Pto Tractor Stumper

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CLEARVIEW TREE

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Anyone tried a WOODS,mfg pto driven stump grinder? I bought one last year and it's the best investment i've ever made. A bud that's an ISA arborist looked at it and couldn't believe his eyes! It's got a sandvik wheel with the 24 carbide teeth. The same wheel thats on his carlton grinder. Man this thing will eat up some stumps with very little vibe. Cost me 3700 out the door. I've got 20k in the new 29hp kubota 4wd tractor w/loader, the grinder, and a ripper/grader box! For me being a small tree service the kubota w/the pto grinder is several handy tools in one. I generally load my logs, grind, grade with the loader and in one trip i'm outta there! For a lot less than most reg grinders.:hmm3grin2orange:
 
Oh and there are no belts to change. It's got a bullet-proof diff. drive like a car sealed in fluid and a 5yr warranty . Ground with it reliably for almost a yr now.:clap:
 
Yeah I like that idea. So you got the small one, the model 50? Looks heavy duty and works well? Comes stock with the sandvik wheel? SOunds like a great little machine. Any other concerns so far?
 
Woods TSG50 pto stumper

Honest to God it cuts like a lazer. My friends got a carlton with a lombardini diesel and dont get me wrong its an awesome grinder, but ive seen his run and that tsg 50 of mine is a LOT faster with the torque of my 29 hp kubota pushin it! Dont know how i ever made it without it! I can go thru ten time more steep terrain and deep mud if needed with it on the 4x4 tractor too! I cringe at the thought of buyin a self propelled unit compared to what i payed for the woods tsg 50(3700 otd) It truly is unbelievable and i couldn't imagine it behind say a 40hp or a 50hp tractor-Just look out rg 50 guys:buttkick:
 
Only thing is the width of my tractor, ibelieve its like 48 inches, so your standard 36" gate is un passable. I have not ran into that small of a gate yet but in the event i do some subbing with the friend and his carlton ox!
 
I don't know much about grinders nor am I in the market for one, but I'm curious as to the drive train on this one. I know I've buggered up my pto clutch (internal) when brush cutting and hit a hidden stump. I don't have a slip clutch on the drive shaft so all the force went to the internal drive of the pto. Does this grinder have some sort of slip clutch just in case?

Later,
 
pto slip clutch

Yes the woods tsg 50 pto grinder has a slip clutch on it and only requires minor adj when needed(havn't yet)! The manual has all the details on the adjustment. Try one and you'll be hooked:rock:
 
So are you happy with the size tractor you went with or do you wish for a bigger one? Horsepower sounds good for the grinder. I had a JD 4600 before, great machine but big. It would load a trandem dump! I was thinking I was going to need over 50 horse to run a grinder but you say 29 is good. 48", is it tippy? What do you load your logs into?
 
kUBOTA W GRINDER

Nah corndogg its not tippy unless i drive sideways across a steep bank which i dont do. The 29 hp kubota pulls the grinder great. They rate the grinder for a 15pto hp-50pto hp. The model 2800 29hp is the perfect bal of power and weight, ne thing bigger would leave a big track, mine dont. I'm runnin r4 tread. They're a bit more, but worth it for good grass.:rockn:
 
Log Loader

Corndogg i load the logs into the chip truck. I just hook tongs on the front,pick the log up dead on the end perpendicular to the loader with about a ft of the end under the loader, tilt back and it pinches the log nice. Then just walk er in.:rockn:
 
So are you happy with the size tractor you went with or do you wish for a bigger one? Horsepower sounds good for the grinder. I had a JD 4600 before, great machine but big. It would load a trandem dump! I was thinking I was going to need over 50 horse to run a grinder but you say 29 is good. 48", is it tippy? What do you load your logs into?

I've got a JD 4600 hydro, I was thinking about a used grinder someday, but this does sound interesting, do you think it could handle a big Sugar Maple stump? I love my farmi winch with the otional dozer blade, its a sick piece of equipment on the right job, sits alot but when I need it it pays so well. Bought the tractor about 3 years ago and dont know how I survived without it because there are so many jobs I've done with it that I could have never done before- big money jobs. I've got a 48 backhoe too, soon I hope to get the forks attachment for planting on occaision as well.
 
PTO Stump Grinders

I started off with a woods/stumpbuster (the woods models are made by someone else) and it did not last. It was matched up to a NW TCA 55

Converted to a Miller PRO 75T and have not had any problems since then. It is a beast. The guy at Miller used to be a Vermeer design engineer. He makes alot of the parts himself and does the assembly, replacement teeth were $5 as of last year. If you do a weight comparison, you can see the differences, more metal in the Miller, I can not only grind side to side/up and down, but I can go in and out without moving the tractor and this reduces the number of times (usually no more than 2 for the really larger stumps, 1 set up for the smaller ones) to position the stumper over the stump. I grind mostly cherry, maple and beech with rocks interspersed (softer, sedimentary stuff, no granite). The Miller also has a plow so that when I am finished grinding, all I have to do is back up the tractor while adjusting the draft/depth of the plow to push the chips into the hole/smooth out the area if I am leaving the chips which is usually the case. The other model throws the chips all over the yard as they are chipped away from the tractor. You can set up sheilds for the Stumpbuster/woods but that is a hassle imho.

