Vent: Spent 2 hours fighting a stump grinder until a guy on site showed me the wedge trick

Was trying to grind a big elm stump near a driveway in Medford and the wheel kept binding up on me. An old landscaper walking by said to jam a plastic wedge in the cut to split the wood. Fixed it in 5 minutes and saved my arms. Anyone else got dumb little tricks that nobody teaches you?

2 comments

2 Comments

noah_walker1628d ago

Actually the wedge trick works better with a WOODEN wedge, not plastic. Plastic ones shatter and shoot pieces everywhere when the grinder teeth catch them. I learned that the hard way after a plastic frag hit my leg and left a bruise for two weeks. You want a dry hardwood wedge, like oak or maple. You hammer it in as you go and the wheel just chews through the wood instead of binding. It's one of those things nobody teaches you because everyone is too busy selling expensive attachments or blaming your technique. Another dumb trick is to run the grinder at FULL throttle before you even touch the stump. Let it spin up completely then ease it in. Most people feather the throttle and that's what causes the bind up in the first place.

dakotal1628d ago

Yeah the wooden wedge thing is spot on. Plastic ones are just asking for trouble. Hardwood chews up clean and keeps the work moving.