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Clearing Stumps.... best equipment??

Started by wfcjr, December 02, 2014, 03:14:55 PM

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mapleveneer

Quote from: wfcjr on December 02, 2014, 11:02:27 PM
Was considering a JD 60D or 60G in the 13,000# & 53hp range.

But am confused... some posters are suggesting Cat machines greater than 100hp, others
are saying excavators in the 50hp range would work well.  In any case, I am assuming that
a hydraulic thumb is a must.

Just my two cents worth...

It is hard to give advice without knowing the size of your stumps.  If they are fresh and from 24 in. Diameter trees, you need a big machine.  If they are apple trees you can push them out with your farm tractor. 

I purchased an 8000 lb mini excavator in 2010 and now dont know how i ever got by without it all these years.  It will do a lot, but big, fresh stumps are a challenge.  My suggestion: hire out your stumping then purchase a small excavator to use for years.  You wont regret it.

Somewhere i read that the largest component of maintenance costs for an excavator is in the undercarriage.  For a mini, rubber tracks are the way to go.  Much easier to maintain yourself.  Just to give you some ideas of scale, a new set of rubber tracks for my machine cost $1600 for the pair (and weighed 700 lbs!). Replacement track drive motors are in the range of $2500-3000 each.  Considering some of the repair costs you could run into on a used machine, you could hire out lots of stumping.

I have also heard good things about Brookside.

barbender

Too many irons in the fire

BEEMERS

So....are you going to tell us what it cost???

Piston

So.......Are you going to post more pictures of it in operation?   ;D
-Matt
"What the Lion is to the Cat the Mastiff is to the Dog, the noblest of the family; he stands alone, and all others sink before him. His courage does not exceed his temper and generosity, and in attachment he equals the kindest of his race."

wfcjr

Quote from: Piston on May 18, 2015, 01:24:42 AM
So.......Are you going to post more pictures of it in operation?   ;D

Will do in a few weeks.  Right now, trying to get my deer fields planted, help with the wife's garden and
get a bee hive established.

Also waiting on a stump ripper attachment.   Once that is in, will have the trenching bucket, finish bucket with hydraulic tilt and the stump ripper.  Should be all set, except for that one little thing called "experience".  Definitely need to grow into this suit.  Lots of learning to do.

Holmes

Yes lots of learning but it is fun.  My brother called running an excavator Addictive.  :)
Think like a farmer.

Piston

Quote from: Holmes on May 18, 2015, 04:08:14 PM
Yes lots of learning but it is fun.  My brother called running an excavator Addictive.  :)

I think I would agree with him if I had one as well, I dream of a mini or mid sized excavator someday!
-Matt
"What the Lion is to the Cat the Mastiff is to the Dog, the noblest of the family; he stands alone, and all others sink before him. His courage does not exceed his temper and generosity, and in attachment he equals the kindest of his race."

KiwiBro

Crikey. Clearing stumps? You are just a harvesting/processing head and log trailer away from  your own CTL operation with that thing.

Hmmm, I can't seem to find the jealous/drooling smiley.
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barbender

Quote from: KiwiBro on May 19, 2015, 04:57:34 AM
Crikey. Clearing stumps? You are just a harvesting/processing head and log trailer away from  your own CTL operation with that thing.

Hmmm, I can't seem to find the jealous/drooling smiley.

     I was thinking the same thing, don't give him any ideas :)
Too many irons in the fire

wfcjr

Quote from: KiwiBro on May 19, 2015, 04:57:34 AM
Crikey. Clearing stumps? You are just a harvesting/processing head and log trailer away from  your own CTL operation with that thing.


No won't happen.  But there is a dozer on the way too....

