attachment.

Greg

Justaplain · Nov 13, 2003

Fence it-get some pigs- put ear corn in holes made with a crow bar and next year eat the pigs and pick up the stumps with a front end loader. bcs

have_blue · Nov 13, 2003

( Fence it-get some pigs- put ear corn in holes made with a crow bar and next year eat the pigs and pick up the stumps with a front end loader. bcs )

Wait!

Are you saying to make the holes in the ground around the stump?

I've seen big hogs in a large fenced in area, and they devastated it. It looked like a D9 got hold of it. I guess there's an organic solution to everythig. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

slowrev · Nov 13, 2003

If you are not going to till the area that has the stumps, then a grinder is fine. Just grind below ground level and spread the sawdust out and you are done, no stump to try to get to burn up, no hole to fill, etc. Of course in a couple of years or so you will have a slight dip where the underground part of the stump rots away.

farmerpsv · Nov 13, 2003

Thanks everyone,
this is the greatest site, you always get 100 different angles and experiences. lots of food for thought.
paul

jwcinpk · Nov 13, 2003

There is another option I'm surprised none else has mentioned. If you have a dozer come in and push the stumps out then they disturb a lot of topsoil. However, there is an attachment that goes on the back of dozers. I cant think of the name of it, but it works like a plow. It just drags up roots stumps etc. Not alot of topsoil is disturbed. Well not alot removed anyway. What is disturbed can be spread back out. Thats the route we will go on the land we are clearing. Just a suggestion.

theonlybull · Nov 13, 2003

a root rake on a dozor, or even better, an excavator will work great for removing stumps. the excavator can rip the stump out, pick it up and shake most of the dirt on it, then deposit them in a pile for burning...

AndyMA · Nov 13, 2003

I wish I could burn stumps. Here in Mass and Conn you are not allowed to burn stumps. In fact you can burn nothing over 4" diam and 4' long. What do I do with my big stumps. Dig a big hole and burry them with a bunch of the rocks I also need to get rid of. I try and put about 2 feet of fill over the stump and pack tightly around it with the backhoe. I wouldn't build on top of it, but some of the ones I buried this way 15 years ago haven't sunk. I think once you take the air away most of the decaying stops. I also have a Husky stump grinder that looks like a 372 chop saw with the wheel kit and a carbide blade (teeth about 3/4" across). It only weighs about 65 # and will go anywhere to grind. Sometimes I dig out huge stumps to about 2 feet down and then grind off the tops before filling in the hole. It all depends on what I've going to do with the area.

Andy

normde2001 · Nov 13, 2003

The dozer work I referred to earlier, and what I had done, wasn't to remove stumps, but entire trees. He pushed them over, and pushed the tree, by the rootball, into a big pile to be burned. He cleared about 3 acres of trees for $200, an absolute artist with that dozer.

adegiulio · Nov 14, 2003

3 acres of trees for 200 dollars!?!? That is huge! Can he drive his dozer up here to NY?? Tell him to take I-95 for about 5 days, then take the NYS thruway for a day. I'll be expecting him by next Friday.... /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

em14 · Nov 14, 2003

I would use a dozier. The dozier is one of the best ways to clear farm land. Backhoe on a farm tracter will take a lot of time . Dozier can slot one side of tree and then push from the other side and in very little time the tree is down and in the burn pile ...