new Toro stumper out in October.

treevet

treevet

Branched out member
Location
Cincinnati, Ohio
We absolutely die for our STX 26 stumper which you can change the 3 sided teeth in about 20 minutes and could take 5 laps around a house before a little Vermeer or other small stumper even gets to the backyard stump.

But next week we are demo ing the new Toro STX 38 tracked stumper. My Dingo guy called me yesterday and said to line up a few stumps and he will call and come over. Looks like another winner to us. Will keep you posted. Weight bout the same as a Dingo and retail approx. $20k

http://blog.buchallase.com/the-toro-stx-38-the-next-generation-in-stump-grinding/
 
might trade it in my friend but worried we'd miss its smallness...1200 lbs to 2k. Have to see what position this season puts us in (esp given eab is here big time).
 
That is a coincidence you should ask that because I honest to God just called the local rep. Mark Sterns asking about it. I was too busy to conform to his schedule as to when to demo it last fall and haven't heard boo about it since then. I will get back to you if/when he returns my call. Used to be when I called he answered in one ring as I bought a brand new 525 TX Dingo w/ grapple and hyd auger and hyd ball squeezer and much other stuff and a brand new STX 26 stumper from him...

maybe he inherited money and is rich now.
 
Treevet,
You actually liked the stx 26? Our local rental company switched over to it and the one local company loves the thing. Doing some part time work I haven't purchased a grinder yet and rented the 26 from them, and it was a POS. The concept behind it I think is a fairly good one but it would hardly grind a spruce stump at all. Maybe the teeth were trashed on it but they didn't look to be in bad shape. I was not impressed.
 
Early on I gave up trying to tell everyone just how much money we have made with the stx 26 so I will be brief. Just see how much you like an ms 880 on big wood if you have a dull chain and grinding spruce can be challenging for any grinder in regards to how stringy it is.

The 26 is light at about 1200 lbs and rides on a small drop gate one axle trailer along with my dingo grapple mini. In other words it is on every job the Dingo is on without any extra effort...my biz being predominantly a 2 man op. It scoots all over a golf course yard with zero impact. It will do 3 laps around a mansion before a small Vermeer self propelled gets off the truck and shakes and slides half way up the drive and...most important of all...

We have done thousands of stumps with it and made thousands and thousands of dollars with it since we bought it. It gets anywhere.

ps. Easy for a noob to operate, hyd on the cutter so restart after speed knock down is easy, change teeth in about 10 minutes. Absolutely love it but will likely trade it in for the 38 and that will prob have me getting a heavier trailer and may be a challenge the 4x4 yota can't quite handle.
 
pict on my 1 ton Silverado in front of my house, but 87 yota pulls it

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Sounds like you had some real dull teeth. I would definitely not be surprised by this if you were getting it from a rental yard.

I demoed the stx-26 and was very impressed but when the rep told me they were coming out with a 38hp version I knew I had to wait.

The concept is great but the 26 is a little underpowered imo. I ended up putting a forty horse motor on my old beat up carlton 2300-4 and I can't wait to dump that thing for the new toro.

and to add to that, it is very hard to be impressed by a low hp grinder, no matter what you get at 25hp it is not gonna just rip through stumps. When I demoed the stx it had new teeth on it and we did a 35" or so cottonwood stump in around an hour and a half... not to bad. That thing was awesome at root chasing.... so much better than my carlton with the pound in stake and telescoping frame.
 
I agree with everything you said and to add to that you really need a companion big stumper with the little guy...even the 38 hp. I have a Vermeer 665B with remote I love. Rebuilt couple of yrs. ago.

Just wish the 38 was diesel. Maybe it will be when it hits the market.

Nice thing about the set up I can go with now is after losing another main guy after 6 or so years I am now back to new guys. So I can take out the Silverado pick up on a decent size TD and anybody can drive a pickup. New guy drives the pickup and dingo/stumper trailer...I drive the chiptruck/chipper.

