What second hand small stump grinder to buy with £3000

[essexjack]

What second hand small stump grinder to buy with £3000, looking for a reliable half decent grinder that I can get through doorways with. Any suggestions ???

[JaySmith]

For that kind of money you could get something like a Rayco RG13. They are a decent little grinder but IMO do have their limitations. You can carry them through a house and tackle stumps of most sizes, however they won’t grind as deep as the bigger machines but it’s horses for courses. The little RG13 will grind out some large stumps but you’ll feel it by the end, but like felling a 700mm tree with a 200t. If you keep the machine maintained and and the teeth sharp it can punch above its weight. They are fairly simple machines and depending on how handy you are with a bag of spanner’s easily maintained with parts available.

Another option may be to get a new machine like a Predator 360 and finance/borrow the rest. You sometimes see lager machines such as the Carlton SP2010 come up for that money, they will go through a standard gate but maybe not a house. For me being under 60kg throwing something like the SP2010 around was always a challenge! For the £3000 you’ll get a decent little machine which could earn you some money. What have you got at present?

[slack ma girdle]

I've Had the Predator 360 for a while. For what little grinding i do its been faultless. What sold it to me was the machine swings on it own axle, which makes it soo much easier to use.

[essexjack]

For that kind of money you could get something like a Rayco RG13. They are a decent little grinder but IMO do have their limitations. You can carry them through a house and tackle stumps of most sizes, however they won’t grind as deep as the bigger machines but it’s horses for courses. The little RG13 will grind out some large stumps but you’ll feel it by the end, but like felling a 700mm tree with a 200t. If you keep the machine maintained and and the teeth sharp it can punch above its weight. They are fairly simple machines and depending on how handy you are with a bag of spanner’s easily maintained with parts available.

Another option may be to get a new machine like a Predator 360 and finance/borrow the rest. You sometimes see lager machines such as the Carlton SP2010 come up for that money, they will go through a standard gate but maybe not a house. For me being under 60kg throwing something like the SP2010 around was always a challenge! For the £3000 you’ll get a decent little machine which could earn you some money. What have you got at present?

Thanks for the comment, at the moment we hire out a big tracked vermeer and simple turn down stumps with no access to that machine, I am swaying to the Rayco rg13 but if I could see the benefits to get the predator 360, is that as easy to move around as the rayco, good you get it through most houses ??

[swinny]

55 minutes ago, essexjack said:

Thanks for the comment, at the moment we hire out a big tracked vermeer and simple turn down stumps with no access to that machine, I am swaying to the Rayco rg13 but if I could see the benefits to get the predator 360, is that as easy to move around as the rayco, good you get it through most houses ??

For me and my business model i figured out ages ago that these little stumps and crap access jobs were not worth doing..... I specifically bought a small machine (bandit hb20n)  for them and it was a pita! Was not really a money earner for me. Sold it on.

 

I've run an old vermeer 252 for years and if I can't get in I'm not bothered.... and some of the jobs where you needed a small grinder, I was thankful I couldn't get in!

 

Good luck in your search

Edited December 31, 2021 by swinny

[dumper]

Why would you want the hassle of carrying a dirty smelly stump grinder through a customers house let someone else do it. Those jobs are more hassle than they are worth for little reward

[PeteB]

Pete Haine at Ely is selling his Predator 360 on treebay.

[JaySmith]

Thanks for the comment, at the moment we hire out a big tracked vermeer and simple turn down stumps with no access to that machine, I am swaying to the Rayco rg13 but if I could see the benefits to get the predator 360, is that as easy to move around as the rayco, good you get it through most houses ??

The Rayco is moveable through a house with two guys. At a previous firm we had a larger Carlton pedestrian grinder for bigger stumps and a Rayco RG13 for smaller stumps and through the house/rake narrow access jobs. Being able to do jobs with narrow access or through the house can set you apart as many don’t bother with the small machines or want the agro of it, depends on your business model and what you want to do. I would say the Rayco is easier to throw around than the Predator from a physical point of view as it is lighter but the Predator is easier to operate because of the dolly if that makes sense. If you can hire in a larger machine for the real big stumps then a small pedestrian grinder may be the way forward, all I would say is prepare to sweat! I always find the smaller pedestrian grinders hard to use as I haven’t got size/bulk on my side! Sounds like you have your bases covered through if you have access to a larger machine.

[JaySmith]

Why would you want the hassle of carrying a dirty smelly stump grinder through a customers house let someone else do it. Those jobs are more hassle than they are worth for little reward

You can make good money from jobs like this, yes it can be a bit of a pain but we’ve won jobs for being able to do stumps like this. Obviously it takes more prep and clear up but can work. In the South East everybody is building up to their boundary and converting the garage into extra living spaces as the demand on housing and space continues so through the house jobs can be popular. Don’t get me wrong as an employee I always used to take a deep breath when I got a job sheet with “through the house on it”

[dumper]

1 hour ago, JaySmith said:

 

You can make good money from jobs like this, yes it can be a bit of a pain but we’ve won jobs for being able to do stumps like this. Obviously it takes more prep and clear up but can work. In the South East everybody is building up to their boundary and converting the garage into extra living spaces as the demand on housing and space continues so through the house jobs can be popular. Don’t get me wrong as an employee I always used to take a deep breath when I got a job sheet with “through the house on it”

 

You are not wrong you can make very good money on through the house jobs and I have but the risks are very high and now too many people are quoting very low, my last through the house cost the company I was sub to a lot complete redecoration of the hallway plus 600 on the insurance premium for the claim and once the premium goes up it never comes down plus the agro of weather he was insured to work inside houses