Hillbilly_89

Best way to clear stumps is with a front end loader or a track hoe.. I like the front end loader.. simply cut around the stump amd pop it up.. leave it in the sun for a week.. that let's the dirt dry after you have them all up cut you a BIG hole where you plan on burning them.. after they dry as you push them to the burn pile the dried dirt falls off.. burn them simply use the bucket to clear the ashes and cover them up.. been doing it that way for YEARS... no matter how big they're.. or how little.. a front end loader does the trick

thecfarm

Hillbilly_89,welcome to the forum.
Must not have many rocks where you are.  :)  I dig out one stump,I found 1-2 big rocks and about 20-30 smaller ones. The 1-2 are usually at least 3 feet across and then sometimes even bigger. Than I have to fill the hole in with dirt, and then found more rocks digging dirt for a stump hole.
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

Hillbilly_89

Oh ya no doubt do the rocks the same with the bucket.. if you're using the hoe we smash them with the buckets

wfcjr

Just got this stump ripper in.  Some folks had suggested that a ripper would be more effective in cutting roots, pulling stumps and put less pressure on the dipper than when stumping with a bucket.

Salesman who helped me with the excavator was able to get it made at Craig.
They offer a standard single tine ripper, but I wanted a double tine ripper.  Figured that the double tines would be handier when trying to pick up stumps.... particularly when paired with hydraulic thumb.   Steel on tines is 1 1/4" thick...very stout.  Front edges of tines are beveled. Total length is just over 44".  Was made so that the two tines will fit with our hydraulic thumb.  Hydraulic thumb has 3 tines.  Middle tine on thumb will fit in between tines of ripper.  Ripper tines will fit inside of outer thumb tines.  Have not used it yet, but will report when I do. 



  

 

NH-Murph

It might not necessarily be the best way, but a few pounds of tannerite and a .243 did a fine job on a couple stumps I had a vendetta against a few weeks ago...

beenthere

wfcjr
That looks like it will do a great job for you. Like how it can be used to pry out a stump, much like the leverage of a claw hammer to extract a nail.   

Look forward to some good pics and a video or two of it in action.
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

4x4American

Boy, back in my day..

Dixon700

It seems some of you guys were mentioning very large equipment for stumps.. I haven't found a stump yet that my 580sk couldn't remove in a timely matter most stumps it's about 5 scoops then you can pop them out. I wouldn't really want anything smaller than the 580sk though. I had a l2500 kubota with a 7.5' 3pt backhoe.  I had birch? Stump that had 2 trees about 18" in diameter coming out of it. It was about 18hrs of digging and then the stump with root ball was heavier than the tractor could even move.  The stump was heavy enough it made the rear of the 580sk light.
Ms 460 mag 25" b/c muffler modded 010av  14" b/c
94 case 580sk 04.5 ram 2500

4x4American

Lol.. I was delivering fill to a place this week, and they had a little kubota M59 there spreading the piles and such.  Well one day, I dumped my first load at 8am, and the guy (green operator, older guy) was prodding this decent size pine stump with the hoe.  He had already dug around it the day before.  Anyways, he was still there messing with that stump when I dumped my last load at 5pm.  I walked up to him and gave him my card said when you get sick of that stump give me a call I'll take care of it LOL
Boy, back in my day..

wfcjr

Quote from: 4x4American on June 30, 2015, 08:32:49 PM
Lol.. I was delivering fill to a place this week, and they had a little kubota M59 there spreading the piles and such.  Well one day, I dumped my first load at 8am, and the guy (green operator, older guy) was prodding this decent size pine stump with the hoe.  He had already dug around it the day before.  Anyways, he was still there messing with that stump when I dumped my last load at 5pm.  I walked up to him and gave him my card said when you get sick of that stump give me a call I'll take care of it LOL

When we were considering equipment for stump removal, our sights were set initially on some mini-excavators up to say 7.5-8 ton range.  Folks on this forum warned vociferously about going too light.  Very fortunate that they did. We went heavier due to the loud chorus of advice.

