Vermeer SC252

[TROYL]

Information is hard to come by on these thing, What year did they start making them? Im looking at buying one from a guy he says its a 1992, It originally came with a 20 hp Honda and he has replaced the motor with a 25 champion i think he said it was, he wants 3500 for it and it looks to be in ok shape. I should add I have never owned a stump grinder but have a lot of stumps to grind. Are there any key parts i should look at for wear. any info would be appreciated.

 

[lone wolf]

Information is hard to come by on these thing, What year did they start making them? Im looking at buying one from a guy he says its a 1992, It originally came with a 20 hp Honda and he has replaced the motor with a 25 champion i think he said it was, he wants 3500 for it and it looks to be in ok shape. I should add I have never owned a stump grinder but have a lot of stumps to grind. Are there any key parts i should look at for wear. any info would be appreciated.

Look at the compression in the engine cylinders,fouling on 1 or both of the plugs and see if it smokes under load running that will tell you if the engine is shot. The rest of the machine is cheap to repair like bearings and belts.. What the hell is a Champion engine where are they made? That is the thing I am leery of here. Sounds Chinese if it breaks a new engine is 1800.00 or so.

 

[TROYL]

Look at the compression in the engine cylinders,fouling on 1 or both of the plugs and see if it smokes under load running that will tell you if the engine is shot. The rest of the machine is cheap to repair like bearings and belts.. What the hell is a Champion engine where are they made? That is the thing I am leery of here. Sounds Chinese if it breaks a new engine is 1800.00 or so.

thanks for the info, i will pull the plugs, i told him he would have to start it for me to at least show me it works, its been sitting in the back of his shop for years collecting dust. he wasn't really sure of the motor name and thought it was a champion, i cant find a champion motor online im sure its something else. lets say the motor looks good and every bushing,bearing and belt was bad. what kind of expense would i be looking at 500 $??
have they made many changes in these machines over the years? and did they make them in 1992?

 

[TheAMMIXman]

I don’t know about a 1992 252 but I own and operate a 2012 252. It does the job for me. For price reference I paid 7k three years ago for mine with under 700 hours on it. I’ve seen similar go recently for 5500 or so, on eBay, so maybe less elsewhere.

As far as I know they’ve always come with Kohlers. 25 and 27 horse. Maybe something else back when there were 222’s not yet 252’s. Not real sure about back in 1992.

I will say as a part time stump grinder it’s the perfect machine for me for now, paired with a couple very large chainsaws to cut the big ones low. If this was my full time gig or I was an all out tree service I would also want a larger machine to plow through the biggest stumps. Biggest stumps around here being 4-7 or 8 feet. Anything under the 2 or 3 foot mark that’s cut low I’m almost as fast as those diesel machines, almost, I’ve timed my competition. They are faster, but not so much faster im itching to spend 85k on a machine.

If you do buy it or another 252 save this thread: https://www.arboristsite.com/community/threads/list-of-upgrades-to-vermeer-sc252.61193/

 

[TROYL]

Thanks for the reply, we dug it out of the barn. It ended being a 222 with newer 25hp Kohler pro on it. I'm sure I over played at 3500. Everything seems to work as it should. Going to put it use this coming weekend on some 20" fir stumps. Machine hours are at 900. He told me the motor didn't have 100 on it, but who knows. Runs good doesn't smoke. Bearing and belts seem to be fine. It's running 12/700 greenteeth on the wheel. I think that is the stock set up?

The big bolt under the deck that is the pivot point for the wheel up and down is sloppy i tried tightening it with a big cresent wrench, it wouldn't move. not sure if it just needs tightened up or something is wore out.

 

[TheAMMIXman]

Thanks for the reply, we dug it out of the barn. It ended being a 222 with newer 25hp Kohler pro on it. I'm sure I over played at 3500. Everything seems to work as it should. Going to put it use this coming weekend on some 20" fir stumps. Machine hours are at 900. He told me the motor didn't have 100 on it, but who knows. Runs good doesn't smoke. Bearing and belts seem to be fine. It's running 12/700 greenteeth on the wheel. I think that is the stock set up?

The big bolt under the deck that is the pivot point for the wheel up and down is sloppy i tried tightening it with a big cresent wrench, it wouldn't move. not sure if it just needs tightened up or something is wore out.

I dare say not a bad deal, especially if it’s actually a fresh motor. Yes it’s an older machine but you paid half what I did and we now have similar hours. I do not think green teeth is stock setup. I run the 6 tooth 900 series setup and love it. I flip and then change teeth going through 2-3 sets on any given day. I feel that having sharp teeth all the time and having big saws is what is keeping me from needing a larger machine. Except you will loose the jackshaft and cutter wheel bearings every few hundred hours, especially if you over grease them.

