Stump Grinding

[foggy1111]

How many hours will I spend to grind about 200 stumps to about 4 to 6 inches below the ground??

As soon as the ground thaws out here (April I hope) I plan to rent a VERMEER STUMP GRINDER from the local rental yard. The model they have is self propelled and sweeps hydraulically ...but I am unsure of the model number (SC252 ??).

The trees are all red pine and have been sheared off by the timer company before I bought the property...about three years ago. Most are about 4" above the ground and vary in diameter from about 8" to 14". The ones I want to grind are mostly along my trails....so they are fairly easy to access and mostly lined up...from one to another (plantation).

I am also concerned with issues about the teeth. Do teeth break or become dull if operated in too much soil? (my ground is all sandy loam) Is replacement a big factor? I am told the carbide teeth are pretty spendy.

I have never run a stump grinder.....so.....Is it reasonable to plan for about 100 per day? ....for a two day ordeal? ....If I work real hard and have a little help?

Thanks for any experienced replies.

 

[yellowdogsvc]

I think you will find that grinding the larger stumps will take more time especially if you are contacting the ground. the smaller ones should go quickly unless the wood is rock hard.
The resistance from the earth can be a real drag on the wheel. I wouldn't worry about the teeth breaking in sandy loam. You may polish them a bit. Hopefully the rental will have sharp teeth.

Set up and moving from stump to stump will take quite a bit of time if they are spaced out. I'd give myself 3 days on the outside chance you don't get the hang of it right away.
I've only been grinding with a wheel grinder for about a year. Before that, I did it with a brush mulcher down to grade so I understand the concept but I'm not a 100% expert on dedicated stump grinders.

 

[daBear]

I do not really know how many you will get in a day, but the pine is soft and should go quickly. I rented a Vermeer 252 about a year ago but the teeth were not sharp at all. The rental yard says you are not supposed to sharpen them. Bull. I had some 24 inch oak that I ground on for over an hour and they were still not completely done. I got about 30 stumps done in 18 hours on the machine. Yours should go significantly faster with small pines. Anyway, plan on two days and see where you go from there.

 

[C.G.S.]

I have a High flow unit that I use on ether NH LX985 or the RC 100 A 4 " pine or cedar is about a 30 seconds to a 12" below grade 8" 90seconds or so. A 40" White oak with 24" above grade ground to 18" below grade along with most of the root structure maybe 40min to an 1 hour. SHARP TEETH ARE A MUST for production.I change and resharpen ever couple of days A Stump mill on an Excavator or a Rayco 275 will take maybe 5 minutes for that same white oak stump. Yard Type stump grinder are slow to postion and like flat terrain.

 

[SEMI-RETIRED]

Hi
3 yrs old they should go quick esp that small, you will
spend more time moving the machine than grinding the stumps LOL...

I have done 100 a day with my pto grinder on old stumps like that,
but it is quicker to move and setup...figure 3 days..

Bob..

 

[8934]

I think you will be doing really well do get it done in two days. As mentioned, it depends on how far apart stumps are, size, hardness, and if you have any problems.

 

[foggy1111]

Thanks for the replies. I get a little concerned with rental stuff...because you never know about the condition of the equipment...like the carbide teeth. How would a person sharpen the teeth on these grinders?....or can it be done?

 

[Erik_in_Hoyt]

I'd figure 20 minutes per stump on average - setup and all included. This also includes learning curve. Your first couple may take an hour to set up and grind. Your last couple only 5 min each due to practice and terrain... (also depends on condition of the unit you rent)

 

[daBear]

Thanks for the replies. I get a little concerned with rental stuff...because you never know about the condition of the equipment...like the carbide teeth. How would a person sharpen the teeth on these grinders?....or can it be done?

Yes, most definately teeth can be sharpened, but not by the dude that rented the grinder. Takes special jigs and wheels to do the carbide teeth right.

 

[C.G.S.]

Sharpening carbide require a diamond wheel or a green wheel.I use an EDM machine to do mine.Also wear a dust respirator the dust is bad news!!!

 

[kthompson]

Does they type of pine stump you have rot slow or quickly? Is it possible if cut for three years they would not be easy to push up with box blade or pull with it? Or how about a backhoe or small dozer if in alignment. If so sure would seem quicker.

Our most common pine here normally rot right fast but we have other pines that take plenty of time and depending on size will never fully rot. Their heart I know will last a hundred years or more as the sap protects it from rot and insects.

