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Machinery SpecialistForestry Attachment GuideQuote

Calculator

Cost per stump is the only metric that matters

Purchase price is the number buyers focus on and the smallest part of the decision. Cost per stump absorbs machine, labour, wear and capital together, which is why it is the figure that decides whether the attachment pays.

The attachment

Hourly costs

Own-cost or hire rate for the excavator.

Wear and output

Falls sharply in stony or sandy ground.

Cost per stump

$31.42

Cost per hour

$189

Stumps per year

2,700

Cost line$/hour$/stumpShare
Attachment capital$9.00$1.505%
Teeth and tips$7.50$1.254%
Carrier$85.00$14.1745%
Operator$65.00$10.8334%
Fuel$22.00$3.6712%
Total$189$31.42$84,825 / year

Every figure above is yours to enter. No attachment prices are published on this site, because attachment pricing moves with exchange rate, spec and carrier bracket — a published number would be wrong within a quarter.

Make sure you are costing the right tool

This calculator assumes grinding: destroying the stump in place, leaving chip and no spoil. If you are pulling stumps anyway and the problem is transporting and processing what comes out, you want a cutter, and the metric becomes cost per tonne processed rather than cost per stump.

Stump grinding compared with stump cuttingA grinder works downward into the ground, destroying the stump and root plate in place and leaving chip and no spoil heap. A cutter works on a stump that has already been extracted, splitting it above ground into pieces small enough to transport or chip.GRINDING — IN PLACEBELOW GRADEOUTPUT: CHIP · NO SPOIL · NO STUMP TO MOVECUTTING — AFTER EXTRACTIONSIZED FOR TRANSPORTOUTPUT: SPLIT STUMP · CHIP-READY · SPOIL REMAINS
Grinder vs cutter, in full →Stump grinder guide →

What moves the number most

  1. 01

    Teeth life, not teeth price

    A cheaper set that lasts half as long is more expensive. In abrasive or stony ground, tooth cost is a monthly line item you budget rather than a spare you order occasionally — halve the teeth-life figure above and watch what happens to the total.

  2. 02

    Stumps per hour

    The single biggest lever, and the one buyers estimate most optimistically. It is set by stump diameter, species, root plate and access, not by the attachment's rated capacity.

  3. 03

    Annual hours

    Below about 200 hours a year, hire or subcontract. Between 200 and 500, buy if the tool unlocks work you currently turn away. Above 500, ownership almost always wins and wear-part supply becomes more important than purchase price.

  4. 04

    Carrier wear

    Grinding puts continuous load on a machine designed for intermittent load. Pumps, coolers and final drives feel it. If you intend to run hard, raise the carrier rate above to reflect tighter service intervals.

Orange and blue Dipperfox SC600 stump grinder on a backhoe boom, standing over the pile of coarse wood chips it has just produced
Dipperfox SC600 and the chip it leaves — no spoil, no stump

Talk to a specialist

Bring your carrier’s weight, flow and pressure and we will tell you which model in the range suits the stump counts you are quoting.

Request a quote →