Blue Diamond’s skid steer stump grinder is one of the fastest ways to clear out stumps. We put our stump grinder to the test in Athens, Tennessee with Ross Reynolds’s farm. Read on to learn more and watch the video to see the stump grinder in action!
Stump Removal without the Right Tools
Ross Reynolds of Athens, Tennessee wanted to extend his pasture ground and reclaim some of the wooded areas of his farm. After clearing all the smaller trees, he was left with many 12” to 40” stumps still needing to be removed. Using a 318 Cat Excavator, he began digging the stumps out of the ground.
Since this method is time consuming and not very effective, Ross found himself looking at a lot of big stumps to deal with even after hours of work. He thought that he may need to either burn the stumps or pay to have them hauled away. And after removal, he would still need to fill in the holes left behind.
Blue Diamond Skid Steer Stump Grinder for Easy Removal
Frustrated with progress at this point, Ross brought in his friend, Tommy Lee, who had a Blue Diamond stump grinder on his Cat 299D high flow skid steer. This proved to make a monumental difference in the progress of this job! Even though it took about the same amount of time to grind the stumps as it did to dig them out, when we finished grinding there was no stump and no hole to fill! To achieve this, they removed the deflector and allowed the wood chips to spread. If attempting this method, make sure you follow all safety procedures including machine safety shields and operation danger zones.
The Blue Diamond Difference!
Tommy had been experimenting with skid steer stump grinders for a while and was very disappointed with everything he had tried. When his dealer offered him an opportunity to test the Blue Diamond Stump Grinder, he jumped at it. Among the other attachments he owns, he has a Blue Diamond brush cutter and what he saw there was enough to make him want to try the stump grinder.
After trying the stump grinder, Tommy said that “nothing comes close to what this will do! It will do 30” to 36” Red Oak stumps 12” out of the ground [and grind them to] 4” in under 15 minutes!”
Tommy quickly decided that he would never want to use a walk behind stump grinder due to the cost and the slow travel speed when operating in back country. He said that he “would have a walk behind stump grinder stuck every day and when I was done grinding stumps, it would sit in the shed. This attachment comes off quick and I can use my skid steer for many other tasks!”
Thanks to Ross and Tommy for trying out the Blue Diamond Stump Grinder and we can proudly say with Tommy that a Blue Diamond is a “no-brainer!”
Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in 2017 and has been completely revamped and updated for both accuracy and comprehensiveness.