I am appreciating a stump grinder more and more

[skyking1]

I used to love the challenge of a stump.
I was over at my friend's house with the 120, and these perfectly healthy fir stumps are kicking my arse.
I yarded a small one out last night when I was dropping off the machine. It did not go quietly.
Tonight I went over to get a couple and I was all of an hour and a half breaking them out of the earth. They have multi-level root systems that require a lot of root breaking.
I chose the 3' because it meshes with the 4 tine thumb properly, but tomorrow I am putting on the 2' with tiger teeth for root pruning.
I could not pick this one till I flipped it over and scraped it.


That's 3. I have about 8 more.



I think I'll save this 39" bastige for Easter Sunday.


Unless i get a lucky split on that, I will have to roll it to where it is going.

 

[Vetech63]

 

[mowingman]

I always like to leave about 5'-6' of tree sticking up from the ground. Then, it gave me a lot of leverage when working that darn stump out. Usually could dig out one or two sides, then with the leverage, just pull the stump over. However, I did have a 60HP diesel stump grinder, and a 44Hp grinder. I did most stumps more quickly and cleanly with one of the big grinders.

 

[John C.]

I had to drive over Snoqualmie Pass last week and saw they had started on the Highway 18 widening and interchange project. There is a clearing crew up the logging, clearing and grubbing the right of way. I saw they had used a rooster comb on all the fir stumps and broke them four ways. Another machine came along after and was picking the pieces out a quarter at a time.

 

[skyking1]

This is where I would like an old school 7 with the A-frame stump splitter hanging off the arch. Pop those bastards down low about 1/3rd over, twice. You get the point down in the armpit when you find it.

 

[skyking1]

I always like to leave about 5'-6' of tree sticking up from the ground. Then, it gave me a lot of leverage when working that darn stump out. Usually could dig out one or two sides, then with the leverage, just pull the stump over. However, I did have a 60HP diesel stump grinder, and a 44Hp grinder. I did most stumps more quickly and cleanly with one of the big grinders.

the logger did me no favors.

 

[CM1995]

How are you disposing of the stumps? If you have to load them out we need pics.

 

[skyking1]

They have some cedars that they are keeping, and I will drag that big bastige back behind them first and then make a windrow in the corner of his property. The quail and little birds will love it.
I can loop through there rolling it if I have to.

 

[mowingman]

Load them up and haul them off!!

 

[skyking1]

Oh sure, people are just begging for stumps like that. I should be able to sell them for $100 a piece on craigslist.
Around here there are no good sites to get rid of things like that.

 

[ianjoub]

View attachment 283381

 

[mowingman]

Oh sure, people are just begging for stumps like that. I should be able to sell them for $100 a piece on craigslist.
Around here there are no good sites to get rid of things like that.

We hauled a lot of big stumps to other properties where we had brush piles. Then got a recycling company to come in with a big grinder and chop everything up. They even hauled all the piles off about 50 miles to their composting facility. Never did hear what that cost, but the owners could sell all the land I could clear by the sq. ft., not by the acre, so price was really no object.

 

[John C.]

The grinder guys kind of went broke around here not charging enough and then didn't have the money to repair those self destructing monsters. Then the construction boom sunk and so did they. Counties got environmentally friendly and banned burning. So what do you do????

 

[skyking1]

Now they want to burn them, and she thought maybe by the end of summer

 

[skyking1]

I went out there after work and got some more out.
That big stump yielded about 3 pickup loads of roots before I could start prying it apart. 3 pieces and I could handle it.





Calibrated butt dyno had this chunk at 4k, after raking about a ton of clay and rocks out of it.

 

[skyking1]

The pile on the left is just that stump.


All schmeared down and ready to heal. Do not take anything with wheels across there.

 

[MG84]

Looks good. Worst stump battle of my life was on a 24” Black Birch on the edge of an old logging road in steep terrain. Was widening the road so it had to come out. I should have known better, but in my simple mind the tree was growing in the loose fill of the edge of the road so it be easy to dig out, wrong! Turns out the tree was there before the road was cut so the fill was actually just piled around the trunk, and the roots started at about 8’ down. How backfilling like that around it didn’t kill it IDK. Only equipment I had on hand was a Case 480e backhoe and 450c dozer. After the better part of the day digging and pushing with both the hoe and dozer I had it out. Where once was the logging road was now a pit 12’ deep and 20’ wide...

 

[Steve Frazier]

I recently cut a half dozen 18" diameter maples at work because they were shading the tennis courts and causing algea growth. I debated on digging vs grinding and gave them a shot with our Cat 304 mini, I wasn't sure I'd be successful. I had to dig all four sides but I got them out and after shaving the soil from the roots was actually able to pick them up. Took about 30 minutes each to get them loose. I was pretty impressed with that little machine!

I've got a 3 point PTO driven grinder for our 75hp New Holland tractor that works but is very slow, especially with hardwoods. I find a lot of times there are roots exposed above ground and those are hard to chase with the grinder.

 

[skyking1]

Looks good. Worst stump battle of my life was on a 24” Black Birch on the edge of an old logging road in steep terrain. Was widening the road so it had to come out. I should have known better, but in my simple mind the tree was growing in the loose fill of the edge of the road so it be easy to dig out, wrong! Turns out the tree was there before the road was cut so the fill was actually just piled around the trunk, and the roots started at about 8’ down. How backfilling like that around it didn’t kill it IDK. Only equipment I had on hand was a Case 480e backhoe and 450c dozer. After the better part of the day digging and pushing with both the hoe and dozer I had it out. Where once was the logging road was now a pit 12’ deep and 20’ wide...

OUCH! once you got started you were committed. Did you rebuild the logging road after?

EDIT:
I was going out to finish stumping on Sunday, but the forecast is the rainiest day of the year at about 2" of rain. I let them know that it would be a mistake to open the earth up that day.

 

[JaredV]

I had about a 30-36 inch ash that I barely managed to tip over with an old 490E. I cut the stump off and couldn't roll it out of the hole so we quartered it with the saw a couple feet down, cut a slot in the top to work the teeth into and was able to pry it apart.