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[Old_Paint]

Ordered this:
Best Stump Bucket For Skid Steer Quick Attach (Free Shipping) Titan Attachments™ (palletforks.com)
and this:
BXpanded Piranha Toothbar

today.

Thought about the Wicked Tootbar some, but something about the Piranha looks better to me. Not just the price, but also the bevel cut on all the teeth which should do some serious slicin' and dicin' on roots rather than having them just get stuck in the teeth. The Wicked bar certainly looks Wicked, but only the points of the teeth have a cutting edge. The rest is just for gripping/ripping. I think I'd rather cut through.

Decided on the standard duty stump bucket from Titan Attachments, and will just have to take it easy when I get something bigger than it wants, and just gnaw the roots out a little at a time. I've seen only one negative review on the stump bucket, but after looking at the photos posted on that complaint, it looks more like someone was trying to backdrag with a very long bucket. And then they wonder how their bucket cylinders get broken. Sheesh! I can't imagine how you could manage to tear up that bucket without doing something completely wrong with it.

If I see anything about it that makes me nervous, I'll make some changes and share them in here. Will try to get some photos of it at work as well.

Between the new chipper, net stump bucket, and new toothbar for the standard bucket, I still have less than half the cost of the BH77 invested in attachments, and should be able to handle quite a few more tasks than I could with just the BH77. Already have several targets marked for the stump bucket. Some old, some new. Might even try a tree topple or two with the bucket. Got several that need to go, so might as well let the weight of the tree pull up the stump. Might be a root/landscape rake in my future as well.

 

[85Hokie]

The toothbar will "double" the digging capacity of your FEL.
Mine is 7 years old and a little "dull" on the edge - but that is easily fixed!
It is worth the price easily - you will be impressed with its performance.

Another added benefit of the toothbar - when backdragging, the 1/2" thick edge does a great job with dirt and gravel.

 

[cliffboyer]

I have that exact stump bucket....its about indestructible when used on my L3301. Paid for itself first time I used it.

One trick i haved learned is to let the weight of the tractor do the heavy work.

Also works great for making & cleaning up shallow ditches for water run off.

 

[je1279]

I'm jealous of all your new toys Old_Paint. I've got some shopping to do as well once spring rolls around up here.

 

[UpNorthMI]

Those stump buckets can do some work and make stump extraction possible with a FEL. Sounds like you are going to have a lot of new things to try out.

 

[bmblank]

I've been considering a stump bucket. I was concerned that a tractor wouldn't really have the power to get stumps out quite like a skid steer would. I want to cut trails through my planted red pines, but there are so many rotten stumps... They're just not rotten enough, and it takes me hours with my normal bucket (and maybe a little axe work).
I'd be interested in seeing it work.

 

[je1279]

I recently saw that Good Works Tractors is manufacturing thier own stump bucket designed specifically for subcompact and smaller compact tractors. I have quite a few trees and bushes to clear over the next year or two and may consider going that route vs. renting a stump grinder and not being able to feel my hands and arms for a week or so after...

 

[Old_Paint]

I'm jealous of all your new toys Old_Paint. I've got some shopping to do as well once spring rolls around up here.

If ya lived closer, I'd invite ya to come help me break them in and scrub some of the paint off 'em.

The new stump bucket should be here tomorrow. I was drawn to that model because of the teeth that go nearly all the way to the point, much like a very aggressive saw. And, it's probably going to be the better option for relocating tree species that I want to keep. It may not be as heavy duty as the next one up, but I don't think I have anything big enough to hurt the standard model. I may even sharpen the teeth and kerf them so that the edges of the bucket are even more aggressive. That oughta rip out some roots. Gonna give the pushover technique a try on a few water oaks that are about 10 inches in diameter as soon as I can get back there again. Have had drizzling rain 6 days out of the last 7, so you can imagine how soft the ground is at the moment. BUT, that could also be a huge plus for pushing over trees and root breaking.

No idea when I'll get the new Piranha tooth bar. Hurry up and wait mode initiated for up to two weeks. Found out when measuring for the Piranha that the welded bucket edge is 54", but the actual bucket is only 52" between the reinforcements for the bucket corners. I went back and forth between the Wicked Tooth Bar, and the Piranha. I liked the serrations on the Wicked, but then again, once those fill up with clay, they're not very helpful. I like the idea of the Piranha being sharp all the way across, even in between the teeth. That should rip some of the brush right out, and help deflect rocks into the bucket rather than just rolling under it.

I'm strongly considering retirement rather than returning to work after my doctor clears me from work restrictions because of my shoulders. Then all I'll have to do is play in my yard with the LX.

 

[Old_Paint]

I've been considering a stump bucket. I was concerned that a tractor wouldn't really have the power to get stumps out quite like a skid steer would.

