How Does A Stump Grinder Work

Stump grinders are high powered machinery designed to perform the removal of tree stumps from the ground; due to the nature of the work the machinery is put through an intensive and arduous effort. They require scrupulous maintenance to ensure their safe and continuous operation. Depending on whether they are rented from an industrial equipment hirer, owned by a home handyperson or belong to a garden maintenance business, they all need periodic maintenance both before and after each job carried out.

Type of Stump Grinding Machines

Stump grinders are often petrol driven, rather than electric, and can either be small units that are highly maneuverable to large machines that are towed behind a truck. The size of the job and the number of stumps that have to be removed helps determine whether or not a small unit should be hired by the at-home handyperson, or to contract a professional. Generally, due to the very dangerous and high risk nature of the work, it is advisable to a person who has no prior experience with industrial type machinery to hire a contractor to perform the stump grinding.

There are track driven and wheel driven stump grinders, and vertical stump grinders. Vertical stump grinders remove large tree stumps permanently, and are generally attached to skid steer loaders and for more industrial jobs. The smaller horizontal stump grinders use carbide teeth on a disc that is rotated hydraulically in order to shave away at the stump, and there is a raising and lowering mechanism that is controlled by the operator.

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A vertical stump grinder works by the same type of principle, that there are a series of metal teeth that shred through a stump, pushing the chips through a chute creating a mulch. Vertical stump grinders are used in forests and acreage type situations, or in large land redevelopments. They are extremely fast, but require specialised knowledge and safety induction prior to use due to their size.

Maintenance Carried Out On a Stump Grinder

Stump grinders were invented in the 1950s, prior to that stumps were removed manually or burned out, or people would dig around them and attempt to remove them by pulling them out with a cable and a vehicle. All these methods were either dangerous, time consuming or laborious. The stump grinder invention made the removal of tree stumps more effective and

allowed for more building developments or other landscaping jobs to go on more quickly and efficiently.

A stump grinder requires checking of the discs and the teeth prior to each job, ensuring that there are no parts that are impaired, loose or damaged, and all moving parts should be greased. Oil levels should be checked before and after each stump job, and a thorough cleaning with an industrial pressure washer should be done after the stump grinder has been used each day.

Teeth on the stump grinder should be replaced or sharpened when necessary, and mechanical inspections performed on the equipment and regular intervalled servicing done by a qualified landscaping machinery mechanic. This will ensure that the stump grinder is safe and reliable, and that it has its full operational capacity maintained over the serviceable life of the machine.  Learn how stump grinding can prevent termites.