kkottemann
ArboristSite Operative
Does anybody sharpen thier stump grinder teeth? I have a vermeer and would like to use a greenwheel to sharpen my dull sets of teeth. I have never attempted it before and would like some feedback on the issue.
sharpening stump grinder teeth
- Thread starter kkottemann
- Start date
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I have always sharpened my own stumper teeth, I suppose it is my cheap nature as a farmer and a Certified arborist. There are no real tricks to this operation, however you must obey some rules of common sense. If you are going to proceed, the first thing that you should do is make sure that the green wheel that you purchase is matched to the RPMs of your grinder. The second thing is that you MUST wear a appropriate dust mask, and I would recommend goggles rather that safety glasses. How you perform the actual grinding depends on which style or type of teeth you are sharpening.
kkottemann
ArboristSite Operative
I have a vermeer sc252. the teeth I use are the standard vermeer teeth. How should I sharpen the tooth?
1CallLandscape
ArboristSite Operative
Which kind of teeth do you have??? ( pocket, green, or the 1 piece tooth vermeer) let me know and ill post some pics. and yes goggles are a MUST, a dust mask is real important...those greenwheels make a crap load of dust. get a medium grit wheel. the coarse ones dont produce a good edge and the fine ones take too long to grind with. DONT, with any tooth, grind on the flat part. you will be grinding from the front toward the shank and matching all factory angles as best as possible. they do have guages to help with this. my greenteeth i put on a drill in reverse and grind away to get a round tooth. hope this helps.
-mike
-mike
kkottemann
ArboristSite Operative
I have the standard vermeer one piece tooth. Pics would be great. I need to know exactly how and where to grind. I will surely wear a mask and goggles. Thanks for the help.
l2edneck
Small Job Specialist
i usually grind down the metal lip <usin a metal wheel>behind the carbide then go in a half moon along the front and then just feel with my finger till it feels sharp<it makes the teeth lighter and also i make the metal sharp enuff that if you hit the wood my teeth will cut it also>but please dont just go by my word becuzz im self taught>although i never had any probs very very messy wife makes me do it far away from her stuff lol
stranger217
ArboristSite Lurker
I used a bech grinder, with 80 grit green wheel. I also set up a "tent" to work in with a shop vac set up just below and behind the grinder with a hepa filter.
Ekka
Addicted to ArboristSite
I used to sharpen my own when I had those 1/2 inch shank teeth that go into the pockets ....
.... then I woke up to Rayco Superteeth. Last way longer and when done retip them with carbide or ditch them.
For you yanks, somewhere over there some-one is buying the old used ones, selling retipped ones (reconditioned) for like $6
Buggered if I know where that link or thread is but I thought it was a great service. Give em your old beatup Rayco Superteeth and buy another set of recond ones half price.
Also the tungsten carbide that goes into the retipped ones is a tougher grade.
If anyone knows where that link is who are they are over there it would be good to post it. I didn't pay much attention as I'm over here on a remote island and the freight would be a killer.
The tips I can buy here are $5 each (rip off) but are harder ad better, however they want $10 a tooth to silversolder it on so I just buy new ones .... oh, it would cost me about $1k to set up with oxy/actylene to do it.
Found this too
http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?t=24571
.... then I woke up to Rayco Superteeth. Last way longer and when done retip them with carbide or ditch them.
For you yanks, somewhere over there some-one is buying the old used ones, selling retipped ones (reconditioned) for like $6
Buggered if I know where that link or thread is but I thought it was a great service. Give em your old beatup Rayco Superteeth and buy another set of recond ones half price.
Also the tungsten carbide that goes into the retipped ones is a tougher grade.
If anyone knows where that link is who are they are over there it would be good to post it. I didn't pay much attention as I'm over here on a remote island and the freight would be a killer.
The tips I can buy here are $5 each (rip off) but are harder ad better, however they want $10 a tooth to silversolder it on so I just buy new ones .... oh, it would cost me about $1k to set up with oxy/actylene to do it.
Found this too
http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?t=24571
elmnut
ArboristSite Operative
Ekka said:
I use a place called Stump Cutter King to rebuild teeth. Cutter may be spelled Kutter, out of my office so not positive. They also have(had)free freight on orders over 100!
Last edited:
Kneejerk Bombas
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The dust from both the carbide cutter and the grinding wheel is very carcinogenic, and the dust can also cause several different lung diseases. Proceed with caution.
juststumps
ArboristSite Guru
Ekka said:
trevmcrev
ArboristSite Operative
Ekka said:
What me and a few other stump guys down here have done is quite the opposite. On our rayco 1625 machines, we have ditched the superteeth and gone to pockets & 1/2 inch standard teeth for the straights and just leave blunt bents on for counterweights. Sounds wrong i know, but we tested this and found the right depth setting (made a gauge) and it is awesome. Just replace the 6 teeth at $7ea when blunt. So a complete new set costs $42 compared to 18 X $24.50 = $441. Cheaper than the time spent sharpening superteeth, always at right depth (s/teeth get shorter as you sharpen em), cheaper than retipping. Havent bent one yet. And you wont believe me but it cuts BETTER. If you can be bothered, on a rainy day we might resharpen a whole bunch of teeth as spares. Like i said it sounds wrong but really works. And when you hit that hidden metal stake or lump of concrete you wont be nearly as upset as if you just spent $440 on a set of superteeth. I get 10 sets for that much!!
