What do you have for a stump grinder and would you buy it again?

[Firstgear]

or would you buy something else and why?

 

[mikester]

I picked up a woodland mills 28" on sale at xmas but haven't been able to use it yet - my stumps are under 2 feet of snow!

 

[NCL4701]

Woodland Mills WG24. Have ground a few dozen stumps with it. For my use, yes I would buy it again.

It’s basically a stump grinder wheel hooked directly to the end of a PTO shaft. Of course there’s a couple bearings, guards, and a frame to keep it under control. The design is incredibly simple, which is likely why it’s comparatively cost effective.

Positives: Relatively low cost, high quality, gets the job done correctly and timely.

Negatives: It’s fixed on the 3 point so all movement is controlled by moving the whole tractor, thus it only works with HST. You have to turn around to see what you’re doing. Since your moving the whole tractor, that means you’re looking backward while very slowly driving forward unless you set up some sort of mirror or camera system.

I wouldn’t want to be grinding stumps all day every day with it. I also don’t want to pay $12,000 to $30,000 for a more feature rich grinder that doesn’t produce an end result any different than the WG24. I rented a grinder and spent most of a day grinding 16 stumps before purchasing the WG24. With the quantity of stumps I’ve ground with it, I’ve already saved more in rental fees than the cost of purchasing the WG24.

For occasional, but serious, stump grinding I am very pleased with it and would buy it again. If I was going into stump grinding as a business I’d probably look into something where the operator is facing forward and head swing is hydraulic. If I ground a stump or two every few years, I’d probably rent or hire it out.

Gratuitous photo…

 

[dirtydeed]

X2 on NCL's post above. I have the same grinder and it's been really good to me. I've ground more than 100 stumps with it.

gratuitous photo:

 

[woodman55]

I almost bought the WG24, but am now waiting to get the WG28, it is more suited for my tractor. No point in getting it until spring.

 

[bbxlr8]

Another +1 for the WG24 - used it hard & fast initially and very happy with the results vs value. I am ok spinning around and careful about clearing around with a pickaxe due to the high rock % here

Have a bunch lined up for spring. I am clearing and regrading and most of the property is old-growth forest. Was a want vs need but much nicer than letting them rot or digging

Just realized I only took pics after first putting it on and have none in action

 

[Donystoy]

I bought a Woodland Mills WG24 last summer and am quite happy with it for the couple of time that I have used it. They just recently added a WG24 pro to their offerings. It has a spring assembly on the swing mechanism and is around $400 more.
Also, Baumalight has a IP14 that can be seen in operation on YouTubes "My Cluttered Garage" It has an 18" wheel and is claimed better suited to the smaller tractors. No idea how much it is.
All these types only work with HST, and a camera or mirror is a must as previously mentioned.

 

[skeets]

never mind

 

[skeets]

I jus saw thig on youtube this evening, no price listed so Im bettin it aint cheap

 

[Old Machinist]

My son in law used a WG 28 on my John Deere 4310 over the weekend. He said it went well after he got used to using it. I went over and watched in the beginning and it didn't seem to be too abusive on my tractor after we adjusted the side movement links. The pins were in oval holes when he started and it would rock the 3 point and jerk the tractor pretty bad at first. The oval shaped holes on that tractor are the only ones that line up with the 3 point centered. We had to offset it a little to get two round holes lined up to reduce side to side movement.

 

[Grimor]

I don't have a 3point or attachable grinder, but I do have a stand alone one I have been really happy with. https://www.amazon.com/Powered-Certified-Commercial-Multi-Position-Adjustable/dp/B07Q4D9RBV
I don't remove a lot of stumps, but have 20-30 of various sizes around a few properties that I have/had to take care of. It has worked well, even if it is a lot more manual process than anything tractor attached.

 

[Donystoy]

I don't have a 3point or attachable grinder, but I do have a stand alone one I have been really happy with. https://www.amazon.com/Powered-Certified-Commercial-Multi-Position-Adjustable/dp/B07Q4D9RBV
I don't remove a lot of stumps, but have 20-30 of various sizes around a few properties that I have/had to take care of. It has worked well, even if it is a lot more manual process than anything tractor attached.

I have rented that style in the past and found them to be a real workout. If I was 30 years younger maybe.

 

[Donystoy]

The oval shaped holes on that tractor are the only ones that line up with the 3 point centered. We had to offset it a little to get two round holes lined up to reduce side to side movement.

For this reason I preferred the turnbuckle style that the B7200 had.

 

[ChiefWebb]

I too have a Woodland Mill Stump Grinder. Have ground about 75 stumps, most over 10" dia. I use it on my Kubota MX5100. Works very well. I purchased extra cutters but have not even had any chips in the original ones. Not that many rocks at my stumps but do have some gravel mixed in clay sometimes. The worst thing is looking backwards and down as I back up to the stump at each pass. I usually look and back up, then drop the grinder down a bit, then look forward as I creep the tractor forward. This helps my neck from cramping. I would buy the Woodland Mill again. Very well built.

 

[Old Machinist]

I too have a Woodland Mill Stump Grinder. Have ground about 75 stumps, most over 10" dia. I use it on my Kubota MX5100. Works very well. I purchased extra cutters but have not even had any chips in the original ones. Not that many rocks at my stumps but do have some gravel mixed in clay sometimes. The worst thing is looking backwards and down as I back up to the stump at each pass. I usually look and back up, then drop the grinder down a bit, then look forward as I creep the tractor forward. This helps my neck from cramping. I would buy the Woodland Mill again. Very well built.

I have backup cameras on my tractors and was able to tilt the camera on the JD so it focused right on the cutting head and stump. SIL ignored it and still ran it looking back. Looking back on this tractor is even more of a challenge because I mounted a captains chair out of a van in place of the stock seat.

 

[JimmyJazz]

you can rent a decent unit from the Home Depot in my area. Unless you have acres of stumps it makes more sense to rent in my opinion.

 

[drumminj]

Also have a WG24 and would buy again. Turning around to watch the grinder kinda sucks and makes my neck hurt after a few hours of using it, but like others have said for the price it's worth the trade-off.

As mentioned above, the new pro version of the WG24 looks like it has some good upgrades: https://woodlandmills.com/wg24-pro-stump-grinder/

 

[GreensvilleJay]

The frugal neighbour drills a few big holes into the stumps, fills with diesel, goes back next day, bit of diesel/gas mix, lights them up, walks away.... few days later stumps are 'magically' gone.

 

[McMXi]

or would you buy something else and why?

I've never owned or operated a stump grinder, but a couple of days ago I saw this Reist R25PD stump grinder on Good Works Tractor Co's YouTube channel. It's another Canadian made product. Maybe worth looking into.

Stump Grinder Reist Industries

Buy a 25" PTO Stump Grinder for your tractor's Cat I 3-Point or Quick Hitch. No hydraulics required. High-quality engineering, carbide teeth with 3x life.

www.goodworkstractors.com

 

[Sidekick]

I just ordered the MechMaxx Chinesium stump grinder against warnings about the big flywheel damaging PTOs. Exact same as the Woodland Mills but only $1700 with free shipping. I originally put it in my cart and then got a discount coupon in my email 2 days later that was good on the sale price. I hate stumps that are ground as they sink and attract termites. I found that out over time as many had been ground in my yard years ago before we bought the house. Tired of the mess digging them and have about 30 big ash stumps to remove. It looks like one of those things you buy, get the job done, then sell instead of renting. They charge by the inch to have a professional come in so this seems worthwhile to try.