Stump grinder, a worth while investment?

[kimtree]

I bought a stump grinder so i could do the whole job and not have to come back to site to check on the work of another contractor .

Unfortunately at the time there was not much choice in stump grinders with a screen to stand behind  and in hindsight i bought the wrong machine. It was cheap and as it turns out no good

After changing the cutting system and putting a bigger engine on its quite good now but is still really a use fix machine.

As in you use it then you have to fix it.

Got Rhino teeth on it now the punishment these teeth can take is incredible you can still smash the carbide off but its rare to do so

 

[dan494]

On 28/06/2018 at 09:23, Mick Dempsey said:

I bought a grinder as soon as I could afford one, never regret it.

 

It’s important to sell the grinding when you quote the tree or after the tree has just been felled/removed. A lot of peeps don’t consider it until it’s mentioned.

Defo get one if you can, this week alone i've taken £470 for stump grinding on top of what I made for taking out the trees (only 1 job was purely stump grinding which i charged £120 and took 30 mins)

[Steve Bullman]

£4000-£6500 in business terms isn't much of an investment for what you get...a machine that can basically do any size stump if you have the stamina for it.  I'd say even a small pedestrian grinder should be a must in any firms arsenal

[benedmonds]

26 minutes ago, Steve Bullman said:

£4000-£6500 in business terms isn't much of an investment for what you get...a machine that can basically do any size stump if you have the stamina for it.  I'd say even a small pedestrian grinder should be a must in any firms arsenal

They do require a lot of maintenance..  Well ours do..

[Ty Korrigan]

Maddening to see dirty grease nipples at the end of the day.

Others never seem to grasp the importance of the grease gun.

Occasional users are the worst for never picking up on noises which might be a fault developing.

Blowing out airfilters regularly and giving the tank a wipe before filling up.

Giving the machine a run over with the blower once the stump is done.

Being pro-active with the mattock and not ignoring that gurt lump of quartz.

Stuart

[Treelife90]

Dear all,

 

Thank you for the quality responses, very useful and insightful.

 

Can anyone reccomend an ideal first timer grinder to invest in? 

 

Cheers!! 

[HuntingHicap]

For pedestrian a carlton 2010 is cheaper but capable (secondhand) but will make you feel like you've had a bit of a beasting at the end of the day, a predator 460 is a much nicer machine to use, but dunno how good it would last long term, I hire the buggers when i need one.

[Jonny69]

11 hours ago, Treelife90 said:

Dear all,

 

Thank you for the quality responses, very useful and insightful.

 

Can anyone reccomend an ideal first timer grinder to invest in? 

 

Cheers!! 

I have never not owned my own grinder. 

 

Have had a few different sized and come back to a smaller one for ease of access and only having to own one machine which does everything I want. Got a HB20 which has ground a lot of stumps. We do loads of fell and grind jobs where I can be in and done on the same day which makes life easy for me and the customer. 

 

Do occasionally grind for other people but i'm normally to expensive, it's rare it takes more time to grind that it takes to drive, unload and reload the machine. People don't seem to appreciate I want paying for the driving to grind a stump that takes 3 minutes. Not an issue when you fell the tree because you are on site already. 

[Stumpy Grinder]

13 hours ago, Treelife90 said:

Dear all,

 

Thank you for the quality responses, very useful and insightful.

 

Can anyone reccomend an ideal first timer grinder to invest in? 

 

Cheers!! 

If you are going to get one, then you may as well get something that is actually capable!

It needs to be ideally less than 3 feet wide to get through the average garden gate. Preferably over20hp and definitely self-propelled!

[Carl1991]

Id buy a small grinder, imo larger stumps can be subbed or hire in a bigger grinder, but can be a ballache with time on site etc. I make good money on the small ones upto 14". I bought a second hand sg13 for £1200 in mid may and already cleared around £450. May not seem massive money but I'm happy