Cutting a stump with my STIHL MS661 chainsaw with a 36" Bar and grinding it with my 24" Woodland Mills stump grinder Chainsaw Sharpener : amzn.to/3zi4Q0O Felling Wedges : amzn.to/3kBuMA8
Cutting a stump that size is a PITA. I cut and ground one about that size a couple of days ago. I used a 18" chainsaw and then rented a Toro STX-26 grinder. It took me 5 hours to cut the stump and another 5 hours to grind it. It was a Maple tree so the wood was pretty hard and it had an extensive root system. I wound up making a ton of plunge cuts with the saw and did some 45 degree side cuts the same as you. I was very jealous of your chainsaw and grinder:) I had a lot of trouble making my cuts match up and probably cut 3 times more than I would have to if my cuts had all matched up. If I had owned my own STX-26, (which swings side to side as opposed to yours), I would use the stump grinder around the base of the stump first and bite into the base as far as possible to begin with. That would have reduced the diameter of my stump quite a bit and made the chainsaw work much easier. But since the grinder was a rental I didn't want to spent that much time on the grinding. Great job!
Hey fellow grinder. I do what you do, cut them low first as I have a small machine. Helps a lot. One thing I do on ones this size is pie them up from the top down first. One that size probably in more than just four pieces in my case, as I don't have anything but me a wheel barrel and a hand truck to haul the pieces off with. I believe it does help me cut the top off too, that's why I make mention of it.
Good job. I cut down two large maple stumps last week that were grown into a woven wire fence. Plus had bricks and glass inclusion. If you run across those run away.
Now I know what to expect next week ( hopefully) on getting a huge pear tree stump out. Professional tree co. took out the massive tree last week but will come back and remove all the roots all over my yard and grind down the stump. The tree was over 80 years old.
*UPDATE*. Trunk is now gone and all of the roots that took over the yard. Some of the roots were 12” round and 6’ long. I could have watched them work all day long. The grinder left ruts in a few places but they planted grass seed and threw down hay over top.
Where I live in Europe, they use a back hoe to cut a trench around the stump, taking in the roots. Then they pull it out and leave it beside the hole for a couple of weeks to let all the bugs and insects come out of the wood and crooks and crannies and go back into the hole, etc. The trunk can then be hauled off and used as wood for a number of projects.
That is an option too, however if the stump is near something that is structural, or large enough to where it would cost a lot in dirt to fill in the hole, then its just easier and safer to grind the stump. Thanks for the comment!
2 tips to help your saw last: 1) Don't rev it hard without load eg @1:30 - it's OK to spin the chain at low speed near the stump and check bar lube is spraying off, but not rev full tilt with no load - bad for the engine. 2) Keep your bar and chain out of the dirt where you can eg @5:30 and @5:40 as the less dirt you get onto your chain and into the cuts the longer it'll stay sharp. I'm not sure what chain you were using but semi-chisel instead of full chisel is good for stump work as it stays sharper longer and can handle dirt / nicks better than full chisel.
To each there own. Thanks for the tips! This chain was garbage anyways and it saves me a ton of time and money to ruin a chain than it does to do an additional 20-30 passes with the grinder.
I was also curious why you did it, but also thinking as someone who does stumps, I'd rather change a chain than spend an extra 45 minutes messing with all the extra stump left. What size saw is that anyway?
Well.... the root of the problem was that he got greedy and cut low at the root flare where the wood grain is all caddywompus....it happens. The saw is always going to wander off cutting at the flare and as it dips it often ends up with the bar in the dirty end and the chain turns blunt fast. Better to cut a little higher through the straight grain of trunk, the saw will cut straight, and then grind from there.
@@AuMechanic unfortunately due to the angle of the dirt around this stump and how tall the stump was I didn’t have an option but to cut it that low with the saw. The 3 point grinder only lifts so high.
@@SparkysGarage , I just had the exact same problem with a pine stump that was connected to an oak stump kind of grew together. The more I ground on it with the stump grinder the larger it got. I have the backhoe attachment for my tractor. I just got frustrated and dug the damn thing out took 3 hours.