Dixon700

I'd  have to agree the bigger the better. I wouldn't want anything smaller than my 580sk for digging stumps. It digs them up pretty well though.
Ms 460 mag 25" b/c muffler modded 010av  14" b/c
94 case 580sk 04.5 ram 2500

Piston

I think it's all relative to what you use, and the stumps you pull.  Guys with 580 sized machines can dig any stump out there for the most part, but it may take ridiculously long on larger stumps.  Guys with little Kubota backhoes can usually dig out any stumps they come across as well, just takes longer. 

I rented a Kubota U25 mini ex a few weeks ago, and wouldn't want to attempt digging a stump out with it.  I used my old Dynahoe at around 20k lbs. to dig out a giant stump, took over 5 hrs.  Now I have a deere 410 (about the same as a 580) and I find that it's quicker for me to grind the giant stumps down than dig them out, and makes MUCH less of a mess. 

Now something like the larger excavators, especially with a ripper like you have, now that's the way to go!  I had an opportunity to run a few year old CAT 315 a few weeks back, and that was an impressive machine! 

Nothing beats the shear weight and power of a larger sized excavator!  Puts my little 16k lb backhoe to shame. 
-Matt
"What the Lion is to the Cat the Mastiff is to the Dog, the noblest of the family; he stands alone, and all others sink before him. His courage does not exceed his temper and generosity, and in attachment he equals the kindest of his race."

jdonovan

Quote from: 4x4American on June 30, 2015, 08:32:49 PM
Lol.. I was delivering fill to a place this week, and they had a little kubota M59 there spreading the piles and such.

Hey don't make the M59 guys feel inadequate. Its a great machine within its limits. Just have to remember its not a 25,000lb industrial machine. My problem with it, is I can dig out things I can't lift/move

What I really need is a 30k excavator, for a month but the wife is never going to go for that.

Piston

Quote from: jdonovan on July 12, 2015, 11:26:10 PM
Quote from: 4x4American on June 30, 2015, 08:32:49 PM
Lol.. I was delivering fill to a place this week, and they had a little kubota M59 there spreading the piles and such.

Hey don't make the M59 guys feel inadequate. Its a great machine within its limits. Just have to remember its not a 25,000lb industrial machine. My problem with it, is I can dig out things I can't lift/move

What I really need is a 30k excavator, for a month but the wife is never going to go for that.

The M59 is my dream machine at this point.  If I had the spare cash, I'd upgrade from my L4610 in a heart beat.  If I could afford an aftermarket cab for it, I'd sell the JD410 as well and consolidate down to one machine.  The 410 is almost useless to me for my paying jobs as I can't trailer it myself. 
-Matt
"What the Lion is to the Cat the Mastiff is to the Dog, the noblest of the family; he stands alone, and all others sink before him. His courage does not exceed his temper and generosity, and in attachment he equals the kindest of his race."

Dixon700

Quote from: Piston on July 12, 2015, 02:34:22 PM
I think it's all relative to what you use, and the stumps you pull.  Guys with 580 sized machines can dig any stump out there for the most part, but it may take ridiculously long on larger stumps.  Guys with little Kubota backhoes can usually dig out any stumps they come across as well, just takes longer. 

I rented a Kubota U25 mini ex a few weeks ago, and wouldn't want to attempt digging a stump out with it.  I used my old Dynahoe at around 20k lbs. to dig out a giant stump, took over 5 hrs.  Now I have a deere 410 (about the same as a 580) and I find that it's quicker for me to grind the giant stumps down than dig them out, and makes MUCH less of a mess. 

Now something like the larger excavators, especially with a ripper like you have, now that's the way to go!  I had an opportunity to run a few year old CAT 315 a few weeks back, and that was an impressive machine! 

Nothing beats the shear weight and power of a larger sized excavator!  Puts my little 16k lb backhoe to shame.
how big are these stumps? 5hrs with a 20k lb excavator?  With my 580sk a 3' diameter stump is like 20min. 5hrs of solid digging is a ton of dirt. I love my backhoe because of the sheer versatility.  There isn't too many jobs it can't accomplish well.
Ms 460 mag 25" b/c muffler modded 010av  14" b/c
94 case 580sk 04.5 ram 2500

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