Purchasing a stump grinder

[Gruneun]

We recently purchased a 6.5 acre wooded lot to begin building a new home later this year. I have some experience in felling trees and am comfortable and capable in that respect. I'm trying to decide how to deal with all of the stumps. The vast majority of the trees are hard woods, 10"-16", and I'm looking at removing well over a hundred of them.

My options at this point are paying someone else to remove all the stumps, rent a stump grinder, or purchase one. As I have the time and energy, I really don't want to pay someone else to do the labor. With the sheer number of stumps, it seems more reasonable to purchase than rent. I figure a solid, walk-behind grinder would be the best route and I could keep it on-hand for future use or sell it afterwards.

Am I crazy to think of purchasing one? Does someone have a recommendation for models I should be looking at? Keep in mind, I'm willing to pony up the extra cash for a more reliable tool, but this isn't the beginning of a business venture.

Thanks,
Brian

 

[P_woozel]

If you have that liquid ability then plonk down 20k and have at it.

 

[Gruneun]

I was thinking more along the lines of a walk-behind at a quarter of that.

 

[Proj Eng]

Might work your arms to death trying to control it for 100 stumps.
Rent one of each to find out, then make your decision.

 

[Stump Man]

You can usually buy a good used Vermeer 630 or 630A for $2,000 to $3000 around here. Ddo the work and then sell it for what you paid for it. Best way is to put hitch on front of truck, lot easier to place machine where you want it.
I just bought a used 630 for $500, hadn't been run for a few years but didn't take anytime to get going. They usually have 30HP Wisc engines.

 

[Newfie]

A stump grinder doesn't seem like the way to go on a new house lot. I am going to assume that you are taking down trees for a house, driveway and yard?

The house site will need all the stumps removed completely, not just ground. that can be done when the excavating contractor digs the cellar hole. If you have a septic system there can't be any ground stumps in there and that will be a large excavation site as well. I wouldn't want any ground stumps lurking under the surface of my driveway and that will need to be excavated and graded properly even if left as an unpaved surface.

Under those conditions you are wasting your money on a stump grinder.

 

[Liston]

Walk behind

If you go down the grinder route then go for a Carlton SP2000, Built to last

has larger dia cutter wheel then the others and with 27hp gas power loads of grunt for those larger stumps.

Check out the factory site, www.stumpcutters.com


Good luck with the lot

 

[Gruneun]

The basement and sceptic will definitely be excavated by the builder, so grinding those particular stumps would be a waste of time and effort. My focus there will be cutting and carrying. As far as the driveway, it's been clear for years and will be gravel, so I'm not worried about that either. The vast majority of stumps I'm looking at are in the future lawn and will be covered only with grass.

 

[Lumberjack]

You will hate life using a small machine like that. If you truly have nothing better to do than that then have at it, but I bet you will agree that life sucks.

A stumpgrinder can remove a stump as well as an escavator. With a large enough grinder its not hard either. Our RG85 can grind up to 24" deeper than the grade, and you can lower the grade with the machine as well.


I find humor in the post that said it has a 27HP gas for loads of grunt on the bigger stumps.

Main point, either get a larger grinder or hire it out. In MS we could probably remove those sumps for 5-8 bucks a piece, and be done in well under a day assuming they arent spread out too much and other variables.

With an RG85 a 10" stump with roots ground takes maybe 2 minutes.

 

[Newfie]

The vast majority of stumps I'm looking at are in the future lawn and will be covered only with grass.

Is the lawn area at final grade now? If not, a dozer is going to have to grade it out and the stumps will come out then, ground or not.

In my estimation,stump grinding is for the removal of a stump in an existing yard or landscape, not new construction. An excavating contractor is going to be able to make those stumps a lot faster and a lot cheaper than any stump grinder. At least that's how things work around here. I guess it could be different elsewhere.

 

[Lumberjack]

But when they stumps are dug out they must have dirt hauled into their place, and the stumps have to be hauled off and dumped which adds $$$.

