Smooth loader bucket vs stump

[eddie48]

I have the CID Extreme Stump Grapple. I have used it to remove small stumps, big stumps (half the size of my TC40DA tractor), and rocks. I have dragged trees and held them to cut for firewood. I have used it to cary and stack brush. I have dug ditches and a dry well for the gutter on the house. It's about the best toy I have.

 

[gladehound]

My tractor will lift the back up with the same kind of weight. The backhoe and subframe weigh almost 3,000 pounds. The fluid in the rear tires weighs 900 pounds. 4,000 pounds of ballast holds the rear down good, but the loaded tires and box blade isn't enough. How much is the loader on your tractor rated to lift?

About 3800 at the pin; 3000 curl force at 19.5 inch forward of the pin.

 

[Ed of all trades]

I wrestled with this stump for about a 90 minutes. Half of that was with pick and shovel to see what was holding it in. I learned that I need to dig much deeper than I thought. Never had a stump with a tap root like this one before.

You are discouraging me. I just started digging out a BIG white oak stump with my sub. Massey. I only have a smooth front end loader bucket and I dug for about an hour. I cut it 9 years ago and at the time my father in law sat down and started counting rings. A good while later he walked up to where I was and I asked how many rings? He said I don't know I counted 120 and quit and I still had a spot in the middle almost the size of a basket ball. I don't thing each ring is a year because they ran turkeys on range here for years and they often double ring with lots of nitrogen. I have a LONG WAY TO GO.

 

[jimmysisson]

Never heard of the double ring. I thought it was summer growth + winter growth = 1 ring = 1 year.
Hmmm
Jim

 

[Ed of all trades]

I won't tell you that what I said is fact, only I have heard that trees do that in that situation.

 

[gladehound]

Don't know if I mentioned this before - don't think so. But I actually bent the front lip of my standard bucket slightly while removing this stump. After reading all the comments on stump buckets I decided to go ahead and get one because I figured I could use it more effectively with less strain on equipment than a standard bucket for future similar tasks (why do I always buy stuff after I need it).

I was all set to get the one from Blue Diamond but then got scared that I would do something stupid like tilt the nose all the way down and drive into an earth rock and pop my curl cylinder or bend my loader arms. So I ended up going a little smaller and ordered the Spartan Professional series stump bucket (which I think I've seen under a bunch of different names). I like this one because the bottom of the bucket is the same width all the way back so none of this trying to shove a pyramid into the ground as I've read about on other posts. The sides stay low and have teeth until about half way back the bucket and I think that will really help getting under stuff and ripping roots. (Link at bottom of post)

At ~40" long less chance of doing damage at the expense of ultimately less leverage on whatever I'm trying to move. It does not have a curved bottom but has a feature that works a similar way. The bottom of the bucket stops at a point that will end up being about 12 inches in front of my pivot pins. So I'll be able to push down on that while curling and get a little seesaw action.
Despite being twice as long as my standard bucket, I should be able to get same break out force at the bucket edge when pushing down on this pivot point that is built into the bucket.

I've been doing some simple math and it seams I should be able to put 10,000+ pounds up upward force on a root with any of these stump buckets as long as I can get the bucket under it about 20 inches by using the Lift and dump function at the same time. For example, with 3800 pounds lift at pivot pin and a pivot pin ~40 inches from the bucket edge, if the bucket edge is 20 inches past the bottom of the root you can use the stump bucket as a pry bar. Force at the root will be double the lift force at pivot pin + the dump force at 20 inches. My curl force is 3000 and dump force will be more. So 10,000+ pounds of lifting, tearing force in theory. Would be even more with a longer bucket.

Once I get it and use it I'll do tell you how it works in practice rather than just theory.


Skid Steer Stump Bucket | Spartan Equipment

 

[schmism]

Small stump, viewed from the seat in the V417.

My issue, your showing actions shots of an implement on a piece of equipment that weighs 10,000 lbs and is 75 hp with over 2x the loader capacity of standard CUT tractors.

To imply the same kind of results on a 30-40hp CUT is really a disservice to the guys looking for solutions for their CUT's.

Took me several years to find my woods groundbreaker hoe for my TC33. cost me $3000. shure its more than a $600 bucket but it will do 5x more than that bucket will also, espeically on the back of a 30hp machine.

 

[Ed of all trades]

I am looking for an easy and lazy way to cut roots bigger than my leg. Thinking of making saw that hooks on my front end loader and would cut as I pull forward and backward. I have 7 BIG oak stumps to pull with a subcompact tractor.any ideas?

 

[Xfaxman]

My issue, your showing actions shots of an implement on a piece of equipment that weighs 10,000 lbs and is 75 hp with over 2x the loader capacity of standard CUT tractors.

To imply the same kind of results on a 30-40hp CUT is really a disservice to the guys looking for solutions for their CUT's.

Took me several years to find my woods groundbreaker hoe for my TC33. cost me $3000. shure its more than a $600 bucket but it will do 5x more than that bucket will also, espeically on the back of a 30hp machine.

Where did I imply that a CUT would get the same kind of results as my V417?

 

[gladehound]

I had one;about useless!Can't see what you are doing,if you are digging a trench you have to straddle the trench and back out.Sold for half what I paid and was happy to get rid of it.

