Stump huntin' with my BX25D!

CHDinCT · Aug 12, 2013

Nice work. I think all of us BH owners will never forget our first one - stump removal that is.

I must say that after owning a BX for 5 years now, I've gotten very lax on wearing my seat belt. On first ownership, I wouldn't go 5' without it on. Now I've forgotten I have one. Something to work on. A few months ago, I was removing some stone from around my neighbors pool and was on a bit of a side hill. The tractor rocked over toward the downhill side and I came right out of the seat and ended up standing next to the tractor. Fortunately, it went back on all fours. Put the seat belt on right afterwards. Yes, I know I need to deploy it more, so thanks for the reminder dragoneggs.

dragoneggs · Aug 13, 2013

CHDinCT said:
Nice work. I think all of us BH owners will never forget our first one - stump removal that is.

I must say that after owning a BX for 5 years now, I've gotten very lax on wearing my seat belt. On first ownership, I wouldn't go 5' without it on. Now I've forgotten I have one. Something to work on. A few months ago, I was removing some stone from around my neighbors pool and was on a bit of a side hill. The tractor rocked over toward the downhill side and I came right out of the seat and ended up standing next to the tractor. Fortunately, it went back on all fours. Put the seat belt on right afterwards. Yes, I know I need to deploy it more, so thanks for the reminder dragoneggs.

Hi Chris, you are quite welcome. I have been getting a little too confident after putting 80hrs on my BX in less than two months. Learning on slopes pretty much 100% of the time. The seat belt I have down. My latest lesson is just keep it in 4WD. When I forget to engage, I end up sliding and hopping down my hill first thing when I get going and it scares the crap out of me. As of yesterday... I keep it in 4WD period! For folks that are on flat or slightly sloped ground... you don't understand. :steeringwheel:

JOHNTHOMAS · Aug 13, 2013

OK, moving on to your next lesson.

Find a grass covered section of hillside that has a smooth place at the bottom, no rocks, trees or other obstacles in the way going down, put on your seat belt, engage 4wd and then wait till it rains and then go down that hill!!!!

CHDinCT · Aug 13, 2013

dragoneggs said:
For folks that are on flat or slightly sloped ground... you don't understand. :steeringwheel:

And therein lies my nemesis - most of my usage is on flat land, but not all!

Finnster · Aug 13, 2013

TroyR57 said:
I some times fill the front end loader with dirt, to help balance out the tractor when pulling out stumps like that, you will be surprised how just a little weight in the front, will help keep the tractor on the ground, also will allow more traction with the front wheels, when using four wheel drive.

Did my first big stump dig up and pull a couple weeks ago.

I had read this advice and it was very useful. The stump I had was ~16" trunk and a 4" root ball. Chained it up after I had as many roots cuts and dirt dug out. Read lots of stump safety/horror stories before I began, but everything went well.

The tractive power in 4wd/low impressive. Slow in low and there was no stopping it. Wish I got a movie of it.

A loaded bucket also helps when backdragging with the float valve when you go to smooth the hole back over.

dragoneggs said:
Thank you! Yeah, I was doing my best to lift my prey. Reminded me of an eagle trying to haul off a freshly snagged salmon. Love that thumb. I finally had a good reason to play around with the pin in several positions.

My stump was way too heavy to lift, but digging in with the BH & thumb into the ground an ripping out long stretches of roots was awesome. BH is just a great tool. I'm glad I splurged on it.

dragoneggs · Aug 13, 2013

JOHNTHOMAS said:
OK, moving on to your next lesson. Find a grass covered section of hillside that has a smooth place at the bottom, no rocks, trees or other obstacles in the way going down, put on your seat belt, engage 4wd and then wait till it rains and then go down that hill!!!!

Ha Ha!! Actually before the rains... I need to tear out the grass on my steep part of my new path. Most of it is already gravel but I need to finish it. Otherwise it is a ski jump if I don't recover before the turn :shocked: