Stumpy Grinder

I've been offered a stump job in Romford which is a bit too far for me if anyone wants it? Looks to be about 3 foot across in a corner in a raised mound which needs levelling. I don't want anything out of this. Just happy to pass contact details. SG

I have half a dozen or so of the Stainless orange handled ones for deer work. They hold a great edge, very difficult to lose, and they go in the dishwasher along with their sheath once used. Saves cleaning and sharpening out in the field. New knife for each carcass. Fantastic value - yet very good knives!

I know several guys that have done what you are contemplating and have subsequently regretted it! Firstly, to own a stump grinder you need to be mechanically minded or it will cost you a lot in 'down time' and repairs. Secondly, small machines are relatively ineffective and smash the operator almost as much as they smash the stump! It's a lot of outlay for something which you may only use occasionally and will probably need another trailer for which you can't tow with a chipper. I recently bought a Rayco RG 20 HD for £1400 which had a few issues. New starter motor required, wheel sheared off, no handbrake, broken battery box, new rubber guards, filled with 2-stroke mixture, etc... I've now got it reduced to 28" wide and keep it as a narrow access option, but even at 20hp it is still a pig to operate! You may be better off trying to find someone like myself locally that just does stumps as a 'subby'. I charge by the hour and can do more in an hour than most could do in numerous hours with a small 'hipbuster'. Factor some money in for yourself and everyone's a winner! I also get offered tree work which I pass on to mates that look after me. I now have several local guys that find it more cost effective to get me out than to use their own small machines. Maybe hire a few different ones first before you take the plunge of buying one? Stump grinding with small machines is not a job for the faint hearted! Where are you based? SG

Did you get a 'Ripping Chain' or standard cross cut? SG

Exactly! I have a couple of Rayco's with dead mans handles taped up and various solenoids bypassed. Whilst it may seem wrong to some folk, it makes then useable and is no more dangerous than a remote controlled version.

I used a big Rayco on a NPTC course a while back which had a lovely protective screen which very quickly became impossible to see through properly. As soon as you peered around the edge, the bloody thing cut out as the sensor realised you were missing! It made a good machine virtually unusable, and yet you can get a remote version where you could grind yourself to a pulp with ease! Where's the logic? SG

Does it not seem a bit weird that some stump grinders have Dead mans handles, operator presence sensors, lanyards, etc.... Then there are others with remote controls where you could easily stand right in front of the cutter wheel and run yourself over with relative ease! I know that some machines are designed around the hire market, but some seem almost too restrictive to use, whereas others have no restriction at all? Am I missing something here? SG

Couldn't even round it up to a pound as I paid by Paypal! I had bid £5, but to be fair it was sold as a non-runner and the seller took the gamble of a low start price to avoid listing fees. That's the gamble with ebay I'm afraid. I could have also ended up with a worthless piece of scrap. SG

Found some more info. Canadian saw first introduced in 1977 and is 31.1cc. I'm guessing that it could be quite collectable in such good condition? http://www.acresinternet.com/cscc.nsf/ed1d619968136da688256af40002b8f7/b3e8ff985f5ed77888256d69000cf3a7?OpenDocument SG

I recently took a punt on ebay on a local chainsaw which said it may have had spark problems. I thought it might be a good little project - but didn't expect to win it for 99p! It's a Remington Yardmaster made in USA with a 12" bar. The chap clearly didn't want to let go of it but eventually did and may even have resulted in about 3 days work for me and a mate! once or twice and then put away for many years. Full of chain oil but some very stagnant old fuel and the chain seized. Checked the plug and it sparked fine. Put a little fuel in the pot and it fired. Wound a few screws in and out and off it went!:thumbup:It actually seems to be a bit of a small beast! Anyone ever used one? Looks to be well made. The mix says 16:1 but I've got 50:1 synthetic Husky oil in which I think will be fine? Gotta be worth 99p either way!? SG

That's probably what struck me most. It just looks like a normal tree, only MUCH bigger! Some of the older yews look their age and are split or hollow. This one looks good for another 1000 years! We may think that we are the masters of the tress, but ones like this make our time on earth seem rather insignificant? SG

I bet you didn't plant it?

