Stump clean up efficiency

Jehinten

Jehinten

Been here much more than a while
Location
Evansville
I have recently been getting several stump clean up jobs. Almost all stumps that are ground out (by a subcontractor) are left as a no clean up. If the customer requests a price for clean up the sub would always handle it.

Recently he's decided to not clean up anymore as he is retired and only grinds as a way to stay busy and as he put it "clean ups are more work than I want to do"

In an attempt to help customers out and to keep them happy I have taken on the extra task but I do feel that it is terribly inefficient.

Tools I'm using. Bobcat mt100 with a smooth bucket and a grapple rake and a BMG rake. Backpack blower and groundskeeper rake. I do not have a dump trailer, so I have been hauling topsoil to the job in bagsters that I can load/unload with the grapple truck.

Today's stump was a white Oak in a backyard. Haul bagsters with topsoil to the backyard, dump out soil, scoop grindings into bagsters, haul to the road and load into the grapple truck. I did not have enough bagsters, so I did have to dump them in the debris box, and fill them again, load the last of the bagsters, spread dirt, chop out missed roots with an axe.... all in all, 3 hrs on site. Working around playground equipment and hauling debris back and forth to the backyard slowed me down but I feel it can be done quicker.

On jobs in the front yard by the street, I typically skip loading the bagsters and I grapple straight into the debris box.

Any suggestions on speeding things up? Any tricks that you guys use?

This was the white Oak from today. I don't have measurements but not massive. 20250905_094746_resized.webp
 
Do you use a trailer to move material to/ from the road?
Maybe remove a fence section.

You can lift the entire non-dumping trailer to dump when you have a grapple truck or my neighbor's log loader.
 
southsoundtree said:
Do you use a trailer to move material to/ from the road?
Maybe remove a fence section.

You can lift the entire non-dumping trailer to dump when you have a grapple truck or my neighbor's log loader.
Click to expand...
I don't use a trailer. The only trailer on site is an enclosed trailer. I am currently using bagsters.
 

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OasisTree said:
Tell them the topsoil backfill is for the landscapers…we either will backfill with chips or haul everything out and leave a hole, depending on the clients preference. And yes a dump trailer is nice
Click to expand...
I was leaning towards that when typing this post. Possibly a standard service of just leveling off the chips, and an upgraded (Possibly quoted too high to be considered ) service of putting down topsoil.

A dump trailer is on the radar. I was set to buy one when my truck went in the shop for 6 weeks. Once funds get back to where they were I plan on following through with that.
 
Jehinten said:
I own these, but rarely use them anymore. Perhaps with the increasing stump clean up I will start using them again.
Click to expand...
Derail. How well do they work for moving chips compared to a bucket? Using my imagination I’d think they are quicker on and off than dealing with hydraulic lines?
 
evo said:
Derail. How well do they work for moving chips compared to a bucket? Using my imagination I’d think they are quicker on and off than dealing with hydraulic lines?
Click to expand...
In my opinion they are similar speed to moving chips. Probably more secure than driving long distance with a heaping bucket and losing chips along the way.

The big thing with my previous mini, I didn't have a lot of traction. It was a wheeled machine that I kept slick tires on for grass protection. The scoops do not require you to drive a bucket in to fill it with material. As well as the tilt of the grapple can keep the mini out of the hole as you can reach further out from solid ground.

It sounds trivial with it just being two pins, but I don't like taking them on and off multiple times. If you needed to consolidate your pile of chips for a better grab. It might be a bit abusive to them, but I will often close the scoops and use them as a blade to push (it works ok but isn't secured like the bmg rake is to prevent rocking at the dangle point) or I will clamp the BMG rake with the scoops to move the grindings before scooping.

They work for picking up twigs and leaves as well, after raking into piles. Although too big of a stick will prevent them from closing all of the way and potentially dropping leaf litter as your driving to the truck.
 
Bmg scoops and a blower. Rarely had to touch a rake. Paired with a roll off or hooklift container was awesome. I liked using the scoops because you can get full capacity without getting off the machine.
Boring video showing me using it with an Avant (from several different angles)

Some guys really like 4 in 1 buckets too, for same reason (full load without getting off machine).
 
Jehinten said:
In my opinion they are similar speed to moving chips. Probably more secure than driving long distance with a heaping bucket and losing chips along the way.

The big thing with my previous mini, I didn't have a lot of traction. It was a wheeled machine that I kept slick tires on for grass protection. The scoops do not require you to drive a bucket in to fill it with material. As well as the tilt of the grapple can keep the mini out of the hole as you can reach further out from solid ground.

It sounds trivial with it just being two pins, but I don't like taking them on and off multiple times. If you needed to consolidate your pile of chips for a better grab. It might be a bit abusive to them, but I will often close the scoops and use them as a blade to push (it works ok but isn't secured like the bmg rake is to prevent rocking at the dangle point) or I will clamp the BMG rake with the scoops to move the grindings before scooping.

They work for picking up twigs and leaves as well, after raking into piles. Although too big of a stick will prevent them from closing all of the way and potentially dropping leaf litter as your driving to the truck.
Click to expand...
Another trick when using the Scoops is to turn the scoops so they are perpendicular to the machine and open the grapple. One scoop is in the air and the other is acting like a dozer blade. Push into the pile and close. I do that for snow often.
 
climbhightree said:
Bmg scoops and a blower. Rarely had to touch a rake. Paired with a roll off or hooklift container was awesome. I liked using the scoops because you can get full capacity without getting off the machine.
Boring video showing me using it with an Avant (from several different angles)

Some guys really like 4 in 1 buckets too, for same reason (full load without getting off machine).
Click to expand...
Nice vid, very efficient.
I use a hi-cap bucket, ease it in and fork/shovel the rest in.
Not as good as the scoops, but it’s a lot of moolah for not much more effectiveness.
 
climbhightree said:
Bmg scoops and a blower. Rarely had to touch a rake. Paired with a roll off or hooklift container was awesome. I liked using the scoops because you can get full capacity without getting off the machine.
Boring video showing me using it with an Avant (from several different angles)

Some guys really like 4 in 1 buckets too, for same reason (full load without getting off machine).
Click to expand...
Nice video
 
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