Stump removal equipment

[gstick]

Does anyone have any experience with Alpine Magnum
equipment? With a total weight of 90 pounds it appears to be very portable and can reach almost any site. It is also much less of an initial outlay than is required for the standard equipment. Would appreciate any input.

Gstick

 

[treeclimber165]

Have never heard of it. But remember, the cost of a stumper is only a small portion of your overall cost. The biggest stump guy in town uses vermeer 252's for small stuff, and swears by them. Also, virtually every tree company in town that has their own stump machine also uses a vermeer 252. Coincidence?

 

[sonny]

I just dont like the looks of them teeth on the Alpine. I would first check out the replacement cost of them first.

 

[Treeman14]

I've never seen an Alpine Magnum in action, but a stump grinder that weighs only 90 lbs. can't be much of a machine. I think you'd regret it if you're grinding anything bigger than about 10". I have a Dosko 691SP that I bought in 1989, still going strong. Its small enough to fit through a 30" gate, but has enough power (18HP Kohler Magnum) to grind big stumps. I think it weighs around 350 lbs. I also have a Vermeer 630B for the big stuff if I can get to it. I think the money you save on the Alpine would be quickly used up in the extra time and energy spent grinding.

 

[gstick]

Stump grinding equipment

Thanks to everybody for the quick responses.
I am the senior member of our team. Gene Jr. is the muscle I do numbers.
TreeClimber165 what other costs should be counted?
I have equipment cost/amortization
Insurance
Tool maintenance/replacement
Fuel cost
Travel to the site
Job labor

Sonny I was quoted $39 for a replacement set of carbide teeth. They tell me you can sharpen yourself with a bench grinder and they figure you can do that four times before replacing.

Treeman14 I am going to run down info on the machines you mention. But, in general as a numbers man the $2 per diameter inch hits me as being pretty thin. It seems that if you buy a big machine you would need to keep busy all the time.

Thanks again to everybody

Gstick

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

Bigger machines mean less time on site, as long as you can get through a standard gate.

Most people I know that run stumpers do sub work for those that don't.

You need to look at your current volume to see if you can fit it in, or if you can grow the work to cover the payments. Maybe it needs to be a short term loss that will be absorbed by the other work. My personal thoughts are to go with as big as your operations can handle, ie typical site and truck hauling capacity. If you pay around $400/month on a 6 year lease....

I've seen the Rayco RD-60 at work, and it is a pretty good machine.

 

[Treeman14]

Don't forget about property damage, i.e. broken sprinkler lines, water lines, phone and cable TV. It WILL happen, probably one out of every ten or twenty jobs. It doesn't hurt to have Sunshine (underground utility locator) come out and mark all major utilities ahead of time. We have a damage waiver clause in our contracts, but I always end up fixing these things myself or deducting the costs from the bill. It all comes back to reputation. If you don't fix it, its guaranteed that you will not do another job for that customer. On the other hand, when you go the extra mile to make things right, you have a regular client for life (usually).
Bearings, belts, and teeth are the three things you will replace most often. Regular maintenance of air and oil filters is very important, also. You're working in a very dusty environment.

 

[gstick]

Alpine Magnum

We got a video on the operation of the Alpine Magnum. It is clear that it would be an auxiliary machine which could provide access in various situations where a big machine couldn't go. But it can't put you in the stump grinding business.

Thanks to everyone for valuable input.

Gene Stickley

 

[Plyscamp]

I own 2 Alpine Magnums & a Vermeer 252 the oldest Alpine being 10 years old. I subcontract for about 20 tree companies. We run these units on average 5 to 6 days a week & grind 4 to 6 locations per day.

I am in a large metro area with lots of slopes & hillsides. The Vermeer is a good unit, however it does not like hillsides and slopes as it is very top heavy & has been tipped over on its side more than once. We use the Alpines every day for hillsides, trimming along concrete, root prunning Etc. More so than most units there is definatly a learning curve in the operation of the unit and should be run by a dedicated operator.

Over the years we have ground some very large stumps with the Alpines on slopes and being a niche within a niche we get paid very well on these jobs, as no one else in town can work on these hillsides.