View from the other side: SG

Sometimes - you see a tree that just makes your jaw drop! I went to a wedding reception on Friday and saw this beauty! Magnificent Yew tree with a girth of 19 feet and a diameter of approximately 6 foot! Aged 900 years old! I know it isn't the oldest in the land, but it is certainly one of the finest surely? SG

I fought in both gulf wars and it felt very awkward. We have to trust our politicians to make the right decisions - but it is very difficult to fully support something which you have trouble in believing in. I think that the first Gulf war was actually the first of probably many 'Resource Wars', and had more to do with the control of oil than the threat of Mass Destruction? Maybe I'm just cynical? SG:001_rolleyes:

Cold Winter Ahead? Its late fall and the Indians on a remote reservation in Mattawa asked their new chief if the coming winter was going to be cold or mild. Since he was a chief in a modern society, he had never been taught the old secrets. When he looked at the sky, he couldn't tell what the winter was going to be like. Nevertheless, to be on the safe side, he told his tribe that the winter was indeed going to be cold and that the members of the village should collect firewood to be prepared. But, being a practical leader, after several days, he got an idea. He went to the phone booth, called the Weather Network and asked, 'Is the coming winter going to be cold?' 'It looks like this winter is going to be quite cold,' the meteorologist at the weather service responded. So the chief went back to his people and told them to collect even more firewood in order to be prepared. A week later, he called the Weather Network again. 'Does it still look like it is going to be a very cold winter?' 'Yes,' the man at Weather Service again replied, 'it's going to be a very cold winter.' The chief again went back to his people and ordered them to collect every scrap of firewood they could find. Two weeks later, the chief called the Weather Network again. 'Are you absolutely sure that the winter is going to be very cold?' 'Absolutely,' the man replied. 'It's looking more and more like it is going to be one of the coldest winters we've ever seen.' 'How can you be so sure?' the chief asked. The weatherman replied, 'Because the Indians are collecting a shitload of firewood'!!

Nasty Ash stumps touching a brick wall in an overgrown compound. I also did one in the narrow entrance whilst my mate cleared the undergrowth. A muntjac dashed out and stopped just short of trying to get through about a 1" gap between the cutter wheel and the wall! Thankfully it turned back and I moved so it could get out behind me. I may be a deer manager as well, but that would have been horrible!!! SG

Had an interesting one yesterday. A wind-blown multi stump field maple on a steep slope with rubbish access. It had been cut back to the point where it was wanting to flip back up! I had to prop it from behind to keep it horizontal and then hit it with the Rayco! No contest! Barton 2_zps73czoht6.jpg Photo by mike2506cundy | Photobucket SG

Looks like something you'd expect to see in a cage at 'Monkey World'! Love it! I bet it's not in the UK though? SG

Just did a bit of research which really puts this event into perspective! Total British Serviceman lives lost per recent conflict: Northern Ireland - 763 Falklands - 255 Iraq - 179 Afghanistan - 453 Total - 1650 Day one of the Somme - 19,240 British lives lost!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! In one Day!! How can we ever forget that? SG

Well here's something I've never seen before! [ame] [/ame]SG

That's awful. Keep an eye open on 'Gumtree'. Lots of hot stuff on there. I hope you have insurance to cover it? I don't think there is such a place as a 'safe spot'. They can see what you do and follow you and watch and wait. Your 'safe spot' is then little more than a quiet spot where they can rob you without anyone seeing them! I hope you get them back, but they are probably sat in a white transit next to a caravan somewhere nearby? SG

Harsh and unfair! Look at the size of Turkey on a map compared to UK and you will be amazed! Also look at some of the war torn other countries that wish to come here. But what you should consider is - how many of us wish to go and work there. None!!!! Why do you think that is? It is a one-way movement! It is not imaginary - it is a reality! That is real!!! MS