Size of Minidigger to remove Treestumps

[Ferdinand]

I will need to hire a minidigger for a day or weekend (prob weekend) to dig a soakaway (easy), and to remove a row of stumps from an overgrown hedge that were cut to a couple of feet above the ground 4-5 years ago, and have not resprouted (so roots should be partially rotted).

The hedge was beech, and the stumps are up to about 6-10" in diameter. There are about a dozen of them.

Would I be wanting a 1.5 tonne minidigger for that?

Thanks

Ferdinand

 

Edited June 23, 2016 by Ferdinand

[Nickfromwales]

This one couldn't pull my hedgerow roots out. Wrapped a chain around the root balls and just watched it pull the digger over until the PTO alarm started wailing. 

If ithe stumps are 6" to 10" then you'll need a beast, I kid you not. 

[ProDave]

This was the largest tree I removed:

 

The one on the right. the trunk was about 18" diameter.

It was very hard going with my 3ton digger.  I had cut it off about 4ft above ground so I had a good stump to work with.  It still took a lot of digging and pushing and pulling.

I found the maximum "push" was achieved by positioning the bucket then pushing by tracking the machine forwards. That seemed to give more force than just trying to push it with the boom.

Your difficulty is going to be the short stumps, so it will be more a case of dig them out rather than the brute force of push the stump over.

[Declan52]

I had a 13t digger struggle to remove what I thought was a fairly small stump. As above dig around it and break the roots with an axe/maul and then it will come out. 

[Ferdinand]

CHeers

[Nickfromwales]

Yup. Digging first got mine out. Root system was unbelievable, and that was in made up ground with topsoil. 

[ToughButterCup]

2.0 tonne Kubota: first job....

The first thing I did with my  digger was  dig out the root bowl of a cherry tree (12 inch diameter minimum) that I had stupidly sawn off at ankle height. I was fed up with it. The centre part of the tree was rotten, and the fruit was stolen each year with unnerving stealth by Blackbirds.

BTW, on Declan's advice I now no longer sling loads like that on the bucket teeth. I use a 4 tonne shackle on the back of the proper lifting point on the quick hitch.

[Roundtuit]

We had an overgrown hedge..

 

 

that we took out with a JCB...

 

and that struggled with some of the bigger stumps.

 

I reckon the best plan is to go big, early!