# stump grinder teeth



## stump grinder (Jun 27, 2003)

Where are you grinding guys getting teeth? I have been buying standard teeth from discount stumpcutters on the web. I have been paying $2.25/ tooth with free shipping for a $150.00 order. I was wondering if there are some other comparable suppliers since I have had a couple issues with teeth bending and tips coming off. Seams like I did not have these issues last year with the same supplier.

Stump Grinder


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## jwiener (Jun 27, 2003)

Stump Grinder,
What type of grinder do you have and what kind of teeth are they?


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## rborist1 (Jun 27, 2003)

:Eye:


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## Stumper (Jun 28, 2003)

You are getting a good price. I have been using Leonardi teeth for several years. Good people to deal with in my experience-low prices and good service.


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## stump grinder (Jun 28, 2003)

jwiener- I have a rayco 1620


rborist1- Can't afford those nice teeth, I only charge $2.00/ inch

Stumper- I found the leonardi site. How much for the 1/2" ?

I think I can see what has happened. The teeth that I have been getting are cast. I believe that when I first bought from them that they were bent square stock and not cast. I still have some from last year and i am going to go through them and check.I can't be chucking teeth that should normally have more life in them because they are bending quite often now, seams like every job I do. I am not hitting any more rocks than last year and if anything I am a better operator this year. So it could be that some corners were cut at the manufacturer. I will ask them if they made a change.

Dean


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## Newfie (Jun 28, 2003)

*"I have been paying $2.25/ tooth "* 

But what is your real cost with premature tooth failure, machine down time and your labor to replace cheaper teeth more often?
*"Can't afford those nice teeth"* 

With that kind of logic we should all be running Poulan Wild Things. You get what you pay for, usually.


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## stump grinder (Jun 28, 2003)

Well,


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## stump grinder (Jun 28, 2003)

well, for the most part you are correct. But at $10+ a tooth and the fact that i would have to have a few sets of them. I would be into close to $600 to start. So, I am in business. I have to ask myself, does the investment meet my business needs. I am not sure. If I can get back to the quality I had before with the standard teeth, it does not. They become disposable, an expense of the job. If I have to send the superteeth out for re tipping and pay for the shipping too it may be too much. But, is the carbide better on the supertooth or do they dull just as quick? I just don't know.And BTW , I own 2 Husky saws, a (new wednesday) 346xp and a 394xp.I agree with the poulan thing.

Dean


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## murphy4trees (Jul 25, 2003)

Rented a Rayco RG-50 yesterday.... these round teeth are INCREDIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!! I worked through a lot of rocks... though they were mostly small and I hit 'em slow... this pic is after returning machine.... the mechanic said he wasn't even going to touch them, and I was the third guy to say how great they are. And they cost $500/set.... now that's pricey but if they last 10 times as long as the $50 set and you'd save all the labor of changing them... that's a bargain...
Anyone know where to get them???

whoops check next post for the pic


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## murphy4trees (Jul 25, 2003)

Here they are


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## geofore (Jul 25, 2003)

*cast or forged teeth*

You need to make a decision here, go to $3.00 an inch and better teeth or stay with disposable teeth and $2.00 an inch. The aggrivation level is a part of the equation on cost. It's aggrivating having to change the teeth often.


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## Keener (Jul 26, 2003)

Stump Grinder, do you notice any difference in the hardness of the grade of carbide or shank on the type of teeth you are getting now verses the old ones?
As soon as you go to sharpen them you would notice a difference in the material removal rate and the wheel breakdown rate.
I use the Rayco standard teeth for my 1620 and a set will last all year, I however do not go looking for the stump work and average only 6 to 12 stumps a month.
For me it is something I am forced to offer as some people want all or nothing service.


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## Mattman (Jul 26, 2003)

The green teeth in that picture can be turned in place a third, and then a third again as they dull. Can be somewhat of a problem with throwing chips though. They make a huge cut, and can throw a chip seventy feet easily. I used them once, and had a problem with cleaning up chips that went everywhere. They grind like hell though.

Matt


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## stump grinder (Oct 7, 2003)

Keener,
I don't sharpen the teeth anymore. I think what I am going to do is this. The main problem is the teeth bending. I see that Leonardi has some pockets that have an extention off the front of them to back up the teeth. I think that this might solve most of the problem and still keep tooth replacement affordable.

Dean


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## Stumper (Oct 7, 2003)

Re: different carbide grades-Leonardi offers two different hardnesses.-If You work in rocky areas buy the SOFTER carbide-it dulls slightly faster but doesn't shatter as easily as the harder stuff.


