75hp or 85hp Backhoe or 9 ton Excavator

[viziers]

So any one with experience help out here? I am trying to make a decision based on both cost and effectiveness of the tool at hand.

Looking at rental prices an excavator is roughly 2k for a 1 week rental and a 75hp upto q 85hp backhow is roughly 1k for a 1 week rental.

Now the situation is I have roughly 4 acres of land that has been logged but maybe only 1.2 acres have the most stumps and are roughly 7" on down to 2" in diameter with a few in the 12"+ range. I do not want to use a bulldozer as I want to keep the land as undistured as possible. The other 3 acres the stumps are pretty sparse.

Will the BH work well in removing/pulling the stumps out and the added bonus of the BH FEL to fill in the holes and kinda tamp the loose dirt in the hole down or will the excavator be the tool to use?

Thanks for all your advice!


vizi

 

[rmk700]

I'd pick the backhoe. They are more difficult to operate but the versatility use is much greater. If your doing a lot of grading and smoothing out your ground the front bucket is much quicker than doing it all with the excavator. It can haul/tram material around better. Yes you'll lose time using the back hoe part over the excavator but you'll make it up using the front loader.

Now if you have no backhoe operating experience that could be a problem.

 

[viziers]

I'd pick the backhoe. They are more difficult to operate but the versatility use is much greater. If your doing a lot of grading and smoothing out your ground the front bucket is much quicker than doing it all with the excavator. It can haul/tram material around better. Yes you'll lose time using the back hoe part over the excavator but you'll make it up using the front loader.

Now if you have no backhoe operating experience that could be a problem.

Well the last time I used a backhoe for work was for 4 hours worth and was 20 years ago so it's safe to say I have no experience but feel I can pick it up as I would be renting it for 1 week.

BTW, would that size BH be strong enough to pull/drag the stump out of the ground with minimal digging?


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[rmk700]

A full size backhoe (580 case, 420cat, 310 JD) can easily pull 12" stumps.

 

[Carl_NH]

I would pick the Tractor & BH too, as long as it has a thumb. The other question is what is your long term use plan for this land?

if its grass or pasture then grinding the stumps is the least invasive to the soils and a ton less cleanup involved. When you pull stumps you will have root stragglers everywhere and holes to fill.

I have done both here in NH and the settling that occurs from stumps left in the ground is minimal, and in other cases I have dug the stumps out 20-30" size and 10 years later the ground settling around all the rocks makes a rougher surface than where I ground the stumps.

I also think clearing 4 acres in a week is not going to be enough - rent it for a month would be better and usually they are about 2.5X the weekly rate. Also plan on getting 100 yards of clean fill or sandy soil to fill in and top dress where the stumps are removed.

 

[viziers]

A full size backhoe (580 case, 420cat, 310 JD) can easily pull 12" stumps.

I was pricing the Deere 410g and the Case 580sm. So very good to know, thank you.



vizi

 

[viziers]

I would pick the Tractor & BH too, as long as it has a thumb. The other question is what is your long term use plan for this land?

if its grass or pasture then grinding the stumps is the least invasive to the soils and a ton less cleanup involved. When you pull stumps you will have root stragglers everywhere and holes to fill.

I have done both here in NH and the settling that occurs from stumps left in the ground is minimal, and in other cases I have dug the stumps out 20-30" size and 10 years later the ground settling around all the rocks makes a rougher surface than where I ground the stumps.

I also think clearing 4 acres in a week is not going to be enough - rent it for a month would be better and usually they are about 2.5X the weekly rate. Also plan on getting 100 yards of clean fill or sandy soil to fill in and top dress where the stumps are removed.

Only about 1.2 acres has a lot of stumps the rest has maybe 15-20 stumps. The land is going to be used for a house and the rest will be lawn. Fill dirt will certainly needed as you said.

I need to mainly clear the foundation area with of course is the part that has most of the stumps (lucky me!) the others I was thinking of grinding them down but have not decided yet as it really depends on how fast I pick up the controls of the BH and how efficient I am with it. For a 1 week rental of the BH is about 1k.



vizi

 

[Streetcar]

I second the grinding stumps for minimal disturbance to surrounding soil
Depending on the soil and tree type, removing the stumps can leave a large mess to clean up
I also agree a week is not enough time for an inexperienced operator on either machine

 

[IslandTractor]

Grinding is miserable work and leaves a stump to rot and create a depression in the future. A full sized BH would make short work of stumps less than 12" and can move fill as well. Even better would be a ripper tooth instead of bucket to minimize disturbance of the surrounding soil. Advantage of an excavator would be mobility without needing to swivel the seat and raise/lower stabilizers each time. A small/medium excavator could match the power of a backhoe.

 

[viziers]

What about using a chain that is wrapped around the stump and attache to the BH bucket to pluck it out of the ground of course depending on the type of tree and how big the stump is I know I may have to take 1 or 2 swipes on either side of the stump to loosen it... Does the BH have enough lifting force to pluck the stump out?


vizi