Tree Stump Removal Options
Removing a tree stump is hard work! I know this because I recently tried. A friend asked me to lend a hand taking the stump out of his back yard. After about 6 hours of work we accepted defeat. Check out the pictures from out attempt. So how do you deal with that ugly stump?
Rent a grinder
Equipment rentals will rent out stump grinders. My friend checked and it would run about $200. Unless you have a trailer hitch, expect to pay for delivery too. Be sure you’re comfortable operating the equipment and always wear eye / ear protection. If you’re working on several stumps, this option can save you some money. For one stump, it’s not really worthwhile.
Fill the Stump with Nitrates
Nitrates speed up decomposition. Drill deep holes and fill with Stump Remover
Hire a Stump Removal Contractor
My friend contacted about seven companies in the area. Some took his information, with others he left a message. But only two companies produced estimates. The first company is called Tree Pros. They were courteous and timely. Tree Pros offered to remove an obstructing fence, grind down the stump and clean up for a very reasonable price. A few days later another company quoted $450 (an unreasonable price) not including clean up or anything to do with the fence.
Burn It
You’ll find mixed instructions online about burning stumps. Some say it’s too dangerous. Others say it doesn’t work. And still others claim it’s easy and relatively quick. Obviously you have to be careful whenever dealing with fire and flamable materials. Underground roots can burn and smolder for quite some time. Just because you don’t see flames doens’t mean the fire is out. One recurring solution involved putting a high barrier around the stump, filling with wood, soaking in kerosene and burning it. Sounds like an awesome campfire to me!
What do you think? Anyone ever burn out a stump? I’m really curious how well it works. If not, what solution did you try?
April 9th, 2008 at 8:15 am
In my opinion burning the stump is the most fun and least expensive way to get rid of it. We’re planning on doing one this summer. We’re kinda redneck here (Southern Indiana) so everytime I’ve seen it done there’s always a big party to go along with it. And yes, it’s a pretty awesome campfire and lots of fun! I have never seen kerosene used though. I’ve always seen a big fire built over it and that catches it on fire, and it burns for days. I’m sure it takes longer than kerosene would, but its also a lot more safe.
April 9th, 2008 at 8:47 am
BeccaMarie,
Welcome to OPC. Stump party sounds like a blast, although I’m not sure our community would allow it - but sometimes it’s better to ask for forgiveness than permission
In terms of the kerosene and safety, my guess would be that the kerosene would burn off very quickly and you’d be left with essentially the same long-burning fire. Since you’re burning a stump, it’s unlikely you have tree cover overhead you’d be trying to avoid catching on fire (which might be a problem with kerosene). Were you thinking of another potential danger?
April 9th, 2008 at 9:40 am
Our tree trimmers quoted us $10 an inch for stump grinding… we didn’t end up doing it for some unknown reason, though.
One idea I recently heard that I wish I had thought of before:
Cut the stump as low to the ground as possible. Pile dirt on top of it/around it to create a raised flower or veggie bed (line the outside of your bed with rocks/boards/whatever it is you edge gardens with in your yard). Then, just plant over it, and keep well watered. The stump will disintegrate over a year or two, adding nutrients to the ground while it dies.
I wish i had heard of this; we have a stump in the middle of a flower bed that we created! But right now there are lots of plants surround it that are fairly new, and can’t be transplanted for a while. Maybe next year I’ll bury it.
Either that, or I’ll put a flower pot on top of it and surround it with tall, bushy flowers.
April 9th, 2008 at 2:19 pm
I can see where there could be a problem burning one if you live in city limits or have lots of neighbors. Fortunately we live in the country and don’t have to ask permission (or beg for forgiveness). Another potential danger is power lines. Which is what we have over ours. I asked my husband about the kerosene and he said he’d heard of using that, but said diesel fuel works better. You soak it everyday for a week and then light it. Since the fuel is soaked into it, it burns faster than just lighting a fire like I’ve always seen done. And he said you want to make a good barrier around it so you don’t catch the yard on fire!
April 9th, 2008 at 2:51 pm
We once had a guy in to grind a tree stump for us (he was a general yard care contractor - did all kinds of work from roto-tilling to weed treatments). He charged us only $60. And it took him about 10 minutes!
April 9th, 2008 at 4:40 pm
I planted hostas around mine, good for May through November!
April 9th, 2008 at 9:21 pm
Tyler - that’s a great deal… and Jennifer’s quote at $10/inch isn’t bad either. I’m also intrigued by the idea of a garden - in the case of the friend who was pulling this out of his yard, the back yard was very small (a townhome) and the tree was so large the stump and root system covered about 1/3 of the whole yard - in a very difficult place. I can see many times where a garden would be the perfect thing.
April 9th, 2008 at 10:38 pm
If you have a trailer and more than one stump, best thing to do is rent a grinder! Great fun and very therapeutic. Had my fun a while back:
http://jonmcdougal.blogspot.com/2007/03/daily-grind.html
I recall it cost just north of $125 for the grinder, for two days.
However, if I have just a couple of stumps to remove, I’d hire a guy. Down here, in Katrinaville, there were literally 350,000,00 trees destroyed in 2005. Seriously! A third of a billion trees toppled by Katrina. So stump grinders are easy to find and plenty of people are available to grind one for you. So the average price is about $50, per stump.
I’ve never heard anyone quote based on inches. Maybe a Yankee thing?
I’ve used nitrates. I used one called “Stump Killer.” It did not mention covering the stump with plastic. And it did not work at all. I’ve poisoned a stump at least three times in the past year and it remains, still growing new limbs (which I hack off) each month.
-Jon
April 10th, 2008 at 1:24 am
I have a large tree and nearly a dozen bushes to take out this year; thanks for a nice summary of the options for stump removal.
April 16th, 2008 at 4:21 pm
I had about 15 stumps varying in size from 2-12 inches removed by a contractor for $100…. it was a bargain price from a stump contractor who was looking for business in my neighborhood. I called another contractor and was quoted $2.50/inch. Maybe in Virginia, things are just cheap. Either way, I took the good deal while it was around!
-Scott
April 16th, 2008 at 7:36 pm
Scott,
That does sound like a great deal. I know my friend had only one large stump removed for more than double and it was the best price he could find (contractor, rent equipment, etc.).
August 15th, 2008 at 9:14 pm
I work on a golf course so back hoes tratcors etc were not a preferred option due to the wheel marks and drag marks etc, besides once you have the stump out of the groud you still have to get rid of it! We had a guy quote the removal of our stumps varying sizes from 40cm to some as big as 120cm accross at around $8500 AU dollars. A bit out of our budget. One member suggested that we build a fire over the stumps and add animnal fat to the fire, the theory being that the fat burns into the stump and it gets right below the groud. We tried this and it worked a treat, burns the stump below the ground too. Just add some dirt in the hole left over and throw a bit of grass seed on top. You can get as much animnal fat from your local buthcer for free as he usually has to pay someone to get rid of it for him. The fire smells great too (sorry to the vegetarians!) when it is burning.
August 16th, 2008 at 8:50 am
@Michael Stork, That’s a nice bit of ingenuity. Did the person on your team ever burn away a stump before? How long did it burn?
August 17th, 2008 at 5:30 am
Ethan, No this was a first. They have burnt two stumps that were about 2 feet across and under a year old and about one foot sticking out of the ground. It took about three days, and about three garbage bins of fat, but all there is left of the stump is a bit of a hollow. We started burning a quite old stump that would be four foot across and about as high out of the ground on Friday. When I checked it during my round today (Sunday) I had noticed that it had gone out so we will try again tomorrow.