Knuckleboom Stumpgrinders ?

[Jamin_Mayer]

Yeah. I thought of that idea a while back, but with a real Knuckleboom crane. You stole my thunder.

Na. Awesome idea you implemented. But, seriously; you gotta put one on a large K-boom.

 

[Lumberjack]

IMO, too much boom flex, and no reason to tie up $200k+ grinding the occasional stump.

 

[Jamin_Mayer]

Carl. I thought of boom flex for the really far out stumps. But, I bet it wouldn't be an issue closer in.

Occasional stump? Shoot. Every tree removal would be ground out.

Dunno. Charge $300/hr to run the K-boom grinder... I bet something like that would grind fast too.

 

[Lumberjack]

Why do you think the knuckleboom would add performance? Grinding heads need downforce to put the power in the stump as opposed to the wheel climbing it. ETA: I could see a performance increase if it ran off the trucks mainh engine with an aux transmission/HD PTO, but still, that seems to tie up a great deal of capital for a specialized and rare job.

In podunk Mississippi I charge $200 an hour for grinding with my RG85, however I usually do work on a bidded basis. My bid history puts my hourly production above your $300 mark by a considerable margin. The machine is comparable to the RG100, which costs about ~$65k new. My grinder could be had for less than half that delivered, if you're looking into doing it big with stumps .

Notice that stump grinding heads on excavators put the wheel perpindicular to the arm, which allows for the hydros on the arm to resist the climbing as you crowd in.