I started grinding stumps with a 1625 3 years ago. I think I'm ready for an upgrade, but I am very happy with my current machine.
I picked up a machine with 180 hours on it from a dealer that was servicing it because it was running rough. They thought bad gas, but it ended up being the cam shaft. I grabbed it for 6500 and was on my way. My very first paying job it **** the bed on me! Same issue as before with it running rough. Took it back to the mechanic who said it was a worn camshaft again. After only 5 hours of run time, there is no way that is the case. So sure enough after looking into it, they found a flaw in the block, probably from a factory defect which would explain why the original owner was never happy with it.
So, my baptism into owning my own business was going farther into the hole before making a single cent. I had the shop put a new short block on it which was 1000 cheaper than a new engine. Then I went to work.
First thing I did was get rid of the standard rayco teeth, absolute junk. Swapped those out for the 700 series green teeth. Then I bought a chainsaw to flush any stumps that weren't already flush to the ground.
Even though I was happy with the green teeth, I later upgraded to the greenwheel. I would totally recommend doing that. Since the upgrade, my machine runs so much smoother and bogs much less. I can only imagine the long term life of the motor was greatly improved by the greenwheel. The wheel's advantages are that the chips stay out of the work so the machine bogs less. Once you get in the groove of using the wheel (there was a 5 hour or so learning curve) you find that you take smaller bites, with each drop, but you're able to take longer bites each time. I would say I saw a 30-40 % decrease in grind time.
So far I can say I am happy with my motor as well. I baby it and do synthetic oil changes every 30-50 hours (it only takes 3qt's so it makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside always having fresh oil.) It fires right up even in cold temps. Early on I had some issues. Starter went right away and I tried to replace it with a NAPA part, but after an month it went too so I replaced it with an OEM from kohler. Then I screwed up and stalled the engine pretty hard grinding a stump. After doing it I couldn't get the engine to fire up and stay running. Problem ended up being the stater and the magnets on the fly wheel. I guess the magnets are only glued on, so when the machine bounced up and down hard, the magnets came off.
Since that repair, I replaced a fuel line and broke the poly cog belt once. Also had to put a new muffler on it after the old one rusted and failed.
Sorry for the wall of text.
To sum it up, I am happy with my 1625. I think I would have upgraded sooner to a diesel if I didn't put the greenwheel on it. I am able to tackle some large stumps with the greenwheel. It is a great machine that can fit almost anywhere. It is perfect for 3' stumps and below, but I assure you it can handle the big stuff too. I recently ground a 5' in a little over an hour.
What I don't like is it is a little bit of a pain to adjust the belts. The final drive is adjusted by moving pillow blocks back, but that in turn throws the tension on the initial drive off. So in order to adjust one you really have to adjust both. Not a deal breaker, just a pain in the ass.
Any questions you have I would be happy to answer.
