Stump grinding tips/ tricks/ tools.

[Chris E]

Who wears a face shield when grinding? I got popped with a rock on my glasses lens today and the impact was significant... I wear sunglasses as "safeties", be good to know what sort of impacts they can withstand.

 

[Mick!]

I'm a bit naughty in that respect, I wear a helmet and visor but have a tendency to flick it up to get a clearer. look, then forget to put it back down

 

[Raj]

Are the teeth all the same depth?

They don't look it, but they are.

 

[Raj]

I wear a forestry helmet. I should keep safety glasses on as well.

 

[Mick!]

They don't look it, but they are.

I ask because most grinders have teeth set at different depths.

 

[Raj]

That disc is only 8 inches, hope to put on a 10 inch today.

 

[Raj]

230lbs

 

[cory]

I'm a bit naughty in that respect, I wear a helmet and visor but have a tendency to flick it up to get a clearer. look, then forget to put it back down

Don't do it, Mick. All it takes is one

 

[Chris E]

^ So true, the one I mentioned earlier was my first significant direct hit after 400 odd hours on the machine since new. I have no doubt that rock would have burst my eyeball.

 

[Mick!]

Oooooh nasty, I'll try harder, good reminder.

 

[flushcut]

I wear a forestry helmet as well with a visor.

 

[Chris E]

That's sensible

 

[SouthSoundTree-]

Face shield and glasses almost always here. I jabbed myself in the chin with a stub yesterday when I picked up a piece of tree, and the 'handle' broke off in my hand. I was lifting, so my hand just popped up when the stub broke free. Could have been 5" higher.



In emergency medical training, they taught us that the eyeball is only about as tough as a grape!!!!!!!!

I know One-eye Guy (a sliver from cutting off the hinge from a stump in the eye, plus infection), and One-eye Bob (walked into a machete-stubbed off branch on a tree) (and No-hand Stan).

 

[MasterBlaster]

Dayum!

 

[HolmenTree]

Vermeer claims a plexiglass face shield visor mounted on a helmet should be worn when stump grinding.

I always wear safety glasses, dust mask and be clean shaven when I grind stumps. Always thinking about my lungs. Tungsten carbide coming off the teeth as they wear always has me concerned. I now have about 3 five gallon pails of old stump grinder teeth I've worn out over the last 13 years.

I went to the Bodies exhibit in Vegas and what I saw what happens to lungs and other organs only reinforces my caution.

 

[HolmenTree]

Other hazard dusts coming out of the ground while stump grinding also have to be considered.
In urban environments of decades of vehicle use that having burned leaded gas and deposits from asbestos clutch and brake linings are also trapped in the soil.
In the mining towns that I live and frequent grinding stumps , the smelter smoke stacks deposit unknown high ammounts of dangerous chemicals and compounds throughout the region.

 

[Raj]

Hmmm... never thought of that......

 

[murphy4trees]

Other hazard dusts coming out of the ground while stump grinding also have to be considered.
In urban environments of decades of vehicle use that having burned leaded gas and deposits from asbestos clutch and brake linings are also trapped in the soil.
In the mining towns that I live and frequent grinding stumps , the smelter smoke stacks deposit unknown high ammounts of dangerous chemicals and compounds throughout the region.

Good thinking..
Good to consider.. man just wasn't made to inhale that kind of dust, day in and day out. I will almost always wear a respirator when grinding. My lungs just say no to dust these days. I can;t be around for the final clean up when they are blowing dust on a tree job either. ALso consider the fungus growing in a lot of old rotted stumps... sometimes you can taste it. An old painter used to say, either wear a filter or be one!

 

[Chris E]

^ you guys are onto it, the hazard of dust and associated toxins is real. I've knocked back a few grinding jobs where I felt asbestos could be an issue. I carry masks but with the ever increasing heat of our summers I'm rarely motivated to wear one.

 

[sotc]

You can always ask the client to water the stump the day before. Could even have a hose handy while you work

 

[HolmenTree]

Yeah I don't wear a mask when the ground is wet.

 

[SouthSoundTree-]

^ you guys are onto it, the hazard of dust and associated toxins is real. I've knocked back a few grinding jobs where I felt asbestos could be an issue. I carry masks but with the ever increasing heat of our summers I'm rarely motivated to wear one.

CoolVest For The Win!

Maybe a pop-up shade canopy.

 

[HolmenTree]

Wish I had a picture, biggest job I did with my grinder one hot summer week I bought and mounted a patio umbrella on the machine. Worked like a charm.

 

[murphy4trees]

I notice when the teeth are dull a white cloud of smoke coming off the stump... vaporized wood fiber????... Sharp teeth keep the dust down a good bit, but in the summer when the ground is dry as soon as the wheel hits diry up comes a hige cloud of lung jamming dust
I;ve used the cool vests when grinding for a lot clearing job

 

[Raj]

I was getting steam when I had only two sets of cutters and stayed on one spot, disc would be spinning on the stump.