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Is there any money in tree stump grinding?

Steve300xcw said:
might be surprised
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No doubt I have under bid some jobs just to get them. Lots of small stumps pay the best then followed by big single stumps. 400-500/hr is the average I like to keep but sometimes it's difficult if I run into something.
 
back woods said:
Alot more overhead, employees and insurance to drop a tree that's why it costs more. What I like about stump grinding is the shorter duration of the jobs. Typically each job is 1-2 hours long, sometimes 3 for a big one. If you are grinding for 3hr+ $$$$$

A tank of fuel in my grinding tractor lasts about a week+. A lot of the times I quote a job and then they find something else for me to take care of when I'm there. I almost never go to a job to quote it without grinding it, id say 75% are show up and grind. Tell me what you have, send me a picture if you can. I'll quote it within $50 and come grind it. My truck burns to much diesel to always be driving to quotes. Most homeowners can't get anyone on the phone so they are glad when I show up.
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I work on pr about 8 difference tree companies trucks, probably half will grind stumps, the rest just throw the stump grinding to a different guy because they don’t want the job because it take to long and they have enough tree work.
Stump grinding is probably a good side gig for someone, just hook up with a couple different tree guys and get them to feed you the stumps.

Around here I see different guy’s advertising for stump grinding for $75-100. Some of the tree guys tell me they can turn $10k a day with a good crew and the right jobs, it doesn’t happen every day but they make good money doing the trees.
Now the workmans comp for tree work and insurance it unbelievably expensive, so of these guys are paying 40+% of payroll for WC.
Then they probably have $500k+ worth f equipment at the job, so it’s all proportional.
 
Gdogg said:
I work on pr about 8 difference tree companies trucks, probably half will grind stumps, the rest just throw the stump grinding to a different guy because they don’t want the job because it take to long and they have enough tree work.
Stump grinding is probably a good side gig for someone, just hook up with a couple different tree guys and get them to feed you the stumps.

Around here I see different guy’s advertising for stump grinding for $75-100. Some of the tree guys tell me they can turn $10k a day with a good crew and the right jobs, it doesn’t happen every day but they make good money doing the trees.
Now the workmans comp for tree work and insurance it unbelievably expensive, so of these guys are paying 40+% of payroll for WC.
Then they probably have $500k+ worth f equipment at the job, so it’s all proportional.
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How big of a stump for $75-100?
 
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Fuck this stumping job, I've gotten about 3 acres done in 24 hours. All the pine stumps have been cut flush with the ground and covered with debris. Damn machine blew a bucket cylinder hose today. I've got another 2.5 acres to do tomorrow and Friday. Oh and no AC in the cab
 
In case anybody is wondering this is the best tooth sharpener ever.
Link
 
1oddtech said:
Fuck this stumping job, I've gotten about 3 acres done in 24 hours. All the pine stumps have been cut flush with the ground and covered with debris. Damn machine blew a bucket cylinder hose today. I've got another 2.5 acres to do tomorrow and Friday. Oh and no AC in the cab
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How much does a ~5ac job like that cost?
 
arse_sidewards said:
How much does a ~5ac job like that cost?
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Probably close to 10,000 just to pluck them all. Then grinding or hauling away

He needs one of those stump pluckers could have gotten them all pulled in less than 8 hours.

Up in these parts it’s are 8500-10,000 an acre to pull and dispose of the stumps in a heavily wooded lot.
 
Got quoted $7k/acre to pull stumps in my 10 acre field. Pile them up in three areas just beyond the edge of the field. No grading included.

It’s taken me almost 3 yrs of nights and weekends when I have time to do it myself, just down to a couple stump piles to move. Last summer it was too wet to get on 1/3 of the field with a tractor, so that didn’t help.
 
Regardless, everything else about the land development will be moving so slowly that nitrates and drill bits are probably what I'll wind up with. :laughing:
 
I'm just pulling the stumps and filling in the holes with the bucket, the customer is moving / disposing of the stumps and doing final grade work. He is going to have $8500 for my work
 
I hate to go TOTALLY against the grain here but feel at least one post in this thread needs to.

I never knew what stump grinding was even about. Being one who learns most the hard way by himself, from what I did learn I now have no idea why one would have a stump ground???

I had about a 45-50" diameter living pine I had to cut down on my lot I'm working on. It was in the future building footprint. I then had someone come in to grind it up. After that episode, I feel as if that was $400 for nothing... At least that was what he accepted from his $450 price tag after I explained that his grinding did absolutely nothing for me.

Mine will have footers over it. Therefore I had to dig it up all the way down and yank out what I could then burn the rest. Then dump a ton of gravel in the nasty muddy rain collected hole before filling with dirt. I could have done all that without the initial grinding. In fact I believe it made the task even harder.

If I had the time, I also had the option of drilling holes in it to fill with rock salt to give it 6 months to be gone all by itself.

I bet I could have paid $1k and had an excavator come out to do the entire job that I needed done and came out saving my back dearly.

The machine the guy had itself was probably a 10k machine. The blades he said cost like $150 each and all it took is 1 rock to take one out. Therefore I imagine it's hard to make money for a full time gig. And I now personally think 95% of stumps deserve an excavator before a stump grinder. Stump grinding is for the little old ladies who had a tree cut down in their pretty flower garden out front.
 