We have cleared areas to make pastures before, rather cheaply compared to diggingt them out IMO.

 

[huskycandoit]

I would go for the Rayco RG1625A Super Jr. Not as expensive as the others and not to small. And you can make some money on the side with that machine if you discide to keep it.

 

[treeman82]

Rent a self propelled diesel grinder for a couple of days, you'll have no troubles. Grinder for 1 day = $300? 2 = $600? 3 = $900? Buy it outright = $8,000 +

 

[Lumberjack]

PLUS mantience and other upkeep.

 

[treesurgeon]

you will be learning how to run the machine the whole day. it will be cheaper to hire a guy with a large grinder.
call three company's and go with your gut.

 

[Koa Man]

With a lot that size I would buy a good tractor with a grinder attachment. You can use it later to mow, move dirt, even as a forklift with a pallet attachment. You can find good used tractors fairly cheap. A skid steer would be even better for the construction stage, but you wouldn't want to run it on an established lawn.

 

[Totally Stumped]

I've never understood how or why people can buy equipment, new or used, for one small job then turn around and sell it. I've never been able to get my money out of my used equipment, let alone make a profit. Let me get this straight: you buy a grinder, use it for a small job, clean it up, advertise it, field phone calls and spend the next eight weekends meeting people in the local Walmart parking lot trying to sell it. Or you just return it to your local Rayco or Vermeer dealer and take the huge hit.
The handlebar machines will beat you to death. Hire a pro for $5-8/stump, get the work done during the week (while your making a living) and if anything gets screwed up, its on his dime.

 

[Newfie]

But when they stumps are dug out they must have dirt hauled into their place, and the stumps have to be hauled off and dumped which adds $$$.

Which is an inconsequential problem on a building site. With a full basement on an average size home and a septic system, you are looking at 200-300 yards of displaced material that needs to be regraded on site.

Stump disposal is an extra cost but certainly less than the time involved in grinding out the stumps yourself. Once ground, I assume that there are some remnants underground that can rot and create voids? I've seen the sinkholes created when a hack excavator buries the stumps and they rot. I wouldn't want that near my foundation, under my slab, or in the middle of my lawn.

A good excavator can come in and pop all those stumps in a day and have them all gone. Probably looking at 2-3 K tops in my area.

It's odd how there is so much disparity in building practices around the country. In Mass, stump grinding for new construction wouldn't even be allowed by the building inspector.

 

[treesurgeon]

I've never understood how or why people can buy equipment, new or used, for one small job then turn around and sell it. I've never been able to get my money out of my used equipment, let alone make a profit. Let me get this straight: you buy a grinder, use it for a small job, clean it up, advertise it, field phone calls and spend the next eight weekends meeting people in the local Walmart parking lot trying to sell it. Or you just return it to your local Rayco or Vermeer dealer and take the huge hit.
The handlebar machines will beat you to death. Hire a pro for $5-8/stump, get the work done during the week (while your making a living) and if anything gets screwed up, its on his dime.

for 5 to 8 dollars a stump, you could do all mine too.

 

[Gruneun]

for 5 to 8 dollars a stump, you could do all mine too.

Indeed. Let me get my wallet.

I've never understood how or why people can buy equipment, new or used, for one small job then turn around and sell it. I've never been able to get my money out of my used equipment, let alone make a profit.

The builder estimated $15k for a sub to cut, split, and stack the firewood, haul the larger logs off, remove the stumps, and fill the holes. That was just for the area where the actual house will sit (70'x70', plus some border) and most of the holes will be excavated further for the basment, so there isn't much to fill. For that much, I can cut, split, and stack the firewood myself, hire someone to pull the stumps that won't be ground, and buy a stump grinder for the rest of them. Obviously, it's quite a bit of manual labor on my part, but I've enjoyed it so far. Even if I kept the grinder in my shed for friend/family use and didn't sell, I'd still come out ahead.