Stump and root grinder

[sidco]

I have an old riding mower with a ( 25hp I think). Any ideas on this would be a great!!! Thanks Ted

[Frank S]

One thing you might consider especialy is you are wanting to do this on the cheap without a lot of right anbgle gear boxes and drive shafts to get the power from under the engine to the grinder is to.
First off make an arm to extend out the front of the mower on a pivot which will allow the grinder to be raised and lowered. V belt drives can successfully be made to change their rotational plane from vertical shaft/ horizontal pulley to a horizontal shaft vertical pulley providing the extension arm is of sufficient length.
the grinder head will require a couple of bearings a shaft, and a housing to attach the pulley on 1 side and the grinding head on the other. a couple of idler pulleys may be required to insure that the belt does not come off at either end. a means of raising the attachment like that of the mower deck another means of de-activating the grinder (IE clutch) can be accomplished by shortening and lengthening the control arm.
I will draw up a generic model to offer a better explanation of what I am trying to convey.

[sidco]

Thanks for help

[Frank S]

As promised here are some rough renderings of how you can make a stump grinder
Ypou may have to modify the front end of your lawn tractor enough to allow for the belt that drives the deck to come out the front but a lot of the lawn tractors this is possible without too damaging of an effect I have 1 lawn tractor that I have added a 3rd pulley below the 2 originals
have a look at the pics and if you have any questions I will be glad to help wherever I can
by changing out the cutters a large disc with blades could be attached like that of a small brush chopper to give you something like a 36" brush hog an appropriate safety cover would be necessary

the assembly would be raised by the deck lift lever a link would have to be made to attach to a tab under the main grinder mounting assembly

the clutch lever is nothing more than a cam lever that forces the inner support tube to be extended.
the slot key and rotational lock is so the grinder cutters can be angled for best grinding action

As with any non factory attachments or modifications done to lawn-tractors or other equipment most will void any warantee and all safety precautions need to be taken to insure no person can be injured or property damaged as result of their use

[sidco]

Thanks for your help! My plan is to have it done in a few weeks. Will post pics when it is completed. Again thanks.

[G.Paul]

Good invention May have to build one. How many Hp do you think would be needed ? What is the Diameter of the grinding blade ?
Thanks

[Frank S]

Good invention May have to build one. How many Hp do you think would be needed ? What is the Diameter of the grinding blade ?
Thanks

G.Paul,At thje time I drew it I didn't know it but after searching later I found that I had I based the design in part at least to that of the DR 16.50 stump grinder

but since the OP stated that he has a 25 HP riding mower I took that into account as well. plus the fact that limited power can be transmitted through a drive belt which will fit on the pulley of the mower.
For this I drew the model with a set of 10" diameter 16 tooth cutters 1/2" thick the DR has 3 cutters I show the 1 that I drew with 6.
I further took into account that most modern 2 cylinder lawn tractor engines have a max RPM between 3200 and 3600 I have 1 that is governed at 3200 and 3 that are governed at 3600, my lawn tractors are older and have 6" Diameter power pulleys. The target RPM I was trying to aim for in the design would be between 4500 to 5500 or more This would offer in my opinion a good start point if I were to build 1 for myself (Which I may just to prove the design)taking that into consideration I drew the cutter pulley at 4".
there are a couple more features I had thought about but did not bother to design in as of yet since this was not to be a set of plans on how to build one but a guideline of 1 man's rambling thoughts portrayed on paper to another for 1 possible way to make a stump grinder.
Additionally to the camover clutch lever I drew in I feel that` there needs to be a way to adjust the belt I did not add this since there are many way by which this can be done. As I mentioned in my first post there would probably need to be some idlers added to insure the belt stays straight near the engine since it is being twisted up to 105° out of its intended running plane I left these up to the person deciding to make one the same with safety guards which are extremely important in my opinion
Also you may want a way to swing the grinder from side to side while sitting on the lawn tractor and 2 belts may be needed to transmit enough power to the cutter

[stillldoinit]

Funny this question came up. Last fall I was going to build one of these things for a piece of property I had purchased for cheap just to prove to the taxing people about the lack of value for another piece I own down the road from where I live. My wife has since changed my priority in this regard as now we no longer will be living in this state. Last September wife and daughter who lives 650 miles away were texting back and forth and made a mutual decision that our daughter's parents should be living just down the road from her. So now I am in the process of liquidating 30 years of prized accumulations. Auctioneer came out and said "My friend, you have enough stuff for a 2 day sale". Getting back to the original question and my idea which may still come to pass at a later date was to build the grinder out of a front spindle from a 4X4 truck with a large brake rotor for the mounting disk with the axle supported by a pillow block and a pully mounted on the outboard side with a key way machined in and use a taper lock hub. But my build was going to be mounted on a shortened rear axle from a Dodge caravan with frame extended out to enable swinging back and forth. Need to have a way to control depth of cut so the machine does the work instead of operator having to have to man handle. I like to turn wooden bowl so am always looking for unique pieces of wood and someday plan to build a band sawmill using front spindles as described above. Too many ideas on the large interweb to draw from instead of trying to say "I invented something". I am one of the "lurkers" on these forums because there are so many others who give excellent answers and ideas to whatever question that gets posed. All I know is what I have learned by watching others all my life and doing some variation or combination of what I have seen. I have a friend who thinks I should write a book about all I know, the only difference between him and me, is I have always worked with my hands building or repairing something someone else has built. My friend has always worked in an office and has no mechanical ability but knows so much more than me about many things. That is our melting pot here, collective knowledge. Thanks for all the good suggestions to questions I have not asked but like to think someday will benefit from.

[G.Paul]

I will be watching this project. Very interesting. Thanks

[Frank S]

Stildoinit, There are as many different ways to design build a given tool/ machine or part there of as there are contributors to these forums.
Using parts off of cars, trucks or other vehicles and equipment always has certain benefits for 1 they are ready made just require the mods to suit the build. for another there is and endless supply of replacement parts as long as the make model and year and sometimes the serial number is known of the doner vehicle or equipment.
When ever I make something and use donated parts I try to create a log of the actual part numbers for future reference.