Why hire a tree service…
May 11, 2019

After going through the trouble to have a tree removed, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to leave the stump sitting there. A few of the top reasons to remove stumps from your yard include:

  • They are Eyesores – No one likes gazing out into the yard and seeing old stumps dotting the landscape. They look even worse when weeds and other plants start growing on them, which inevitably happens over time.
  • They Take Up Valuable Space – Most people want the widest, clearest yards possible, and stumps really get in the way.
  • They are Hazardous – Some stumps are obvious, but others get camouflaged by grass, weeds and other plants and become tripping hazards. Nothing is worse than stubbing your toe on an old tree stump.

    Assessing a Tree Stump

    Some stumps are easier to remove than others and therefore different techniques can be applied. Being prepared ahead of time and knowing which techniques and methods to use for which type of job will make things much easier for you in the long run. For example, pine tree stumps tend to be easier to remove than stumps from deciduous trees. The roots of pine trees tend to be wide, flat and relatively shallow while deciduous tree stumps’ roots tend to be long and deep.

    What makes a stump easier to remove? Generally, the age and size of the tree are the best indicators of stump removal difficulty. Simply put, the older a stump is, the easier it is to remove. Likewise, small stumps are also easier to remove than large ones. Another good thing to keep in mind before choosing a stump removal method is to consider the total number of stumps that need to be removed. Do you really want to remove 100 stumps by hand? Or even 3? This guide will help you decide which stump removal techniques and methods are appropriate for you.

    Removing a Stump by Grinding it Away Yourself

    If removing a stump manually won’t work and you’d like to get rid of your stump (or stumps) quickly, you can always rent a grinder and grind the stump away yourself. These heavy-duty machines weigh around 1,000 pounds, and you can expect to pay between $100 and $200 to rent one for a single day. Therefore, it only makes financial sense to do the job yourself when there are several stumps to remove.

    In addition to the grinder, you will need a shovel, a mattock, a chainsaw and a rake.

    1. Use a shovel or mattock to clear rocks away from around the stump.
    2. Cut away as much of the stump as possible with a chainsaw. Try to get it as level to the ground as possible.
    3. Using the hydraulic lever, raise the grinder wheel a couple of inches above the stump. After turning it on, lower it about 3 inches into the stump. Move it side to side with the lever.
    4. After grinding down to about 4 inches with the grinder wheel, move it forward. Repeat the process until the entire stump is at least 4 inches below ground.

    Keep in mind that a stump grinder is a dangerous piece of equipment and that you should always wear protective gear. Be especially diligent about wearing protective goggles or glasses because wood chips and other debris will fly everywhere. If you’ve never used a stump grinder before, it’s also a good idea to have someone at the rental place teach you how to use the machine before bringing it home or having it delivered.

    If you only have one or two stumps, a professional company will probably only charge around $100 to $200, so that might be the way to go under those circumstances. As an added bonus, many companies will haul away the stump too.

6 Comments

  1. My brother and I checked out his beach house after a while to see how it’s doing, and to our surprise, there were a couple of nearby stumps we didn’t know about. It helped a lot when you said a few stumps can be handled by professionals as well as hauling them away because my brother and I still have a lot of things to fix at the beach house and so we’d rather have someone lend us a hand with the stumps. I’ll be sure to show my brother this article before vacation starts so we can get a removal expert on the scene. Thank you!

  2. Thanks for the reminder that proper safety gear is needed to operate a stump grinding machine. I will probably have to ask my neighbor to watch over my dog for me so that I can assure that he will not get close during the removal of the tree stump when I hire stump grinding services soon. The stump from the old dead tree on my backyard started having some fungi on it and I don’t want to deal with such organisms in my garden.

  3. Arthur John says:

    Haha wow, I love this post about tree removal. PLEASE keep posting! Can’t wait to read your next blog! https://www.battlecreektrees.com/

  4. Fascinating. Definitely bookmarking this page. Really valuable info, thanks for posting about tree removal. https://www.treeshoover.com/

  5. Interesting stuff! I’ll probably share this post about tree removal with some of my friends. Thanks again for posting it. https://www.summervilletrees.com/

  6. Do you have a Youtube channel as well with this kind of content on it? I would love to see this post about stump grinding turned into a longer video if possible. Maybe I can share on it on my website. https://www.tuscaloosatrees.com/

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Enter the text from the image below
 

Pay Invoice