I reserved a medium size stump grinder from Sun Belt Rental and towed it home this afternoon after leaving work. Before ever driving off the rental yard I could see that the cutting edges of the teeth were severely rounded over and in very bad shape. I ignored it because obviously people had been using this stump grinder, so how bad could it be?
Very bad. At home, I gave it a go on the nearest stump and the teeth not so much chewed out smooth chunks as it should, but bounced along the stump shredding it as it went. I could see right away this was not going to work. But no matter. Just at that moment the engine coughed and spit and spewed out an enormous blue cloud of smoke that made me jump back before I mustered courage to return and cut off the engine.
I had used the machine for a total of two minutes.
After dinner we loaded it back onto the trailer, and at dawn tomorrow (literally, at 7 AM) I will be at the rental store to return this beast.
This evening we went to The Home Depot and noticed they had the same model stump grinder, but with better teeth, and one-fourth the running hours, for about $70 less per day. I think that store will be my second stop in the morning.
Episode 2 - Saturday
Make that $101 less per day. I returned the stump grinder to Sun Belt without incident, got a full refund of $311 and rented the same machine, only newer, from The Home Depot, for $210. While Sun Belt offers Sunday free, the rental was for only 8 hours running time, tracked by a built-in timer dial in the casing of the stump grinder, but Depot didn't care how long I ran the machine, as long as I returned it in 24 hours. Or pay $32 for each additional hour. Sun Belt charges $24. So, renting from Depot turned out to be a huge savings. Besides, the engine is as loud as a locomotive so I really didn't want to run it on Sunday.
I didn't finish grinding all the stumps even though I worked for over 9 hours. The machine cuts very slowly and a 12-inch stump takes more than half an hour to shred. I think if the cutting teeth were new and sharp, it would take considerably less time. But you can't make the rental place put on new teeth for you. Undoubtedly they don't care about that.
Episode 3 - In pre-production
Looking around the yard it seems like I finished off about one-third of the stumps, so I'm taking a vacation day Thursday to go at it again. Hopefully I'm underestimating and can get most of the stumps done in one day because Friday I plan to have two large loads of topsoil delivered and rent a skid steer to move it with.
Thirty cubic yards of earth should occupy me for quite some time. Stop by with your shovel. Or your Tonka Truck.
4 comments:
I guess everything happens for a reason. Its nice to have the savings even if it took an extra day... its like finding 5 bucks in your pocket - or fifty in your shoe (like I did a few months ago :o) Time isn't really money in a yard project is it?
$50 in your shoe, Charles? Were you hiding it there, or did it slip from your pocket and land miraculously in your loafer?
actually it was a refund from champs. they finally realized how ridiculous there prices are.
crazy stuff Jeff. it's a pity i don't have any Tonka Truck's. you'll have to be a little kid in a ginormous sand box all by yourself..
looking forward to seeing your castle after though,:]
I'm Jealous! Forget the Tonka Truck, I'm coming with a Bobcat! I am THE MAN on a skid steer.. I grade like no other and I can fill a full size Dump truck in 5 minutes flat. Now you're jealous, I know.. ;)
-Pat
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