The stump grinder rental that almost cost me a finger in Denver

Last Thursday I rented a 35hp grinder from the local equipment place to take out a big cottonwood stump in a tight backyard near Colfax. The guy warned me about kickback but I figured I'd done it before, then the wheel caught a root and the whole machine lurched sideways into the fence. I got lucky, just a bruised hand and a busted gate, but the rental place charged me $700 for the damage and now I'm second guessing whether I should just sub out big stumps instead of DIY. Has anyone else had a close call with a rental that made you change how you bid those jobs?

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tyler_white422mo ago

I read a piece in one of those trade magazines a couple years back about rental accidents and it said stump grinders are near the top of the list for serious injuries on the customer side, right behind trenchers. That stat stuck with me because people treat them like lawn mowers with teeth, but they're really just spinning death discs. Your near miss with the fence and your hand could've been way worse, and honestly, $700 feels cheap compared to a finger or a leg. For tight spots like that Colfax backyard, I've started telling clients I'll sub it out to a guy who runs a smaller tracked unit, he charges me like $350 to $450 depending on the root spread and I just add my 10 percent on top. Saves me the liability, the headache, and I don't have to spend a whole day fighting a machine that's too big for the space. The DIY route only pays off if you're doing huge open lots on a regular basis, otherwise you're just gambling your body against the rental fee.

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