Dedicated stump grinder vs skid steer with grinder attachment? Pros and Cons?

M

MrTunaCat

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So I've been looking into getting a larger stump grinder and was also interested in a skid steer. Is there any disadvantages to going the skid steer route? I see skid steers being sold on auction all the time for reasonable prices. I know the attachments are pricey as well but I feel a skid steer would be more versatile.

I would probably go with one of the larger models with at least 70hp. Wouldn't be great for going into back yards tho
 
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Access and lawn damage with the skid steer. I've taken the duals off of the Carlton to get through gates many times. I almost sold a job where we were going to crane the grinder over a fence with the Grove 60 ton.
 
A dedicated grinder will be faster/better.

An attachment will be less investment/more versatile.

I have 2 tracked skids, 1 stump grinder, no grinder attachments.
 
This has been discussed on many platforms.

The consensus is usually that grinder attachements on loaders are a poor substitute.

Partly because they don’t work very well and partly because the loader is tied up on the stump rather than doing more useful work.
 
Well, the latter part of what @Mick! says is true, but not necessarily the first part. A good example would be the Slashbuster attachment.


I have no connection to this company, but I have administered several site prep contracts where their products were used, have operated a track hoe equipped with one of their mulchers for a demo, and was always impressed with the efficacy and build quality.
 
The attachments can certainly perform... a stump grinder attachment on an excavator running a power pack would smoke most grinders, but that's outside the scope of most residential tree services.

My 72hp excavator with a grinder attachment couldn't hope to keep up with my 3200lb stump grinder that cost half as much, on normal ground. My 90hp track loader couldn't keep up with the dedicated grinder (85hp). I paid half what the excavator cost for the dedicated grinder, the track loader cost roughly a third more than the Rayco RG80.

The RG80 only weighs 3200lb. The track loader is 11-12klb and the excavator is 22-23klb.
 
I've rented a "40hp" mini skid with a sort of permanent grinder attachment. I didn't like it. The wheel would stall easily while hardly loading the engine, and it would bounce bad as if the attachment was on a hinge. I'd get a dedicated grinder with green teeth unless you rarely grind stumps.
 
Its not agressive enough, more than 80hp through it and it’s just skimming it.
When they say ‘conventional stumpgrinders have difficulty grinding under ground level because of soil blocking the sweep’ they’re wrong.
The problem is that as the chip builds up under the grinder wheels/tracks as it moves forwards it gets higher and higher and can’t get low enough, necessitating a bit of clearance.
Plus the operator in the vid doesn’t know how to grind (or the design of the machine has dictated that how it must be done) you hit it from 45% not from the top down, very inefficient.

 
Here's my grinder knocking out a 4.5' stump as measured 4' above grade. Solid stump, took 90 minutes... mountain of chips.



Here's an attachment on my smaller mini ex (47hp, 13klb)


And here's another video of my grinder at 8x, the first stump took under 10 minutes. This was with the original teeth, the Green Teeth are faster than the Rayco Super Teeth.
 
I would love a machine like that, I have access to the credit no problem, the problem is there isn’t the work for it out here.
 
They were considerably cheaper 3.5 years ago, and I got a decent deal then. 😂. I think I have ~140 hours on it now.
 
Mick! said:
Its not agressive enough, more than 80hp through it and it’s just skimming it.
When they say ‘conventional stumpgrinders have difficulty grinding under ground level because of soil blocking the sweep’ they’re wrong.
The problem is that as the chip builds up under the grinder wheels/tracks as it moves forwards it gets higher and higher and can’t get low enough, necessitating a bit of clearance.
Plus the operator in the vid doesn’t know how to grind (or the design of the machine has dictated that how it must be done) you hit it from 45% not from the top down, very inefficient.

Click to expand...

Why not ALAP the effing thing first.
90% of what they were grinding could have been removed with a saw in a minute.
That was just so stupid, it made my teeth hurt.
 
stig said:
Why not ALAP the effing thing first.
90% of what they were grinding could have been removed with a saw in a minute.
That was just so stupid, it made my teeth hurt.
Click to expand...
Standard on grinding videos to show the grinders effectiveness.
 
Nutball said:
I've rented a "40hp" mini skid with a sort of permanent grinder attachment. I didn't like it. The wheel would stall easily while hardly loading the engine, and it would bounce bad as if the attachment was on a hinge. I'd get a dedicated grinder with green teeth unless you rarely grind stumps.
Click to expand...
Would this have to do with loose, unmaintained belts?

Was it the hinge, coming from above or the side?
 
The problem with hydraulic drive stumper attachments is they rob the power compared to belt drive.
With smaller hp machines this becomes an issue.
 
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