Thank you for the informative film and a lot of useful techniques shown on how to cut the tree stump as much as possible to the ground level. My concern is that even if you grind the stump and level well the stump might start start to regrow. We need to remove one tree, which grows between 2 houses (they are at a distance ~ 3 yards), so there is no place for excavator machine there. I would burn it in a slow manner, but there is AC unit sitting next to it. So it looks like to grind that stump to the surface level would be the best option, but I'm afraid it will start to grow back again or if it is a big tree it won't? I would appreciate any opinion on this matter.
I’ve ground hundreds of stumps and none of them have ever grown back. Usually going 6-4” below surface level and getting all of the surface roots is sufficient to kill the tree.
@@SparkysGarage Thank you so much for your replay, especially for that advice about desirable depth of the grinding, I thought it should be just leveled to the ground, as shown in some films. The way you say and actually it is done in your film (when the grinder goes below the surface, I even didn't notice before) is much reliable of course. I also plan to drill some holes in the remaining stump to fill them w/table salt and vinegar (don't know if it give much effect on large stumps (ours will be ~ 24" in diameter). Thank you again!
I'm shocked that Woodland Mills doesn't have a grinder to match up yet against the Baumalight 3P24. I'm stuck between one of the ones like you have, or the 3P24.
This is the way to do the job of stump removal. Cut as much wood off as you can with your chainsaw as new saws an bars an chains are cheaper then stump grinders an tractors . Big stumps are more romantic for infomercials I understand but why ware out your most expensive equipment ?
@@SparkysGarage Hi, this ended up on a "check this out" type of RU-vid thing. I don't know if after you put this together, if you noticed that some of your chainsaw"s "tonality" matched some of the music included? A friend of mine has something smaller in their front yard but the bottom 1/2 is almost the same size. I was joking around about ways to get rid of it & then some more serious, concern issues where eventually, they were thinking of extending their driveway to where that stump is & then, meeting the road out in front. I'm too scared of chainsaws to operate one unless it's one of those small "Ryobi" things so, I'm not touching it!!
I’m not sure what kinds of tree it was. The guy that was contracted to grind the stump never showed. So I got called to do it. I did file the chain about half way but it was some hard wood. That’s for sure.
@@SparkysGarage Somehow,you should reach out to some of the RU-vid Bushcrafters if it was hard or "fatwood"! Granted a lot of them cut down whatever to turn it into a shelter & enough for a fire, but folks like we'll say Steve Wallis end up having to either buy wood or, if someplace allows it ( most won't because of possible "contamination") maybe bring stuff they cut up @ their own homes before going out. ( Potential $??) I know I like wood burning but wow, that thing was WAY HUGE & I'm only used to doing smaller artwork if I do wood burning, so, that stump even if it was close to perfectly round @ the end would've been too much for me, let alone my wood burning irons & stuff!! Lol.
@@SparkysGarage i was considering the options, maybe a diamond wheel on a bench grinder, maybe with the grit on the circumference or better on the flat lapping side? Maybe even touch up the teeth with a diamond wheel on an angle grinder. When you sharpen yours will you make a video?
@@martinw4261 You'll need a "green wheel" on a bench grinder. I think they're actually called a silicon carbide grinding wheel. I'd suggest at least a 6" bench grinder with some power otherwise it takes forever. Wear a mask the dust is awful and you don't want to breathe it in. Buy enough teeth so you have at least 20 sharp spares if you plan on grinding all day with no way to sharpen.
@@SparkysGarage Well,if you wrote backwards, wouldn't it look sort of like this??-> "sdrawkcab gnitirw m'I !em ta, kool ! yeH" Ok, sorry, trying to share silly humor.
So 'nen richtigen "Plan" kann man bei dem Herrn nicht erkennen, weder beim Gebrauch der Kettensäge noch beim Einsatz seiner landwirtschaftlichen Maschine. Gut auch, unter der auslaufenden Sägekette das Sägemehl mit der nackten Hand wegzuwischen ... Fazit: NICHT NACHMACHEN!
Stump grinder footage was cool. Music was totally inappropriate and made me not want to finish the video or subscribe to your channel. Many youtubers mistakenly think that adding music enhances their videos, but the truth is most viewers do not share your musical tastes and are not here to listen to music. Narrate the video and leave off that stuff.
@@SparkysGarage Depends on who you're making the video for, of course. Kinda like making a speech in front of a mirror if you only want to view it yourself. ;)
This was a garbage chain that wasn’t worth sharpening. This tree grew into a fence and would instantly dull. It was replaced after this stump. Thanks for watching
