Stump grinder for "Ike" stump removal

[2ridgebacks]

Hi all,
Not sure if this is the right forum or not, but I wanted to try to get right to the point. I live is a smaller subdivision and when "Ike" blew through Indiana it took a fair amount of our trees with it. We have numerous maples, oaks, pine, bradfords and assorted other that have been root wadded and broken off. The range from 6" to around 4 feet in dia. We were considering renting a stump grinder as a group and running it all weekend or longer if need be. I have no idea what the productivity of one of these units is and was looking for some advice from the real world. The local Sunbelt rents the following

Vermeer sc505, 502, 602,630b and 752 as well as Rayco 1660m, and 20hd.

At least one is tracked the others are wheeled and one is a walk behind. We want productivity first, ease to learn second, and obviously, it needs to run for a few days without much service.

As for productivity and operation, if the tree has been root wadded, can you grind the whole mess up? Just start somewhere and turn it all into sawdust? How do the trees with the roots close to the surface affect the productivity? We really aren't trying to cut the local guys out of work, but we are mostly blue collar ourselves and trying to save several thousand dollars as a group as most of the insurance companies paid little to nothing unless the tree was on a structure.

 

[Hoosier]

We really aren't trying to cut the local guys out of work,

Really?

Dont hit a power line.

:censored:


Rent the bigest unit you can.

 

[BC WetCoast]

Hi all,
Not sure if this is the right forum or not, but I wanted to try to get right to the point. I live is a smaller subdivision and when "Ike" blew through Indiana it took a fair amount of our trees with it. We have numerous maples, oaks, pine, bradfords and assorted other that have been root wadded and broken off. The range from 6" to around 4 feet in dia. We were considering renting a stump grinder as a group and running it all weekend or longer if need be. I have no idea what the productivity of one of these units is and was looking for some advice from the real world. The local Sunbelt rents the following

Vermeer sc505, 502, 602,630b and 752 as well as Rayco 1660m, and 20hd.

At least one is tracked the others are wheeled and one is a walk behind. We want productivity first, ease to learn second, and obviously, it needs to run for a few days without much service.

As for productivity and operation, if the tree has been root wadded, can you grind the whole mess up? Just start somewhere and turn it all into sawdust? How do the trees with the roots close to the surface affect the productivity? We really aren't trying to cut the local guys out of work, but we are mostly blue collar ourselves and trying to save several thousand dollars as a group as most of the insurance companies paid little to nothing unless the tree was on a structure.

Get the biggest one that will fit into all the places you need to go. That is, if you have to go through a gate, then make sure you get one that will fit through.

Stump grinding isn't hard to learn, but there are a few tricks that will make your life easier. If you can find someone who has done it before to give you a couple of hours training, you're productivity will increase greatly. Stump grinder operators for the big companies often only get a day of training before they are let out on their own. Tricks are picked up over time.

All our groundmen have to be able to run the machine, so I've trained lots how to grind stumps.

If there are a bunch of you in the complex who are going to work on this, make sure everyone is on-board safety wise. You want to get a powerful machine. They will throw rocks and debris, so you need to INSIST that anyone in the work zone has complete PPE (esp glasses, ears protection and hard hat).

Yes you can grind a root wad that has toppled. The biggest one like this I did was a 5' diameter Douglas fir, with a root wad that sat up about 14'. I couldn't get close enough to the bottom, because of the way the root sat in the ground, so I had to work at it completely from the top end. I pulled the guards back (it was the middle of a driving range so I wasn't worried about flying debris) and was able to grind enough to begin to build a ramp with the mulch. I just worked at it methodically. Once you get to the root sections, you cut them off with the grinder and move them away. At some point the root wad will collapse in on itself. Tough to describe, but yes it's doable.

Have the rental shop show you how to grind teeth. Many on this site just replace with new teeth when they get dull, but I just sharpen them with a green wheel. Sharp teeth improve productivity significantly.

Get a couple of sheets of 1/4" plywood to use as debris shield when working around windows.