My neighbor has 100 acres he is trying to clear. It was hardwood timber cut approx. 4 years ago. Stumps and brush completely cover the area and it's quite thick. He rented an excavator to dig the stumps. The stumps are being extracted and holes left alone for now. So looking ahead, it will soon be 100 acres full of holes and 1000's of stumps. What would you suggest to be the easiest and cheapest way to eliminate the stumps? Burning is allowed. And the area is for hunting, so no concerns of constuction projects. As with the excavator, the next piece of equipment will be rented. What should he do? BTW, some stumps are fairly LARGE!
if you have acess to a air curtin and a track loader with a 4n1 bucket. Thats the best combo imho. If you cann't do that dig a BIG hole in a back corner and bury them. If you do that you will have to touch up the hole every now and agian as it sinks.
Probably "season" the stumps and then pile them up and burn as much of them as possible and bury the rest. And if the stump holes are excessively big get a decent size Cat or dozer and fill in the holes with whatever dirt and rocks are available and level it off so it's safe to walk, driver, whatever over.
I agree with 245 most of the time we bring a large chipper in and chip them up. They have to have most of the dirt knocked off of them though and it would cost you a bit I bet. I would suggest filling in the holes to some degree with the dirt you dig out(to pull the stump). That way you don't have 100s of holes full of water. You can bury the roots that come detached from the stump and you won't dig more up cutting with a dozer to fill in the holes. Also your going to end up stripping off and burying a bit of your top soil in the holes if you don't fill them in a little with the hoe.
Whether piled & buned or burned with a trench burner, a 4-1 bucket is the best for moving the stumps? Before the excavator rental is returned, I thought about digging holes in select areas where piles could be made and burned. Then there would already be a hole to push in the remaining debris from the fire. Would this be worth it, or too many variables to say? Thanks!!
Not to mention that the wood chips might be sellable to a pulp mill or a landscaper. Rick
Burn the stumps in a hole!
A dozer would have done it all, take out stumps, pile and mix stumps with brush for burning, fill stump holes. I can't see an advantage to using a hoe on the job described.
I've done a lot of "stumping" and "brushing" with a hoe and on smaller jobs (depending on the size of the hoe) I find them to be the best especially with a thumb or a tooth bucket with long teeth, then it's easier to shake the dirt off and even chop the roots off to make the stumps fit in a truck. And a Cat can't load a truck unless it's a track loader. But a Cat is nicer for filling in the stump holes and levelling stuff off after.
i just am finishing stumping/burning 30 acres and used both holes and long trenchs 4 or 5' deep in the middle with the ends tapering up to ground level. either will create a draft that will burn your stumps to nothing but ash. if you go the hole route make sure its about 25% larger than your piles and again deep in the middle tapering up at the edges. use the excavator (hopefully it has a thumb) to shake out the dirt and make your burn piles narrow at the base and as high as you can get them. keep your burn piles away from living trees anything within 100' or so will die from the heat!
Big Iron has it right. Here in north Idaho we do the came thing with our stumps. If you make a big enough hole you can burn those stumps as fast as you can chuck them into the hole. Higher the better. Pile the brush on top to get the piles going. I use a propane weed burner to start them.
He could have rented a large self propelled stump grinder and would not have had to worry about any holes or disposal/burning of stumps. 100+ hp grinder can take out a large stump nearly 2ft deep in a minute or 2.
Curbside; the only problem with that idea is that if they ever wanted to plow the land{for planting} it be a real pain in the butt.
Well we did it on a Oak grove about 6 weeks ago and then ran the disker over it and worked good. I know a lot of people think that grinders don't go deep enough or not fast enough. If the wood is already gone a large self propelled stump grinder can do a lot of damage in a hurry. It's just an option that a lot of people don't think about.
Stump grinding is best for the ground, nutrients & such. But don't forget, if you're in the landscaping business and plan too turn it over to your off spring. Putting those stumps and a little dirt in a pile for 30-yrs. will be free loam. Thats what we do here in Downeast Maine where loam is in short supply. David
A hoe is a lot faster then a dozer for stumping unless you have a bigger dozer. Then you still have to try and clean the dirt out of the rootballs some. I think a stump grinder would be a good option if not the best.
Stump grinder would not have worked alone. The weeds and brush are 5-10' tall, and some stumps are easily overlooked. I do wonder how well a large (possibly D8 or D9) dozer would have done. And it's good to hear the stumps will burn down in the holes. Time permitting, holes may be dug before exc. rental is up. Not sure how to judge stump weight, but with the bucket approx 2' above ground and the hoe out to the side, arm basically perpindicular to the ground, it teetered a Kobelco 290LC. BIG STUMPS!!
I would just windrow the stumps and brush with the dozer you should have had . Let them dry until next summer then light it. One of the problems is stumps falling back in the holes while piling because a hoe typically leaves them to close and they roll like bowling balls. If you can get the stumps tangled in the brush it will help hold the load together. The D8's I have owned over the years did their share of clearing, we wouldn't dig a hole until we saw what was left that didn't burn. Burning and burrying is a thing of the past here now, consider yourself lucky you are abe to do it. 100 acres is a big area we would have had many windrows keeping the push close and filling the holes on the way back for another load. It can be done in an orderly manner, best of luck
i agree with the guys here about the hole and burning them, let'em dry a year or so if you have the time, then get in there and grade it all with a blade, disc it, seed it, put the sprinklers on it and grow some T bones! What this country needs is a few more saw mills!!
I vote to Grind them! Check out the SSI shredder. pull em with the excavator push them to the grinder with a dozer and then take the excavator and put em in a grinder, then use the dozer to push grindings in a ditch, the chips aint going to be worth anything due to the amount of dirt involved Pj
Stump chips are really hard to get rid of. Most of your compost type places won't take em because they have too much dirt, rock, and whatever other crap was around the tree mixed in. Since you have already gone with the excavator, try to make sure you fill the holes in as that will be your biggest problem in the future.
No tree expert, but I think alot of stumps are sycamores.
We just cleared about 50 acres of wooded land for home building sites. Big pines and hard wood. Used a Kobelco SK300 excavator to pull the big stumps and shake the dirt loose, and a John Deere 655 crawler loader with a clam bucket. We burned as much brush and small stuff as we could and hauled the stumps with dump trucks. Then we have a John Deere 550H dozer with a big rack attachment on the 4 way blade to get all the roots and big rocks out. They want to start building houses as soon as we are done.
I'v seen air curtins turn BIG pilles of stumps and bush to ashes. Just dump the ashes in with the topsoil and your done.
I have used air curtains and they are very efficient. Also contracted grinding for stumps and it was very expensive compared to the air curtain. Depending on the area, burning is not allowed but if burning is allowed, it is the cheapest by far of any disposal option.
Yes, I think piling and burning will be best. Financially anyway.