You’ve just cut down that old, dead tree in your yard. After spending hours sawing it up into pieces and removing the wood, there’s still one problem: the stump. For home owners looking to re-do their lawn and build new landscaping, there’s few annoying obstacles that compare to a tree stump. They stick out like a sore thumb, especially if located in the middle of your front yard.
Why Remove a Stump?
If you ask around, the most common explanation for stump removal is to improve the aesthetic appeal of your property. Maintaining a healthy looking lawn is hard to do when you have a large chunk of wood poking out of the grass. Home owners typically remove them to put landscaping in its place.
Tree stumps of old trees have roots that are deeply entrenched in the grounds of your property. This makes removing them one of the most burdensome tasks of property renovation. These roots, if planted close enough, can create stress on the foundation of your home (see picture above). Concrete driveways, sidewalks, and fence lines can also experience distortion from tree roots pushing into them. Tree stumps are also breeding grounds for termites. If they’re close to your home, the last thing you want is an infestation.
Tree Stump Removal Methods
The stump grinder is the most common form of tree stump removal. They’re relatively easy and safe to operate. The grinder will shave the stump repetitively until all visible wood is gone. Due to the heavy duty nature of grinders, there’s steps one should take when using.
- Use a shovel to remove all stray rocks/pebbles from the desired grinding area. If you run the grinder over the stump with rocks present, there’s a solid chance of hazard when the teeth grab hold of them and toss them wildly. Rocks also wear down grinder teeth.
- To get a start, without creating unnecessary stress on the stump grinder, use a chainsaw to file the stump down as low as possible. This isn’t a requirement, but will expedite the grinding process when using the machinery.
- Position the hydraulic level of the stump grinder roughly three inches above the stump. The grinder wheel should be over the front edge. Once you start the wheel, lower it 3-4 inches into the stump. Make sure that observers, including the operator, are located behind the grinder and not in front in fear of stray debris flying from the wheel.
- Once you’ve grinded at least 4-6 inches into the ground, the mass of the stump and roots should be gone. Remove smaller roots by hand and fill in the hole with fresh topsoil.
- Tamp and rake the soil. Spread grass seed into soil and be sure to water.
Burning a tree stump is common practice, as well. Effort is minimized compared to using a grinder and hand removal. Once you used a chainsaw to cut the stump to the ground as low as possible, you begin to drill holes into the surface of the stump with a spade drill bit. Drill multiple holes with 1 inch depth.
Proceed to pour kerosene into the holes. Once the liquid has fully penetrated the wood over the course of a week or so, drop a match into the holes. It’s important to check with local fire ordinances to verify fire compliance laws.
Rent Stump Grinders and Chainsaws from BlueLine Rental
Feel like taking on that monolithic tree stump this year? Rent It Today can connect you with BlueLine Rental at one of their nationwide rental hubs. Blueline Rental provides stump grinder and chainsaw rentals.
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