 

[Runner]

Foggy,

I recently rented a self-powered stump grinder to remove stumps as you describe. I think it took me about 15 minutes per stump. It took longer to repostion the grinder from place to place than it did to actually do the work because it moved VERY slowly.

In fact, I had one stump in the "south 40" that would have taken all day to reach, so I wound up loading the grinder back on the trailer and driving it there with the truck.

Price was $34/hour with two-hour minimum. The thing worked GREAT and I didn't have any problems with the teeth, although I only did about 10 stumps.

Keep it away from your wire fences though.....

 

[flusher]

How many hours will I spend to grind about 200 stumps to about 4 to 6 inches below the ground??

As soon as the ground thaws out here (April I hope) I plan to rent a VERMEER STUMP GRINDER from the local rental yard. The model they have is self propelled and sweeps hydraulically ...but I am unsure of the model number (SC252 ??).

The trees are all red pine and have been sheared off by the timer company before I bought the property...about three years ago. Most are about 4" above the ground and vary in diameter from about 8" to 14". The ones I want to grind are mostly along my trails....so they are fairly easy to access and mostly lined up...from one to another (plantation).

I am also concerned with issues about the teeth. Do teeth break or become dull if operated in too much soil? (my ground is all sandy loam) Is replacement a big factor? I am told the carbide teeth are pretty spendy.

I have never run a stump grinder.....so.....Is it reasonable to plan for about 100 per day? ....for a two day ordeal? ....If I work real hard and have a little help?

Thanks for any experienced replies.

That Vermeer is a nice unit, a lot nicer than the basic grinder I rented a few months ago to grind down a half dozen almond stumps

Most of these stumps were 8-12 " dia, but one was about 2-ft dia.
Didn't take long to learn to use the grinder effectively. The smaller stumps ground down to about 6" below grade in less than 5 minutes. The big stump took about 30 minutes.

Just be sure that the grinder you're renting has a good strong battery so you can restart quickly after the thing stalls (and it will stall, guarenteed). I suggest starting and stopping the unit several times at the rental place before hauling it to your jobsite just to be sure you don't get delayed by something stupid like not restarting easily.

100 per day? Sounds like a long day to me. My guess would be 3-4 days, but I'm an old geezer who gets tired out quickly.

 

[JiminGa]

for that many stumps I'd look at a skid steer with a stump grinder, it'd be alot faster to move and setup.

 

[foggy1111]

Does they type of pine stump you have rot slow or quickly? Is it possible if cut for three years they would not be easy to push up with box blade or pull with it? Or how about a backhoe or small dozer if in alignment. If so sure would seem quicker.

Our most common pine here normally rot right fast but we have other pines that take plenty of time and depending on size will never fully rot. Their heart I know will last a hundred years or more as the sap protects it from rot and insects.

I have been gone for a little R&R south of the border. So have not had a chance to reply..... These are red pines...mostly....and they do rot away fairly quickly. But, being as they are in my trails they gotta go now! I plan to try and pull/push a few of the small ones out...but I dont have the biggest tractor to do that.

I have more stumps to grind (all are pine and no more than 14" diameter) if the job goes reasonably smoothly....so....I'm going to check the rental yards to see what other types of machines are available locally...maybe that bobcat w/ stump grinder is an option or a larger vermeer machine may be just the ticket (thanks Curt). I think the pine stumps will grind quickly/easily.....it's all about time and the rental fees. Thanks for all the good advice.

 

[kthompson]

It may have been mentioned but I missed it. With the economy where it is, I would get a price from at least two people who grind stumps. It may be less than your rental fee.

There is also the issue when grinding stumps of what is left rotting and then having holes to fill in. This can go on for years. We had over 100 ground in our front yard from just a few inches to about 3 feet in diameter. That was from 8 to 11 years ago. For the last few years it has been to fill in the holes as what was left kept rotting. This probably will be no issue in woods but in trails think it will be a problem. I really think there you need to pull those stumps out. Again I would get quote on this but you may be better off there with excavator pulling them and digging what they can not pull. I have a 5 ton excavator and it can pull a pine stump here of about 6 inches right easy but a 14 inch stump, that would be a 20 minute or longer dig job. A 2 foot stump, oh that will be near an hour dig job as here that stump will have major roots from 5 yo 7 feet deep and almost full diameter that far down. Three foot stump...I ride by those.