Help -Has anyone just burned tree stumps - BX23

[Tractor_Jim_CT]

I spent a good portion of the day using the backhoe to dig around an oak tree stump.- 14-18 inches wide and I have to say I'm wiped. I don't feel the FEL is of much use in this situation. I circled the stump by 3-4 feet deep with the BH and I don't see any sign of movement in the stump. Pull a lot of large rocks out of the roots that were protecting each other. The backhoe can only dig under the stump so far. I find the backhoe comes to a stop when it confronts the roots which are 1 inch thick and find this disappointing. I ax the roots when this happens. The Backhoe can dig out and lift hugh rocks but gets paralized on some simple roots.

Should I get a heavy duty chain and try to pullout with 4x4 pickup.

Use a come-along (any recomendations of where to buy)
.
Burn the stump in it's hole.

I don't think the BX23 has the power to break this stump loose if I pulled with it. I could try to level the ground to make a ramp and use the toothbar, but the FEL seems to be straining. The FEL has been great lifting huge rocks though.

I have another 12-15 of these to go.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts. I've read other tree stump posts and not sure if I have enough tractor or would any tractor have this issue. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

 

[44trxfun]

Jim,

I don't have any real good suggestions for you. Your post reminded me of my day (without the backhoe, unfortunately). I was working on a maple stump; it's in there pretty dang solid.

I tried the GC2300's FEL with toothbar...no luck. I tried the chain on the pickup...no luck.

Plan B: Since I'm just clearing a small area to push snow out of the parking area, I decided I'd work at getting the stump below ground level, as opposed to getting it all the way out. Decided I'd sacrifice a saw chain so I spent considerable time clearing around it (toothbar did come in handy for that!). It's not where I want it yet, but it's getting there.

Good luck with your situation!

 

[Junkman]

Jim..... when it comes to stumps, they can be very difficult to remove when they are in CT. We have a soil / rock situation that just doesn't make it easy. I can tell you that I have seen excavators that have large enough bucket to hold the BX in them, have difficulty pulling some stumps. The excavator that worked at my home this summer had a 56" bucket that held 2 yards of material and some of the stumps that he pulled, required digging deep before they would come out of the ground. There is more below ground than you realize. I would just chop around the stump with an axe to remove all the dirt and then cut it off below ground with a chain saw and rebury what is left leaving out the rocks. In 20 or so years, it will have rotted to the point that you will have a depression in the ground and then you can tell your grand children about the day that you challenged that stump and won. It will be a great story for them to hear. Don't beat up your machine trying to do with it, something that it can't really handle. If that stump were in another part of the country, you could possibly get it loose, but not in Connecticut. I worked on one for days, before I finally got it out, and it wasn't worth the fight. It isn't like a fish that you can have mounted and place on your wall... /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[aardvark]

I think it depends on how you get the root. I've been tearing roots a couple inches thick, but I have to do one root at a time, and I need to get one tooth under the root, not all three teeth. One curling the bucket with one tooth works OK. Trap the root so it pulls up on the root and the bucket edge keeps it from moving up. It will break and pull up, but it will take some effort and thought regarding what's happening and how to position the bucket.

I axed a bunch of roots this afternoon, and am digging my mote for the pressure washer to do it's work tomorrow. I'm going to try pressure washing most of the dirt away from the bottom of the stump to expose the roots I can't see. Once those roots are exposed, I'll know what to cut.

I did check through the equipment trader for a large industrial loader backhoe. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif For only another $15k I can have a second, used, huge, machine which will have five times the curling force of my BX23 and twenty times the loader capacity. Granted, it won't fit most places in my yard, but it would be neat.

 

[TCBoomer]

I realize you have another dozen or so to remove, but have you considered a stumpgrinder? They are easy to operate, and would be a lot less wear on you and your machine.

 

[JJT]

12-15 stumps to go? Time to get someone with the right equipment to do the job. A good sized excavator will pop them out of the ground in an hour or 2. Or a good sized dozer with a 6 way blade. It shouldn't cost more than a couple of hundred and think of the time and wear and tear you will save on you and your machine.

 

[surfran]

I have no experience with this but I thought someone mentioned using a leaf blower to provide draft air to burn out stumps. If I recall, somebody was detailing hooking a leaf blower to a pipe and putting the pipe under the stump. They lit up the stump and got it burning then used the leaf blower to provide the draft air. They said it burnt up rather quickly.

This of course means you have to have enough room to have the fire without endangering anything else.

Probably best to dig around and pressure wash off much of the dirt then let dry a few days/week and burn afterwords.

 

[Ken_CT]

I agree with TCBoomer. A while back I had a tree service come in and remove over 20 trees, many too close to the house for me to do comfortably, plus they had the right equipment, huge chipper, cherry picker, grapple and flatbed, plus a lot of climbing. They used a larger stump grinder to get rid of the stumps. It didn't take very long, and the stumps were ground to below the surface.
When you remove a large stump you also get a large hole you need to fill. I think you can rent a stump grinder, they don't look too difficult to operate, or you can call some tree services and get an estimate.

 

[JRP]

ebay had stump grinders for sale. "reserve not met", however. It looked like a pretty good size tractor was used. The owner bought two used ones and used them to clear his land. He was finsihed and now was selling one.

If you had time and a big enough tractor it could be a side business.

I have sevreal stumps to burn. If you take a barrell and cut both ends out it can make a stack to incease draft and hep with burning. I plan to auger big holes in the stump and try to get the stump burning inside out, with the barrell to aid in draft..
Good luck.

 

[JoeR]

I have a BH-90 on my L4330 and have had plenty of stumps stop me. Yesterday, I pulled out a stump for my neighbor... What a pain! Some of the roots were 4 inches thick, and it stopped the BH. I had to use the teeth of the bucket and curl it to rip through the surface of the root. Then I just kept working the teeth of the bucket onto the root until it snapped. Back and forth over and over! Trees are just too much work...

Joe