With spring coming, it will soon be time to do all your seasonal property maintenance, including felling trees and getting rid of your stumps.

Thankfully your Woodland Mills Stump Grinder should help you with that task, and here we have some recommendations on the proper and routine maintenace required to ensure operator safety, good grinding results and prolonging the life of your investment.

Before we begin, it is important to never remove or install teeth, conduct any maintenance, or make any other adjustments while the tractor engine is running. Always shut the tractor's engine off, remove the ignition key, and disconnect the PTO shaft prior to carrying out any of the aforementioned procedures. Consult your tractor’s manual for safe shutdown procedures to prevent accidental ignition. The entire owner's manual must be read and understood before you start using the machine highlighting with utmost importance of the safety and personal safety guidelines.

Always operate the machine with all safety devices and guards in place and in working order.
DO NOT modify or make changes to safety devices.
DO NOT operate the machine if any safety devices or guards are missing or inoperative.

The ground is starting to thaw and you may be itching to get your yard in order by eliminating stumps. We are here to help you with setting up a routine maintenance plan for this season.

Inspect the machine before each use for loose nuts and worn cutting teeth and clean any debris that has built up. After 2 hours of operation, check again for loose nuts and worn cutting teeth. Tighten and torque to spec and replace as necessary.

Anytime you put it away for 6 weeks or more, it is recommended to go back and run through making sure the WG24 Stump Grinder slips when it's supposed to. Ensure the flywheel is free-spinning and operating properly and follow the below Preparing For Spring: Routine Maintenance Guide.

Inspection before use:

• PTO Shaft - Ensure that the PTO shaft is adequately greased, intact, and not cracked. Excessive clutch plate slippage, burning odour, or visible smoking should not be observed during use. Clutch plates can stick together, particularly after long periods of inactivity. This can prevent the plates from slipping during operation as designed, resulting in high loads and possible damage to the steel shaft. To prevent this from occurring, follow the “PTO Shaft Clutch Run-In” procedure in the manual.
• Bearings - Grease the bearings and the pivot pins on the main housing as needed before each use. Do not over-grease the bearings as this can blow out the seals and cause premature bearing failure. The stump grinder will have six (6) grease points:
  • Two (2) Flywheel Shaft Bearings
  • Two (2) Hinge Pins
  • Two (2) on the PTO Shaft
  • Note: All bearings come pre-greased and do not require greasing on the initial start-up.
• Flywheel - Ensure that it is free-spinning before it is connected to your tractor.
• Flywheel Teeth - Ensure all 34 teeth are torqued to 160 ft•lb using a torque wrench with a 24 mm socket.
• Cleaning - Use a pressure washer to clean the carbide teeth while taking care not to pressure-wash the bearings as this could introduce water into areas of the machine that may cause malfunction or damage.

You can contact us by completing the Technical Support Request form on our website. Our tech support team operates Monday - Friday 8:30AM - 4:30PM Eastern Standard Time. https://woodlandmills.com/contact/ or call us at 1-855-476-6455 (Press 2 for Tech) for assistance.

Check out our guide on preparing your Portable Sawmill here.

You can also refer to our guide on preparing your Wood Chipper here.