Dry tree stumps are the hardest to remove for tree stump grinders. If you are renting a stump grinder, you may need to take some extra precautions to make sure the grinder does not ignite the dry stumps you are attempting to grind. The precautions apply to either the stump grinder or the stump, although you could use a two-prong approach to significantly reduce your fire risks.
Greasing the Grinder
Greasing the gears and grinding wheel helps the grinder move more easily while sucking excess moisture out of the grinder. The reason why you want to keep the grinder greased is that when the parts of grinder move smoothly, the machine is less likely to lock up. A machine that is less likely to lock up is also less likely to produce sparks, which in turn would cause dry tree stumps to ignite. You also need to be careful about greasing the machine too much. You do not want the machine to set itself on fire when the chain spins rapidly against a combination of metal, wood and the grease.
Keeping the Grinder from Overheating
A tree stump grinder is typically a diesel-run device. This means that it can overheat if you have a lot of stumps to grind. To play it safe, grind one or two large-sized stumps or three to four small-sized stumps and then give the grinder a break to let it cool down. Doing so preserves the engine and prevents explosions, which would indeed set the very dry wood of the old tree stumps on fire. It prevents diesel exhaust particulates from landing on the dry wood stumps, where it could prove to be a very dangerous situation.
Watering the Stump
Watering the stump prior to grinding it makes it less dry and easier to grind into a pulp. That puts less stress on the grinder and reduces the likelihood of setting the stump on fire because it is no longer dry but wet. It also reduces the possibility of sparks, oil and/or grease from the grinder setting the stump alight, since the stump is too wet for oil to stay in one place, the grease seeps into the reopened pores of the stump and sparks will put themselves out on the wetness of the stump. Choosing to water the stump before grinding it is very similar to continuously wetting concrete when you use a concrete cutter. Contact a company like Rentals And More Inc for more information.
