Another stump grinding nightmare.

[VitalityTree]

I will keep you in mind if my Rayco 1635 is broken. My father is a mechanic, and I'm pretty handy. First time my machine broke I repaired it my self after getting a quote for $1300.00. I think I made the right call leaving that job, and not risking further damage. I texted my client a few hours afterwards and apologized. The tree was so old, there's no way they could of known about anything being embedded in the stump.

 

[iowagold]

Here is some of the thinks I have hit: I hit a 3/4 conduit one time that had 220v electric in it. It was buried about 4" deep. Turns out it was powering a 1800 sq ft home! OK, that lady was not happy when I left. She asked me if I was going to fix it. I said "no, you need to call the electrician who did the job wrong". It was her husband...

Point is, things happen. Make sure you charge enough to cover them. Stay safe and good luck with it,
Top

always get locates for the property! not just the basic utilities but the private stuff as well..
here in iowa mandatory locates is the law here...
I always also verify the locates with my gear as well...
best bucks you can spend is for a fero probe or the new versions that will also do electrical and telecom.
and learn how to use it..
you were a lucky cat on the 220 line... ouch!! that stuff hurts!!

bad locates are a good way to test your relation ship with your insurance guy...
$50k per splice on fiber and you need 2 of those...
one of the plumbers here in town hit one of the new fiber trunks 3 days after it was drilled in...
$100k in splices and $10 bucks a foot for the 6 blocks worth of replacement sheath drill work.
he was lucky they were still in the area drilling..
the locates company will take a hit on that too.. they did not show fiber on the locates map for that site as it was new construction.
there was a new repeater 2 blocks up the street... that would to have been the tip off for me...
some of that stuff is not too deep in spots..

I have some telecom in my yard that is 18 inches down...

 

[VitalityTree]

Usually I get locates, especially if the stump or digging is going to occur in the front yard. Unfortunately a locate will not detect large rocks or pieces of steel and construction debris underground. I have grinded right through cement, and even metal planting stakes (T bars) so what ever I hit was extremely hard.

I'm more concerned about the machine, it was a huge investment. Anyone know how durable these machines are? They must be designed for incidents like this. In an urban or suburban environment there is tons of garbage and debris buried underground so I would assume that most stump grinders are very heavy duty.

 

[iowagold]

I will keep you in mind if my Rayco 1635 is broken. My father is a mechanic, and I'm pretty handy. First time my machine broke I repaired it my self after getting a quote for $1300.00. I think I made the right call leaving that job, and not risking further damage. I texted my client a few hours afterwards and apologized. The tree was so old, there's no way they could of known about anything being embedded in the stump.

most of this stuff is not that hard to work on if you can wrench...
it just get interesting if the computer controls start to hang up or spools stick etc..
rare issues... but they do get the blood pumping!! lol!!
always have the e-stop handy!! lol!!
$1000.00 for a used fero probe is a cheap tool...
the good units run $1k up to $6k and are worth every penny!
and they do hold value if you take care of them!!
try to buy them at cost if you can...
last one I sold I used it for 5 years and sold it for $500 more that I gave for it!!
but it looked like new... always in a case... always wiped down after every use.

a good gold metal detector in all metals mode works well for metal trash in stumps.
you can find them for less than $1k for the state of the art units.
try a tesoro lobo super trac they work well!! some times you can get a deal on those!!

 

[iowagold]

Usually I get locates, especially if the stump or digging is going to occur in the front yard. Unfortunately a locate will not detect large rocks or pieces of steel and construction debris underground. I have grinded right through cement, and even metal planting stakes (T bars) so what ever I hit was extremely hard.

I'm more concerned about the machine, it was a huge investment. Anyone know how durable these machines are? They must be designed for incidents like this. In an urban or suburban environment there is tons of garbage and debris buried underground so I would assume that most stump grinders are very heavy duty.

Vermeer units will take a beating.. they make those here in Iowa

 

[capetrees]

Usually I get locates, especially if the stump or digging is going to occur in the front yard. Unfortunately a locate will not detect large rocks or pieces of steel and construction debris underground. I have grinded right through cement, and even metal planting stakes (T bars) so what ever I hit was extremely hard.

I'm more concerned about the machine, it was a huge investment. Anyone know how durable these machines are? They must be designed for incidents like this. In an urban or suburban environment there is tons of garbage and debris buried underground so I would assume that most stump grinders are very heavy duty.

I don't know what it is about homeowners tossing every rock in the yard to the base of the trees?? I had to dig out every stump before grinding for fear o hitting rocks, bricks, concrete and dog chains. Those are fun!!

Worst was a customer has me grind a stump, told me he and his son in law couldn't get it down low enough to mow over. I got there an it was all dug around, hacked at with an ax and basically beat up. I'm grinding away, going pretty good and BANG!! while something BIG goes by my ankle. Turns out the guy drove a steel splitting wedge down into the tree hoping to split it and remove it but forgot to tell me he drove into the stump!!! Three replaced teeth later, it was done.

 

[Del_]

I have a Rayco 1672 tow behind and a self propelled Carlton 4400 with radio remote.

The radio remote is awesome.

Keep those pillow blocks greased!

 

[VitalityTree]

Metal detecting would be a fun hobby too

 

[iowagold]

here is a link for a good metal detector retailer
https://www.kellycodetectors.com/catalog/metal-detectors?
they have good pricing, and ship almost everywhere.
for what we do
and this is one of the good mfg
http://tesoro.com/
as well as whites, and minelab.
mine lab is one of the best units...
less than $10k on most of the pro models..
but they find deep stuff as well.
I see kellyco now has deep radar units now.
$30-40k but for a 3d scan unit that is cool!

 

[VitalityTree]

here is a link for a good metal detector retailer
https://www.kellycodetectors.com/catalog/metal-detectors?
they have good pricing, and ship almost everywhere.
for what we do
and this is one of the good mfg
http://tesoro.com/
as well as whites, and minelab.
mine lab is one of the best units...
less than $10k on most of the pro models..
but they find deep stuff as well.
I see kellyco now has deep radar units now.
$30-40k but for a 3d scan unit that is cool!

 

[VitalityTree]

Should I be worried about damage to the stump grinder, when something like I previously described occurs?

 

[iowagold]

I always metal detect the stumps...
it just is smart... a couple of extra min can save lots of damage..
or hurt to you..

and as far as how hard it is on equipment...
lots of inertia on the grinders big and small.
risk damage to the gear box as well as the teeth.
for me a couple of hundred bucks in the till is not worth the risk on a $50K or more grinder..
same with a good chain saw...