Stump grinder chip containment ideas.

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Hello, this has always a pain for me as well. The challenge for me is not grinding the stump, but erecting shielding to protect Windows, pedestrians on sidewalks, avoid striking cars etc. I carry 8-10 sheets of 3/8 plywood. About the same amount of T stakes and a driver. Pound the stakes in, bungee ply to them and you have a tall, wind resistant containment. It takes a little bit to set up, I can erect 6 sheets in about 5 minutes. In my experience a single sheet hinged in half is never tall enough, is very unstable on uneven ground prone to blowover into grinder, house, siding. More work than some may want to do, but I like grinding without worrying about damages. One of my accounts is for a large college here, they expect nothing less than this with the amount of foot traffic and everyone so distracted by their gadgets.
 
I use hinged plywood. The stakes and hinged plywood makes sense. I have the same issue with stuff blowing all over, rocks flying, etc. I've seen the screen systems on the 'net, never tried one. Kind of expensive, but if you have to go a ways to get to a stump, something lightweight makes sense. For now, hinged plywood and I'll get some stakes.
 
Bought the StumpRGuard 7 or so years ago, love the fabric, the frame was too weak and way too many sliding parts. I think they've changed pole systems now, don't know for sure. For last three years I've bought orange construction fence poly fabric off Ebay, 5' tall x 15' long, for about $35, they have the grommets already installed every 3' on top and 1' on sides. It's the fabric you attach to chain link fences to provide privacy and keep any debris from coming thru from the job site.

Then buy six 5/8" or 3/4" (not sure) diameter, 6' tall solid fiberglass plant stakes from Orchard Supply, about $7 each. drill a 3/16" hole near top of stake, and another about 6" from bottom of stake. Attach fabric top and bottom of each stake using zip ties. The end poles get zip tied every 1' where the grommets are. For intermediate stakes zip tie two places thru fabric around stake to keep the middle of the fabric attached to the stake, besides the zip tie at top and bottom.

Stakes slide into ground by hand six months of the year when ground is soft. Other times I use a plastic dead blow hammer, amazing how tough those fiberglass stakes are, you can pound on em all day, as long as you don't use a metal hammer. Been using the same stakes for three years.

Best system I've come up with so far. Fabric lasts at least two years unless you get too close with the cutter wheel, lol. Zip ties break every once in awhile. But for less than $80 you get 15' lineal protection. I carry three of them at all times. So easy to put up, protects well, way less cleanup. Roll up into three 6" pvc pipes on a rack I installed on the trailer. No more mess in the back of the truck. Can carry all three at one time on same shoulder no problem.

Stumper63
 
I use one of the StumpRGuard screens I bought years ago. I rarely ever have a problem with chip containment with my 4012, or with the 7015 I used to have. The Sandvic wheels do not throw chips much at all.
On the other hand, when I was running Greenteeth, I had chips scattered 100' in all directions. I could not build a screen big enough to catch chips from those GreenTeeth setups. Just one of several reasons I would never run GreenTeeth on any machine again, ever.
I know the StumpRguard seems kind of expensive, but it is soooo much easier to use than sheets of plywood, or any other homemade guard I have ever seen..
Jeff
 
That's not been my experience with GreenTeeth. I rarely use a shield at all.
Put new 1100 series green teeth on my 752 Vermeer and grind a large fresh black oak and the chips will be everywhere. I have to start with 2 backpacks and blow it all back in.
 
Wondering if anyone wants to share their chips guard/containment means.

Looking for new ideas.
OK guys forget the heavy plywood and $300 shields. Go to Dollar General and buy you a couple of 6 foot folding white plastic tables @$30 each. Simply unfold them on each side of machine next to the front wheels or tracks and your good to go. In most cases you don't even have to extend the legs out. very light, comes with a carry handle and are very durable. Been using them for some time with my 7015 TRX and they work great. I actually have 6 of these and when I need to run a barrier at the curb or driveway I just unfold them end to end. You can thank me later.
 
I run the same 1100 greens on my TRX. They WILL throw chips. See my post above about the Poly folding tables. You can find them at Sam's, Walmart, Dollar General or just about anywhere. I promise they work great, just fold out on their side and place on each side of the wheel. very quick set up and light enough to re-position on the stump as you move forward. I bought 2 of these to start and they worked so well I went back and bought 4 more as barriers where needed.
 

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