Woodland Stumps

[Dave.G.]

Part of the woodland I am now managing was clear-felled and replanted about 7 or 8 years ago, and then left to fend for itself. We have just cleared the 6 foot tall brambles and found that some of the replanting is surviving. However, all the previous larch stumps are still there, about a foot high. My boss wants it replanted, but first we want to remove the stumps so that we can maintain it with a chain-swipe. We tried digging them out with a JCB, which was painfully slow. We tried cutting them to ground level, but there is that much soil on them that the saw is very quickly blunted. Anyone any other ideas? Tungsten chain? Stump grinder? It is a 2 acre compartment, with a couple of hundred stumps.

 

Thanks in anticipation.

[Matthew Arnold]

How big are the replantings. If theyr are less than 6 ft high it might be worth hiring a forest mulcher. It would shred up the stumps and brambles no problem.

[garth mc garth]

big 360 excavator with a single tined ripper or a decent sized dozer with the same

[ben lightfoot]

how about and ahwi not sure if thats spelt right though?

[clueless]

should be able to get them out with a 13ton digger and a tidy driver. otherwise get a 20t with a ripper you'll get them out in no time. doing similar myself at the moment.

 

i'm assuming when you say JCB you do actually mean just a jcb as in a wheeled digger.

[Dave.G.]

yeah I thought mulcher but wanted to try and save the trees that have survived this far also didn't know how much a mulcher would cost or if it was to small an area to be cost effective. (its a recreational woodland).

They were coming out ok with the 2cx but it was SO slow and we had to come out as its quite boggy. Now of course the boss wants it planted this winter.

Decent sized 360 sounds like a plan.

[stihlgeorge]

what you could do with is bin valtra with a big mulcher on back and it will just blitz everything it hits.

[combined tree services]

there is a muti task mulcher in the clasifides for hire , looks quite small and should get down the racks i guess , failing that a 360 with either a single tooth ripper or a mulching head

[Wolfie]

I've just done an identical job for the Wildlife Trust. 400 to 500 stumps in new glades, widened rides. Two stump grinders going flat out for two days. As long as the stumps are taking just below ground level it will be fine for the flail.

[RichardT]

We're having several acres of Sitka clearfell de-stumped at the moment, looked at a big tracked mulcher but the costs were doolally. So a 22T 360 with a ripper, thumb grab and rake. (Was meant to be a 14T machine but this one was on site anyway doing some quarrying.) Very quick but pretty messy with the wet ground. Leaving them in windrows for the moment, possible accidental fires in due course. Using a 360 as a forwarder, one stump at a time could get a bit costly though...