stumps

[gerne]

Ok, I have a HUGE project that i am going to under take and I would appreciate some advice on it. I am removing roughly 300 Moutain Cedar trees and need to get rid of all the stumps as well. Cutting them down doesn't seem like it's going to be that much of a big deal but getting those stumps up are going to be almost impossible. Can anyone give me any advice behind getting up all these stumps? I can't really dig around them becuase 2 inches below the dirt is solid rock that isn't going any where. From what he, (the costumer) has told me is that a tractor that he uses to mow his yard, which can carry a brush hog on the back) can't rip them up. So all and any advice would be appreciated.

[Seascape]

Im not sure how gig these are but a bobcat will take out some big stumps if you have a good log chain. have you considered grinding them w/ a stump grinder?
mike

[gerne]

hmm, how would I get a chain around any of the stumps since i can't really dig around them? but about that stump grinder....any idea on how much something like that would cost to rent or even buy?

[mx495]

Get a whole bunch of hungry beavers and let 'em loose for the day(LOL). A stump grinder would be more effecient, especially since cedar is pretty soft.

[gerne]

haha, i like the idea with the beavers...very clever i do have to admit...thanks for all your input everyone

[mmlawncare]

Man...grinding 300 stumps...I hope you didn't underestimate this job. That is going to take a long time! Anyone have any good, record breaking times they are willing to share with gerne about how long it takes to grind 1 stump so he can get an idea about how long it will take to do 300 times that many?

[Scott]

most of your rental company's have little stump grinders and would take you an eternity to grind all 300+/- of those.
For a job of this magnatude, I would recommend renting a 310 series JD tractor with a backhoe for a few days/week. I can rent one locally for $350 a day, delivered and you'll need about 4-5 full days. If you average your stump cost to $35 ea and you have 300, you're looking at $10.5k, just for the stump removal. What does the customer want you to do with the stumps after you take them out? Dump(additional cost) or is burying them an option?

A brand new good size stump grinder is gonna cost you in the neighborhood of 20k-35k, a used one is gonna run about 10k-15k.

Question? What are you going to do with all those trees? Are you cutting them down for the customer to sell or does he just want them out?

[Galashiels]

Another option is to get someone with a big digger like 10- 16 tons they rip out stumps easy as. Neighbour here has one with a big fork rather than a bucket rippes out stumps in no time.
I have seen them pull out whole trees 100' tall shake the dirt off and lie them down in rows.
Depends on the access but grinding that number of stumps could be costly.

John

[trookard]

Rent a bulldozer and push the trees down first. The roots and all will be out of the ground and then you can easily clean up the trees by cutting them up and then doing whatever you are going to do to dispose of the trees. Then you could push the stumps into a pile and burn them. This is the procedure that I used when clearing some land that my parents bought that was HEAVILY wooded. They now have a house on the property with a beautiful lawn.

Just to let you know, though, if you use the bulldozer a few of the trees that you want to survive may die if you bump into them or ride over the roots (if roots are near the surface of the ground)with the dozer, so be careful when maneuvering.

You can rent a bulldozer from some of the large equipment dealerships that carry construction equipment. I learned to operate my grandfather's dozer when I was about 10 years old, so you will be able to learn pretty quickly. Once you get the dozer off of the property, then use a tractor with a box-blade to smooth the ground and fill in any holes or depressions that you leave with the dozer.

[gerne]

well the reason he wants them cut down is because they are sucking all the water out of the ground for his oak trees. His lot is 20 acres and the trees cover about 3 or 4 acres and it's pretty close to his house so it can't look like hell for too long. I think that what I'm probably going to do is get a heavy duty backhoe. I know someone that is in the rock business and he has a huge CAT, hopefully he could hook me up for a week or so. Thanks for everything...especially about how long it would take to grind a stump, because I was actually considering doing that. Sounds like the backhoe is the way to go becuase the dozer would tear the hell out of the yard, and there is alot of grass and sod near by too oh the problems

[maple city]

I don't think a stump grinder is the way to go. Our good friend (who is a professional in the tree trimming business) ground out a stump for us. He does this all the time, and it took him about an hour. It's a lot of work and mess. I think I would subcontract someone with some heavy equipment to get the stumps out. My sister-in-law just cleared a lot of land to put in a house, and this is what she did. Call around to excavating companies and start asking questions. I know that it is costing my sis-in-law $80.00/hour to hire the equipment and operator (this is for 1 piece of equipment). Where are you located?

[mmlawncare]

That is kinda what I was thinking when I posted above earlier. Sub it out. Won't make as much money but doing it yourself will be murder. Do you have a crew to help or are you solo? I would definately say grinding is out. Don't even think about it. So, you do have a few choices, but grinding is not one! Let us know what you decide! I, and I'm sure others would want to know how this goes.

[maple city]

Where are you located?