What type of grinder?

[JCONN]

I have always sub out my stump grinding to another company and they do a great job and if they miss something they come right back to get it. I usually tell the ho that I dont do stumps and can get them a price, it always seemed to me when I was learning the business that stumps tended to get used as a bargining chip. The boss would tell them 1500 for the tree and 160 for the stump and they would always negotiate on the stump or the company said they will throw the stump in, and thats not bs becuase guys have that in their ads all the time here. However I seem to be getting alot of stumps 25 inches and smaller all over the yards, I just paid out 2000 for easy stumps. So heres my question do i look for say a used 252 vermeer or something larger to tow and if so could i move it with my dingo or do i go for a grinder like the 38 speacia,l something with its own power drive but also utilizes the dingo. If I do get a grinder I will still sub out the monster stumps i dont want to beat on the machine.

 

[pdqdl]

If I had a dingo, I would get a dingo-mounted stump grinder attachment that had it's own engine power.

Much of the money you pay for a stump grinder is to pay for a machine frame, driveline, and wheels (or tracks). Frequently, the driveline is poorly built and not really satisfactory. A mini-attachment only needs an engine and a grinder-wheel. You should get more grinder for less money.

I am not familiar with the machines that mount on a dingo, but I tested a hydraulic-powered unit once for my bobcat. It worked very well, went up hills and rough terrain that my stump grinder couldn't, and it never got tied up in deep piles of shavings.

A Dingo should be able to carry a machine with a 25 to 35 horsepower grinder, and that will do any stump you will ever find. Obviously, more power is better.

 

[mattfr12]

Stump is usually bargaining for us endless they are huge like 70+ inches across. If the homeowner has us do a large removal we usually will take out every stump they have why the machine is there within reason. I just won a job like that guy said other company was Cheaper I said I noticed all the stumps in your backyard like 5-6 how bought we throw those in to. Deal was done, most of the trees we do the stump is in the price we usually like the cleaner look. Some guys leave 5-6 foot of tree and it looks like ####. I like to get my employees as many hours as I can so grinding keeps there hours 40 and over a week.

 

[JCONN]

I have seen the grinders that run off the hydrualic units of skid steers. however I dont think the dingo will have enough gpm to push a strictly hydro driven unit. I do like the option of being able to fit threw a 36inch gate. Has anyone used the stump slayer grinder the price is alot nicer then the branch manager grinder.

 

[Kottonwood]

Hey JCONN

I have a stump slayer and it seems to be a pretty decent machine. We had some trouble with it at first as far as burning belts up but we seem to have it figured out now. I upgraded mine to yellow jacket teeth cuz the rayco cutters were to much of a pain in the ass to deal with.

It is a good grinder with lots of power. You increase your power at the wheel compared to other grinders because the one motor doesn't have to run any hydraulics.

The machine is a tad long and makes your whole unit long so making tight turns in tight places can be a little tricky, luckily you can always lift it over things.

The major downside to the machine (and this is with a lot of grinders) is that you really can't see the wheel to well when you are grinding. Once you get good at doing it by feel it is really no problem.

anwyays the slayer is a great grinder for small and medium stumps and will do just fine (with some hours of work) on the larger stumps.

I pmed you about mine as I am selling it, check it out.

-Keith

 

[coolbrze]

Get you a 35 Hp self-propelled Carlton grinder & you'll be good to go. Sub out those 4+' dia. stumps though

 

[pdqdl]

Nonsense.

I have ground lots of 4' stumps with my little 25hp rayco. Big horsepower is for folks with small patience and big wallets.

Granted, I have been eyeballing a new engine at 35hp for my Rayco, but I certainly wouldn't run from a big stump without it.

 

[Pelorus]

My old 1625 has subdued a lot of big stumps too, but it makes me feel like Forest Gump on a little Snapper mowing a football field.

 

[pdqdl]

That's a pretty clever analogy, but it really doesn't take too long to mow a football field with a Snapper Rider.

