Dozer size for remmoving 5' diameter stumps and hill leveling

[Ocean2026]

HI its been years since I used a dozer - enjoyed it however.

I need to flatten a hill and remove some old Douglas Fir stumps. I can rent a Deere 450 or 650 or a D4 - I never removed big stumps but the trees were cut 3-4 years ago in rainy Western Washington and they might not be as tough.

Does size matter? Any other suggestions?

 

[EddieWalker]

Dozer is one of the worse machines for stump removal. Both the 450 and the D4 are under 100 HP and considered finish dozes. They spread loose dirt so it looks nice.

Something closer to 200 HP will have better rests, but they will also tear up the ground. Here in Texas, doing it in summer is very time consuming. In Spring, after months of rain, it's a lot easier to get them out. My dozer is 170 HP.

A much better machines is an excavator. 8 tonne would be the minimum size. Bigger means faster. My neighbor hired a 45 tonne machine to remove thousands of stumps after he had his place logged. It took several months.

I own 555E backhoe and for me, that's a lot faster and easier to use to remove stumps then my dozer.

I really would like to get an excavator in the 15 tonne range, but that's not practical right now.

 

[Ocean2026]

Thanks a dozer is all I've used but maybe a backhoe is quicklu learnable. Would a backhoe be good for removing 3" diameter small Alders on the sides of the road and leveling a hill? I really dont know much about different machines. I also live in Texas but want to escape summers.

 

[radios1]

5' diameter stumps will require the largest dozer made. I've seen dozers easily remove 1' diameter oak trees, but not 5' diameter ones, those would be very rare here!..

 

[Ocean2026]

They are old stumps - maybe 5 years old maybe 4 and Douglas Fir. For large trees Doug Firs dont have huge roots. THanks

 

[crazyal]

My 580K backhoe would most likely handle them but it would be a little bit of a workout until the dirt was removed from the stump. It'll cut through the roots without a problem and rip the stump out but if you want to lift it that'll test it. I usually roll the stumps upside down so I can scrape the dirt off of them.

 

[4570Man]

If you’re wanting to remove 5 foot stumps as the title suggests get a D11. If you’re wanting to remove 5 inch stumps that’s easy. A small dozer, construction backhoe or mini excavator would easily do the job.

 

[rScotty]

They are old stumps - maybe 5 years old maybe 4 and Douglas Fir. For large trees Doug Firs dont have huge roots. THanks

Doug fir stumps last a long time in the ground and some have deep roots. It's a pretty durable wood and favored for exterior construction here in the West.
Pine doesn't last as long unless the ground is dry. But in dry ground pine here will last nearly as well as fir. In dry Colorado weather neither one is going to change much in 5 or 6 years. Coastal Wash. is probably different.

About six years ago I had to take down some two foot diameter fir plus some pines and remove the stumps. It was quite a bit of work digging just four of them out and breaking lateral roots with our JD 310SG. That's a 90 hp machine and pretty strong. About 8 tons plus. Took a few hours each one and was harder on the machine than I like to be. I ended up on one fir tree stump chewing the stump apart with the bucket teeth down to a few feet below the surface and then filling the hole. Really hard on the hoe. That stump won; sometimes that happens.

I've never used a bulldozer, but I wonder do how they would do? Most of what I see them doing is pushing trees around after a storm caused the leverage of the full tree to pop the rootball out of the ground. Never have seen them go after old stumps. It wouldn't surprise me to see a decent size stump win that battle.
rScotty

 

[bcp]

You probably can't find dozers with stump splitter blades now. They converted large stumps to more manageable pieces for removal.



Bruce

 

[Oldpath05]

If you’re wanting to remove 5 foot stumps as the title suggests get a D11. If you’re wanting to remove 5 inch stumps that’s easy. A small dozer, construction backhoe or mini excavator would easily do the job.

I'm thinking more like a D1000............ For big stumps I'd rent the biggest excavator with blade I could find, or something like this>>> Removing stumps the COOL way! - YouTube