Stumpin 2538

[bindian]

What ever turns your crank. I want the stumps gone and the BH isn't getting the job done in a reasonable fashion. From the videos it doesn't look like such a big deal to me and the user I know didn't report anything detrimental even with the smaller Deere tractor he has driving it.

Someone seems grumpy. Guess your another person that bought too small a tractor (and backhoe) for the intended jobs. Have you asked for bids in removing all your stumps?:confused3: I know your dead set on getting a grinder, but others reading this may see it differently.

OP...................sorry to have hi jacked your thread.
hugs, Brandi
Brandi

 

[bindian]

Ripper finger has its place but to be honest, if the roots are further down then 16-20" it is hard to get at them without digging some dirt out of the way. That cherry was actually a big stump with those two main connection roots in the 6-8" category. Cherry had shallow roots and the ripper finger was fine for that. Those oaks... I am down 5-7 feet all the way around and it is clear as day my work is under the stump not around it. I only have about 30 stumps left. I can't wait to pass on my hard earned knowledge at the end of it all.

On a side note, I know that the 2538 couldn't handle a stump auger, but has anyone looked at that atom splitter? Send that down in a few spot on the face of the stump to softener her up a bit. Then pick/pluck away? http://www.theatomsplitter.com How about team that thing up with a forward/reverse gearbox? Do I smell another week in the dog house coming?

I like stump grinders but put all the "toy" money into what I have so I sorta painted myself into a corner... as far as getting more equipment right now. Does look like it taxes the machine a bit.

Oledadger,
That splitter looks better than a log splitter. No more manually moving chunks to the splitter. But look at the size of that gearbox. Does it take a lot of hyd. gpm to run it?

I took out a huge old pine stump. It had been there before I bought the property. So it had been cut down 13+ years. I had to dig down to 8 feet to get to the tap root. At 8 feet, it was still a foot in diameter. That stump took me a while to dig out with a lot of pushing back and forth, weakening the tap. Water was standing in the hole, so I couldn't get a chain saw down there to cut the tap.
hugs, Brandi

 

[dickfoster]

Someone seems grumpy. Guess your another person that bought too small a tractor (and backhoe) for the intended jobs. Have you asked for bids in removing all your stumps?:confused3: I know your dead set on getting a grinder, but others reading this may see it differently.

OP...................sorry to have hi jacked your thread.
hugs, Brandi
Brandi

No it would take a really big BH to remove some of these things. I got the tractor mainly for pushing snow out of the driveway. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. I have a lot of stumps too so got the BH for those and other odds n ends around the place. The tractor is well sized for my property and what I use it for. It came in very handy when we redid the front hardscaping and landscaping a couple of weeks ago.
At only two grand for this grinder I don't think I'd be getting in over my head cost wise to get these things gone and I'd be money ahead after selling it compared to paying someone else to make them vanish. I'm getting about half of them with the hoe but the larger and fresher ones need grinding or else a large excavator or hoe and then you still have the hole and the stump to deal with. The nice thing about grinding is that there is no hole and no stump left, just mulch.
I have a good sized pile of stumps that I've pulled already. If I get the grinder I'll probably be wishing they were back in the ground so I could simply grind them up.
If I'd seen this thing before I bought the tractor with the hoe, I likely would have got it instead of the hoe however at the time all the grinders I saw cost like a backhoe and that just didn't make any sense to me. In fact I still don't know why they cost so much. However this one seems to be priced about right for what I need.
If anything I erred on a larger tractor than I need rather than too small of a machine.
Others can see it anyway they want, I don't really care. I know what I need to get the job done and for stumping you're better off with a grinder any day of the week but they are useless for digging a trench or for moving rocks around so I'll keep my hoe and sell the grinder when it's one and only task is complete. Like any other tool, it's just the best tool for the job.
Sure if you keep at it long enough I suppose you could fell a tree with a Swiss Army knife but you're much better off with a chainsaw especially if you have a lot of trees to take down.

 

[seaneastok]

Someone seems grumpy. Guess your another person that bought too small a tractor (and backhoe) for the intended jobs. Have you asked for bids in removing all your stumps?:confused3: I know your dead set on getting a grinder, but others reading this may see it differently.

OP...................sorry to have hi jacked your thread.
hugs, Brandi
Brandi

X2 Brandi..:thumbsup: I've kept quiet for quite awhile,But since DF has bought the machine he seem's to be none to pleased with it,given all of the rant's about shoddy BH install,negative comments,worthless manual etc...Another thing people don't seem to understand is you can grind any stump below grade ,and then it is left to slowly rot and create an eventual hole. Hopefully one remembers where they were before building anything over it or pouring a slab etc..
Regard's
Sean

 

[bindian]

X2 Brandi..:thumbsup: I've kept quiet for quite awhile,But since DF has bought the machine he seem's to be none to pleased with it,given all of the rant's about shoddy BH install,negative comments,worthless manual etc...Another thing people don't seem to understand is you can grind any stump below grade ,and then it is left to slowly rot and create an eventual hole. Hopefully one remembers where they were before building anything over it or pouring a slab etc..
Regard's
Sean

Sean,
Yep, you are so right about a hole remaining after all is rotted and gone. People find out the hard way that builders won't even build over a grinded out location and guarantee it.

Oh wow..............I forgot about the part numbers not in his manual rant.
hugs, Brandi

 

[Oledadger]

Too thick of skin to be worried about a thread being 'stolen', heck, I like all the comments. DF x2 on what you said about your machine and decisions you made. Literally the same thought process on my end. BH is real nice of certain stuff.... oh, and I always wanted one if nothing more then to show my garden shovel and wheel barrow who is moving up in the world!

