Felling a tree properly is a skill that takes some practice to master, especially without causing any injuries or property damage. Getting the tree cut down though is sometimes only half of the battle, as the stump and roots need to be addressed as well. Unless you have a few years to wait for them to naturally decompose you might want to employ a stump grinder, and unless you want to spend a chunk of money on a stump grinding service or buy your own, you might want to do what [Workshop from Scratch] did and build your own.
This stump grinder isn’t anything to scoff at, either, and might even fool some into thinking it’s a consumer grade tool from a big box store. Far from it though, as almost everything down to the frame is custom machined specifically for this build. The only thing that isn’t built from scratch, including the cutting wheel, is the beefy 15 horsepower motor. Once it gets going it is able to carve stumps down to the ground in no time thanks especially to some gear reductions in the drive line from the motor to the cutting head.
Before anyone mentions safety, it looks like [Workshop from Scratch] has made some upgrades since his last project which was a gas-powered metal cutting chainsaw. Since then it looks like he has upgraded the sheet metal to something a little thicker, even though a stump grinder has arguably lower risk due to the slower speed of the cutting wheel and also to the fact that the cutting medium is wood and not metal. There are also brakes and an emergency shutoff switch. It sure seems like a fine addition to his collection of completely custom tools.
Impressive build! Regarding this: “lower risk due to the slower speed of the cutting wheel and also to the fact that the cutting medium is wood and not metal”. Not really lower risk. Having used stump grinders extensively, many rocks fly when grinding stumps. It can be quite exciting.
Yeah, that cutter is a heck of a flywheel. There is a lot of energy in that system.
Pretty cool. Here’s hoping the Beyond the Press channel jumps on this too, with their fantastic lack of subtlety.
Better than hooking up “Bessie” and yanking it out.
Yeah, never pull a stump out with your pickup, borrow a neighbours.
My grandfather used dynamite back in the early 1900s to clear his homestead in Montana.
Mine used copper nails
Yeah, that cutter is a heck of a flywheel. There is a lot of energy in that system.