stump removal

[flyerdan]

Remember the good old days when you could go to the hardware store and get a case of DuPont 40% and a box of blasting caps and knock a bunch of stumps loose enough to be pulled by just about anything?

 

[shadetree]

That was my first thought. DINE O MIGHT the thought that you can't do that anymore didn't even enter my mind. He wouldn't let me anywhere near but that's what my dad did when I was a boy but things were different 60 years ago.

 

[TractorGuy]

Mini excavators are a blast to operate but rental can get up high pretty quick and they tear the ground up something fierce. I rented a 7000 lb mini for a weekend and didn't get a lot done for my money. They are also limited and a big stump can take a fair amount of time to dig out. I dug some out the excavator wouldn't pick up to move so plan on dragging with your tractor after getting the big ones out. I also ran into some it just flat wouldn't dig out.

I have a pretty large project so I ended up buying a backhoe to tackle it myself. Even a 15,000 lb backhoe can take 2 to 3 hours of digging on a large stump.

For a small project I would get a quote from someone on having it done and compare that to the cost of rental. Problem is you won't know how much rental time you need till you get into it.

 

[Hiltz]

I have a barn that I am redoing that had grown up pretty bad with trees around it.. Just trying to clean up around the barn and make travel around it easier..

View attachment 463754

Looks to me like you need to dig up the barn and clean around the trees to make travel easier. Ok... Im just kidding

 

[Jim Timber]

Last year I had a 3 trunked basswood burning for 4 days and there was still 1/2 of it left when I got a buddy to come hit it with his 3pt grinder. 2 months later, I started building my own grinder.

As has been mentioned, when you dig one out, you end up with a stump that doesn't burn well and takes up a good amount of space. Digging for a foundation, you'll remove what's left of the roots when you excavate anyway. There's no down side to grinding them.

When you grind the center of the stump out, it makes pulling out the roots a whole bunch easier with your root grapple. Most of the time I just bring them down below the surface level. If I'm working an area that having decay would be negative, or where I might run a tiller, then I'll grind down to where there's nothing but roots left and then come back with the grapple and rip it all clean.

Granted, I have close to 60pto horsepower; but it's not a slow process (for me). I'd hate to have to grind more than a 12" stump with one of the rental gnawers they have at Home Depot for $250/4hrs. Their rental rates are what pushed me over into building my own - doesn't take more than a week to break even, and I have my own machine out of it.

 

[Mysfyt]

Last year I had a 3 trunked basswood burning for 4 days and there was still 1/2 of it left when I got a buddy to come hit it with his 3pt grinder. 2 months later, I started building my own grinder.

As has been mentioned, when you dig one out, you end up with a stump that doesn't burn well and takes up a good amount of space. Digging for a foundation, you'll remove what's left of the roots when you excavate anyway. There's no down side to grinding them.

When you grind the center of the stump out, it makes pulling out the roots a whole bunch easier with your root grapple. Most of the time I just bring them down below the surface level. If I'm working an area that having decay would be negative, or where I might run a tiller, then I'll grind down to where there's nothing but roots left and then come back with the grapple and rip it all clean.

Granted, I have close to 60pto horsepower; but it's not a slow process (for me). I'd hate to have to grind more than a 12" stump with one of the rental gnawers they have at Home Depot for $250/4hrs. Their rental rates are what pushed me over into building my own - doesn't take more than a week to break even, and I have my own machine out of it.

Jim, got any pictures or video of your grinder?

 

[Jim Timber]

I don't always wear orange, it was rifle deer season and that's the law here.

 

[carmedic310]

Problem with burning is sometimes the roots will burn underground.If a root burns anywhere something could catch fire it could turn into more of a hassle than its worth.I have a shaver SC25 grinder big stumps can take up to 4 hours to grind and i havent seen a stump yet over 10 -12 inches that don't grow rocks LOL.Just remember most places you rent a grinder will charge you for any teeth you break and it can get quite costly.

 

[Mysfyt]

I don't always wear orange, it was rifle deer season and that's the law here.

That is one solid unit you built there!

You look good in orange, BTW. (chuckle, chuckle.........)

 

[Jim Timber]

That is one solid unit you built there!

You look good in orange, BTW. (chuckle, chuckle.........)

It took some trial and error with lighter parts in a couple places, but it's not sweating anything anymore. I tried using pillow blocks on my up/down pins and they broke almost immediately. Then I replaced them with steel and ended up twisting the series 4 shaft 120 degrees about it's length and the binding of the shaft from being pretzeled ended up breaking one of the steel blocks replacing the bearings. So I replaced the pillow block replacements with heavier steel weldments and upgraded the shaft to a series 7. Now the only thing I want to change is adding a H-joint to the clutch U-joint and make it a double cardan instead of the single so it's not cogging at full swing and more than half lift.

The wheel is 3/4" steel, and the gear box is an 83hp Omni. I have the clutch set pretty soft so it'll spin instead of jarring the PTO output gears if you stick it. The red oak in that video was around 16" DBH and as you saw it took less than 6 minutes to make it vanish. Once I get my twin spool valve plumbed into the tractor's hydraulics instead of running off the rear SCV, I'll have more depth control with the hydraulic top link too. Getting that plumbing done is on the short list for this spring.