Specifically which manufacturer and model? My guess is a lot of people who got pyramid shaped ones were dis satisfied. Not sure how the design ever came into existence and imagine they will eventually be extinct. As for visibility... I guess I should walk out and see what that will be like. Guess I should have done that before I ordered. I always seem to forget something! But I'm tall and typically stand for fine loader work. I think visibility will be OK for me.

 

[gladehound]

Just checked, when I stand I have about the same visibility as I have seated on a skid steer. I can see my entire bucket.

 

[pat32rf]

I find the best way on those little 10-18" maple trees is to dig first, push high, then cut the stump off the tree after its laying down....Let the weight of the tree pull the stump.....Either that or use the hoe after it has aged for 5-10 years....longer if it is oak..

 

[gladehound]

I find the best way on those little 10-18" maple trees is to dig first, push high, then cut the stump off the tree after its laying down....Let the weight of the tree pull the stump.....Either that or use the hoe after it has aged for 5-10 years....longer if it is oak..

Definitely agree on pushing the tree over. However, at the time I removed this one I did not have anything big enough to push it over (just had the 19 hp tractor and did try to push it first before cutting it.)

 

[gladehound]

I received the Spartan stump bucket. So far I like it. Went out and plucked out one small stump (about 5 inches) just because I felt I just had to use it. shoved a tooth right between two roots and under the stump and pried it up in one motion utilizing the leverage from the built in pivot point. A key thing is that the bottom is the same width front to back so it will go into the ground easier than one that is shaped like a pyramid (I don't understand why the pyramid design exists)!

I don't have problems with visibility like others mentioned. I can precisely place each tooth. Construction is plenty heavy for my use (not as heavy as some). The sides are 3/8". The bottom and back are 3/16" with 3/8" reinforcement strips underneath the bottom. The cutting edge is 3/4". The teeth are much larger than a standard tooth bar and look like they could take a lot of abuse.

The welds are a little disappointing. The bottom and back is welded from the inside (good) but not from the outside it doesn't look like the weld goes all the way through. I may have some additional welding done on it from the outside just to make sure it's good to go before I tear up my concrete porch. (it's light concrete ~2" thick and I haven't seen any rebar in the spots what are worn and cracked)

Below is a picture on my tractor. If nothing else these things look mean!

 

[Xfaxman]

Good deal! It looks like it is sized right for your tractor. :thumbsup:

The teeth are bucket teeth for construction equipment. They come in different sizes and styles, so write down any brand or numbers on them, in case Spartan ever goes out of business and you need a replacement tooth.

 

[Mike from MI]

gladehound

Is that the professional or industrial series.

 

[gladehound]

I have the professional series. The industrial series is longer and heavier.

The professional series is for machines 5000 pounds or less. This worried me a little before I saw it. I talked to someone on the phone, told them my machines weight with loader and filled tires and they recommended the industrial because they didn't think I could hurt that one. I commented that if I did something stupid with the industrial one I could pop my curl cylinders because it's three times as long as the bucket my curl cylinders were designed for. They understood my concern and said that they didn't think I'd hurt the professional series as long as I wasn't ripping up sidewalks with rebar. After I had it in front of me I realized there was just about no way I would ever damage this thing other than popping a weld if it happened to have a bad weld. I think it is well matched to my machines size. Robust enough, but not unnecessarily heavy.

Incidentally I did a test for the curl cylinders that make me think I did get the right length. I dumped the bucked so it was straight down with the tip buried in the ground. I put the tractor in 4WD 1st gear at idle (0.4 mph). I let out the clutch and tried to curl the bucket. The tractor didn't move the curl cylinders didn't move. I was hitting the relief valve but the tractor couldn't extend the cylinders anymore than they were with the valve open. I was actually expecting the cylinders pull the bucket back more and extend the cylinders but it didn't happen. So this means that with this length bucket, I'm unlikely to ever hurt the loader even if I slowly run into a huge underground rock with the valve closed and bucket pointed straight down. In that scenario pressure in the cylinders is unlikely to go much over normal operating pressures before the wheels spin, so well below what would hurt anything. With a longer bucket I'll guessing the tractor could have pushed forward and extended the curl cylinders more and I would have needed to be very careful with it.

 

[Rabenfels]

Don't have one of those but think these loader buckets / root-digger-uppers are nice for smaller stumps. Bigger ones may cause too much stress on the FL, hydraulics and the tractor. A backhoe makes stump removal / tree uprooting and other tasks much easier. Yes, they cost a lot in comparison but do make live easier if the work / chores warrant the investment.

 

[dirt ditch]

I use a stump bucket/grapple on my skid steer instead of my 27 hp tractor. Digging under the large lateral roots of a stump and using the cutting teeth of the bucket to rip through them is the best way I have found to remove a stump and root ball. The ripping teeth on top of the bucket sides make a big difference. Stump buckets are relatively cheap and they work. They just don't work as well as a backhoe.

View attachment 422262

 

[VBROS]

What are the pros and cons of fluid in rear tires for ballast vs. wheel weights? I have a Kioti CK25 w/ frontloader. Works great but a little light on the rear end. Years ago on the farm we ran fluid in rear tires all year round.
Please reply here and/or to vaughanbros@frontier.com
Thanks.