Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Tree stump removal

I would really like to hear some good ideas on how to remove tree stumps. I cut them off as close to the ground as I could with a chainsaw, but, they still pose possible lawn tractor damage. I don't want a chipper that is big enough to do the job to rut the hell out my yard. Decompose? Burn?

Thanks for any replies!

Better help should come along, but it seems there is some chemical the speeds up the rotting?

The last stump grinder I rented was on rubber tracks. No damage to my lawn other than where I ground the stump. About a five foot circle.

ive never had a grinder mess up my yard.

Other than that, if you cut now, they will be ready to burn by fall. They'll burn/smoke for days.

Got me on ignore

No help for you crybaby

I recently had a stump about 40" in diameter ground up. I had to remove about 4 wheelbarrow loads of wood chips afterwards to get it level. I put some grass seed and some Miracle Grow garden soil on it.

I did the same to another area a few springs ago and by mid summer you couldn't tell where it was.

Also, I've placed half of a 55 gallon barrel around a stump, poured in about 5" of charcoal and lit it up. It takes 4 or 5 applications, but it will eventually burn it down to ground level.

problem with leveling it in the beginning is that the stump will continue to rot way down, you'll be adding top soil on an almost yearly basis. Always try to leave a small mound and it will eventually level. Atleast that has been my experience.

How big and what species we talking about? Some have shallow root systems, some come right out with a tug.

My 4' cottonwood stump is gonna take some time to make go away.

Drill some holes in it, add lye. Cover with dirt and come back in 5 years. This has worked hundreds of times.

I've had to add soil to one that sunk. But only one time. In any event, they're going to rot and sink whether you grind them or not.

If it's cedar, it could take a while to rot on its own. Took one down for my parents and drilled a series of 1 inch holes in the top of the stump to collect water. A winter of freeze/thaw cycles busted it up enough to break up most of it. Not an ideal solution because the freezing would often only expand upward (like an ice cube tray). It was only one tree, and mom didn't want to get a stump grinder nor use chemicals. Couldn't burn in the city either.

Depending on height and diameter of stump, an angle grinder could work well on the smaller stuff.

I've been taking down trees around my place for 3 years. My method is to just get down flush with the ground and chainsaw through them. It dulls the heck out of the chain to get down in the dirt with them. (there's no way to cut them flush without digging up some dirt with the chainsaw)

I just sharpen the chain after every stump cutting. That little chain grinder I bought at Harbor Freight has gotten quite a workout.

I dig up around the stump to expose the roots and use an axe, when I get to big roots sometimes I use a hose to soak the dirt and wash the roots clean (wait until the water drains) then I cut the roots with a chainsaw, and dig up some more using the Axe method.

If it’s a big stump I cut it into 4th’s with a chain saw once I wash all the dirt away from it with the hose... and take it out in pieces.

The fun way, Diesel fuel and fertilizer.

The stores sell stump decomposing compound. It's saltpeter, which is an oxidizer. Drill holes, fill with saltpeter, give it time to oxidize the wood. The chemical is a natural fertilizer.

Dig that sumbitch out with an excavator, fix the lawn. Done in a day, not 5 years of bullschit.

Stump grinder ....period!

😁
I use diesel, and the wood from the tree itself, if available.
Takes some time, but NO mess

I've rented grinders and have been happy with them. Except...let the stumps get dry before you do it. I tried to take out some poplar stumps that were too green and the grinder choked on them. The didn't chip, they sort of wadded and the pieces wouldn't tear loose. The trees were dormant but still had too much water in the trunks.

The rental place here even asks you how long it has been since the tree was cut.