# Dura Disk



## Curbside (Jan 23, 2006)

There was some talk about the Dura Disk for Stump Grinders several weeks ago and several people were expecting theirs within days. How are you guys finding them? Do you like? Do they do what they say they can do?


----------



## mtcates (Jan 25, 2006)

I personally dont have the duradisk on my machine but I have had several long conversations with a guy who has used one for about 3 years. He says that grinding time is reduced by about 30% over any other wheel type.


----------



## stumpy66 (Jan 26, 2006)

yes, i was wondering the same thing....how are the Dura disk boys getting on? perhaps its so good, they are enjoying cutting so much they ain't got the time to share the experience....


----------



## stumpy66 (Jan 26, 2006)

You take a very cynical view Treeco, surely you must be urging our stump grinding brothers (and sisters, if there are any.....) forward with the newest and most dramatic innovations in our humble industry.......long life the man (or woman) who takes the chance and spends £100's of pounds to test the latest gismo.......but they do seem a little shy....perhaps it is indeed rubbish!


----------



## howel07264 (Jan 26, 2006)

*duradisk*



mtcates said:


> I personally dont have the duradisk on my machine but I have had several long conversations with a guy who has used one for about 3 years. He says that grinding time is reduced by about 30% over any other wheel type.



MtCates, any increase in grinding speed would be a huge plus. my question is at what cost? im interrested in what it cost to operate say for each 100 hours of operation. cost of replacement teeth,bolts,etc.what about wheel durabilty? i have alot of hours on my carlton,never had to replace a wheel. to me it must be cost effective. for now im happy to let others do the testing. could be duradisk guys feel they made a huge mistake and dont want to talk about it... kinda like my bad stock trades i keep from my wife!


----------



## TreeJunkie (Jan 26, 2006)

I've heard a bit about these too, however still have not seen any pics or information.. What machines do they make them for? Can you still run the same teeth as other wheels do????How much do they cost and how big of a pain to install? Let's hear it...


----------



## stumpy66 (Jan 26, 2006)

I am truely amazed at the lack of response from testers/users....lister...you are normally on it by now....come on....user response/experiences required...i am in favour of any and all developments for the benefit of stumpgrinding and anything that brings the process to the public imagination is certainly welcome, this type of product backed by such a big manufacturer sounds good...


----------



## mtcates (Jan 28, 2006)

http://www.mgt.sandvik.com/sandvik/...us17001.nsf/LookupAdm/BannerForm?OpenDocument

I did some research before this post. The link above shows a picture and info on the wheel.

There are no extra bolts.......The shaft of the tooth is the bolt. 

The pockets that fit between the wheel and the cutter have very little wear and last a very long time. They rarely need replacing.

The teeth are about $10.00 US dollars each.

There are rock grinding teeth available for this wheel so you can actually grind through rock. This wheel technology is actually a spinoff of sandviks experience in mining machinery. They just applied it in another area.

You can get this wheel made for any machine by this company. http://www.newriverequipment.com/dd2a.php

There are 56 cutter teeth on the Carlton 7015 disk.

The cost of the wheel including all pockets and cutters, for my 7015 is $2,200.00. Thats just the part and not installed.

The cutters go back 7 inches on this wheel, so, assuming you have the power and sharp cutters, you can take up to 7 inches of wood on a pass. From what I have been told by a man who uses this wheel on a 60HP Carlton 7015, he says that he can cut about 6 inches of wood on a pass if the cutters are sharp. This is grinding Southern yellow pine. To take this much wood on a pass he has to slow the feed rate a little but the volume of wood cut makes up for the reduced feed rate. About 30% grinding time reduction is the result. 

Now I have a 7015 myself but with the standard wheel. See attached picture. I can only take 3 inches of wood on a pass due to the fact that the cutters only allow me to take 3 inches,but I use a fairly high feed rate. I can grind ten, 24 inch pine or oak stumps to 6 inches below grade in about 25 to 30 minutes of actual grinding time. Even if I had the duradisk I cant see much of an advantage in time when the majority of my time is spent driving to and from jobs, loading and unloading the grinder, cleaning up the job if required, doing maintenance on my equipment, Billing and accounting, and the many other things associated with this business. Not to mention that the cost of running this wheel is going to be more $$$ than the wheel I run now. I cant see getting this wheel yet because the small amount of time it would actually save me in a week would be insignificant in the whole picture of things.

http://www.arboristsite.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=30374&d=1137718072


----------



## TreeJunkie (Jan 28, 2006)

great post--good points

Seems awfully pricey....OUch..


----------



## Curbside (Feb 15, 2006)

Come on someone has to have tried it by now. Xander how about you have you received yours yet?


----------



## stumpy66 (Feb 27, 2006)

Is there any more updates on the duradisk.......there must be some feedback apart from the prohibitive cost...is it available commercially yet?