But hey, if the woods is working for you, great! The stumpbuster model was $4500 and the Miller was $7900. I was able to get most of my money back on the SC 50 stumpbuster fortunately. I also have a Morbark PTO chipper than runs off the tractor. I will group the stumps together and grind all at once instead of switching back and forth all the time. Most customers are ok with this at least for me.
 
cvdirt, which tractor do you have your miller on? How many horse? Would you say it could use more power and how is the weight on the back? Would you say you could leave the grinder on the back while driving around the yard collecting brush and loading it or is the unit too long to maneuver? Got any pics?
 
Yes the woods tsg 50 pto grinder has a slip clutch on it and only requires minor adj when needed(havn't yet)! The manual has all the details on the adjustment. Try one and you'll be hooked:rock:

I have never used a PTO driven grinder, so I appreciate hearing about these stump grinders. How do you run them ? From tractor hydraulic cylinders or a bank of valves that comes with the unit ? From the operators seat, or from the ground ?


However, I consider myself an expert on tractor drivelines, and I have a suggestion for you: loosen all the bolts on the slip clutch NOT LESS THAN ONCE PER YEAR, and spin the clutch disks loose.

The disks always rust/stick together eventually (unless you are constantly slipping them), then it requires massive torque to cause them to slip. Before you know it, it's not a slip clutch, it's just a big, heavy, oversized u-joint. Hit something hard enough, and then something more expensive breaks, because the slip clutch...didn't.
 
hmm

preciate the info man. The stumper has 4 lines and they quick connect into the loader control valve. If i've got like a lot of grinding to do i'll take the loader off(takes about 60sec for mine),and just connect the lines to the valve and real fast then. If it's just one, istill hook up the grinder lines and just temp set the loader flat down on the ground. Then when done takes bout 3-5 min too put the loader back on the tractor.Enjoy:cheers:
 
preciate the info man. The stumper has 4 lines and they quick connect into the loader control valve. If i've got like a lot of grinding to do i'll take the loader off(takes about 60sec for mine),and just connect the lines to the valve and real fast then. If it's just one, istill hook up the grinder lines and just temp set the loader flat down on the ground. Then when done takes bout 3-5 min too put the loader back on the tractor.Enjoy:cheers:

Thanks, that explains it, mostly.

I presume that it is mounted on a 3 point hitch. Do you set the unit on the ground, and just use hydraulics to move it around, or do you use the 3 point to raise & lower the wheel ? I would expect the draft links to allow the unit to wobble all over the place.
 
3pt mount. Large(larger than the loader cylinders) cylinders for up/down & side to side. The drifts are fixed and tite. The unit is 540lbs and trust me, it does not move around at all. ROI has been a lot more than the initial 3700 otd so think about that:cheers:
 
PTO's

pdq is correct, need to periodically engage the slip the clutch or when you do hit something that won't move, you will tear up the drive.

I keep the front end loader on with pallet forks or a tooth bucketfor weight distribution when the stumper is on the back. I have a 2nd set of hydraulics in the back that are plumbed into a 3 spool valve that is mounted on the back fender/ROPS area. The stumper has 6 hydraulic hoses coming off of it and they quick connect into the 3 spool valve. On the downside, I do have to partially twist around while in the seat but I sit sort of sideways to make myself more comfortable while operating the controls from the seat of the tractor, ect. The tractor is a New Holland Compact 4wd 55 hp turbo diesel and it handles the job just fine. This was NH biggest compact tractor at the time.
 
Has anyone seen one of these in action? http://www.stump-cutter.com/images/27.jpg I like the simple design. No gearbox. Looks cheaper. Just don't know if the thing would hold still while you grind. Chips flyin' everywhere. I would guess it works more like a stumper on a Hydro-axe where you just kinda stab at it verses sweeping across smoothly. Here's the site. http://www.stump-cutter.com/
 
Corndogg the pto grinder is very smooth. With the weight of it and the 3pt constantly applying pressure downward, it's snug as a bug in a rug. The grinder has been real reliable, hell the things got a 5yr, irepeat 5yr warranty on the gearbox and all! Name another that's got that. That's why i bought it. The grinder has payed for itself already bout 3 times in last year. You can;t go wrong. I was shocked at how well mine ground. I had heard " oh a pto grinder is hard on the tractor blah blah blah!" It was all bs. And to think i've used a vermeer 252 man that was a joke.:clap:
 

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