Good luck with it!

 

[lone wolf]

thanks for the info, i will pull the plugs, i told him he would have to start it for me to at least show me it works, its been sitting in the back of his shop for years collecting dust. he wasn't really sure of the motor name and thought it was a champion, i cant find a champion motor online im sure its something else. lets say the motor looks good and every bushing,bearing and belt was bad. what kind of expense would i be looking at 500 $??
have they made many changes in these machines over the years? and did they make them in 1992?

Not sure.

 

[lone wolf]

Thanks for the reply, we dug it out of the barn. It ended being a 222 with newer 25hp Kohler pro on it. I'm sure I over played at 3500. Everything seems to work as it should. Going to put it use this coming weekend on some 20" fir stumps. Machine hours are at 900. He told me the motor didn't have 100 on it, but who knows. Runs good doesn't smoke. Bearing and belts seem to be fine. It's running 12/700 greenteeth on the wheel. I think that is the stock set up?

The big bolt under the deck that is the pivot point for the wheel up and down is sloppy i tried tightening it with a big cresent wrench, it wouldn't move. not sure if it just needs tightened up or something is wore out.

You ain't going to buy a running grinder cheaper . Price seems OK.

 

[TROYL]

ill give it a good test this weekend and see how it hold up. already built a green wheel sharpener. got the teeth good and sharp. when the teeth wore out, i think i'm going to go with with that 6/900 performance upgrade set up. the stumps i have to grind are mine buy am hoping to do some private work later,

how do you guys bid private work? be the inch at the ground? price seems to all over the place 3.5 to 7 $ an inch is what i have been reading. whats your minimum leave the house price for a single stump, im in western washington. no shortage of trees.

 

[TheAMMIXman]

@TROYL I meant to answer about the pivot pin too. There are two bushings in there to change. I buggered my shaft and bolt getting it out. New shaft was $76 bolt was $5 and I think the bushings were 5 or 10 a piece too.

As far as bidding work around western MA I keep it to $3-5 per inch of the grind circle, not the cut line. Price goes up too if it’s more than a few inches off the ground. I generally have a 125 minimum which I think is reasonable, not that I haven’t charged people less if it’s two streets over. I’ll take some leaf bags with me at $3 per inch at no extra charge and I’ll do a decent little bit of cleaning for $5 an inch, but if it’s trucks worth of chips I sub it out and it can start to look like double the price quickly when paying my landscaper to clean it up.

The more stumps there are on one job the more I lean on $3 an inch too. It pays to not drive around to 4 jobs in one day, you can still give someone a good deal and make more money yourself when that is the case.

Hope this is helpfull. Check out that thread of mods. It will help you become more productive once comfortable with your machine too.

 

[TROYL]

Very good info thanks, yeah I'm about half way threw the upgrade thread. That engine has napa gold oil filter on it any one using them?

 

[TheAMMIXman]

Very good info thanks, yeah I'm about half way threw the upgrade thread. That engine has napa gold oil filter on it any one using them?

I do not on the motor. I’ve been running the cheap STP filters on the Kohler and I change the oil a lot, sometime not even 50 hours but always well before 100. I’m not an AutoZone fan at all but those STP filters are like $3 or $4 so I stock up if I’m in there.

I have been running the NAPA hydraulic oil filter and have had no issues. I would like to change it and that oil again but there is really no need I think. Especially when the amsoil is probably almost $250 now for a 5 gal pail.

 

[lone wolf]

Very good info thanks, yeah I'm about half way threw the upgrade thread. That engine has napa gold oil filter on it any one using them?

Nothing wrong with Napa filters.

 

[TROYL]

i did an oil change and replaced the hydraulic filter today, I wanted top off the hydraulic reservoir but can you just use any hydraulic fluid?? i think ill change it out after this weekend and start from scratch. how many gallons does it take? i tried to get my free manual today threw vermeer but for the life of me i can not find serial number.



but can you just

 

[TheAMMIXman]

I beleive my vin is also stamped in the main frame underneath if your tag is gone. I believe I used about half of the 5 gallons of oil I purchased. Not sure if any old hydraulic oil will do. With the pulley swap mod I went AMSOIL, it costs, but so does everything else on these machines-and its not something your replace often.

 

[lone wolf]

i did an oil change and replaced the hydraulic filter today, I wanted top off the hydraulic reservoir but can you just use any hydraulic fluid?? i think ill change it out after this weekend and start from scratch. how many gallons does it take? i tried to get my free manual today threw vermeer but for the life of me i can not find serial number.



but can you just

It calls for a specific type of Hyd oil.

 

[TROYL]

hey guys Im back been doing a bit of grinding, I was wondering if them make a dual front wheel set up for the 222 with wheels like this, not my machine just a picture I found