leo612•19d ago

Wasted $400 on a cheap stump grinder that couldn't chew through a pine stump

Last spring I bought a off-brand stump grinder from a online auction for $400. Looked good in the pictures and the guy said it was barely used. Got it home and tried it on a 3 foot pine stump in my backyard. That thing could barely take off bark, let alone get down into the roots. I spent a whole Saturday fighting it, ended up renting a real one from Sunbelt for $150 and finished in 2 hours. Now the cheap one is just sitting in my shed, a nice paperweight. Anyone else fall for a deal that was too good to be true?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_cole18d agoMost Upvoted

Read a review online last week that said the same thing - these cheap grinders just don't have the torque for anything bigger than a sapling. The guy wrote that the belts slip after like 10 minutes of real use too. I bet yours has that same problem where the teeth are made of some soft metal that goes dull before you even get through the first root.

tyler_bell18d ago

That's rough, buddy... sorry you gotta deal with that.

the_piper17d ago

You ever try sharpening the blades yourself? I had the same issue with mine and just hitting them with a file made a world of difference.