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## Lumberjack (Oct 7, 2003)

We use the super tooth from rayco and are considering using the Green Teeth. We now retip our Super teeth for around 1.75-2.00 a piece, doing it ourselves and they cut good as new. 

Carl


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## ORclimber (Oct 7, 2003)

For those that run rayco 1620's. The rayco superteeth don't work on every machine, they don't on mine. They stick out too far and rub on the metal housing that the cutting wheel spins through. The area rayco rep said this was due to lax manufacturing guidlines, before superteeth existed.


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## Toddppm (Oct 7, 2003)

Keener, getting a year off standard teeth?????
I use the standard teeth on my 1625 and change the outer most ones as soon as they get rounded over which is maybe every 10-15 stumps or sooner??
Heard too many bad things about sharpening the carbide and it's just as easy to throw them out and slap new ones in.

Took the super teeth off as soon as they started to wear and sold them on ebay


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## Keener (Oct 8, 2003)

I just bought a new set of teeth and I have had the 1620 for two years now.
I end up getting two or three stumps then grind the outermost teeth two or three more and I do the 1st and second set and on the last grinding of the "cycle" I do all the teeth.
I try to keep them sharp and grind very little off when it's time to sharpen.
Seems like the rocks hide until you put on freshly ground teeth though. 
If I think about it 6 to 12 stumps per month is probably a busy month too.


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## stump grinder (Oct 8, 2003)

I also try to replace just the outer 6 teeth. It does the job and saves me a few bucks. The rest get changed out as needed. How many stumps are you guys doing anyways? I have been doing quite a few here. Last year was my first year and I did 130 stumps from april til mid november. So far this year I have done 303. I am doing another 13 friday and as I am writing this, a guy just called me with at least 11, wow! It has been a good year.

Dean http://home.twcny.rr.com/ebstump/


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## Stumper (Oct 8, 2003)

I once did 1000 in a three week period.


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## stump grinder (Oct 8, 2003)

You da man Stumper!


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## Stumper (Oct 8, 2003)

In fairness I should point out that close to 700 of those were 8 inches in diameter or less. The rest ranged up to a little over 30 inches. Technically I didn't do the whole 1000 either-My dad came and spent a day doing 30 of the bigger ones so I only ground 970 in 3 weeks. That was a golf course job and is the biggest project I've ever had. I've had lots of days when I've ground 20 or more stumps but never anything like those three weeks!


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## Lumberjack (Oct 9, 2003)

Last saturday, my father ground 112 stumps in one day with his RG 85. I think the average size was around 18-20" and he gound them 8-12" under the ground.


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## Lumberjack (Oct 9, 2003)

To sharpen them you use either a dimond stone or a green stone. You can sharpen them fairly well with a bench grinder. I think it would be better if you could get a angle grinder with a stone, and sharpen them on the will.

I will look up our supplier, it is kinda like soldering, just a lot hotter. We use an acetelene torch to do it. I am about to change classes so I will start a tread with all the details latter.


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## Stumper (Oct 9, 2003)

LJ will have to answer for himself about their methoids and sources but FWIW the Tungsten carbide is simply brazed onto the tooth, You can remove it with a torch and reattach the same way. A green wheel is a silicon carbide wheel. Silicon carbide cuts Tungsten carbide pretty well but steel tears up the wheel (Steel is too soft and the wheel is somewhat fragile so while it grinds steel it keeps ripping off its outer layer). Because of those properties it is best to grind a relief on the tooth shank on an Aluminium oxide wheel then sharpen the carbide on the green wheel. Even so the green wheels wear out after a 100-200 teeth sharpenings in my experience. The dust generated is also very bad for your lungs. A diamond wheel is the best solution. It doesn't break down like a green wheel and doesn't care whether you are grinding carbide or steel. Unfortunately they are awfully expensive and generally made for equipment other than a bench grinder. I've looked at a $600 system that would probably work well but wound up sticking with the green wheel on my bench grinder. The guys who say just buty new teeth have a good point BUT I can sharpen teeth during slow times and save a few bucks AND i can also make them sharper than new teeth, That initial sharpness only lasts for a couple of stumps but it does cut faster.


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## Stumper (Oct 9, 2003)

LJ posted while I was typing.


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## rborist1 (Oct 9, 2003)

:Eye:


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## Stumper (Oct 9, 2003)

What was your source?


