I'm a little late to the party here but I would agree with those who suggest the ripper for removing stumps. I used to think that one had to dig a large whole to remove a stump but found that just created a huge mess and the closer you get to the centre of the stump the harder it is to get any sized hoe bucket in there.
I find that with the ripper I can easily get in almost anywhere and then follow the path of the root to a point where I can break the root. With my L45 the other advantage the ripper gives me is if the root is too big to break with a pull on the hoe, then I can put all of the strength of my small backhoe on the single tooth of the ripper to cut through the root until I can break through the root. I work my way around the stump cutting all of the roots and also poke the ripper under the stump as much as possible to loosen the dirt under there too. Once I have cut all the roots around the stump, I am able to remove some pretty large stumps with my small L45.
The other advantage of the ripper is that it is much less expensive than another bucket.
Regards,
Lauren
I find that with the ripper I can easily get in almost anywhere and then follow the path of the root to a point where I can break the root. With my L45 the other advantage the ripper gives me is if the root is too big to break with a pull on the hoe, then I can put all of the strength of my small backhoe on the single tooth of the ripper to cut through the root until I can break through the root. I work my way around the stump cutting all of the roots and also poke the ripper under the stump as much as possible to loosen the dirt under there too. Once I have cut all the roots around the stump, I am able to remove some pretty large stumps with my small L45.
The other advantage of the ripper is that it is much less expensive than another bucket.
Regards,
Lauren
