OT - bulldozer size to push out stumps

relaurain

Member
Got a cut stand of red pine biggest stumps about 12 inches. What size bulldozer could lift/push these out of the ground - HP or model size would help?
They are cut at ground level.
 
Personally I would get a mini excavator with a hydraulic thumb, about 40 HP would do it. You can then grub out the roots and shake the soil off and leave it in place. Push the stumps in a pile with the backfill blade. If you can burn, dig a pit about 6' deep and burn them in there. Once the fire is out bury the ashes. These things sip fuel too. 10 gallon will run one all day. The rubber tracks will do minimal damage to your ground cover too.
 
A friend did an almost identical job with a fairly modern D4 Caterpillar a couple of years ago while clearing for his house. However, the Cat was also run by his father who has spent 30+ years in the seat of similar machines working construction. It would have been helpful to have left a couple feet of stump for purchase while pushing them over (as they did), but what's done is done. Even then, I'll go with the opinion so far that an excavator with a thumb is probably the way to go--they used a Cat because it was what they could get easily and cheaply, and they did the entire site (clearing, leveling and landscaping) at one time with one machine.
 
We did nearly an identical job at work last fall, 1/2 mile worth. We had a JD 450G available, but brought in an old D-7. That did the job in just a few hours. We used the 450 to push the stumps out of the way once they were plucked.
 
Friend of mine had similar request for his 440 J.D Dozer to push out stumps. Sheared all the Splines out of the coupling that joins the engine to the transmission.I would do as Tim Suggested. take em out with a Back Hoe first,if they(stumps) are at ground level .Way to mush to ask of a dozer unless you have one with a root rake or a back hoe attachment, I personally wouldn't undertake a job like that. Standing trees, YES, 3 ft or better standing . Ground level stumpage NO NO NO.... Soil density does make a difference in stump removal. Hard pan(clay) is a bear to remove stumps ,and or trees. Lots of work for any dozer,Angles of the engine (nose Down) takes away needed oil on rear mains seals etc. Others may do the work without the right equipment but I wouldn't consider tryin to Dig out ground level stumpage. JMHO.
LOU.
 
I normally use a Deere 450C, not that its really big enough if you dont have the tree to push against but if you take the time to dig them out and cut the roots its doable. Takes about an hour each on 12 inch stumps that are in tight.
 
Ive worked doin excavating when were not doin much on the farm. Job like that you would be alot better of with an excavator with a thumb. With the stumps bein level with the ground it will be more difficult with a dozer versous an excavator. I would prolly get somethin a little bigger than one of those mini-excavators tho. Stumps can get heavy with all the roots and dirt that come up with them.If your stumps were a foot or so high a dozer like a d4 or d5 cat would do fine. Just my thought and experience with that.
 
I would recommend an excavator. Something the size of a komatsu 120, with a thumb. It will dig them out quickly, it will remove most of the dirt, and you can place/throw them some distance into a row or pile far faster than a dozer. Excavators are very easy to operate if you are planning to do it yourself, and you will have it done so quickly that you will have time left to dig rocks and roots, level, and prepare for final smoothing.
 
Bob B has it right. Stumping with a dozer is tough work and extreamly hard in the blade frame and track carriges. You are always using one corner or the other of the blade to sever stump roots and a lot of leveraged forces are acting on the whole dozer. A decent sized track hoe can cut roots easily, without changing the angle of attack(position) and if equiped with a thumb it can grasp and wiggle stumps loose and cast them out of the way or load them into trucks for removal from the site. I had a Case 1150 which I used to clear hedge rows and was always wishing for more iron under me, and then once a stump was out I had to get it out of the way, and fill in the huge hole that I had to dig to remove it. A lot of time spent moving dirt for no reason, compared to a trackhoe.The Acg
 
relaurain, A D5 Cat or equivalent size. In Central Texas a D5 is considered the ideal Ranch Dozer big enough to do real work but still small enough to get in around trees to push and sort. A 955 Traxcavator is a good using machine. It is a hydrostatic drive,but most don't have the aggressive cleats for better tractions.
About 4 yrs ago we rented a light mid size Case with 6 way blade it did a very nice job Hope this helps.
Later,
John A.
 
A D7, with a hydraulic blade, will do about anything you want to do. I love mine. I know alot of people talk up the excavators. But, they are limited in application. You can do lots of stuff with a dozer. The excavators can be widow makers working with full trees. 3 guys have been killed with them around here in the last year or so. Two were working with trees. One was killed at a local university working with concrete removal. Of course, plenty of people have been killed on dozers too.
 
