Big Land Clearing Machine

Chewing big tree stumps down to nothing in seconds flat is a breeze for this giant self-propelled land-clearing machine built in New Zealand.

The Rickard 108 Chipper weighs 25 1/2 tons and rides on eight huge flotation tires. It has two engines -- a 6-cyl. 250 hp Cummins diesel that powers hydrostatic motors on all eight wheels and a massive rear-mount V-12 twin-turbocharged Cummins that delivers 1,050 hp to the front-mounted stump chewing rotor. The rotor is 10-ft. wide by 5-ft. dia. and is fitted with 140 replaceable steel teeth. It's driven by a 12-in. wide roller chain. Rotating at 350 to 400 rpm's, it can grind stumps up to 40 in. in dia. off to 18 in. below ground level in seconds.

The machine uses 53 gal. of diesel fuel an hour. Fuel capacity is 530 gal. between the machine's main tank and a saddle tank.