Counting the end zones, a football field is only about 1 1/4 acres. If you put that football field inside a 1/4 mile track like most high schools do, that is still only about 2.3 acres. Most riding mowers will knock out about 1/2 acre per hour; commercial zero-turns often do better than an acre an hour. So ol' Gump wasn't really out there mowing so terribly long, and probably enjoyed the work.

Just another case of small machines for folks with bigger patience.

BTW: I used to mow about 5 football fields; everything that was inside the track. They are actually kind of fun, but I was always on a bigger machine wearing out my lack of patience to get to the next one.

 

[gorman]

Some tree guy south of my town made his own grinder out of a ride-on mower. I haven't seen it but I heard it works and he gets to sit on his butt.

 

[bayard]

252

i rented a 252 it was the slowest piece of junk ever . i can not belive you can make money with it.k

 

[mattfr12]

i rented a 252 it was the slowest piece of junk ever . i can not belive you can make money with it.k

patience is key with the smaller gas grinders. i just cant stand basically still for 5 hours on a big stump i start loosing my mind. i shouldn't be allowed to rent a 252 i beat them things trying to get a decent pass out of it. if its less than 30-40hp diesel your gonna be there for a while on a decent sized stump. we tried that 27hp lambardi deisel that carlton sells and it was no dice, not much faster than a 252. But its also relivent to how much your spending, there is a reason you can pick them up for 15k new when a 40hp is gonna be well over 30k.

 

[mattfr12]

I have seen the grinders that run off the hydrualic units of skid steers. however I dont think the dingo will have enough gpm to push a strictly hydro driven unit. I do like the option of being able to fit threw a 36inch gate. Has anyone used the stump slayer grinder the price is alot nicer then the branch manager grinder.

If your throwing out less than 30 gpm on a skid loader its not gonna be super fast. a T300 with high flow i think is 37GPM and it is not a rocket ship through stumps, our little grinder the 2450xp bandit with 44hp kabota is decently faster. We got a bandit 2250 a month or so ago thats powered by a 27hp kohler and it would smoke a 252. don't know why but the bandit dealer wanted to demo it bad to us said we would by it once we did and we did. compared to any of the other small grinder's the design is awesome. ill post some pictures of the two machines we got a month or so ago.

 

[mattfr12]

 

[pdqdl]

Yep. Bandit makes some nice stuff.

My little rayco 1650 super junior was smoking the vermeer (252?) 13 years ago. It still works ok, but the engine is worn out.

 

[Pelorus]

I get bored grinding larger stumps with the 1625. Daydreaming is alright in small doses, but then I end up not paying enough attention and "voila" the polychain breaks, or the machine tries to kill itself / me by flipping over.
It is basically worn out and worth nothing, (kinda the state it was in when purchased); gets used only on jobs where the client asks if I grind stumps. Keeping it saves having to rent a machine or give the work to somebody else, but grinding stumps or selling firewood is an insignidicant part of my revenue stream. It would be nice to own a decent machine, but there are too many other things that are higher up on the priority wish list.

 

[802climber]

I thought for sure this thread was gonna be about food

 

[Cut 2 Please]

I demoed a Bandit 2250 today. It is a very neat little machine. The power is about the same as a Carlton 4012 with a 27hp so really didn't see any power loss with the hydraulics. It was very smooth to operate. Compact design would allow for much better access into tight areas. Down side is the operator gets pelted with chips. Every time the chips shoot out the right side of the wheel they would shoot directly at me. I felt like I need a full face motorcycle helmet and upper body armor. I ended up buying a 2007 Bandit 4x4 2100 with 35hp briggs.

 

[murphy4trees]

My first grinder was a super 50... 66 hp me tinks...

got a 89 hp RG-90 and will never go back... big or small they go quick!

 

[John464]

Not sure how you guys get anything done with those 35hp grinders. Get something that can get it done fast. Get in, get out.

I have my Carltion 7015 for sale. Only reason I am selling is I have a new 2013 Carlton 7015 on its way, with same specs as my current machine. Sandvik, wireless remote control.