If you wait till next winter you could hire me for room and board to run your machine!!! If you know what your looking at a 20 ton exc. can be bought right. I got a fairly nice 7000 hour machine with thumb for 25,000 this winter. I would think sand would be easy to get them out. The only thing about an excavator is they are great for digging but real slow moving things. Around here we sometimes we dig the stumps out then dig about 4 or 5 foot deeper and roll the stumps in upside down and bury them. It's mostly pasture land.