# alpine "chainsaw stump grinder"



## squish9173 (Apr 23, 2009)

im looking into purchasing 1,any pros/cons,advice?let me have it.thanks.


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## gr8scott72 (Apr 23, 2009)

squish9173 said:


> im looking into purchasing 1,any pros/cons,advice?let me have it.thanks.



Is this going to be your only stump grinder or a back-up, get to hard-to-get-to stumps, stump grinder?

If it's going to be your only one, you better eat your Wheaties. It's over 80 lbs and vibrates something fierce.

The teeth are the weak link. Prepping the stump is key. You must dig away any rocks from the edge as they WILL break the teeth. You need to be able to sharpen your own teeth (green wheel or diamond wheel) as you will be sharpening them all the time.

The learning curve is pretty big. It takes awhile to make it cut a stump fast.

I had one for almost a year and only used it for 3 jobs. I finally sold it because I couldn't justify having that much money tied up in something I just wasn't going to use.

If you do get one, get one with the Husky 3120 head. Try to find one used and save 2 or 3 grand. (I bought mine for $2,500 almost new)


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## Dutch295 (Apr 23, 2009)

squish9173 said:


> im looking into purchasing 1,any pros/cons,advice?let me have it.thanks.



Call Keith at Alpine ... great guy. If I had it to do over, I would buy it again. For the price, size , operating cost etc. I think it's in a class by itself. But, If I had to operate it 6 to 8 hours a day ..... I'd be an alcoholic  If you search this site you'll find a lot of info.... the teeth will come up in discussions quite a bit... I try to keep good teeth on the outside of the wheel and crap teeth on the inside ... I think it grinds just as fast like this and I've cut that $45 for a set of teeth by 67%... am I doing unseen harm to the wheel or power head? ... I really don't know. I bought it with a Husky head... never considered solo, thought briefly about the stihl but everything else I own is a husky and though it's been awhile, it seems like Keith supported my husky decision. If you do buy it, spend the $150 (I think) for the wheels.... you'll be glad you did. I have a theory: I believe that the more confined (urban), hilly, and don't forget affluent your market is the more this thing should be on your truck. I live in rural, flat, don't forget poor, eastern, NC  


pros: I've netted as much as $90 per hour (I've heard of $200 per hour in some areas but that "ain't" gonna happen in eastern, NC), it's helped me get take downs that other guys wouldn't have been able to grind (must admit that this is rare but they do come up). Operating cost is very low; I don't agree with the website but it's still very good. Maneuverability is great; you can be off the truck (added plus... no trailer needed, no ramps, just pick it up and put it on the truck) and grinding in minutes; blip the throttle across the yard and you're at the next stump in seconds.

cons: I'm usually never fresh when I grab it (other work led to it) and it tends to kick my arse. It shines in tight quarters but tight quarters usually means no breeze and breathing fumes... very tough in the heat. My wife knows when I've been grinding a lot as she makes me strip outside & it ain't cause she's freaky .... clothes are saturated with fumes. It never fails, every time I go to load that heavy sum bi*** at the end of the day I always think back to humping a heavy ruck down Longstreet rd at Ft. Bragg... I get a little chuckle and the misery only lasts a few seconds.
Good Luck !
PS. If you do buy it, I'm pretty sure you're thoughts will go from, "oh man, this is cool, I'm excited" to, "what the F*** did I spend my hard earned money on ??" to, "hey, this thing is all right, I think I got it".


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## gr8scott72 (Apr 23, 2009)

Dutch295 said:


> pros: I've netted as much as $90 per hour (I've heard of $200 per hour in some areas but that "ain't" gonna happen in eastern, NC)



There is no way I would grind stumps with that machine for only $90 per hour.


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## Dutch295 (Apr 23, 2009)

gr8scott72 said:


> There is no way I would grind stumps with that machine for only $90 per hour.



Maybe it's just me but I consider $144,000 a year pretty good money....


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## gr8scott72 (Apr 23, 2009)

Dutch295 said:


> Maybe it's just me but I consider $144,000 a year pretty good money....



30 hours a week, 52 weeks straight hauling that heavy lug around? Pass.