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## stump grinder (Oct 9, 2003)

wow, just got another go ahead on an estimate. 11 more stumps, $340! will take me 3 hours i think or less. Anyone have some kind of machine to pick up mulch,(vacuum,etc) Anything creative? I heard about the plywood and tarps.


Dean


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## Stumper (Oct 9, 2003)

An ensilage fork. Not very creative but effecient.


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## Stumper (Oct 9, 2003)

Brian, Would you believe that I bought mine at Home Depot? It didn't have a price on it and I had to wait 15 minutes while they chased down a manager to figure out if they could sell it. I wound up paying $25.


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## Lumberjack (Oct 9, 2003)

We use a pitch fork. That is what I have always called it, it is like a big fork. I once thought about vacuming, froma company called Vactron I think. I think that the smallest model was around 14k so I thought that a fork would do for now. I don't think that anything from Home Depot would cut it on any of the stumps we do here. When we do cleanup, (rare) we grind all the stuff above ground and use the backfil blade to push the wood chips out of the way so we have to bring in less dirt. Something that helps me is get a good tarp and when you are trying to clean up the last bit, rake it on the tarp and pick it up. I also use that on trees to clean up the last little twigs, leaves, and bark.


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## Stumper (Oct 9, 2003)

LJ, Pitch forks have 3 or 4 tines. Manure forks may have up to 8 tines but typically have 5 or 6. An ensilage fork (also called a cottonseed fork)has 10 or 12 tines. The outer tines frame things so that it works like a scoop shovel but unlike a shovel it is easy to set into mulch. You probably have the right tool -It is better to learn the right name. Yes I got my ensilage fork at Home Depot. I may never find another one there but they had it . I bought it. It does indeed work.


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## Menchhofer (Oct 10, 2003)

An additional tool to have beside a cottonseed fork is a 5-6 tine pitch fork with the "forks" bent to a 90 degree angle. This is great when moving chips and compacted dirt. Have used one for many years and works great..


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## Lumberjack (Oct 10, 2003)

> _Originally posted by Stumper _
> *LJ, Pitch forks have 3 or 4 tines. Manure forks may have up to 8 tines but typically have 5 or 6. An ensilage fork (also called a cottonseed fork)has 10 or 12 tines. The outer tines frame things so that it works like a scoop shovel but unlike a shovel it is easy to set into mulch. You probably have the right tool -It is better to learn the right name. Yes I got my ensilage fork at Home Depot. I may never find another one there but they had it . I bought it. It does indeed work. *




According to what you say, I have an manure fork, it has 6 heavy tines. It works wonders for us, we tryed your ensilage fork but we bent the heck out of the tines. I ment that a vaccum from Home Depot wouldn't cut it. 

Around here a pitchfork is a pitchfork no matter how many tines. I dunno.


Carl


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## Ax-man (Oct 10, 2003)

*Stump grinding clean-up*

Ever since I bought our first stump grinder Iv'e searched high and low for the perfect hand tool to clean the mess up with. We have virtually loaded many ' semi- loads " of this stuff over the years, with forks and shovels. The cottonseed fork will get most of the coarse shreaded material, if there isn't a lot of dirt in the pile and it isn't wet. The bent cultivator fork works good to pull chips to the side leaving the dirt to settle out so it is not heavy to scoop up with a scoop shovel.The final touch comes with the leaf rake and scoop shovel. Even with all these different tools it still comes out the same, just one big mess to clean up. I'd rather climb and prune a tree than than clean-up a stump mess.

I talked to a guy at a trade show that was selling these big loader truck vacums for leaves and such, if it would work on stump junk. He told me he honestly doubted it would work good because of the dirt in the pile, if was wet forget it. It would probaly only work on good clean chips from the main part of a large stump that would be about it.

The ultimate clean-up tool for stump junk has a diesel engine and a big bucket. In other words Bobcat or Swinger.

Oh Brian,

The cottonseed fork doesn't last forever, I wish they did they are the ultimate for tree debris clean-up. I've got three in my shop right now that are broke. Every one of them broke the same way the tines came out of wood handles. I used to be able to buy the forks and the handles locally, but no more, the only place to get them now is mail order. The handles are totally different from other hand tools, because they have a funky bend in the handle that is different from other repair handles for spades and shovels.

One of these years I'm going to figure out a way to bend some pipe [ cold ] and rebuild them with metal handles that way I know they will last. I suppose I could break down and order new ones from Sherril, but I'd rather buy new tree toys than mundane things like clean-up forks.


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