If you’re a skid steer operator, you know that there are all kinds of attachments you can use with your machine. Among the most exciting is the stump grinder.
Making sure you have the best miniature stump grinder can be a difficult task considering the amount of options on the market today. But that’s why we’re here to help.
Not only will we make specific recommendations, but we’ll shed some light on what to look for when getting into the details of stump grinder accessories.
So if you want to impress your customers with your next stump grinder, read on!
Overview of the best miniature stump grinders
There are a handful of manufacturers in America and abroad that make various models of stump scarf accessories. Although they often share some similarities, the difference in the details is what makes it the “best” miniature stump grinder or mini stump grinder.
Many of these differences aren’t necessarily obvious to the eye, but when you’re grinding larger stumps all day, the value of high-quality miniature stump grinder accessories quickly becomes apparent.
So what are these details we should be looking for?
The engine: the heart of the stump grinder attachment
Just as we all need a strong, efficient heart to pump blood, our stump grinders need a strong, efficient motor to turn a heavy flywheel through tree stumps.
But what makes one stump grinder engine better than another? It comes down to torque and efficiency.
Torque: Stump removal’s best friend
What is torque and why do stump grinders like it?
As most of us know, torque is a measure of rotational force. Since a stump grinder attachment uses a rotating flywheel to grind the stumps, a high torque motor will produce the best results.
In fact, a low speed high torque (LSHT) motor is most ideal because it will apply more force per flywheel rotation and have less tendency to brake. Conversely, a high-speed, low-torque motor will be prone to losing power when it contacts a stump.
Efficiency: doing it
Modern skid steer loaders are capable of pumping large gallons per minute of hydraulic flow at high PSI. The best stump grinder attachment should be able to take full advantage of this.
The efficiency of many hydraulic vane/gear motors is only about 70%. The inability to efficiently use all the hydraulic power of the skid steers robs the stump grinder of its power.
For maximum productivity, the best miniature stump grinders will be closer to 90-97% efficiency. This is possible with radial piston engines.
Radial piston engine – the ultimate stump grinder engine
When comparing miniature stump grinding attachments, you should give preference to one with a radial piston motor over a vane motor. Here are some points on why this is a no-brainer:
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A radial piston engine is 97% efficient, while most other engines are 70% efficient.
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A radial piston engine is a low-speed, high-torque engine, while a vane engine is a high-speed, low-torque engine.
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Radial piston engines run smoother with low-flow minicarts
Right now, you would be right to ask, but what is the disadvantage of the radial piston engine? Well, there are some drawbacks:
Generally, many of our customers looking for the best stump grinder accessories are willing to pay more attention to proper maintenance and are therefore happy with this trade-off.
The steering wheel: where the magic begins
The flywheel is the muscle of the entire strain relief system and deserves special attention.
The flywheel houses the carbide teeth and acts as a large grinding wheel in the tree removal process. When looking for the best miniature stump grinder accessories, the flywheel deserves a close look.
Bigger is ALWAYS better
Don’t let anyone convince you that size doesn’t matter, it does. This is especially true for the flywheel of stub wheels.
Why should I make such a claim? It comes down to inertia. Remember that your stump grinder uses torque to turn a flywheel. Therefore, the heavier the flywheel, the more inertia it will have once it is on track. This inertia builds up energy when it hits a stump and allows you to cut with less effort.
The downside, of course, is that a larger flywheel may take longer to get up to speed when you first spin it. In reality, however, we don’t consider this to be a problem when you’re using a powerful piston engine.
Teeth: Where grinding comes to life
As you know, the flywheel houses the teeth of your miniature stump grinder. And the last thing you want is for your steering wheel to have the smile of a retired hockey player.
In general, the more teeth on the wheel, the better. Unfortunately, as with many miniature accessories, there are manufacturers who skimp on the most important details.
Remember, at the end of the day, your steering wheel is just a big heavy cutting wheel. High quality miniature stump scarf attachments will have teeth on both sides of the steering wheel as well as the outer edge.
But why the teeth on both sides?
We recommend having teeth on both sides so you can grind the stumps while moving the attachment forward or backward. This setting will also help you get the maximum depth of cut.
While only having teeth on the outside edge can somewhat accomplish the same task, it is certainly less effective, wears the teeth faster, and generally performs poorly.
What about real teeth?
Most stump grinder teeth are about the same in our experience. However, you should ensure that they are easily replaceable and preferably reversible to double the life and reduce the amount of sharpening required.
Are swing arm stump grinders better?
As with all minicart accessories, you need to consider whether or not the extra investment will pay off.
Swing arm stump grinders are more expensive and add hydraulic and electrical components that are not otherwise needed.
We often recommend swing arm stump grinders to customers who are concerned about stepping on customers’ lawns. After all, a skid steer is a heavy machine and will quickly dig up rocks when it’s going back and forth around a stump all afternoon.
So, unless this is a major concern for you, I’ll humbly recommend that you stick with a traditional stump grinder that doesn’t require a swing arm.
So what is the best miniature stump grinder?
If you’ve made it this far, you now have the right information and context to make an informed decision about the best stump grinder attachment. Luckily, we’ve done the research for you and are ready to show off our findings!
Blue Diamond Extreme Duty Stump Grinder
Whether you have a standard or high flow mini cart, the Blue Diamond Extreme Duty Stump Crusher checks all our boxes.
power
Every model from 16-20GPM to 39-45GPM (and everything in between) uses one of the most impressive radial piston engines on the market. No corners are cut with quality when it comes to these hydraulic power plants. They are even imported from Italy.
This gives the Extreme Duty Grinder more torque than almost all of its competitors.
Flywheel weight
All this torque is not just to be the best. You also have to spin one of the biggest flywheels in the industry.
The Extreme Duty Stump Grinder comes with a 24″ or 26″ flywheel. The steering wheel is up to 1.25″ thick and weighs over 1,600 pounds. That’s not only half an inch thicker than most other models, but it’s 600 pounds more than many competitors. That’s a punch serious fist
Teeth
We counted up to 32 teeth on Blue Diamond’s Extreme Duty stump grinder, where some, if they are top competitors, are lucky to have 12 to 14.
Not only does it have twice the cutting teeth, but all the teeth are reversible and replaceable.
Dual link pivot points
It’s also worth mentioning that you can expect your cutting wheel to stay perfectly perpendicular to your stump with Blue Diamond’s double-link pivot points.
No matter which compact track loader you have, you will be able to cut at ground level. It’s this attention to detail that makes the Blue Diamond Extreme Duty Stump Grinder stand out above all others.
Wrapping it up
You don’t need a high-flow mini cart to impress your customers on your next job. Blue Diamond’s Extreme Duty Stump Shredder checks all the boxes, regardless of your miniature make and model.
To view our collection of miniature stump grinders, click here
If you would like to see our collection of mini miniature stump grinders, click here
