The time is drawing near to start popping many stumps from the ground. It looks like a case 580L is going to be the implement i'm gonna use.

Questions are:

1) the rental company offer damage insurance. How easily do these get damaged?

2) How much training is involved in using one of these? My only experience is with a small Case front loader (similar to a Bob cat)

__________________
...Tracy

'00 ML320 "Casper"
'92 400E "Stella"

The damage that you are going to do to the machine will not be covered by the rental companies Loss Damage Waiver. Hydraulic hoses and cylindes are the most likely thing to break and they are not covered. If you think there is a theft or total loss possibility, which there always is with heavy equipment, get the insurance.

Case makes a nice back hoe and it is very dependable. They are easy to operate but you can also get yourself in a whole lot of trouble very quickly. There are many deaths every year by people doing stupid things. Make sure no one is ever between the boom and the body of the back hoe. Make sure you are level with stabalizers down before you start digging. Make sure you aren't below low handing wires or on top of power wires, phone wires, or water or gas lines before you start digging.

A lot of the work is going to be on hilly terrain. Is this a bad idea or do I need to literally level the vehicle with stabilizers for it to be safe?

__________________
...Tracy

'00 ML320 "Casper"
'92 400E "Stella"

They always break.


I have seen 10 year olds run them you shouldn't have any problems.

Don't know what kind of stumps you are trying to extract, but they must be pretty small if you are going to use a 580L Case.

A small backhoe is not a good tool for serious stump removal--the main damage you need to worry about, is going to be bending the boom cylinder arm. To try to describe this: let's say you dig down beside a stump one bucket wide. You then want to pull the bucket out and go to the other side--unless you are an experienced operator, you may clip the stump (or the side of the hole) while you are swinging the boom to go to the other side. That cylinder arm will blow the cylinder if you bend it less than 1/4". You won't be able to use the loader for anything but picking up extracted stumps and moving them and filling in the holes.

Hillside terrain? Planting the feet or not, this would be extremely dangerous and would take forever, because you would have to plant the feet so often.

Haha--I just saw MM's post--they do always break!!

If the stumps are 6"-8" in diameter, you may be able to "scoop" them out with the bucket, but don't fool yourself into thinking you can "pull" out larger stumps with a rubber-tire front end loader. Oh, and you wouldn't be able to do this, imo, w/o planting the feet or you will flip the thing.

If they are bigger than this, get a guy out there with a DC 9 for 1/2 day or rent a grinder

I will bet RLeo may have some input here as well.....

Although stump popping is not a 580's forte, pine stumps are usually a piece of cake, or at least around here.

Sorry to dissapoint but, I've never operated a backhoe or, any kind of hoe for that matter. They don't let me play with anything sharp since that day I came in without my clothes....

__________________
Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.

Thanks! I'll pony up the 14% damage fee

__________________
...Tracy

'00 ML320 "Casper"
'92 400E "Stella"

This is very helpful. I was thinking of using a chocker to drag most of the stumps out and dig out what can’t be dragged. I was and am still debating getting an excavator. The dilemma is that I will need to do a lot of filling and grading along with the stump removal, and that lead me to the idea of using a backhoe. The soil here is mostly very soft, except of course for the rocks. The ground has never been anything but forest land until about 8 years ago when most of the trees were cleared.

Originally I was going to rent a backhoe for a week and use it to clear the stumps off the property. From your comments I’ll try it for 2 days to remove the stumps from the front (mostly level). While I have it, I’ll take the opportunity to try a couple on the hilly part and take the queues from there.

I looked into having someone come out. All estimates were around $4000+ for the task (there are a lot of stumps. I also looked into hiring a guy with a big grinder. Due to the volume of stumps, the guy with the grinder quoted me more than did the guy with the excavator, dozer, and dump truck. I learned there are a lot of real control freaks in the landscraping business. There are about half a dozen stumps which are too close to buildings and other trees for me to feel good about pulling, them, and the grinder will work for those.

__________________
...Tracy

'00 ML320 "Casper"
'92 400E "Stella"

I rented a John Deer 310 backhoe last year to move so large rocks and dig a ditch. I had no heavy equipment time, so I made sure to read the operators manual from cover to cover. Take it SLOW!!! Think about what you are doing before you make a move.

An experienced operator is probably 10 times as effective as you could hope to be. If you don't hire an operator at least hire a coach for your first day. Plan on buying a couple teeth for the bucket after you break them off. If you ignore the rest of this post, remember this part and take it to heart, call before you dig, google it.

ford hoes are two stick control instead of 3 like case, can't recall how JD are controlled.. maybe easier for a rookie. take all the above advice as great. definitely call before you dig and give them a week or so to come out or tell them you're digging as you're talking to them.

also, you may want to get a hoe and then a dozer for this kind of job. sounds like quite a bit. do the math because 4k may not be that much and less hastle then if you do it. double the time you think it's going to take you to do it. that's the least that it will take if you've really never done it.

and good luck and post back.

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72 W114/M130

RedMeat cartoon

twitchkitty knows his $hit. i have a backhoe and believe me you don't just hop on and become superhoeman.the time it takes you to get one stump out a d9 cat could have it leveled and be gone.

I appreciate the feedback. There are no gas or buried power lines within 30 miles. The site plans show the routes for electric & water lines and the location of the septic tank. The folks at the rental yards offered me as much training as I'd like at their yard or when the driver shows up to deliver the implement.

I counted 56 stumps in the front yard (not including the old growth stumps, which are not coming out). They range from about 10” across to about 2’ across. About a half dozen are nearly flush with ground level, but not quite at ground level, as my lawn mower has repeatedly demonstrated. I can get a good hold of the rest with the chocker. Think a 580 is up to this task or is a small excavator a better choice? About how long will it take to remove this many stumps?

Part of the project is the opportunity to play with some modest heavy equipment. A week after the stumps are out I'm getting a bobcat to spread a few trucks loads of top soil.

__________________
...Tracy

'00 ML320 "Casper"
'92 400E "Stella"

Get the damage waiver. Though it won't cover some things, the things it does cover are wildly expensive to replace. I used to run one of these when I worked at a rental yard during my sophomore year and through two summers. They are a piece of cake. You'll spend the first 15 mins. getting acquainted, the next half hour reversing yourself and the final few hours getting the job done. As the hoe becomes more familiar, the tendency is to get confident. I would council: approach this task with meek prudence and calculate every move. These devices are fantastically powerful. They can do a lot of damage in very little time.