Help with Stump Removal
 

Hi! I've got a 11" or so stump I need to get rid of. Suggestions or offers?!https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...8543b7f3c7.jpg

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PS It only needs to be shortened, not necessarily taken out.

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Why dig it up ?
 

I would suggest having a guy with stump grinder. That way it's done quickly and no need to tear up the yard at all....

I guess I should have specified: cheap or free options!

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A little digging around it then hose it down to wash away dirt/sand and saw it off below ground level...about an hour’s work for a strapping lad like you! :D

I think this is the direction I'm going.

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Everything Hillcountry minus the saw.

In my opinion, it will be more effective and easier to break out the axe as your saw, regardless if it's hand or power, will dull soon after any dirt gets mixed in. If I were pulling that by hand I'd start finding the main chutes in at least a 4' diameter under the soil.

And at 11" across, I'm putting my money on, you're in for a rude awakening pulling that by hand.

Difficult to tell from the pic but if that's white pine, the root system will be shallow but cover a large area so the 4' estimate will like be as wide as 6' in any given direction. If that's a hard wood, I'm sorry in advance.

If you decide you'd rather save your day and pay in beer and gas money, PM me. I own equipment.

5# of Tannerite

Shoot from far, far away! :D

I like!:D:look:

If it's close to the lake you are supposed to leave them anyway.

.....what WorX for me?
 

For $44.95, (reg price $114.99) shipping included, you can get a WorX wg305.1, 8-amp, 14" plug-in electric chain saw from Ebay. The WorX power tools company in South or North Carolina, somewhere, uses Ebay to sell off their returned, reconditioned tools, or something(?) and Ebay has many many different WorX tools ...... such a deal? Is this really a good deal? Dunno, time will tell? ...... but, it's basically a factory reconditioned store with big selection, low prices, and shipping included. Seems too good to be real so maybe it's just fake news ......will believe it ..... after using the tool for a year or so?

Also, sawing a pine tree is about ten times less challenging than sawing an oak tree. Oak is very tough stuff using a hand saw.

That' not a very big stump. I'd dig around it and cut it up with an electric saw.

Stump Grinder
 

I rented a hydraulic stump grinder from Taylor Rental in Belmont. 4 hours cost $160. The stump in your picture would take about 20 minutes. I was amazed how easy it was and how easy it was to learn how it worked. I had no previous experience doing this but I would do it again in a minute.

Maybe your neighbors have stumps to be removed too and you could have a 4 hour stump grinding party?

https://nhtent.com/catalog/product/1...-stump-grinder

Looks like you need a trailer for that baby. When in the same predicament I found a smaller 2 wheel version at Home Depot rental for 160 for the day. Didn’t rent it and did a crappy job going through 3 chains on my chain saw. My advice, rent a grinder!


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I definitely will not use my chainsaw! I'm gonna give it a go with the sawzall, after shoveling a bit around it, and see how it goes!

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I think a skill saw would work better....it's only a few inches above ground

I need to get it below ground a bit, so holding a circular saw sideways and not getting any sand in it would be tough. I've got a 12" wood blade for my sawzall that is disposable.Sent from my Moto G (5S) Plus using Tapatalk

Fire and Patience...
 

From what little we can see of it, it does look like White Pine. Do I see marks indicative of a router? It'd be gummy, but it would work.

A Florida neighbor removed a stump using charcoal briquettes. It took two days, but the stump was reduced to ground level. Aside from forming a barrier, not much effort was involved, and roots still kept the soil intact.

A suggestion: don't count on a trailer hitch to pull the stump, and remain attached to the car! :eek:

How do you remove them with charcoal briquettes, APS?

I saw this method used in several YouTube videos. You can search there for “easy stump removal “ or such.

Steve

Flustercuck on the way...
 

Burning the roots of any dead tree, in particular those of a conifer, can start a shallow and widespread fire that may take hours to days to pop up in full impact. Stump may be gone with some number of acres with it.

Reminds me about the coal mines in PA that have been burning since the 60's(?)

I shan't be burning it out, friends, THAT you can believe!

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You wouldn’t need to hold the circular saw sideways...just go across the top of the stump with the saw at full cut depth and make a bunch of cuts across the top the simply take an axe or sledge and whack the cuts. They will break off as you whack ‘em! Rinse and repeat until below grade.

Hmmm... Interesting idea.

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So we are back to the explosive then? :eek:

Dynamite always blows down!

Well I'm stumped. :laugh:

If its pine and not oak you should be able to slice it and dice it down to ground level or lower with a hand saw designed with the big, deep teeth for live green trees. Down at ye olde Tru Value Hdwre on Union Ave in Laconia .....for like twenty dollars you can get a good one, about 18" long, totally wicked sharp, two sets of cutting teeth on both sides of the blade, and a wood handle which will get it done .... and maybe last for the next hundred years.

Oak takes about five-10 times the effort.

There's a saw sharpening business on Rt 104, close to Center Meredith Rd turn off that can turn an old dull saw into a very doable cutter.

Prior to 1950, there were no chainsaws.

