NEW WG24 Stump Grinder - Initial impressions!

[bbxlr8]

Well all, I bit the bullet and took delivery of a Woodland Mills WG24 last week and wanted to share my thoughts and some lessons learned. Despite what my wife may think after this order, his forum is GREAT!

To cut to the chase; I LOVE IT and am so happy with the performance so far! I have a full three days of use and got to about 20+ so far including all of those really in my way.

Background: I moved to this heavily wooded PA property 13 years ago and between hurricanes Sandy and Isaias and clearing I have quite a backlog. I have old growth (for this area) of hardwood: hickory, oak, poplar, ash, maple, cherry etc. and most stumps were 30 - 40". I successfully dug out a number of the most critical ones already, but that was getting really old.

Some observations:

• Set up took longer than I thought and I made sure to follow their detailed instructions to the letter.
• I did not have to cut the PTO shaft for my L but they have warnings EVERYWHERE to properly check the length.
• You need a precision caliper to determine the proper slip clutch spring length after confirming that it works.
• I have rocky soil and even on older stumps I really had to check for rocks. I ended up using a pickaxe to dig below the grade to remove
• I have many years/hours running a smaller HST and think that experience helped as most of my land is sloped. There definitely is an art to moving and adjusting while grinding.
• I found the best view swiveling around backward to my right and developed a hunched/slumped awkward method to shuffle the tractor with a combo of the pedal and brake. I NOW see and feel in my neck why some are setting up cameras. I think I may be a bit too dyslexic and uncoordinated to handle that though!
• I KNOW Hickory is tough on chainsaw blades but really did not expect it to be that hard after 12 years of sitting. If you leave firewood around the bugs attack it pretty fast. I had to go much slower and take less of a bite on these. In contrast, it ate up the poplar & maple pretty handily.

NOW, I have to figure out a spot to store it (a great problem to have...)

 

[bird dogger]

Congrats on your new grinder!! The more stumps you grind....the better your grinding technique gets. Rocks and buried metal are not very kind to the teeth. You might want to get some replacement teeth to have on hand for the eventual "oops".

You'll probably find that the inner teeth on the wheel don't get used because the depth of cut may be too much for the tractor. If that's the case with your setup.....the inner teeth can be swapped with any damaged outer teeth until replacements can be had.

With your wooded acreage and a good supply of stumps to be gone.....I see a remote camera setup in your near future!! The learning curve is pretty quick (just a couple of stumps) and it really helps the strained neck problem.

 

[Daferris]

X2 on the remote camera. I use a wireless dashcam for mine. Also for storage I put wheels on the bottom of the shipping crate. The top I re-use as a cutting/welding table.

 

[GeoHorn]

I had several hardwoods to remove in an area I planned for airplane tie-downs. They were mostly smaller 10” diameter elms but also a couple of smaller oak…. I cut them close to the ground with a chainsaw, then about 6 mos later I drilled a few 1/2” holes vertically in each and soaked them with diesel. Two days later I piled a bag of charcoal on top of the stumps and set it on fire. They smoldered for two or three days and left a small hole in the ground which I filled with a loader-bucket of soil.
Easy-Peasy.

 

[bbxlr8]

X2 on the remote camera. I use a wireless dashcam for mine. Also for storage I put wheels on the bottom of the shipping crate. The top I re-use as a cutting/welding table.

Will have to look into the camera - after three days straight I GET it!
RE: the crate & top - I was already thinking that on both counts. Nice to hear that.

I also scored an old steel display table from TSC that I was deciding on as well - I've been teaching myself to weld to keep my Ford & it's MMM functional and I am in the shallow end of the pool

 

[TheOldHokie]

Will have to look into the camera - after three days straight I GET it!
RE: the crate & top - I was already thinking that on both counts. Nice to hear that.

I also scored an old steel display table from TSC that I was deciding on as well - I've been teaching myself to weld to keep my Ford & it's MMM functional and I am in the shallow end of the pool

Scrap the leftovers and get one of these - Arcflat by Langmuir

Dan

 

[Dave Ogren]

Great to read your review of the WG24. Mine just arrived about an hour ago. I would like to know the best set up (and brand) for a camera and monitor.

 

[dirtydeed]

Glad you like it. Mine has paid for itself many times over.

X3 on the shipping crate. Mine has turned into a shooting bench and the bottom is the wheeled storage for the grinder.

 

[bird dogger]

I had several hardwoods to remove in an area I planned for airplane tie-downs. They were mostly smaller 10” diameter elms but also a couple of smaller oak…. I cut them close to the ground with a chainsaw, then about 6 mos later I drilled a few 1/2” holes vertically in each and soaked them with diesel. Two days later I piled a bag of charcoal on top of the stumps and set it on fire. They smoldered for two or three days and left a small hole in the ground which I filled with a loader-bucket of soil.
Easy-Peasy.

Your method of burning out stumps can work if you have the time. But you also have to be mighty careful and know the conditions underground as well. I’d be very leery of using/recommending that method in wooded areas. It’s not unusual for a smoldering root to ignite another one underground causing that burn to resurface days later in another spot.

Northern Minnesota forests are very prone to that happening from campfires in non-designated spots…..even after dousing the campfire afterwards.

Our farmstead and woods is well over 100 yrs old. That amounts to a lot of decaying leaves, branches, downed trees, etc. having been built up on the forest floor and turning into a deep layer of basically peat. A prime condition for fire to travel unseen underground. Even in a wet season, I’d be very leery of burning a stump in the woods here unless it was going to be tended to until I was absolutely sure the fire was out.

So depending on where that stump is located……burning that stump out can work just fine…….or it could lead to disaster. Like anything….you have to be careful and know your own conditions for that method.