#1 cut at ground level big big mistake if you plan to push them out always cut 4-5 foot high so as to have something to push on.
#2 it isn't the size of the machine it is the know how and your time. I took out stumps with a TD-6 IH that where as big or bigger then the machine it just took time and know how.
#3 cut at ground level you have nothing to hook on to so a back hoe be it on a tractor or a track machine is about your only option unless you want to dig a trench around each stump to get to the roots
 
I had about 3 acres of fir stumps to deal with- talked to a guy who did it for a living, and he said we needed to rent the biggest excavator we could find. He was a wizard- put the tooth down on the top of the stump, put some pressure on it, then wiggled the tooth until the stump split. Then dug it out. Why split? Because they are much easier to burn (and get out of the ground) if split first. We managed to grub and burn all of them, in a weekend, in the middle of winter, and I don't think it stopped raining the whole time. In the overall scheme of things, it was cheaper to rent the mondo excavator and "get 'er done" than to get a little one and play with it for a week.
 
For get the mini and rent a real trackhoe. I own a Kubota KX41-III with thumb.It will do a lot of work but, I would never ever think of digging a stand of 12" stumps out with it. Just not BIG enough!
 
i would suggest a d6 size machine, i ran dozer for 18 plus years clearing and leveling land, do your stumping with a blade and a root rake for cleanup, ive seen the mess left behind by excavators trying to clear bush land, with a rake you can clean up all the brush and pile it fairly clean,
 
Excavator with thumb. Depending on layout and such by far the cleanest and fastest way. Would not go less than 150-160 class and probably a 200 with hydraulic thumb. Big machine but will flat out pop out and move stumps with ease. Or do it slow and use a smaller machine like a mini or a small dozer (both will work!) and wish you had the big excavator.
 
Any thing will eventually get them out, 55 years ago my Grandpaw and I dynamited them out and I dragged them to a pile with a H Farmall. Now I use a Case backhoe with a thumb. This spring when it is as muddie as it gets waddle out there and they will come out easy, when it dries up a little you can stack and burn and bury them.
 
It would take a D9 to "push" them out if ground level. I had 50 acres harvested and cleared. I take out the missed stumps with my little Komatsu PC38UU-2 (grey market) excavator that I put a mechanical thumb on. I cad dig out a 24" stump with it in about 30-60 min. For a stand of stumps, a big azz trackhoe or have them sheared. If they had 2-4 ft of stump above ground, a small dozer could do it. Leverage is key. Stump grinder also comes to mind. We have been there and tried it all and a dozer just isn't designed to do that job.

CT
 
Even a smaller excavator can take stumps out because you can dig around the whole stump. A ripper tooth is a big help on a smaller machine since you can rip all the roots out. An experienced excavator operator will leave the area better than a dozer. With an excavator, you can shake all the dirt off the stumps. When they were digging up hot spots after a major forest fire, they used excavators with hyd. thumbs. They make root rakes for excavators as well. The good operators left everything nice and smooth and had all the brush in neat piles ready to burn with very little dirt. The inexperienced operators are the ones who left a mess. You can see exactly what you're doing with an excavator. Dave
 
As has been said, go with a trackhoe. It won't take a very big one for those stumps either. You could use a smaller dozer later for leveling the ground, but nothing beats taking out stumps like a hoe.
 
I sold the timber off my place and they left stumps about 12 inches above ground. I have an AC HD 10 dozer with a v-shaped saw blade attached to the blade. It does a pretty good job of cutting the stumps at ground leve. Roy
 
a dozer isnt designed for that job,what, after more than 18 years and hundreds if not thousands of acres af land clearing throughout southwest ontario (essex, kent, lampton and middlesex counties i guess we were doing it wrong, the largest tree that i ever took down was a white oak measured 4 foot 7 inch at waist hieght, took seven minutes for it to be on the ground, with a cat d8k
 
When was the last time you tried to get that stuff. No days the common man can not even come close to buy any thing like that and if you do have it then you go to jail for having bomb making materials. Last time I found any of that stuff was way back in the 80s and I had to drive 200 mile one way to get it and then sign my life away and my first borns LOL
 
I use my JD450C with a 4 way bucket. Just open the bucket, put down over the stump, close bucket and raise bucket. I have pulled out stumps 24" and larger, depending on the soil. In one fell swoop, pull stump and on to the stump pile

Noah W
 
Apperantly not many here have cleared much land with a dozer...
A decent root rake on just about any dozer will dig a 12" stump out. A rake on a D4H or 12 ton class tractor will work quite proficiently at that. A 6 will be faster but probably not a lot faster.
That said... a 160-200 class excavator with a root rake or bucket and thumb will be the best unit for the job as you can clean the stumps a lot better with a hoe.
The trick to working with small crawlers in big stumps... is you use the corner of the rake to break the roots off. Break the stump in half or quarters and take it out piece by piece... and the same with the hoe. While you could easily pop those stumps out with a 7 or 8 class tractor... you take the soil with them and you probably won't have the versatility or want to take the time with that machine to get the stumps clean... and if you don't... THEY WILL NOT BURN. All the oil in arabia will not burn soil laden stumps.

Rod
 
Get a excavator and a good operator, when they dug my fathers foundation in 1979 and removed stumps on rocky clay dirt the guy had a 225 CAT, my father said some of the large red oak stumps roots were the size of a VW beetle, after he pulled them out. The bigger the machine the eaiser it is. Nowadays you can get a 325 or 330 or 345 ect. Newer model #s
 

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