Trev
(I feel a bit like Treeminator telling people how to save money!!!):monkey:
Stumper
One Man Band
trevmcrev, I'm not very surprised.I discovered some years ago that changing outout only 1/3 of a set perchange on my little Rayco RG12 gave nearly equal performance to a full set change while being much faster and risking fewer teeth to the unknown lurking steel and stones. On my Levco HD35 I only change an inner and an outer tooth and very occassionally the dulllest middle one.If all of the teeth are sharp on the HD35 I have to fight to hold the machine back to avoid bogging. 2 sharps cut well without allowing the wheel to suck itself in too fast.
Yes I sharpen my stump teeth. There is room for the argument that buying new makes bettter economic sense without the health risks associated with silicon carbide and tungsten carbide dusts. Being cheap was part of why I started sharpening. At this point it just works out more conveniently to quickly sharpen some replacements if I discover I'm running low compared to trying to keep new teeth on hand all the time-I have hundreds of used ones.
Yes I sharpen my stump teeth. There is room for the argument that buying new makes bettter economic sense without the health risks associated with silicon carbide and tungsten carbide dusts. Being cheap was part of why I started sharpening. At this point it just works out more conveniently to quickly sharpen some replacements if I discover I'm running low compared to trying to keep new teeth on hand all the time-I have hundreds of used ones.
Ekka
Addicted to ArboristSite
Well, after I modded the Kanga I found that those 1/2" shank teeth were bending ... often.
This only changing out the straights or 1/3 of them or 1/2 of them seems odd I must admit.
I only have 8 cutting teeth on the Kanga.
The configuration I run is 2 straights, LH & RH together, 2 straights, LH & RH together.
You suggest just changing out the straights? They'll be longer and do the bulk of the cutting I suppose.
Oh, I dont sharpen much anymore but I'd have a hundred 1/2" shanked ones down there coz I still have a Dosko. That runs 12 teeth but I rarely use it.
Trev, when I change out those Rayco teeth, they're all pretty worn, those LH & RH do work too you know, what's the science behind this working just as good with half new teeth I wonder???
This only changing out the straights or 1/3 of them or 1/2 of them seems odd I must admit.
I only have 8 cutting teeth on the Kanga.
The configuration I run is 2 straights, LH & RH together, 2 straights, LH & RH together.
You suggest just changing out the straights? They'll be longer and do the bulk of the cutting I suppose.
Oh, I dont sharpen much anymore but I'd have a hundred 1/2" shanked ones down there coz I still have a Dosko. That runs 12 teeth but I rarely use it.
Trev, when I change out those Rayco teeth, they're all pretty worn, those LH & RH do work too you know, what's the science behind this working just as good with half new teeth I wonder???
trevmcrev
ArboristSite Operative
Ekka said:
Your kanga set up sounds the same as my Rhyscorp StumpHumper and i still run it that way. But on the rayco 1625 the straights are set on the outer edge of the disc(3 pairs) then another 3 pairs of l & r set further in towards the centre of the disc and then another 3 pairs of l & r set EVEN further in towards the centre of the disc. The cutting edge on these last ones from memory dont even protrude past the disc itself and tend to function more towards clearing the debris than cutting it. Yeah the bents do wear, but i think more through just clearing and throwing out to the side the **** already ground by the straights. The other thing was that as soon as you sharpen a super tooth, as they are in a fixed position they are no longer the correct length. I've put about 150hrs on my machine running ths set up. Have gone through loads of straights but still have the SAME bents on it! THey are now nearly worn away to round looking things almost like pockets and i will throw some better ones on soon. THe guy who showed me this i consider THE GURU of stumping. He'd have done many 100's of hrs like this by now. I know it sounds wrong and i didnt beleive him till i tried it.
Also, if your bending lots of 1/2 inch standard teeth find out what sort they are. There are some cheap chinese ones that bend like bananas(prolly cheaper than bananas now hey!) The metal is textured and porous looking, should be smooth and shiny. Cannings in Melb changed suppliers a while back without saying anything and we bent about 20 in 2 weeks! Blew the wind up em and got the old ones back-no probs since. THey still have the crap ones on the shelf as well for the unsuspecting buyer though!
The other thing we found out is DONT grease the cutter wheel bearings if you want them to last. Manufacturer and dealer says to grease daily- pumping it through till it purges through the seals. if you do this you do a set of bearings about every 80 hrs. The seals are SEALS. Have been told by bearing experts that the model of bearing on these machines is designed to be greased once and should last 1000s of hrs. As soon as you pump enough grease in to blow out the seals they are stuffed. Dirt can then get back in and you have to keep pouring grease through em and hope no dirt gets back in. After doing the first set in 80 hrs(greased several times daily as told to by dealer) and second set in another 60hrs before learning this i've now done over 300hrs like this no probs.
Trev
Ekka
Addicted to ArboristSite
Hey Trev
2 threads
http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?t=22011
http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?t=22055&highlight=stump+grinder+bearings
I'm way ahead of ya.
On my grinder all the teeth are the same position/distance out so all do the work.
I dont sharpen the super teeth, just ditch them.
2 threads
http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?t=22011
http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?t=22055&highlight=stump+grinder+bearings
I'm way ahead of ya.
On my grinder all the teeth are the same position/distance out so all do the work.
I dont sharpen the super teeth, just ditch them.
trevmcrev
ArboristSite Operative
Thanks ekka, read those posts. Sound like youve got it sorted. I were fuming bout my second set of bearings coz id just found this out when the machine went to the dealers for a service and THEY pumped the new bearings full of grease till it spewed out the seals-f/wits! Do you have pics of you grinder on the kanga? I'd love a mini loader with grapple and if the stumper attachment was good enough to justify ditchin my current machines it could be worth it. Otherwise i dont think i get enough jobs with enough access for the loader to justify it on its own.
Trev
Trev