 

[bbxlr8]

Congrats on your new grinder!! The more stumps you grind....the better your grinding technique gets. Rocks and buried metal are not very kind to the teeth. You might want to get some replacement teeth to have on hand for the eventual "oops".

You'll probably find that the inner teeth on the wheel don't get used because the depth of cut may be too much for the tractor. If that's the case with your setup.....the inner teeth can be swapped with any damaged outer teeth until replacements can be had.

With your wooded acreage and a good supply of stumps to be gone.....I see a remote camera setup in your near future!! The learning curve is pretty quick (just a couple of stumps) and it really helps the strained neck problem.

I was super careful, but I am on a ridge with glacial deposits ranging in size from softballs to Suburbans! Despite the pickaxe and careful digging, I found some where the root support surrounded the rock (NOT COOL MAN!) I did hear the tone change and quickly pulled up, but it is a matter of "when" not "if" I wipe the outers given my backlog.

FYI Don't get me started on the number of 24" pro CS chains I wiped - I got OK at bringing them back to functional ,but they are never the same.

Good idea on switching around the teeth - also saw new ones are $105 for six .
Has anyone had any luck sharpening them?

 

[bbxlr8]

Your method of burning out stumps can work if you have the time. But you also have to be mighty careful and know the conditions underground as well. I’d be very leery of using/recommending that method in wooded areas. It’s not unusual for a smoldering root to ignite another one underground causing that burn to resurface days later in another spot.

Northern Minnesota forests are very prone to that happening from campfires in non-designated spots…..even after dousing the campfire afterwards.

Our farmstead and woods is well over 100 yrs old. That amounts to a lot of decaying leaves, branches, downed trees, etc. having been built up on the forest floor and turning into a deep layer of basically peat. A prime condition for fire to travel unseen underground. Even in a wet season, I’d be very leery of burning a stump in the woods here unless it was going to be tended to until I was absolutely sure the fire was out.

So depending on where that stump is located……burning that stump out can work just fine…….or it could lead to disaster. Like anything….you have to be careful and know your own conditions for that method.

So... I am not that far from coal country, but it is not right here. Assume you all heard of Centralia PA https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centralia_mine_fire and the underground coal mine fire that they can't put out EVER. What a disaster.

 

[GeoHorn]

I doubt there’s much reason to fear burning out a few stumps, (reference the coal fires and underground root systems). As a Forestry major in college… (Go SFA Lumberjacks!)... a live root will not easily burn or spread an underground fire, neither will burning out a stump cause an undergound coal fire unless you live where a coal-seam happens to out-crop at the surface…in which case a common garden hose or 5-gal bucket of water will solve the problem. Clearly, keeping an eye on the smoldering stump is mandatory, but soaking the surrounding area after the initial flames have died down works in my area just fine…. no reason chicken-little should be concerned.

 

[bbxlr8]

@GeoHorn I was definitely not suggesting that - and have seen stump burning work.

It was just a crazy worst-case nightmare scenario to the comment above. I still find it hard to believe that they can't get it out somehow

 

[NCL4701]

I was super careful, but I am on a ridge with glacial deposits ranging in size from softballs to Suburbans! Despite the pickaxe and careful digging, I found some where the root support surrounded the rock (NOT COOL MAN!) I did hear the tone change and quickly pulled up, but it is a matter of "when" not "if" I wipe the outers given my backlog.

FYI Don't get me started on the number of 24" pro CS chains I wiped - I got OK at bringing them back to functional ,but they are never the same.

Good idea on switching around the teeth - also saw new ones are $105 for six .
Has anyone had any luck sharpening them?

If you have a place nearby that sells commercial type stump grinders they’ll usually offer sharpening services.

I have burned stumps in the distant past and also have the WG24. Burning is cheaper but much slower. Open burning without a permit is also illegal in the county where I reside and although I probably could get a permit, I don’t really care to every time I need to take out a stump. Viability of burning varies depending on location. Good option for some.

 

[Daferris]

This is the camera I used... It came with a coupon for a free 2nd camera.
I have one on the back of the F350 to help target the hitch & ball. The other is on a small 12" tall tripod with a small SLA 12v battery. I set it on the ground near the stump to give me a good view.
I mount the display on a cup holder cell phone mount to swap between what it's in and power it from the lighter plug.
Yes I have to turn my head a bit to see the display but that hasn't proved to be an issue...

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07FLZ1HSQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[Daferris]

Also this place seems to have really good prices on re sharpening or even new teeth...

Stump Grinder Teeth Sharpening - Jeff's Sharpening and Supply

Stump Grinder Teeth Sharpening Yellow Jacket sharpening, Greenteeth Sharpening, New River and Sandvik Sharpening

www.jeffssharpening.com

 

[mikester]

These seem geared towards owners with HST. So you have to drive forwards/backwards to grind a stump?

The only units I've seen running had a hydraulic swing.

 

[Daferris]

These seem geared towards owners with HST. So you have to drive forwards/backwards to grind a stump?

The only units I've seen running had a hydraulic swing.

Yes you have it correct it's fixed and you drive fwd and backwards to grind. Works very well and helps hold down any shaking

 

[TheOldHokie]

Yes you have it correct it's fixed and you drive fwd and backwards to grind. Works very well and helps hold down any shaking

I had my concerns about this design but they evaporated about half way through the first big stump.

Dan

 

[NCL4701]

These seem geared towards owners with HST. So you have to drive forwards/backwards to grind a stump?

The only units I've seen running had a hydraulic swing.

Correct. Woodland Mills makes it clear they work with HST but not with gear drive.