If your $144,000 is good then what does my $154 per hour come out to on my machine using your math? 

(We both know we can't keep our machines grinding 30 hours a week every week of the year.)

Like I said, I didn't use mine enuf to justify keeping it but the few jobs I did, well, one in particular that I remember took me about 1.5 hours and made $300 and I thought that I REALLY undersold that job based on the fact that I had to use the Alpine and NO ONE else could have done it. (and how tired I was after that one job.)


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## Curbside (Apr 23, 2009)

I have one with the Husky Head. I've posted this before but I only use it when one of my other grinders will not access the stump. I charge hard when I have to use it because it is a son of a bi--- to run. I always include at least one set of teeth in the price and I only use the rock teeth. No matter how careful I am I seem to always have some broken ones and for sure by the time the stump is done they are dull. I don't have time to sharpen. When the teeth are sharp the machine does cut as advertised. It is not a high production unit like some like to think it is. It is a specialised unit for hard access and difficult locations. My opinion anyways.


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## Dutch295 (Apr 24, 2009)

gr8scott72 said:


> 30 hours a week, 52 weeks straight hauling that heavy lug around? Pass.
> 
> If your $144,000 is good then what does my $154 per hour come out to on my machine using your math?
> 
> ...



Wow mule... don't kill the new guy too bad... I would pass too

I based the figure off of an average work year of 2000 hours ; drop 1/5 (one day per week) for admin, maintenance, chasing quotes etc. / 1600 billable hours * $90 per hour = $144,000 (this is net, we all know what this is... not going to get into it); your figure would be $246,400

agree... In my case, I don't want to ... If grinding is your main stay then that's fine but I use it to help land take downs and being a part timer .... your beast for example (nice machine by the way) I'd spend all my time paying for the equipment... not good... it's not how much you make... it's how much you keep.

A few thoughts on this: I think most Alpine Magnum users would agree that you didn't use the machine enough (you mentioned 3 jobs in a year) as there is definitely a learning curve. Maybe you wouldn't have been as tired. You're in a different boat ... you got a monster of a machine ( I get the impression you're a one man band; I am) ... can't operate two at once ... I'd opt for the Carlton too.... did I use the right "too"


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## pdqdl (Apr 24, 2009)

You guys are arguing the point all wrong:

If you can make $90/hr with a $4000 machine, it will take about 45 hours to pay for itself. (not counting operating expenses).

If you are using a $20,000 stump grinder for $154/hr, it will take you about 130 hours to pay for the machine. 

So...The smaller machine has a more rapid rate of return on investment. 3 times faster, in fact. 

I would add to that consideration that a growing business might very well buy a bigger machine when it needs it, but starting with the big machine might break the bank and ruin the business before it got off the ground.


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## TimberMcPherson (Apr 24, 2009)

We have a stumpmaster which is the machine the alpine was copied from originally. We dont do many stump jobs, but when we do we charge $130 per hour and we do stumps nobody else can. 

Pros-you can having it in the back of truck or mounted on your chipper so you can do the whole tree job including stump with one trip, one truck all at one time. (even fits in the family stationwagon and pretty light to load)
Its able to do work other stumpers can only have bad dreams about
Its low impact on the job.

Cons- its hard work to use and possibly more dangerous than a standard stumper.
Its small so its not good on big stumps unless nothing else can get there and has to be sharp or its a charge up job.
you have to prep the stumps pretty good to be effecient in keeping the teeth sharp and undamaged.
not to be used by idiots.

Heres ours at work doing a city job infront one of our cities war memorial after the first stump contractor couldnt grind deep enough to plant larger trees. Good earner!


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## squish9173 (Apr 24, 2009)

yes i am pretty much a one man operation,dont have a lot of money not much in upstate ny,thats why im always looking for an "edge"or a niche so to speak.i do quite a bit of work behind houses and in tight spaces/hills near camps.


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## treemandan (Apr 24, 2009)

TimberMcPherson said:


> We have a stumpmaster which is the machine the alpine was copied from originally. We dont do many stump jobs, but when we do we charge $130 per hour and we do stumps nobody else can.
> 
> Pros-you can having it in the back of truck or mounted on your chipper so you can do the whole tree job including stump with one trip, one truck all at one time. (even fits in the family stationwagon and pretty light to load)
> Its able to do work other stumpers can only have bad dreams about
> ...





Allright, so I see at least yours has a cover but what about kickback? I really thought this was ajoke when I saw it, don't it beat up the saw, don't it beat up you?


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## gr8scott72 (Apr 24, 2009)

treemandan said:


> Allright, so I see at least yours has a cover but what about kickback? I really thought this was a joke when I saw it, doesn't it beat up the saw, doesn't it beat up you?



There is no kickback and yes, it beats up the operator as it is 80 something pounds but it's not too bad.

Why would it beat up the saw?


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## TimberMcPherson (Apr 24, 2009)

treemandan said:


> Allright, so I see at least yours has a cover but what about kickback? I really thought this was ajoke when I saw it, don't it beat up the saw, don't it beat up you?



The problem lies in the fact because you can get it into stupid places you tend to try to use it to do stupid jobs. It can kick around a bit but only if your using it on the limits of its application. It gets jobs done that you couldnt dream of doing with a conventional unit, but that doesnt mean it does them smoothly or easily. Hard stump jobs are still hard stump jobs.

For the job in the pic for example it was kicking around alot because we were trying to operate it in a hole (not the steep angle its pointing down) so were using the nose of the grinding wheel rather than the chin like you usually grind with. We dont have alot of hard rock around here either.

Yeah at times it does beat me up a little. But as long as its used carefully, you make sure you have good footing and are aware and physically able, then its not a real problem.

Im no stump guy, we do a few a month on average, often cleaning up after we have removed trees. I work mostly locally and do everything I can to keep my travel costs low, the stumpmaster really helps this. The time lost in time grinding is made up by the lack of need for another vehicle or trip to the job.

Its not the tool for everyone, but we all work in different environments, and the gear we choose has to match our needs.


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## rbtree (Apr 24, 2009)

treemandan said:


> Allright, so I see at least yours has a cover but what about kickback? I really thought this was ajoke when I saw it, don't it beat up the saw, don't it beat up you?



No problems, if it is used correctly, with the bottom quadrant of the wheel, similar to the kickback zone of a chain bar, that is to be avoided. I have retired my little 100 cc Partner 1000 powered stumper, where the wheel is attached directly to the saw similar to a cutoff saw. That thing vibrated the heck out the saw. Bolts were always breaking. And it was really slow to use, especially as soon as the edge was off the teeth. Plus no way to apply leverage to the wheel, unlike the Alpine which is easy to apply pressure.

The AM allows any stump anywhere to be done, but it is a bit strenuous to use, and goes through $8 teeth quickly if rocks are impacted. 

This means that a lot of digging is required. I try to get about $150 per hour, would get more if less time consuming digging was needed. Doing stumps that no one else can do commands a premium.

If the normal fast teeth are used, and no rocks are around, it will grind mighty fast, maybe faster than a 252, as there's no time loading and unloading.

Ground two small stumps today, total grinding time maybe 12 minutes, but a good 40 minutes of digging.....$140, and no travel time, as we were there doing tree work.


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## Shadow (Apr 28, 2009)

If you are just starting out in the business, then to me its the only machine to buy!
I can't for the life of me figure why anyone would want to invest in a 10-12,000 dollar stump grinder that you need a trailer to haul it around with and that cant do ALL the stumps you run across!
I've had mine for 3 years, it's the only machine I have. I get all the business I line up,plus jobs from 3 other tree companies that cant access the stumps. 
Sure it takes some getting used to, but its not the killer some will lead you to believe, I weigh 155 lbs, I've done 18-20 stumps a day numerous times.
I have a '85 Nissan pickup that I use for estimating and hauling the Alpine around. Its the perfect size for loading and unloading,and small enough for tight parking in back alleys. I'm currently fixing up an old Datsun diesel to use, as I make bio fuel to run in my other work truck.
They will go through some teeth, especially at first when you're learning. And all this talk about digging? I dont dig. I have a small trenching spade, and I use it to poke around each stump to check for rocks or chains etc. If I find rocks I dig them out. If it hits nothing I start grinding.


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