----------



## kennertree (Apr 3, 2006)

Thought I'd bring this thread up again to see if there is any feedback on the duradisk. I blindly ordered a duradisk on a new machine, hope it works out. If nobody has any feedback yet I'll leave some feedback in a couple of weeks.


----------



## Curbside (Apr 4, 2006)

Funny you brought it back up today. I also ordered one for a new machine and today was the first day useing it. I can't compare it to the original because I ordered the machine without a cutter wheel. I put it on a Vermeer SC60TX. I was very empressed and cut a 36" spruce stump in about 3.5 mins. I think I would be able to do it faster yet but still learning the controls. What really impressed me was the small wood chips. The disk really grinds it small. You also can take a huge bite into the stump. The wheel is very impressive and when you look at it you know its gonna cut.


----------



## TreeJunkie (Apr 4, 2006)

pics of your new machines???


----------



## kennertree (Apr 4, 2006)

My machine should be here next week, i ordered the carlton 4012 with the lombardini. I figured the dura disk would make a big difference on a smaller machine. I'll let ya know how it grinds next week.


----------



## stumpy66 (Apr 4, 2006)

i look forward to it...glad this thread is coming alive.....


----------



## Oly's Stump (Apr 4, 2006)

Same here!


----------



## Curbside (Apr 4, 2006)

I'll try and get some pics.....gotta figure out how to do it.......


----------



## Oly's Stump (Apr 12, 2006)

Ttt


----------



## stumpy66 (Apr 12, 2006)

Oly's Stump said:


> Ttt



You are a man of few words oly...but i kinda get what you mean!!!

:help:


----------



## kennertree (Apr 12, 2006)

The carlton guy called, he said he will have the grinder here monday. I'll post the results monday.


----------



## mtcates (Apr 13, 2006)

A month or so ago I was looking into getting the dura disk for my current machine. I demoed a new machine with the dura disk just to see how it performed. It did cut very well, however, it can not and did not deny the laws of physics. It takes more power to make a significant performance gain. I know for a fact that it did not cut wood any faster than my current tooth configuration because I cut half of two stumps with the dura disk on a 7015 carlton and then cut the last half of the same two stumps with my own 7015 carlton. I use a highly modified tooth configuration that far out performes most teeth or configurations. I was not willing to spend 3 grand to change my wheel to the dura disk and not have any improvement in performance. If I were buying a new machine I would get the dura disk but I would not waste my money for a changeover. For those of you that do not use the Leonardi Tomahawk teeth, you will see a performance improvement in cutting speed with the dura disk. If you have not tried these teeth, then do yourself a favor and just try them one time and post your results. They claim to be the fastest cutting tooth on the market and I have found that to be true out of all the teeth I have tried. The Leonardi Tomahawk tooth uses a very agressive positive rake angle on the cutting edge. These teeth cut awesome when sharp and cut very well even when they are dull...... What I like most about the dura disk is that it doesn't throw the chips to the side like most wheels. It piles the chips neatly under the machine and there is very little need for chip curtains. The teeth are $13.00 each and there is no substitute so I wonder if it will be cost effective to use this wheel. The bottom line for us all is to make money. For now I’ll just use what I have. This is just my $0.02 worth.


----------



## stumpy66 (Apr 17, 2006)

check it, how thats ok todd..http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?t=25231&page=1&pp=15


----------



## kennertree (Apr 17, 2006)

Well the new stumper came today with the dura disk. I have only ran 2 other stump machines before so i dont have much to compare it to. I've used the 252 and this carlton with the duradisk blows it away. You can take a bigger bite with each pass with the duradisk. When i worked for another tree company before i went out on my own i used an rg50. I would compare this 29 horse carlton to the rg50 minus the fact they dont have the same swing. I was real impressed with the duradisk. It cuts fast and there is less vibration. I'll try to post some pictures tomorrow if i get around to grinding any stumps tomorrow.


----------



## mtcates (Apr 18, 2006)

stumpy66........I guess you got me there .....Let me clear this up for you.....I didn't make this clear above but I am talking about my own machine in saying that it takes more power to make a significant performance gain. With my current tooth setup, it will take more power for me to see an improvement. For those people who use a less efficient setup, They will see a performance gain with the Dura Disk. I'm saying that the Leonardi Tomahawk teeth will cut just as fast as the Dura Disk and those people with a standard wheel can use theese teeth. I actually use 3 different types of teeth on my wheel at the same time. The Leonardi Tomahawk teeth are what I use at lead position.


----------



## stumpy66 (Apr 19, 2006)

mtcates....i love the way you talk about set up...so i hope you do not think i was dissing ya...i think that the duradisk thing will just have to run....quick cutting is not what it is all about....i look forward to some time passing when folk have lived with them for a while.....i like new innovations....lets hope the price and performance make duradisk a practical proposition..


