Stump grinding
- Thread starter Treeaddict
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flushcut
TreeHouser
Horse power is your friend grinding stumps. More ponies more better! 4”s is ok for growing grass but may brown out in a dry spell. Small stumpers NEED sharp teeth to be effective and not waste huge amounts of time. More importantly with low horse power stumpers is to keep any and all knives and firearms far away as the urge to harm yourself is strong. A sun shade/umbrella is strongly recommended and possibly a respirator when grinding curbside street trees, lots of asbestos break dust if the ground is dry.
Treeaddict
Treehouser
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #3
I didn’t think that asbestos was still used in brake pads. I know Raybestos is still a trade name but assumed its product was reformulated.
Kaveman
Treehouser
Every car that's driven by that tree it's whole life, is the issue. Asbestos is brakes is mostly a thing of the past, but so is heartwood.
SeanKroll
Treehouser
Definitely a respirator.
Lower, front 1/4 of the wheel is the cutting zone.
Surface roots toward the center.
Start in the dirt, outside the main stump.
Grain- orientation matters.
Lower, front 1/4 of the wheel is the cutting zone.
Surface roots toward the center.
Start in the dirt, outside the main stump.
Grain- orientation matters.
Treeaddict
Treehouser
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #6
How should I line the cutter wheel up with the grain? Is it more about pushing straight into it or coming down on it?
lumberjack
Young man on the go
A 6' stump has 4x the wood of a ~3' stump and 10x the wood of a ~2' stump. Definitely not something I'd want to do with a handle bar machine.
I generally go a minimum of 8" below common grade. On stump that large the dirt around the stump could be mounded a foot above common grade.
You want the centerline of the wheel above what you're cutting, so the tooth is cutting along the grain as much as practical.
Why are you starting such a large stump?
I generally go a minimum of 8" below common grade. On stump that large the dirt around the stump could be mounded a foot above common grade.
You want the centerline of the wheel above what you're cutting, so the tooth is cutting along the grain as much as practical.
Why are you starting such a large stump?
Treeaddict
Treehouser
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #8
@lumberjack The reason for starting so large is that it’s for my parents and we removed the tree.
So you’re saying mound all the dirt/wood chips about a foot above grade? Suppose it settles.
When does grass seed get applied?
So you’re saying mound all the dirt/wood chips about a foot above grade? Suppose it settles.
When does grass seed get applied?
Treeaddict
Treehouser
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #9
lumberjack
Young man on the go
No, the common grade is where the grade would be if there never was a tree there. On a 6' stump the roots will normally have a mound around the trunk that could be a foot higher than the common grade.
That stump looks considerably smaller than 6' in diameter.
Grass won't grow on wood chips. If you're planting grass, remove the wood, add dirt, plant grass.
Would anyone care to give an estimate on what you'd charge to grind that stump? I'm curious as to how the cost breaks down vs renting a machine. A strategy for maximizing profit might be accumulating a few grinding jobs, then getting a week rental at a time, rather than doing them on an individual basis.
Treeaddict
Treehouser
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #12
The 54” bar was completely consumed on the last cut and I added a little for the flare.
Appreciate all your help and input!
Treeaddict
Treehouser
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #13
Yeah, most guys gather 3-4 stumps and then rent the machine and bang em out. I’d be curious of the cost as well including removing debris.
Edit to add: there’s quite a bit of surface roots.
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lumberjack
Young man on the go
That picture isn't great for seeing the root mound, which can greatly increase the grinding time. Like on the video I posted, the stump was 4.5' in diameter (measure one way, measure 90* to that and average), but it was 4' tall. I forget but I think it was 9' or 11' where the grass started.
This stomp from a couple weeks ago was 4-5' in diameter. It took 30-35 minutes to grind. 40 minutes between pictures, I smoothed out the chips with the mini after running it over to the neighbor's to move a chunk of wood off the next stump to be ground. The tree was part of a job bid with our daily minimum in mind. I'm estimating this stump was probably around $300 of the job.
The butt of the log:
lumberjack
Young man on the go
Another tree/stump from this month, a ~3' pine. You can kinda see the mound from the roots above "common grade". Took 24 minutes. Would have probably been a $250 bid if it was a stand alone grinding job.
Marc-Antoine
TreeHouser
When the tree installs its roots, it sneaks into the ground like you do in your bed under the blankets. So, the soil'level rises as much as the volume of wood contained in the stump and the roots. Actually a little less, as there's some compression of the dirt between the main roots. That is, for a tree naturally grown in place from a seed. If it was planted or it had some ground work around it, this blurs seriously the picture.
When the tree disappears and the fungi digest the wood, the soil comes back to its initial level. That can take quite a long time though.
I've done some 5' stumps with my baby grinder, not in 35 minutes but more around 1.5 day.
Most of the time, first, I remove the obvious part of the cone of dirt with a pickaxe to make my reference level. I shovel this dirt aside.
