DK2 12-Inch 14 HP 429 cc Stump Grinder

This thing is a beast. Heavy. Powerful. It arrived in a wooden crate delivered right to my residence by a panel truck with a lift bed. I will say, had i not had a Kubota tractor with front end loader, i would have struggled getting it into the garage. Once inside and unpacked, i used a block and tackle to hold it off the ground as i assembled it. Added oil and gas and it fired up on the third try (after remembering to turn on the key!) I used the same block and tackle to load it into the back of my pickup and took it to camp three days later. Used the included tractor hitch bar to balance it on the tailgate and lower it from the truck. The hardest part was pushing it up the hill on uneven ground to where i wanted to use it. But once positioned it started on the first try and warmed up quickly. through trial and error i learned the best position for the adjustable handle...which was lower...and i used two hands and my body leaning on the handle to control the beast. Within about an hour and a half i had reduced three oak stumps to fine chips and dirt. I was very impressed! This is a very heavy duty machine for what it is...about the smallest one man stump grinder you can buy that is not a joke. The cutting bar is direct drive...which i thought would throw me all over the place, but it worked well and chewed away at the stumps. My advice...be patient! Take your time and let the tool do the work. And do not be too aggressive. When i got into a left to right, diagonal up to down pattern you could just work away at that stump with ease. Keep a rake handy because so many chips build up in front of your wheels you have to stop and remove them in order to reposition the cutting wheel. I love this thing and completely appreciate finally receiving a product that works actually BETTER than i had hoped. The only nit picky thing i can give is that you have to tip the machine back on the wheels to get the cutter off the ground to start it. It has a string pull start so this is a tad awkward to do. But manageable. It needs a way to prop the wheels off the ground to start, then a lever pull to lower the cutting wheel. I suggest this with no idea how to design such a thing. Also the safety stuff (gloves, glasses, hearing protection) is basically junk. Do not wear shorts when cutting (duh) as occasional wood chips sneak past the rubber guard into your shins. Not painful...but stings. Like being dumb and weed eating in shorts. Oh and your shoes fill up with chips and dirt if your pant sleeves do not cover your shoes.

Purchased to grind a sizeable silver maple stump in my backyard and then an additional few cedar stumps along a fence line. The grinder arrived with some chipped teeth and some of the hardware missing as well as the hours meter broken off and smashed in the package. I assembled it and figured I had a good excuse to return if I didn't like it as it came in such a state. The machine is extremely heavy and terrible to use, I am 6'-4" and 230lbs and in my 30s pushing this uphill and over uneven ground is miserable. As it is so heavy and awkward to use it is very easy for the machine to get away from you and grind things you don't want it to grind and trying to wheel it around piles of dirt and woodchips is exhausting. Also, it is just not up for the job. Unless the stump is soft you are going to spend hours just to get small and mid sized stumps ground down 4". I have now owned the machine for over a year. Amazon was unwilling to take the return claiming saying they can't take a return because it had oil in it. The customer service through the company is fine they sent new teeth to replace the chipped ones and a new hour meter but despite the engine burning oil on several occasions, the axial is now scratched so one of the wheels doesn't spin and over all the machine not being very good at what it was designed to do, they wont honor the 1-year warranty and take back their terrible machine. Save yourself, spend some extra money, and buy a better grinder this one is awful.

Moving this thing around is kinda rough, but if you can get past that, it works great. Haven't had any issues with it and it eats stumps as good as I could ask for. I removed the hitch from the tow bar that comes with it and welded on a handle. This greatly improved handling. It is now easier to move around, but most importantly I can now see the teeth when cutting and can properly move them side to side across the stump.

I like the stump grinder and would purchase again but there are a couple of items to consider 1) the wheel lock system is cumbersome and I don’t use it because of the difficulty in locking the wheel. 2) stumps on small mounds can be challenging since the machine is heavy and most users may have problems rolling it up the hill 3) the tow bar is extremely helpful moving the grinder around my property would be a challenge without it since it’s so heavy a self propelled unit of some kind might be better. 4) I removed the small stand since it wasn’t very helpful and got in the way 5) the grinder is very sturdy and well build and affordable

The DK2 Stump Grinder does exactly what it is supposed to. While it was heavy and a bit hard to maneuver over the stumps, this little monster made quick work of 4 stumps ranging from 10-14 inches in width all gone within about half an hour. The pin for the wheel lock was not the best design, nor is the kickstand next to the blade but it got the job done and that was the most important thing for us. Nice addition to our DK collection as we also have the big DK2 chipper and love it as well.

Awesome machine. Easy to assemble. Have only used it once so far but it did a great job. Reduced a 24" pine stump from six inches above ground to six inches below ground in about 40 minutes. Be aware it is a heavy machine being built out of thicker steel so it can be a lot to handle. I'm 76 years old and managed. Highly recommend this product.