Thinking of getting into stump grinding

[roadhunter]

I'm surprised that nobody has mentioned the PTO stump grinders from wood land mills. seems like there have been threads about it on here and for a few thousand bucks it could pay for itself quick. Hard to beat the power of running straight off the PTO.
WG24 Stump Grinder | Woodland Mills US

IMO it could work for you depending on how hard to wanted to work at getting business. Many contractors get busy during certain times of the year and might be willing to work with you to do their grinding. Might be something that takes time form when you originally make contact but their grinder might break down, might not want to pull and extra trailer to the job, might be behind and need help catching up, might have somebody quit on a job and leave them shorthanded, truck that pulls the trailer broke down, etc... City park crews, tree services, general contractors, etc...

As been mentioned finding other things you can do with your machine to help pay for the insurance might be helpful. Adding a regular woodmax chipper might be a useful service as many people have brush piles, no chipper, and could use the chips for mulch or compost. At 3k is't an investment you could get your money back pretty quick. Another interesting one is a silt fence installer. The usual list of snow removal, brush hogging, rototilling, harley rake, mowing, etc... can be popular depending on where you live.

 

[RandyT]

Even that $2 per inch is nuts. Unless he is charging a surcharge for showing up, etc.

Someone wants a 24" stump ground, that will take a good hour by the time you unload, thats only $48. How can you afford to even show up.

He has a $50 minimum but even then you get undercut by others. The local town normally has stumps to be removed every fall, and last year the winning bid was $1.25 per inch. Even had one year were the winning bid was 25 cents per inch. He won the bid 2 years ago at $2 per inch on a 19 stump job and one stump was 120 inches across the root flair.

 

[CincyFlyer]

I'm surprised that nobody has mentioned the PTO stump grinders from wood land mills. seems like there have been threads about it on here and for a few thousand bucks it could pay for itself quick. Hard to beat the power of running straight off the PTO.
WG24 Stump Grinder | Woodland Mills US

IMO it could work for you depending on how hard to wanted to work at getting business. Many contractors get busy during certain times of the year and might be willing to work with you to do their grinding. Might be something that takes time form when you originally make contact but their grinder might break down, might not want to pull and extra trailer to the job, might be behind and need help catching up, might have somebody quit on a job and leave them shorthanded, truck that pulls the trailer broke down, etc... City park crews, tree services, general contractors, etc...

As been mentioned finding other things you can do with your machine to help pay for the insurance might be helpful. Adding a regular woodmax chipper might be a useful service as many people have brush piles, no chipper, and could use the chips for mulch or compost. At 3k is't an investment you could get your money back pretty quick. Another interesting one is a silt fence installer. The usual list of snow removal, brush hogging, rototilling, harley rake, mowing, etc... can be popular depending on where you live.

I have one of these; got it about six weeks ago. The grinder, a dozen extra teeth, and shipping came to about $2,600. It's a very simple machine, as noted, but there is one big caveat: as the tractor moves the grinder, don't buy one if you don't have an HST! That's literally what I was told when ordering. I have a shuttle transmission, but much of my land has a slight slope, and I was thinking that I could point the tractor down hill and feather the brakes to feed the grinder. It turns out to work perfectly. On level ground, I can roll the bucket to pull it along, but that takes a little finesse, lest your lawn suffer six foot long cuts! I may build a little one-wheel driver to put on the pallet forks, hydraulically powered, to pull the thing along, after I get my new FEL valve installed (with a spare manual spool for grapple, etc.). Yeah, you think your shuttle has a granny gear, but one MPH is way too fast for anything larger than a sapling, and you'll be running at whatever speed gives you 540 at the PTO.
BTW, it also fits on my HF Quick Hitch.

 

[LD1]

How much tractor do you have
John Deere 81 and Rotor S stump grinder - YouTube

 

[roadhunter]

How much tractor do you have
John Deere 81 and Rotor S stump grinder - YouTube

Wow, that's pretty cool. One heck of a gear box. Looks like it requires direct mounting to get downforce. Amazing how it shakes that tractor.