The atom splitter is an attachement that goes in place of an auger bit on a post hole digger. So you are running a post hole gear box with that screw on the end. My only worry would be sending it home into something, shearing the pin then looking around with the ever so familiar 'what now' look on my face. Assuming the gear box doesn't mind turning it.

Buying any machine these days comes with pros and cons unless you're doing something you have done before. MY old cub cadet 1450 spent more time in the garage then cutting grass and my 9n/8n conglomerate of a tractor sure liked its rebuild but in the end, I still had a dangerous machine that was a workout to get anything done with. I bought my 2538 to cut grass and figured I might as well carve a backyard out of the woods while I am at it. Make driveway, install fencing, stack wood really high for ultimate bonfires... and food plots for me and all my neighbors and half the guys I work with. 80 hours on it now and I am happy. Opened the manual for the same chuckles everyone else seems to open it for. Other issues, have come and gone, my dealer is great to work with and over all optimistic to hit 2999 hours before I trade it in for one with a cab (hoping back hoe work is done by then)

 

[bindian]

I have a good sized pile of stumps that I've pulled already.

Sure if you keep at it long enough I suppose you could fell a tree with a Swiss Army knife but you're much better off with a chainsaw especially if you have a lot of trees to take down.

Burn the stumps with the limbs and chunks. Keep repiling the burning limbs and chunks with your grapple or backhoe thumb. The stumps will burn up then.

A chainsaw is the worst tool to use to take trees down if you want the stumps out also. Dig it and push it over. Then have chainsaw fun.
hugs, Brandi

 

[Snowback]

My friend and co worker said he sold the stump grinder. He said years ago he paid around $15,000 for it. Now, he guesses around $20,000. It was 36 inches wide, so it fit through back yard gates. He got tired of dealing with homeowners who wanted every chip removed and the yard completely cleaned. PITA stuff. He had to pay for a broken window and never really made money. Basically just a tax deduction. He did say it would be a good machine for a company that is tree service related.

I just can't see long time use for any grinder. Buy it, use it, then sale it.
hugs, Brandi

Thanks for checking Brandi. I think you are right about long term owning of a grinder, unless you have a decent amount of new work each year from falling trees perhaps. Last year we had an great guy out of Huntsville bring an awesome large stump grinder to our place to destroy the huge pine stumps that were lining the road out front. He pulled it with a 3/4 ton Chevy single cab 4x4, and then hooked it up to a front receiver hitch he had for maneuvering. The thing had about a 5-6' hydraulic ram that allowed him to position close to a stump and even reset if needed. He could destroy a monster stump in about 5-10 mins. All of the power went to the grinder hydraulics as it had no drivetrain. Ended up taking out about 60 med - larger stumps in a row for right at $600 in just three hours. Nice hourly rate, but still a decent deal to me. I believe it was about a $50 grand unit. I believe it. If anyone around North Houston needs big or numerous stumps ground up like they were butter, check out Bobby Hoke Stump Grinding. It is a wider unit and probably needs an 8-10ft gate to pass through.

Yeah just search for this thread "Stump Grinder Woodland Mills WG24" and it should pop right up.
It seems they sold out and it will be Oct sometime before they have more in stock.
The company is in Ontario, Canada but I think they get the machines made in China like everything else these days.
Another guy in the thread went and looked at one and reported back saying that it was solid and well built.
The same outfit makes a chipper I'm looking at too but they wouldn't work a package deal for me.
Funny thing, they have free shipping on their chippers, fancy that. I bought a BroTek ripper tooth also made in that neck of the woods and they mailed it. Funny thing about the Canadians and shipping from the way we do it I guess.

I'll get right on that thread search - Thanks. I too saw it was a Canadian Company. We have no shortage of trees and stumps up there, so it must be a really great machine.

 

[dickfoster]

X2 Brandi..:thumbsup: I've kept quiet for quite awhile,But since DF has bought the machine he seem's to be none to pleased with it,given all of the rant's about shoddy BH install,negative comments,worthless manual etc...Another thing people don't seem to understand is you can grind any stump below grade ,and then it is left to slowly rot and create an eventual hole. Hopefully one remembers where they were before building anything over it or pouring a slab etc..
Regard's
Sean

Well the BH install was shoddy and the manuals are truly crap. Maybe if more people bitched about them Mahindra would breakdown and fix them. Otherwise I like the tractor. Or are you one of those people who wouldn't say crap with a mouth full of it? The first step in solving any problem is to first recognize the problem and the manual thing is a very easy one to fix. It's a shame to drag down an otherwise great machine with all the little chickenshit, eleventh hour stuff like Mahindra does. It's like seeing a Ferrari. It looks sleek, sexy and shiny, it sounds just great like a Ferrari should, then you open the door and find a milk crate to sit on.

I just want the stumps out of my sight. Since it's forest the holes from the rotted subsurface stumps would likely fill in on their own given time. I have no plans to build anything over them. It's probably been logged several times in the past and I just want a nice clean well maintained forest look. This place was an overgrown disaster and a fire waiting to happen when I moved in but now that I got it all cleaned up, all those stumps are there ruining the looks of it.

 

[dickfoster]

Burn the stumps with the limbs and chunks. Keep repiling the burning limbs and chunks with your grapple or backhoe thumb. The stumps will burn up then.

A chainsaw is the worst tool to use to take trees down if you want the stumps out also. Dig it and push it over. Then have chainsaw fun.
hugs, Brandi

Burn is a bad word around these parts. LOL We've had quite enough burning going on thank you very much. Not as bad around here this year though, it seems it's Southern California's turn again. Besides I don't have the trees, just the stumps to deal with. The trees were logged out some years ago in the past. All ages and all sizes.