The right stump grinder

[Djsmokin]

Hello,

Newbie to the site and newbie to tree work. I operate a one man lawn care business in Florida.

I find about one third of my customers and about the same on lawns I bid have stumps in the lawn. I have been considering a small stump grinder as a new service to offer my customers and maybe a service I could use to add new lawn accounts. Run a small ad in the paper and then maybe make the stump account a new lawn account.

My question for you folks is....what brand and model unit would you recomend for a small unit that would fit through small to medium gates and still do a good job?

The rental units I have looked at are priced high and really look in poor shape.

Thanks for your help. Dj

 

[treeclimber165]

Service and parts availability are paramount. Of the two major brands, buy the one with the closest store. I've seen almost no Rayco stumpers in Orlando because there isn't any local dealership. I'm sure they are similar in quality and price to Vermeer but we have a local Vermeer store so 95% of the stumpers in town are Vermeer.

 

[FBerkel]

I have a Dosco, 20 h.p. Kohler, self propelled, and its a great machine. (You need to keep sharp teeth on it and any small machine.)

Brian's point about parts is well taken; I have to order some specific parts sent from California. Most of the parts I need (belts, bearings, cables etc.) can be found locally, though, at specialized distributorships. On balance, the machine is so good IMHO, compared to its competitors, I think it's worth it. And it almost never breaks down, anyway.

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

Look into doing a demo. Many of the dealers will let you demo a machine or two for free, if they think that you might buy one. This will give you a chance to try a few out before you buy.

 

[ORclimber]

If you get an all hydraulic unit your back will thank you. I used the dosko and promark walk behinds with handlebars and always went home with a sore back. I use a rayco super jr. now and it's nice to have an easy day of grinding stumps. I think the vermeers even have an autosweep feature. If I were you I'd line up a days worth of grinding and try the demo idea.

 

[treeman82]

I would probably suggest to you a Vermeer 252. It has dual drive tires, but you can take them off if need be. I believe they run around 11 - 12 G's for brand new. Talk to Herkfe on this site, he has a lot of experience with stump grinders.

 

[Djsmokin]

Thanks alot guys. Some good advice.

 

[Menchhofer]

We have Carlton 3500-4...35 hp can get thru gates. Works fine on large a small stumps. Bought used a couple years ago. Good machine although I would buy a 4500 diesel next time...

 

[rahtreelimbs]

One additional thing to consider is transporting the stump grinder. I think that the purchase of a trailer would be a wise investment. Seems to me that just towing the stump grinder itself would cause a lot of unnecessary wear on the machine.

 

[preach it]

I own a Rayco RG13-II. I bought it new about 8 months ago. It is one of the smaller stump grinders. I purchased a smaller one because all the ones around here are pull behind the truck larger ones. It allows me to fit into smaller areas ( 25 in. gate) where they can't. Hey, that is how business is done and making money. Find your niche in the market that no one else is doing and do it. I sharpen the blades myself, and have gone through a couple of sets of them. I am satisfied with the machine. I can push it up a ramp into the back of my pickup. I have ground out all size ( from 4 in. to 45 in.) and kinds of stumps. For one this size you need to have a strong back because you have to muscle it around ( You will know real quick if the blades are dull.). One this size costs around $3,000-$4,000 new.

 

[geofore]

stumps

You can always tell the guy you would rent his machine if he puts new parts on it and tell him to call you when he does. I will agree with the others, ask for a demo, if you are likely to buy they will usually give you a day. Muni's usually get a larger machine and a one week demo but they are looking at spending 25K-45k for it.

If you can't afford the machine now find a stump guy after you line up a bunch of stumps for him to grind and work a deal with him on the price. most of the stumps left around here are because the customer doesn't want to pay for the grind but after one summer of mowing around it they are ready to pay the piper for the stump removal. It dawns on them it is cheaper to have the stump removed than buying a new mowwer because they Oops hit the stump.