TEMPTING TRIO

STUMP GRINDERS — £18,000

Stump grinding is a quick and easy way to remove tree stumps, helping to prevent regrowth in the future and it avoids a potential trip hazard/obstacle for equipment. Machines that carry out this work vary greatly in size, but all carry the same basic tool – a spinning blade which is lowered onto the stump to start chewing it away, in the process producing chips that can be used as mulch. Here are a three used grinders we spotted with values up to £18,000.

Toro STX-26

Kicking o our tempting trio is this 2015 Toro STX-26 stump grinder o ered for sale by Groundserv in Surrey for just £8,950 plus VAT. For that amount of money, you get an ex-hire fleet machine that starts and runs “perfectly” with 1,200 hours on the clock, and “all bearings and motors in good condition”. There’s a streamlined control system that makes operation easy, a 16-inch diameter cutting wheel and rubber tracks too.

Predator 38X

Based in Oxon, Predator specialises in the sale of stump grinders. This 2013 P38X model was stickered at £11,750 plus VAT on the website of 1st Base Plant in Warrington. Said to be in good working condition after 830 hours of service, cutting dimensions of the P38X are 450/800/1,370mm (depth/height/swing).

Weighing 1 tonne, there’s a 480mm MT wheel and teeth comprised six Multi-Tips. Predator reckons it’s the narrowest machine in its class.

Bandit SG-40

A little more pricey was this 2020-built Bandit SG-40 stump grinder o ered for sale by Field & Forest Machinery in Broxburn, West Lothian. Carrying a sticker price of £17,250 plus VAT, its condition was described as immaculate with 51 hours of use. Designed as an all-terrain machine with rubber track undercarriage, it boasts a 457mm cutting wheel with eight teeth and 1,190mm swing. There’s also a pivoting control panel and 38hp (28.3kW) engine with 26.5L tank.

Komatsu 931xc

Sticking with harvesters but considering something younger, there were plenty of Komatsu 931s for sale at the time of writing. Komatsu Forest UK had priced this 2019 XC model at £280,000 before VAT (£336,000 with VAT) with a reasonably 6,200 hours of operation under its belt. An 8-wheeled harvester with just one previous owner, the Agco/Sisu engine’s output was rated at 170kW. The Komatsu 230H crane offered a 10m reach and on the end of it was a Komatsu S132 head – both of which were linked to the manufacturer’s MaxiXplorer system. Transport weight was noted as 22,860kg, overall condition was rated 4 out of 5, and the latest inspection was carried out in November 2022.

Kobelco Sk140 Harvadig

Jas P Wilson’s website is a great bet when it comes to nding used forestry machines, and this 14-tonne Kobelco SK140SRLC-5 Harvadig did not disappoint. Rolling off the production line in 2017, it has since racked up 7,000 hours in the eld. The base machine had been tted with a full guarding kit (great news for those operators working under the canopy of trees), and its new owner could select a new Keto 150HD harvesting head to go with the excavator. Contact the agent for pricing details.