A material reduction machine including an engine, a material reduction tool, a drivetrain, and a control system. The drivetrain is between the engine and the material reduction tool, and includes a coupling and a power transfer element, the coupling having an engaged state and a disengaged state. When engaged, the coupling enables power transfer through the power transfer element and when disengaged, the coupling inhibits power transfer through the power transfer element. The control system includes a sensor to detect a speed of the engine or the material reduction tool, a drivetrain protection system to protect the power transfer element by disengaging the coupling, and a controller to enable the drivetrain protection system based on a first signal from the sensor indicating the speed is at or above a first threshold, and to disengage the coupling based on a second signal indicating the speed is below a second threshold.

A cutter wheel for use with a stump cutter having a drive assembly includes a drive plate having first and second sides and a perimeter. A cutter is attached to one of the sides, the cutter having a contact surface configured to engage the side. The cutter has a leading surface and a trailing surface, and a leading mounting hole defining a leading axis and a trailing mounting hole defining a trailing axis. A reference line passes through the leading axis and the trailing axis. A portion of the perimeter of the drive plate is in a zone defined by: a pair of radial lines extending from the leading axis at angles of 20 degrees and 40 degrees radially outward from the reference line, and a pair of arcs 0.25 in. radially outward and inward, respectively, from the leading surface.

A stump grinder has a grinding arm that durably mounts a rotatable grinding wheel by securing the drive shaft of a motor to the grinding wheel such that a pair of bearings within the motor support one side of the grinding wheel and by supporting the other side of the grinding wheel with a stub shaft received within a third bearing. The grinding arm is laterally offset on the frame of the stump grinder to have a swing angle that is not symmetrical relative to the width of the frame, but with the swing angle starting at one side of the frame and then traversing across substantially the entire width of the frame to improve the ability of the operator to see the grinding wheel. A single joystick is movable in orthogonal directions corresponding to desired up and down and side-to-side pivoting motions of the grinding arm. The joystick includes a depressible trigger for starting and stopping the operation of the grinding wheel.

A stump grinder has a grinding arm that durably mounts a rotatable grinding wheel by securing the drive shaft of a motor to the grinding wheel such that a pair of bearings within the motor support one side of the grinding wheel and by supporting the other side of the grinding wheel with a stub shaft received within a third bearing. The grinding arm is laterally offset on the frame of the stump grinder to have a swing angle that is not symmetrical relative to the width of the frame, but with the swing angle starting at one side of the frame and then traversing across substantially the entire width of the frame to improve the ability of the operator to see the grinding wheel. A single joystick is movable in orthogonal directions corresponding to desired up and down and side-to-side pivoting motions of the grinding arm. The joystick includes a depressible trigger for starting and stopping the operation of the grinding wheel.

A material reduction machine includes a frame, an arm assembly coupled to the frame, and a bearing assembly coupled to the arm assembly adjacent a distal end. A shaft is rotatably coupled to the bearing assembly and has an axis. A comminution wheel is coupled to the shaft for rotation therewith. The comminution wheel is configured to be driven by a drive system and extends outward from the shaft in a radial direction that is perpendicular to the axis. A gap is defined between a portion of the shaft, the bearing assembly, and the comminution wheel, and a guard plate is attached to the bearing assembly or the arm assembly. The guard plate has an axial extent extending along the axis and a radial extent extending radially relative to the axis to at least partially fill the gap. The axial extent and the radial extent lie in a plane.

A tree stump removal device is disclosed. The device includes an annular housing having cutters attached thereto. A method of removing a tree stump is disclosed that includes lowering a tree stump removal device into the ground surrounding the tree stump to sever some of the horizontal roots extending from the tree stump.

A cutting system includes a wheel, a tooth and a fastener. The wheel has a hub, a periphery, a side that extends from the hub to the periphery, and a receiver located on the wheel's side. The hub has a longitudinal axis about which the wheel may rotate, and the receiver includes a bearing surface. The tooth is mounted to the wheel's receiver and includes a blade and a mount. The blade cuts material when the wheel rotates about the hub's longitudinal axis and the blade contacts the material. The mount couples the blade to the wheel's receiver. The mount includes a first interface where the blade couples with the mount, and a second interface where the mount couples with the wheel's receiver. The mount's second interface is configured to mimic and nest with the wheel's receiver and includes a bearing surface that transmits to the bearing surface of the wheel's receiver loads that the material exerts on the blade while the blade cuts the material. The fastener secures the tooth to the wheel and holds the bearing surface of the mount's second interface against the bearing surface of the wheel's receiver, and specifically does not include the bearing surface of the tooth's mount.

A stump planer for use in stump planeing in environmentally sensitive areas.

A stump grinding wheel tooth assembly having a mounting block positioned around the periphery of the wheel and a cutting bit attached to the mounting block by a pin passing through a hole in the cutting bit and a corresponding hole in the mounting block and capped by a nut. The mounting block may support multiple cutting bits arranged into a predetermined patterns based on the location of the holes, such as pairs of cutting bits or even a quad formation. The cutting bits may be provided in various geometric configurations, such as round, triangular, square, rectangular, pentagonal, hexagonal, octagonal or decagonal.

A stump cutter tooth assembly includes a stump cutter tooth held by a pocket member that includes an arcuate shoulder having one or more tabs. A stump cutter tooth is adapted to be mounted on the pocket member. The stump cutter tooth includes a tooth body having one or more recesses and an arcuate outer surface. The arcuate outer surface of the stump cutter tooth is adapted to abut against the arcuate shoulder of the pocket member to prevent unwanted movement of the stump cutter tooth relative to the pocket member during the cutting operation. The one or more recesses of the stump cutter tooth cooperate with the one or more tabs of the pocket member to provide an anti-rotation and locating feature.