What Size Excavator For Digging Big Oak Stumps

[dsmith006]

Hello! My name is David Smith, I'm new to the forum here. I've referenced this forum countless times for information on all sorts of things, so first off I'd like to thank everyone for their help!

I've got a small land clearing business and I do all sorts of odd jobs with a WIDE array of equipment (mostly midsize), but i'm fairly inexperienced with large equipment (40k lbs +).

I've got 19 acres that is fixing to be logged, it's mostly old growth oak with some pine. Most of the stumps are going to be 24-36" oak stumps with the occasional pine stump mixed in. I'm looking at renting a John Deere 290 to dig the stumps with, I want a 350 but none are available locally. My question is, will this 290 dig these stumps adequately? I don't want to spend 10 minutes on every stump digging it out.

I've dug PLENTY of these size stumps with my equipment now, most of which I've done with an older Case 688 trackhoe or a newer 310J backhoe. I can dig a 36" oak stump in about 20-30 minutes depending on ground moisture with these.

I want something that can just man handle these stumps, and if the 290 won't do it economically, I'd be better off branching out further and bringing a 350 in.

Let me know what you guys think!

Thanks again for all your help!

 

[denis871]

David
I think that you will be fine with the 290. We dig 24'' oaks out with our 200 all day long. A 350 would be awesome but a little overkill.

 

[buckfever]

A 290 would do you fine but I would see if the rental house can also send you a thumb with it. That will make moving anything you dig up a lot easier to move around or stack.

 

[HighFly27]

I have Shale that think's it Concrete and need to dig it with a Ripper Type Bucket. I have a friend that told me about the Ripper's Kits that attach to the back side of your bucket. I checked into them, ESCO and Hensley Sell them. Go to their web sites and look up -- Frost or Ripper Buckets. I liked the Hensley Design the best. You can adjust it out or pull the Ripper Shanks out by removing two pins, the ESCO is similar.

I have another friend that has a set of rippers off a old machine and I plan on welding up my own Rippers on my 24 inch bucket. Also, I know a man that has this same Ripper on his hoe bucket and he loves it. He has dug Tuff Shale and taken out tree stumps and it works A Ok.

My Point, if you had a Ripper Mounted on the back side of your bucket, then...the Oak Stump Removal will be fairly easy... without a lot of mean digging.


Avery

 

[CM1995]

Welcome to the Forums dsmith006! :drinkup

A 290 should handle the task well. I can tell you're from the South, what are your soil conditions? The soil type can affect productivity to a degree but a 290 is a nice size machine for stumping work.

 

[dsmith006]

Thanks for the input guys!

Buckfever I'll REQUIRE a thumb on the rental, I couldn't dream of using a trackhoe without one, especially since I'll be doing a lot of cleanup work on the area while digging the stumps.

Highfly27, I would love to have a ripper on there, and I'll ask the rental company if they might can run one down for me. It would sure help breaking some of those roots. I've watched some Youtube videos of a guy with a stump ripper on a 290 and it seemed to do pretty well.

CM1995, you definitely tagged me right. North Louisiana, born and raised. I'm honestly not 100% sure of the soil conditions... but the area is somewhat prone to gumbo... which doesn't help things any when digging.

I've got a channel on YouTube with lots of equipment videos and other stuff. If ya'll get bored, check it out! I'll definitely have some videos up of the 290 doing all sorts of work when the time comes. Channel name is : Teamgorilla18.

Thanks again for the input guys!
David

 

["acidoil"]

I do ti with my Deere 120c not too bad. If I was doing it all the a smaller bucket would be nice. I have a .75 cyd, 36" bucket. I smaller hole would be nice. It would leave more compacted dirt behind.
John

 

[CM1995]

CM1995, you definitely tagged me right. North Louisiana, born and raised. I'm honestly not 100% sure of the soil conditions... but the area is somewhat prone to gumbo... which doesn't help things any when digging.

This gave it away -

I've got 19 acres that is fixing to be logged, it's mostly old growth oak with some pine.

I am not familiar with gumbo so no advice there. Is the gumbo clay, sand, soup or ****.

Currently working on a dollar store site in an older part of town that has the worst yellow and green clay I have dealt with. The stuff is very, very nasty. We undercut the bldg pad 5' and undercutting the parking lot 3' in some places. When it comes out of the bucket it's the shape of the bucket, kinda like play dough. The only thing to do with it is haul it to the dump.

The ironic part is there is solid rock anywhere from 3' to 8' down on the site. The clay layer won't hold a truck up and then there's solid rock. I had to set a pre-cast inlet box high due to running into rock at 3'. The sign guys ran into rock at 6-8' when drilling their piers. We'll have to cut the box down to match the gutter line.

 

[dsmith006]

Ahh yes we call it gumbo here, I thought the name was more widespread!

Its basically 100% sticky clay, the stuff we have over here is gray in color. It is impossible to wash off, and sticks to EVERYTHING!! Sounds like you might be working with a form of it there. I dug a boat canal through it once and it's so sticky I would have to beat the bucket on the ground to get almost every scoop of it out. It's really no fun to work with!

One thing is for sure, I don't have to worry about hitting rock!

 

[HighFly27]

http://larsonripper.com/photosvideos.html

Dsmith006 and All,

This (above) is a link for the Larson Ripper design. They have 3 video's showing their Ripper. One shows the ease of installation, the 2nd. ripping tough digging on the back of a bucket on a JD hoe; the 3rd is ripping asphalt out.

Again, the ESCO and Hensley have similar designs but weld on. The Larson Ripper is -- Pin / or Bolt On Design. It's just a thought for you, I see this Ripper as the Great Equalizer. I will (nearly) have to put one on my excavator to dig my tuff shale out and save me from chopping and beating the hoe up. I'm putting in a Mtn. road and have about 150 to 200 tree's to take out on a 2 mile road. I'm thinking the ripper will be valuable here as well to take all those stumps out.

Avery