Pic of when it helps to have the right tool, big stump..

This is one of the bigger stumps I've dug out before. Cleaned up an area in a field in a low swampy spot. This was a big silver maple, 38" across. The excavator wouldn't pick it up regardless of how I grabbed it. I dug off as much dirt as I could off the bottom. I dragged it across the field and it's now helping with erosion in a washed branch of a ravine. Man I could use one of these a lot. Hydraulic thumb was very nice. It's a rental, going back now.

Wish I could have gotten one of those in my backyard. I just got done digging one out too (not nearly that big though).

yes those are nice, i just finished using one to drive 2 3/8th fence post pipe,posts are 12 feet tall, building elk fence around 100 acres, had one of those punematic post pounders and a huge air compresser did 3 per hour, got a handy cat 325 excavator and put in 20 per hour, just pushed into the ground, hit rock, bend pipe lol

I could make use of one of those for a year or two.

i could just see me trying to pull that one with a 8n!i was doing some yard work and took out an elm maybe 5 inches around.i swear that thing had more underground than above ground! took me most of a day digging cutting and chopping before i got that little old thing out.

Sure looks like over-kill to me; most YTers would've used an 8N Dorf or a 140 Farmalittle.........according to what I've read.

What about an axe?




Just clearing it down to mow over.

I did eight of them this past weekend and I'm starting to regain the use of my hands and forearms again now. :wink:

Thats a whopper of a stump. Took out 4 6 inch elms and thought I was doing good. Whats it cost in your area for rental on a machine like that?

Rick

Back in the real early 60s,Dad did a lot of clearing and tiling around this place. A lot of big stumps. I remember he and my uncle dynamited the dirt out of the biggest ones so they could pull them off to the side with my uncles 4010 with Dads Oliver 66 hooked to the front of it. He always said the 4010 was in neutral.

We had one taken out that was about that size. The tree was a Sitka spruce, about 3 ft across at the cut, and I'm estimating 140-150 ft tall. The guy that dug up my stumps had a much larger excavator that the one you used, and it was everything he could do to lift it. Left a hole about 12 x 12 by about 4 ft deep. He tossed all the stumps in that hole to burn them, then covered it over after it cooled.

I would tend to agree, a modern excavator is an incredible piece of equipment. Years ago, I worked in site development, earthwork and underground utilities, ran all the typical equipment and gained some valuable skills as an operator of same during that time.

Fast forward, not often I get a chance to run this kind of equipment all that often, and you kind of forget the power and versatility of these compared to ag equipment.

The Case below sure had some power for a smaller class machine, I cleaned all the outcropping rocks from all the fields, (now lets see how long mower blades stay sharp) and a whole bunch of other tasks. Drilling company provided it for being helpful with access to power line land they are working on, a new 115,000 volt circuit is going in. Also gave one of the drillers some archery hunting time. For years I've dealt with these rocks, try to remember where they are, mark them, forget re-find, now GONE !!! The amazing thing was the hydraulic power available, this little machine was incredible, along the edge of a field is a hedgerow, then a swamp, there was a big ole leaner in there say 18" diameter or about, still had roots and alive, I was able to crawl in there and pull this tree out like it was nothing, and stack on a nearby pile. There was also a big oak log, over 16' and 3'+ diameter, now I figured one end at a time, wanted to get it up on the pile off the ground, I picked the whole darned log up, granted it was all she would lift, not going to carry it, but was able to swing over and land it, one side was almost dragging, but was off the ground, it lifted it, carbody (tracks) were stable too, well balanced machine with a tolerance for weight. Rent one of these, you will get done in short order.



Fits in the barn for some water line work too, just made it, nice size machine zero swing, compact for tight quarters, but large enough to do bigger jobs too.



One of those rocks, for a tiny loader! Father-son team on the rock removal:




This little bugger will fit through a 36" door, loads a wheel barrow and you could probably tip it over by hand. On this small job, a paying one but also a favor, I requested the building owner to set up the rental, would have taken me a week in sweltering heat to do by hand what this machine did in hours or one day, the cost was well worth it, as you get older, just makes more sense to avoid hand work, great exercise and I never hesitated to do it, body don't like it as much now LOL !

Not the easy way, lot of chopping and digging, also not largest stump but big enough for me. Extra part of the deal is when we started to work on it we found five kitties inside hollow. About a month old and we walked by this stump every day and no clue t hey were in side.

I am trying to down load a pic. and it is telling me to jpk or gif format whats up with this.
JR FRYE

How about digging a stump out that is bigger than your backhoe?

This was an all day job.

This site requires the pic to be in jpg format. Most digital cams use this format.

Brad

Everythign is bigger than a Terramite !!! But they sure get lot of work done . Wish mine had the fwd

MANY THANKS
JR FRYE

I am thinking would this have been easer:
Just jocking GUYS:
JR FRYE

Had a weeping willow stump that had been cut back several times. Contractor came over, with his hydrohoe - bigger 'n the one pictured. Doug around the stump. Hooked onto the stump and almost tipped hoe over - three times he doug it out, still tipping hoe. Finally pushed it into the hole and burried it. Still have a sink hole in my yard! Those willows are a tough stump.

YES! One of those little Ns would have made quick work of that stump! (;>))

Then there was the maple that resisted a large dozer.... Had a second root ball about 6 feet below the first.

Have any of you guys ever heard of a stump grinder? What gluttens for punishment you are.Grind it down below ground level,add dirt and your done.

I had about 2 acres of pretty good size fir logged out around my house- tired of mossy roof, damp in winter, but mostly got scared when we had a big wind storm- the four 30 inch diameter fir about 10 feet from the end of the house held fast, but it was more luck than management. We didn't want to risk it again- any one of those would have crushed the house.

We usually take them out with a D8 Cat and a stump splitter- but a friend who runs excavator said he had a better way. Rented a HUGE excavator- the biggest available. Would put a tooth on top of the stump, and rock the machine back and forth while putting the whole weight of it on that tooth. About 3/4 of them would split in the ground, then a pretty easy matter to pull out the pieces with the bucket and thumb, shake the dirt out and pile them. Even managed to burn the green stumps in the middle of a driving rainstorm, by finding pitchy pieces to start the fire- burned like diesel.

I've always marveled at what can be accomplished with big equipment. When I lived in town the path for the new I-49 was right behind my house. There were lots of old, thick oaks, pines and elms in the path. They used a very big track excator which would walk up the tree, swing the boom and bam the bucket into the tree about 20 feet off the ground. Usually only took about two swings until the tree was leaning enough that he could grab the trunk with the bucket and lift the tree out of the ground. Like pulling onions.

Sometimes it sure would be nice to have the proper equipment but I like a challenge.LOL

looks like getting ready to plant this stump here.

Swinging into a large tree is a good way to damage a machine. Putting the bucket up high and pushing will have a lot more force and won't hurt anything.