 

[roadhunter]

I have one of these; got it about six weeks ago. The grinder, a dozen extra teeth, and shipping came to about $2,600. It's a very simple machine, as noted, but there is one big caveat: as the tractor moves the grinder, don't buy one if you don't have an HST! That's literally what I was told when ordering. I have a shuttle transmission, but much of my land has a slight slope, and I was thinking that I could point the tractor down hill and feather the brakes to feed the grinder. It turns out to work perfectly. On level ground, I can roll the bucket to pull it along, but that takes a little finesse, lest your lawn suffer six foot long cuts! I may build a little one-wheel driver to put on the pallet forks, hydraulically powered, to pull the thing along, after I get my new FEL valve installed (with a spare manual spool for grapple, etc.). Yeah, you think your shuttle has a granny gear, but one MPH is way too fast for anything larger than a sapling, and you'll be running at whatever speed gives you 540 at the PTO.
BTW, it also fits on my HF Quick Hitch.

Interesting . Keep us posted.

 

[brokenknee]

How much tractor do you have
John Deere 81 and Rotor S stump grinder - YouTube

I have seen that before, unfortunately I only have a little 30 hp and no power down on the three point.

 

[mapper]

Keep in mind your target audience when considering a tractor mounted stump grinder, if many of your customers are located in town on residential subdivision lots there may not be room to maneuver a CUT or even be possible to get to the stump. Most of us live on acerage and do not think about how tight city lots are.

 

[brokenknee]

I'm surprised that nobody has mentioned the PTO stump grinders from wood land mills. seems like there have been threads about it on here and for a few thousand bucks it could pay for itself quick. Hard to beat the power of running straight off the PTO.
WG24 Stump Grinder | Woodland Mills US

IMO it could work for you depending on how hard to wanted to work at getting business. Many contractors get busy during certain times of the year and might be willing to work with you to do their grinding. Might be something that takes time form when you originally make contact but their grinder might break down, might not want to pull and extra trailer to the job, might be behind and need help catching up, might have somebody quit on a job and leave them shorthanded, truck that pulls the trailer broke down, etc... City park crews, tree services, general contractors, etc...

As been mentioned finding other things you can do with your machine to help pay for the insurance might be helpful. Adding a regular woodmax chipper might be a useful service as many people have brush piles, no chipper, and could use the chips for mulch or compost. At 3k is't an investment you could get your money back pretty quick. Another interesting one is a silt fence installer. The usual list of snow removal, brush hogging, rototilling, harley rake, mowing, etc... can be popular depending on where you live.

Thanks for the link. I just watched the whole 21 minute video. I would sure let me get into grinding a whole lot cheaper and leave some money left over to get a chipper. As stated earlier I do have a 30 hp tractor. I think it is about 25 hp at the pto.

 

[brokenknee]

I have one of these; got it about six weeks ago. The grinder, a dozen extra teeth, and shipping came to about $2,600. It's a very simple machine, as noted, but there is one big caveat: as the tractor moves the grinder, don't buy one if you don't have an HST! That's literally what I was told when ordering. I have a shuttle transmission, but much of my land has a slight slope, and I was thinking that I could point the tractor down hill and feather the brakes to feed the grinder. It turns out to work perfectly. On level ground, I can roll the bucket to pull it along, but that takes a little finesse, lest your lawn suffer six foot long cuts! I may build a little one-wheel driver to put on the pallet forks, hydraulically powered, to pull the thing along, after I get my new FEL valve installed (with a spare manual spool for grapple, etc.). Yeah, you think your shuttle has a granny gear, but one MPH is way too fast for anything larger than a sapling, and you'll be running at whatever speed gives you 540 at the PTO.
BTW, it also fits on my HF Quick Hitch.

I do have HST, never thought I would like it when I purchase my tractor (used) about ten years ago.

What size tractor are you running it on? How deep will it dig? The guy on the video only went down 4".

The down side to this is it would limit were I could grind stumps, but then again for only $2,600 bucks I would get a good feel if there is a market for stump grinding in the area.

I really don't see how I could lose at that price as all the stumps I need to grind on my own property.