----------



## mtcates (Apr 29, 2006)

stumpy 66.......I'm with you on the fact that speed in grinding is not the whole picture. There are lots of other things to make your business more efficient. One of the best purchases I have made for my grinding business is to buy a laptop computer and stand for use in my truck. I use a map program with a GPS and I save loads of time locating my jobs. Most all of my jobs are faxed to me and go directly into my e-mail. I can get e-mail on the road with the wireless network card in the computer. I also designed an excell spreadsheet to bid jobs by a formula I created. During the busy season I do about 20 to 30 jobs a week and 3 out of 4 of the jobs are $75 to $150. If I had a 35 HP machine instead of my 60 HP, I would still be profitable. I dont know if the Duradisk is for me or not. I will worry about that if the need arises in the future. It's real easy to get caught up in the game of must having the biggest and the best, but the expense of it probably makes you less money in the long run.


----------



## timberwolf150 (May 6, 2006)

I'm a UK Dealer for Carlton. Collected 2 x SP4012PN's last week. So far only show 2 customers who have recently purchased the same machne with stick teeth. Both said the Sandvic wheel was amazing and want to upgrade their current machines. Easily takes 3 - 4" of wood with each sweep and keeps the spoil very tidy.Hardly throws it at all. Had the grinder at a show over the last 2 days. Had salesmen from Vermeer all over it. Even they said it was very impressive. Looks amazingly strong. Even on this 4012 the wheels 30mm thick.


----------



## Cut 2 Please (May 7, 2006)

I have a 4012 with the Lombardini diesel and the sandvik wheel. I love it. The teeth last much longer than a standard tooth. They are exceptionally easy to replace. You can rotate the teeth from one side of the machine to the other so you get a new cutting edge. I have 76 hours on my machine now and have only replace the teeth on the tip of the wheel once. I rotated the teeth on the side of the wheel at 50 hours. The wheel is much more smooth as it goes through a stump than one with the standard teeth. I feel this has to be easier on the beerings. Debris clean up is much easier since the chips a piled up underneth the machine instead of being thrown to either side of the machine. I just purchased a 2 yr old 7015 track machine 2 weeks ago. It had a new set of green teeth on it. I am not very impressed with them. They sling chips everywhere, I feel they are very hard on the beerings and I can not take neerly the size bite out of a stump that I can with my 4012. I have already started a fund to buy a sandvik wheel for my 7015. I was quoted $2700 for the complete kit to swap it over. That includes new beerings because it uses a different size beering according to Carlton. It will probably need beering due to the green teeth anyway. I believe it will be well worth it.


----------



## SinglerM (Oct 31, 2006)

*DuraDisk thoughts.*



stumpy66 said:


> i look forward to it...glad this thread is coming alive.....



I recently got my carlton SP4012 with DuraDisk wheel. So far I've been real impressed with it's ability to take what seems to me, fairly deep cuts in hardwood( approx. 3"-4" depth) with minimal vibration. That's what I've noticed most about it so far....The smoothness of the cut, as well as low vibration. I've seen other stumpgrinders with a conventional wheel run in the past. Their vibration levels seemed to be higher that with the DuraDisk.
As time goes on, I'll have more feedback. I am happy that I decided to spend the extra money at the time of purchase to upgrade.

I just wanted to add my opinion on the DuraDisk.

Take care,
Mitch


----------



## Bigstumps (Nov 1, 2006)

Did you end up with the Vanguard?? How is it??


----------



## SinglerM (Nov 2, 2006)

*Yes, I got the Vanguard.*

I decided to go ahead and get the vanguard engine, I like it so far. I'll be going to Florida this winter, I'll have a chance to compare it to the lombardini diesel at that time. My friend has a SP4012 with diesel and regular cutting wheel. I'll have a chance for side by side comparison, then. 
Only time will tell on the longetivity of the vanguard, but I took a chance on the vanguard. I'll update here down the road.

Later,
Mitch


----------



## Treelinx (May 31, 2009)

Hi All
Just reading the comments on stump grinding cutters.
Have you seen these cutters?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmRNubMqpTg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aS13TlLxgg&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUzlzR7Dl1A&feature=related
Worth a look, see what you think.

I'll make no comment either way.


----------



## treemandan (May 31, 2009)

TreeCo said:


> Yes...........or they could have gone broke and can't afford an internet connection any more!



He always says that.

I never saw this cutter wheel in operation. It looks flimsy, I don't see how it could stand up. I don't understand why some of the cutters are set back- do they contact the stump ever? From sight alone I don't believe it can work but...


----------



## treemandan (May 31, 2009)

Treelinx said:


> Hi All
> Just reading the comments on stump grinding cutters.
> Have you seen these cutters?
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmRNubMqpTg
> ...



Pretty cool. This is not the wheel I was thinking about though.


----------