Ayup.

No need to be using a gas/cordless weed wacker either, just haul thy olde scythe down to the Rt 104 sharp shoppe.

Ayup.

Ayup.

Ayuppe.

That was my thought too....bet it will work.
Amazing how many sidewalk engineers pop up for these little projects : )

Storage Units = No Trees...
 

I like this idea. :)

'Hope it's close to an outlet. :eek2:

'Worked for my neighbor. ;)

Was this the stump of a dead tree? If not, this method ("Swedish Rocket Stove") would be cheaper than charcoal:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pgx_VPmJx8

Speaking of acres missing—there are greater threats to New Hampshire's forests:

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..... the Swedish torch?
 

How to remove tree stumps cheaply

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUM8RcLYCdl ...... oopsie, got to work on this link to get it to work ...... later gator?

using the 'Swedish torch'. (10:43- educational minutes)

Tearing up a left over cardboard, 30-can beer box for kindling, placing the cardboard into a sliced up stump, and toasting marsh mellows over the burning stump ........ way to go ...... totally informative!

I've had several jobs where folks want to have their land filled in and graded because the stump(s) they had someone grind or trim below grade years earlier rotted away which resulted in a depression in the ground.

Amazing how many people find this tiny detail out later down the line and have to pay someone again to fix it.

;)

It's not so hard to fix it later on. It does take quite a few years for this to happen. You just add more dirt to the depression. I guess it depends on how many you have done this to? If it's just one it's not such a big deal.

You are absolutely right, it is not difficult to repair however I'd rather do it correctly than do it over.

My approach to this would be to remove the material that will rot, fill the hole right then and there and never have to worry about it.

My concern is that I don't know where the roots go and/or what they are connected to, so I don't want to be too aggressive. Given that it's a small stump, I'm *hoping* that there's not much of an area to rot.

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If you're not in a rush they have products that will speed up the rot process. I was told by an arborist that drilling holes in the stump and filling them with rock salt will speed up the process. I never personally tried it.

There's no getting around disrupting the soil. Those main chutes will be up to 6' out.

My suggestions are more to save you long term hassle based on my experience. Rotten wood will invite the bugs. That rotten wood will eventually collapse and cause a depression in your grading.

I realize my opinion is strong. Reason being is that I have heard pretty much everything said in this thread only to have a customer arrive at "I should have just pulled them out". Drives me nuts every time. :laugh:

The way I see it...a dentist doesn't remove a tooth by simply grinding it below the gumline.

I cut down an oak tree 20 years ago, and had the stump ground down. As of now there is absolutely zero depression in the soil.

Granted, it's oak so it will take forever to rot, but if history proves right then I'll be long gone before the remaining stump (below the soil line) sinks into the ground and needs any top soil.

Many years ago I cut down a few trees and buried branches in a hole I dug with a backhoe. I filled the hole and drove over it with the backhoe to pack it down. I wet the soil, added more fill, and drove over it again with the backhoe to make sure it was packed down really well.

I lived in that house for over 20 years and that spot continued to sink as the old wood rotted. Every few years I would have to add fill to make it level and replant grass seed.

Lesson learned! I would never do that again.

Update: had my cancer-curing Stihl 361 with me to buck up a couple lengths today, so I ended up just noodling 4 grooves (inspired by circular saw suggestion above) and knocking the tops off with a sledge. Took 15 minutes and was able to get about 4 inches below ground without hitting dirt with my chain. Nice and flat now, so's I can drive straight into my parking spot.

Thanks for the ideas, all!

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Perfect! You’re welcome!

Get Off Lawns—Yew...
 

You-all must have lawns. :yawn:

We have ferns, pink lady slippers, queen pine, yew, blueberry, and other natural green ground cover. Underlying all that are large mats of interlocking pine needles (Nature's effort to improve water quality and fight erosion). :cool:

It's a totally-unpaved, no-maintenance, two-acre lot that supplies us with firewood, tinder, privacy, noise reduction, mink, weasels, chipmunks, birds (including Thrushes :) ) shade, trees reduce strong winds' effects, and limits the fallout of auto traffic dust from the unpaved no-maintenance dead-ended roadway.

Daytimes, we use two window-unit A/Cs maybe twice a summer. Heavy shade from trees allow those two little 6000-BTU window units to cool the entire house—at Noon!

Helping to keep night-time forest noises away—falling branches, deer, raccoon, but mostly Barred Owl calls—the two A/Cs contribute desirable "white noise" at night—when "idling" off the compressor.

One advantage to those stumps is that it keeps ATVs out. :look:

It doesn't help that heavy boat traffic is eroding the shoreline, and the existing trees are doing a "slow-march" to the waterline. :(

Some of our neighbors have "grandfathered" sea walls, but they're to keep a green-grass lawn for Canada Geese to browse and breed. :rolleye1:

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I hear you! After cutting, fertilizing, mulching, and trimming a lawn at home in Ma for 50 some odd years I certainly don't want one at the lake. And I won't lose any sleep about a stump rotting after 20 years and causing a depression in the yard.