We knock the tree, lots of big stuff goes thru the bc2000. What can't, gets dingo grappled into the dump insert while trailer is still on. While I am doing that, the newguy is grinding the stump and it all ends bout the same time. Good esp. for a job away from the yard a distance. Get back, drop the trailer, dump the wood and drive the pickup home and watch the idiot box.
 
yeah, diesel would be bad but I highly doubt there will be any other engine options for the stx-38. It seems to me like that thing is pretty much built around the kohler motor. The diesel would add a lot of wait plus you would need room for the additional cooling system etc.

I think if I get the 38hp toro I would be good for a few years without having a bigger grinder... hell I have been getting by with my carlton and an alpine magnum for a while. Your setup is ideal though, a nice big tow behind would be great. I really don't like the huge 4x4 self propelled grinders, they are great at grinding but you are very limited to where you can actually drive the thing. In the areas I work it is not an option in many cases. The 1750 lb toro stx-38 would be perfect.

I am a little worried by how narrow the tracks are on the toro, but it is really light so maybe they work fine without doing any damage.
 
You have a good handle on the situation and don't worry about the narrow tracks. I have the narrow Dingo and it is shocking how low impact it is at just over 2k lbs. I believe plus the load.
 
STX 38 is on the front cover of the new Tree and Landscape Equipment Trader mag. Just spoke with the dealer and they will take my STX 26 in trade and they are going to get back to me about a demo soon. Man, I love to buy neat new stuff.

Machine will be approx. $25k. I think I paid about $16k for the '26.
 
Treevet, unfortunately I might be the tightest guy on this forum... but, I'd be curious to see how the new toro compares to Dave's 38 special (yes, I own one and am biased and think Dave's a great guy) ... you would end up saving close to 12K. During Irene we had crews in here from over 1,000 miles away and I had quite a few guys stop, watch, ask questions, and make comments. Comments ranged from, "man that thing is cool as hell, where'd ya get it?" to "that's stupid; you're running two fuel cells". There is absolutely no money in this area grinding stumps but I do see stump grinding as a necessary evil. Having said that and having run it for a few years now (I have always tried to not quote the stump on take downs and I still outsource some stump grinding) I'll share the following: not a big deal but it does tie your mini up... someone could be grinding while the mini is forwarding... I don't see it as a production grinder and would imagine Dave would agree with that. I've run quite a few different grinders and chip containment is a little messy (acceptable but messy)... I'm spoiled on this as no machine I've ever run compares to the alpine magnum on chip containment but that's a different animal in itself. I did notice a crew here during Irene out of Western NC that had rented a stx 26 and the operator looked pretty frustrated... in all fairness, I didn't hang around very long.
 
I think Dave's a great guy too Dutch, and bought one of his grapples and I have considered the 38 Special..But like you said tying up the mini when you could both be grinding and forwarding/loading logs would frustrate me. I agree completely that grinders are a necessary evil and no money is to be made doing production grinding as so many do it real cheap.

Saving all that money is very desirable but to me so is having both units working at the same time on a job expediting completion and having both on the same trailer behind the pickup which I can still do with the STX 38 has been in my plans for a long time.

Like with motorcycles, etc., the best all arounder is the goal. Based on price, mobility, handling, maneuverability, ground speed, operator friendliness, weight, low impact, functionality, etc etc. I think this unit may get some consideration on the overall level. I know how tough my Dingo 525tx is and functionality, longevity and service competence are great, so that figures in as well.

Not gonna even start to defend the stx 26 as have found that is futile but suffice to say, again, a Stihl 088 dull is a pos and so is it in the hands of someone that doesn't understand finesse and keeps burrowing it into the log killing the rpms.
 
Agree, I believe in being fair.. I know the stx 26 was a rental.. teeth could have been an issue, operator experience was definitely a cherry. I've seen a 3120 do what you mentioned too many times... a waste of a good piece of equipment. Have you demo'd yet? Pulled the trigger? I would be curious to see a video of the change out you mentioned. For a while there I harassed Dave about offering the multi tip with his 38 special and still would be curious to see how his performs with that set up. Good luck with it.
 
I was at my Stihl and rental guy's place last week and the owner bought one after talking to me last summer. Find out they likely sharpen the rental unit well into when they should just replace the teeth. May be a factor.

I am waiting any day for the new one to show and have some stumps lined up waiting for it on our soggy landscape. Will post when I get the demo. Maybe put up a short youtuber.
 
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