Here4memes said:
The machine the guy had itself was probably a 10k machine. The blades he said cost like $150 each and all it took is 1 rock to take one out. Therefore I imagine it's hard to make money for a full time gig. And I now personally think 95% of stumps deserve an excavator before a stump grinder. Stump grinding is for the little old ladies who had a tree cut down in their pretty flower garden out front.
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No shit...stump grinding is for when you want a tree out of a lawn and planting grass or whatever. It's obviously not for pre-construction removal of trees...you want that tree ripped entirely out. I thought this was obvious?
 
Don’t know about 1 rock taking out a blade. I hit rocks all the time with my grinder and only change teeth about once a month, maybe. Usually when I do it’s only half the teeth @ $12/ea. This summer I have done 46 jobs in about 120 days. All within about a 20 mile radius with a couple exceptions. I could be busier if I wanted to. This was just a test year for me and it is definitely a profitable venture. It helps that I own all my equipment and everything is payed off.
 
Using Google Earth to measure the area I only stumped 2 acres in a little over 3 days. I'm figuring 450-500 trees per acre were planted and it's taking me an average 3 minutes per stump
 
Have you ever used a ripper shank on one of these jobs? I haven't in your situation, just curious if you have and how did it work out for you if you have.
 
Captain Call said:
Have you ever used a ripper shank on one of these jobs? I haven't in your situation, just curious if you have and how did it work out for you if you have.
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This is the first one for me and it's a rental machine. I've watched a guy on the tube of you use a ripper and it seemed to work well.
 
1oddtech said:
This is the first one for me and it's a rental machine. I've watched a guy on the tube of you use a ripper and it seemed to work well.
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Next time, rent the machine with a quick coupler with the bucket and a shank.



I kinda figured you hadn't used one like that.
 
Captain Call said:
Have you ever used a ripper shank on one of these jobs? I haven't in your situation, just curious if you have and how did it work out for you if you have.
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Unless you are digging up 30+” hardwood stumps a frost tooth is unnecessary. It’s faster popping them out but way slower trying to move the stump/filling the hole back in.

My suggestion is to rent a 100,000+ lbs machine cause then it doesn’t give a fuck and just plucks them out with zero issue. :flipoff2:
 
I’ve used a ripper shank on a 330, it worked well to get the stumps out of the ground, but also broke/cut more roots off in the process. Ended up taking a D6 with a root rake over the area to get most of the roots piled up and then sorted through the pile.

I prefer a narrow digging bucket and hydraulic thumb, but I also like to drop the stumps and get the dirt out of them before they go to the stump dump.
 
A D60 with a clearing/tooth blade would be my preference for that job and if you couldn't find that, a much bigger hoe would be second.
 
Here4memes said:
The machine the guy had itself was probably a 10k machine. The blades he said cost like $150 each and all it took is 1 rock to take one out. Therefore I imagine it's hard to make money for a full time gig. And I now personally think 95% of stumps deserve an excavator before a stump grinder. Stump grinding is for the little old ladies who had a tree cut down in their pretty flower garden out front.
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What machine did he have? Our stump grinders have pieces of carbide brazed to the teeth and they're $18 each new and that machine has 24 teeth. The smaller grinder has 6 teeth that are $30 or so each.


The company we just acquired came with 2 smaller stump grinders, both are Vermeer brand and they're hot garbage barely above home gamer quality. They use carbide tipped teeth as well but are far, FAR smaller. One is a trailer unit and the other is wheeled.


I can snap pics of everything tomorrow if anyone gives a shit.
 
DWT said:
What machine did he have? Our stump grinders have pieces of carbide brazed to the teeth and they're $18 each new and that machine has 24 teeth. The smaller grinder has 6 teeth that are $30 or so each.


The company we just acquired came with 2 smaller stump grinders, both are Vermeer brand and they're hot garbage barely above home gamer quality. They use carbide tipped teeth as well but are far, FAR smaller. One is a trailer unit and the other is wheeled.


I can snap pics of everything tomorrow if anyone gives a shit.
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I paid it no mind. And was just guessing on the price of his machine. You sound like you know stump grinders a bit more than I do. Which is hardly anything at all.

We will go on your post instead of mine.:beer:
 
It's not a forestry job until you find a balloon
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Started the day with the field looking like this
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Ended the day looking like this

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Customer wants to pay for another day so I'll be back for more on Monday.
 
Anyone use this wood chipper?

woodlandmills.com

WC68 6" PTO Wood Chipper

Our affordable 3-Point PTO Wood Chipper converts brush and branches into usable wood chips & works with 20-50 HP tractors. Covered by a 3-year warranty.
woodlandmills.com woodlandmills.com
 
back woods said:
Anyone use this wood chipper?

woodlandmills.com

WC68 6" PTO Wood Chipper

Our affordable 3-Point PTO Wood Chipper converts brush and branches into usable wood chips & works with 20-50 HP tractors. Covered by a 3-year warranty.
woodlandmills.com woodlandmills.com
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My neighbor has a Woodland Mills 3-pt chipper, not sure on the model. He's had it about a year and says he likes it though he's just a hobby guy and not all that mechanically inclined. It looked to be well made when I looked it over.
 
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