Then, I grind the stump flush to the said level. The chips are mostly wood and easily removed.
I take again the pickaxe to dig the dirt around the stump and main roots to about 6-8" deep by the same in width, dirt shoveled aside. This gives more "clean" dirt, gives some room to put lower the guards and bearing of the (small) grinding wheel and the teeth see less dirt/sand/gravel (the lifetime of the edges is noticeably enhanced).
Stump grinder again, this time, nose down to the final level, around 8-10" deep. The deepest I went was about 16". Batch by batch, I shovel aside the debris, trying to sort what is mainly wood and what is mainly dirt. For the big stumps, I fill back part of the hole with the "mainly dirt" and dirt to push and operate my stump grinder over it.
At the end, I finish to fill back the hole with the remnant of the dirt's pile. Usually, I come pretty close of the general ground level.
That takes time and it"s labor intensive, but I'm pleased with the result. I have less weight to evacuate (fewer dirt in the chips) and usually no dirt to bring back.
When the tree disappears and the fungi digest the wood, the soil comes back to its initial level. That can take quite a long time though.
I've done some 5' stumps with my baby grinder, not in 35 minutes but more around 1.5 day.
Most of the time, first, I remove the obvious part of the cone of dirt with a pickaxe to make my reference level. I shovel this dirt aside.
Then, I grind the stump flush to the said level. The chips are mostly wood and easily removed.
I take again the pickaxe to dig the dirt around the stump and main roots to about 6-8" deep by the same in width, dirt shoveled aside. This gives more "clean" dirt, gives some room to put lower the guards and bearing of the (small) grinding wheel and the teeth see less dirt/sand/gravel (the lifetime of the edges is noticeably enhanced).
Stump grinder again, this time, nose down to the final level, around 8-10" deep. The deepest I went was about 16". Batch by batch, I shovel aside the debris, trying to sort what is mainly wood and what is mainly dirt. For the big stumps, I fill back part of the hole with the "mainly dirt" and dirt to push and operate my stump grinder over it.
At the end, I finish to fill back the hole with the remnant of the dirt's pile. Usually, I come pretty close of the general ground level.
That takes time and it"s labor intensive, but I'm pleased with the result. I have less weight to evacuate (fewer dirt in the chips) and usually no dirt to bring back.
lumberjack
Young man on the go
That reminded me of part of an atypical job we did on a construction job last year at MSU. Had to grind down to the engineered depth/through the bottom of the stump, excavate the material, and backfill with specific dirt. This was part of a larger job and 45 miles from the house... this was probably $3-4k of the job, including the select fill/imported dirt/the red clay.
50 minutes later, measuring the grade/cut.
Another hour, second stump ground and excavated:
Finished, around 4.5 hours start to finish including lunch off site. Hauled 35klb of dirt/chips from the hole, put a semi load (50klb) of dirt back.
50 minutes later, measuring the grade/cut.
Another hour, second stump ground and excavated:
Finished, around 4.5 hours start to finish including lunch off site. Hauled 35klb of dirt/chips from the hole, put a semi load (50klb) of dirt back.
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Mick!
TreeHouser
That is some intense stump grinding there.
Lovely machine as well.
Lovely machine as well.
Kaveman
Treehouser
"50klb"
Sir, describe to me, what I can only assume, is a "Kilopound"? How many kilopounds does a waterchicken weigh?
Mellow
BCMA
k=1,000, thus 50,000 pounds
Mellow
BCMA
I'm pretty sure you could hire a local stump guy to do that job for the same or less than the rental fee.
That's kinda been my impression. They're like pools. It's better to have a friend with a pool than own one yourself :^D
I could be wrong. I didn't think I'd like brushcutters, but I find it uniquely satisfying going to a site, and really tearing shit up.
I could be wrong. I didn't think I'd like brushcutters, but I find it uniquely satisfying going to a site, and really tearing shit up.
lumberjack
Young man on the go
That was my impression... I've never heard of someone enjoying a rental stump grinder experience.
For me, profit margins grinding stumps have always been substantially more viable than mulching here in the South. Mulching you'll have $130k minimum in your CTL and mulching head (new), easily $150k, and people still charge $150-175hr. I have less than half that in my grinder (although they're $80k now), I can tow it with my car, and the hourly rate is at a minimum double that.
There is more mulching work than stump grinding work, but there's also more bush hogging work than mulching, not interested in that either. 😂
Burnham
Woods walker
Some jobs are so unbearably boring, or pay such slim margins, or are sufficiently morally ambiguous, or force you to deal with such generally unpleasant people that a wise man simply never goes down that path 
.
Of course, sometimes it's not clear just which jobs fall into this category.
Such is life...
.Of course, sometimes it's not clear just which jobs fall into this category
. Such is life...
Well, that's a cool thing about renting a stump grinder. Even if it doesn't make maximum economic sense, it's fairly cheap way to see what it's about. I'd be willing to give it a try, but I still think offering a flowerpot to put on the stump is a better approach :^D
