[kev]

Now that the trees have been cut and some of the small timber has been thinned, its time to call in a stump grinder. A stump grinder is machine with carbide bits which cut the stump down to below ground level. No digging around the stump, no burning the stump, no pulling on the stump with a truck,,, nothing but a machine that turns a tree stump into chips.

Instead of buying a stump grinding machine that would be rarely used, I called a contractor that works by the hour. In 3 hours the contractor had ground 109 stumps.

There are a number of stump grinder designs on the market, some of them look like large tillers. The one the contractor used attached to the back of a tractor and was operated by the power take off (PTO).

Why are we having stumps ground? The stumps are in the way of driveway, chicken yard fence, chicken coop and where the shed is going. Instead of having to drive around the stumps, and waiting for them to rot, now the stumps are ground 6 – 8 inches below ground level.

What's Next

Dirt with rubble (rocks) is going to be hauled in to fill up the holes. After the holes are filled in, the ground will be leveled with a tractor.

Clear the tree line so power lines can be ran to the house.

Fill in some eroded areas at the chicken yard fence line.

What does this have to do with survivalism

Where do you want to be in 10, 15 or even 20 years?

Some of my long term goals include living on a self-sustaining homestead with fruit trees, a garden, chickens, and some kind of milk and meat producing livestock.

There was a comment on youtube about my recent videos getting away from prepping. In all honesty, it's just the opposite. Instead of "prepping" for a long term disaster, I am trying to build a homestead for a long term collapse of society.

I apologize if grinding stumps is boring, but its something that had to be done. Just like the water well has to be drilled, the chicken yard has to be built, the septic system has to be put in, the field has to be fenced for livestock, more fruit trees have to be planted,,, stump grinding is part of the big picture.

 

[arozarks]

You can also rent a SG'er. If you have your own tractor (with PTO) it a real good deal.

However you go a SG'er is the way to go.

 

[Rabble]

I always chain high into the tree and pull them out by the roots with the tractor. No stumps. It could probably be done with a 4x4 truck with some bed weight as well.

 

[paramilusmc]

We ended up renting a DR stump grinder for a day and it was cheap to remove everything we needed ground out. We did it to clear some property for a pond and a small pole barn style firewood storage area.

 

[ravenray]

What we do is get a fairly good sized drill bit, and drill 5-10 holes about 10 inches deep and pour diesel on the stump, in a few months you could pull the stump out with a pickup truck

Another method that's EPA friendly instead of diesel use rocksalt

They might take a few months but they work and cost less then using a machine

 

[Stillar]

I always chain high into the tree and pull them out by the roots with the tractor. No stumps. It could probably be done with a 4x4 truck with some bed weight as well.

As a volunteer fire fighter I had to help remove a tractor off a farmer that flipped his tractor onto himself trying to remove stumps. The farmer was dead to say the least. You can do a bunch of damage to your 4x4 trying to pull stumps out as well. I would use a stump grinder before putting my life in danger or putting undue stress on my machines.

Just be careful out there. :thumb:

 

[wilderness bushman]

i agree with your plan ,,we need to build a way of taking care of ourselfs,

not sure of where your at but around here over time the stumps work back to the surface,,,it might be the frost pushing them up or just the nature of the stumps i dont know,,,but eather way they are usualy easier to get out then ,,,they are usualy partly rotted out

the other thing people can take from your threads and vids is the idea of running off into the woods to build a "farm" if things get bad might get some idea as to how much work its going to take if they dont have the equipment to do this and need to do it all by hand,,,,what takes you hours is going to take them months

 

[kev]

As a volunteer fire fighter I had to help remove a tractor off a farmer that flipped his tractor onto himself trying to remove stumps. The farmer was dead to say the least. You can do a bunch of damage to your 4x4 trying to pull stumps out as well. I would use a stump grinder before putting my life in danger or putting undue stress on my machines.

Yep, a lot of people do not realize tractors will flip over, that is why manufacturers started installing roll bars over the driver.

A guy on my hunting lease had a tractor flip over on him. He had to wear a upper body support for 6 months or so. He was almost killed.

Hiring a subcontractor to do the work, who had the proper equipment, was the safest and fastest way for me to go.

 

[9111315]

Modern convinces can be very . . . um . . . convenient.

We need to live our lives with a foot in both camps. Why buy and can tomatoes if you can buy pre-canned tomatoes for less money. Sure, a very good skill to know. If you grow your own tomatoes already, you should be able to can your own for less money. That is a no brainer.

To get a homestead going, to get tie drive in, to get the coop up; use whatever available methods you can. Grinding is fast and it sounds like you got a lot done in three hours instead of three weeks. Your contractor also came out ahead.

On either side of the fan, we need to take advantage of economies of scale. Sure, you may want to have your own blacksmith furnace, but if your neighbor already has one, what other new skill can you add to the community.

Things like chickens are a harder sale. I can buy economy eggs for less then I pay for feed and equipment. I know I'm paying more for the skill and I hope my eggs are healthier. I also use the other byproducts in my compost.

I can get Farmhouse Free Cage eggs for $2.48/dozen. I just paid $45 for chicks. $10.00 for chick starter. I expect to pay another $25 in feed before I see my first new eggs. I could have purchased 32 dozen eggs. In this case, I'm looking at the long term sustainability. It is worth it to pay more.

For a one time or seldom activity, like Kev's stump removal, use modern technology to get more done. Then spend the time you saved on other sustainability activities.

Thanks for the picks.