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.

After reading all over the place that this unit included 2 sets of teeth, and in the product manual it states a spare set should have been included, DK2 states that that was as temporary promotion and they don't do that anymore.Onto the actual unit:When filling the engine with oil, don't be an idiot like I was and tip the unit back to ensure it doesn't spill out, or it will flood the engine with oil and require taking out the spark plug, removing the carb, and the exhaust manifold to clean out the oil before you can get it to start. I REALLY dislike engines that don't have a topside oil fill cap and only these bottom mounted dipstick ones. It makes putting oil in the engine much harder than it needs be. They should also have those oil extension tubes that allow draining the oil without having it run all over the equipment as a standard item.

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.

Took 3 stumps already. I never had stump grinder before or ever use 1 but it’s not difficult to use or maneuver. Had lots of power and teeth are sharp. Few more stumps and this grinder will pay for itself. My only negative is the wheel has no step lock or something to lock it easily. Locking device is cumbersome that I had to use piece of wood or stone to keep one wheel in place so that I can rock the machine side to side. And included hitch at first couldn’t slide in because of a small piece metal blocking the slot maybe from the fabrication, had to sand and grind it first.

Horrible equipment, Engine blew apart within 5 minutes of first use. seller, Manufacturer and engine manufacturer will do nothing. Even took it to a certified engine repair facility and was told That it was a fake Kohler engine. They will do nothing. What a waste of money and complete FRAUD!