It certainly isn't going to be as robust as a skid steer. A skid-steer would probably mangle this bucket pretty quick. Titan makes a heavy duty version as well, intended for use with skid steers, with more aggressive teeth on the front edge. But for what I'm doing, much akin to your target, I think this one will be just fine on the front end of the LX. The video the next user posted looks like it's similar construction, but perhaps not quite as long. Good? Bad? Dunno. Never used one before. Just need to keep common sense in mind about how the FEL works mechanically to keep from breaking stuff. I may consider a little mod for it so that I can add some teeth to the front edge, depending on the luck I have slicing roots with this. The shovel point on it may not quite bite on harder roots. A little grinding, and I can turn that point into a snake's tongue with a wicked bite behind it.

That video also shows a good technique for getting a larger tree out of the ground. Gotta take out the support structure (roots) that keep the tree from falling over. They don't hold the tree up, they just keep it from falling over. Break a few on one side, and bingo, falling tree. Most of the stuff I want to remove isn't any bigger than what he was doing in the video. It's just a lot thicker. I'm thinking keeping a relatively sharp point on this is going to be very beneficial.

 

[NCL4701]

At the risk of confirming the obvious, stumps are a LOT easier to remove if you cut the roots off one side and still have at least about 6’ of tree left to use for leverage on the stump. I’m kind of dense so it took me a couple of trees to figure that out. It ain’t a dozer or a skid steer but you can do a lot of damage with a properly operated loader.

 

[PapaJ]

Wonder why CRI's is so much more expensive.

Compact Tractor Stump Buckets – Cold Roll Industrial

coldrollindustrial.com

 

[MNVikingsGuy]

The video the next user posted looks like it's similar construction, but perhaps not quite as long. Good? Bad? Dunno.

I was fired up and ready to buy basis the early design videos on this bucket - smaller, lighter and thereby presumably cheaper. But it ends up being $200 + shipping more than the titan ($300-$400 more depending on where it is shipped to) free shipping. Too bad - I would have been fine with half the bucket for half the price, but not half the bucket for 170% of the price after shipping. Plus it ended up being a little to short for the big "Bs" (Bxx50 and LXxx10) in my opinion - I think this is really designed for the subcompacts. In fact he originally said the design was for sub-20hp tractors but then switched it to 32hp - which I don't doubt, but seem to miss with size and price so looks like I am back to buying the titan.

 

[Old_Paint]

Wonder why CRI's is so much more expensive.

Compact Tractor Stump Buckets – Cold Roll Industrial

coldrollindustrial.com

Just looking at the photos, they look to be a bit thicker steel. I haven't checked the weight on them yet, though.. Again, I don't need something that can break my FEL. I'd much rather my FEL broke the bucket. I've actually tried to read as many negative reviews as possible on this bucket. The only one I saw with a complete bucket failure was that the bottom pins tore out the eyes at the bottom of the SSQA sockets. Ain't but one way for that to happen, and that's putting a severe dragging load on the tip of the bucket. If used properly, any SSQA attachment should always be pushing against the bottoms of the plates. I'd say the user that posted the photos of the ripped out eyes is probably lucky he doesn't have the spaghetti shaped bucket cylinders often caused by misuse. I'd worry more about the top lip pulling out than the bottom eye. That looks to me like it could use a gusset on either side of the SSQA socket plate to prevent it from pulling out when curling up with the bucket. That bucket has a long point that's going to put a lot of force on the tops of the SSQA plates. The trick will be mostly in using it correctly, and not being too aggressive with it. Patience may be the key with this bucket, but somehow, I don't think it's going to be nearly as dangerous as my current method of pulling with the 3PH. I'm worried I might break something doing that. The lifting power of the 3PH on these little tractors is pretty impressive. Last thing I need to do is bend a stub axle or break a lifting link.

And yes, always leave a long stump if you're gonna dig it up anyway. I try to leave about a foot of height or more for every two inches of diameter at the base of the stump, and I always try to pull with the back (heavy end) of the tractor. Attach the chain to the stump as high as possible, and as low as possible on the tractor. This will decrease rear wheel traction as you pull harder, and let the tractor spin rather than standing it up. Hydrostatic drive is a lot better than burning out a clutch for this fun little activity. Same goes for a loader.

Anything is going to beat doing it this way:

 

[Old_Paint]

A lil’ more jewelry for my LX.

 

[Old_Paint]

Not quite the fit I would prefer with the tooth bar on, but it’s quite stable with the stabilizer and I don’t plan on trying to pick up anything stoopid heavy with it. I’m a limited on the spacing of the forks with the tooth blade on, but I don’t think it will be much of an issue no more than I lift things that I can’t wrap with a chain.