[How do I?] Remove green tree stumps

[SLK001]

I cut down one of my Mother's trees a couple of years ago. She didn't have a fireplace, so it all had to go. I got an electric leaf blower and a length of 3" metal fence post. I stuck the post into the blower and stuffed the area around the post with rags, then taped it together. I began setting the wood from the tree around the stump in a teepee style, then lit it on fire. Once the fire had become established, I turned on the leaf blower on high. As I cut up the rest of the tree, my "crew" continued to stack the wood around the stump. The fire burned white hot and reduced the stump to below ground level in about 4 hours. This tree was very much alive and green when removed.

 

[Nutfarmer]

We use a backhoe all the time on the farm to dig out tree stumps. Larger one dig on each side of the stump first. Not having heavy equipment one can paint the stump with concentrated roundup right after cutting the tree down. Just paint the outer edge of the stump. After the stump is dead and dry take a barrel and remove both ends. Place the open end of the barrel over the stump and hold it up with rocks or bricks so there is several inches above the ground. This will create an air follow when a fire is built on top of the stump in the barrel. This will burn out the stump.

 

[murraym]

I've never tried it but maybe some snatch blocks with your truck.

 

[homebrewed]

I've never tried it but maybe some snatch blocks with your truck.

Some type of rope will stretch when subjected to a high load. Maybe good for absorbing the shock of a falling climber but if used to pull stumps out of the ground and something lets go the rope (and whatefver is still attached to it) can suddenly become a missle. People have been killed that way.

For that reason I don't use plastic rope for this sort of thing, I stick with my steel chain. It's a pain to drag around because it's pretty heavy but better suited for the task. So far the worst that's happened is that the tractor just spins its wheels and digs holes in the ground.

Steel cable probably would work OK as well but I already have the chain. And you have to be careful to avoid kinking the cable by forcing it to bend in too small a radius.

 

[whitmore]

The burn-a-stump method I've heard is to bore a few holes, fill 'em with nitrate
(fertilizer grade), and repeat a few times. When the nitrate has permeated, THEN
you can apply fire; sodium or potassium nitrate is an oxidizer, and when the
wood is saturated with it, it burns fast.

 

[Alcap]

At our new to us house we also needed to deal with both dead trees and one freshly cut . I did use the sub compact Kubota BX23 for some but there were a few large trees that were way to big of a job . We do have rental places that have stump grinders but when I found a stump grinder at Home Depot on sale for $1300 I figured it would pay to have it mostly for the convenience . Very happy with it , yes it’s a chore to use compared to what I could have rented but on a 10” stump I could get it out of the shed and grind it before I could go the the rental place and back home . Im guessing the model I bought was upgraded and more money but if you think your going to have more uses after these this might be an option Here’s a few pictures of my son using it at a fairly large spruce stump. Had to tell but started about 18” but by the time he got to ground level was over 2’ . https://www.homedepot.com/p/Power-K...Vit-GCh0UHQSwEAQYAyABEgIIePD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

[deakin]

FWIW the chain, wheel and truck trick doesn't work as advertised - at least with my 50hp tractor in fl sand

the tree spade on a tractor or skid steer is time consuming - at least for the 5-8" ones, so is a small stump grinder

if they were pine trees.....

 

[projectnut]

A D8? Yep. At roughly 80,000 lbs, definitely falls in the "Overkill is Underrated." at least for the stumps @Cadillac is talking about.
That's my way of saying I'm envious.

Why stop at a D8 when you can get a D11 for a mere $300,000.00 or so. Here's a link to a few for sale. The cheapie is $297,000.00 while the most expensive is $1,350,000.00. Be sure to add another $50,000.00 or so to the budget for disassembly, transportation, and reassembly. If you don't find what you need in the used category you can always buy new for just a few bucks more. Starting price is a little over $2,220,000.00 for the bare machine. Then you can choose the blade size that will best fit your needs for only few thousand more.

https://www.mylittlesalesman.com/caterpillar-d11-crawler-dozers-for-sale-i1c39f5m553352

With the standard 22' blade you can move about 57 yards of material per pass. If you go to the largest one you can move a little over 89 yards per pass. Just make sure the soil you're on can support the machine as it weighs slightly less than 250,000 lbs. Be sure to fill up the 500-gallon fuel tank before you start. You'll be using about 35 gallons of #2 diesel per hour if you don't work it too hard.

Or if you have a slightly smaller budget, you could just rent a stump grinder. We've rented one on several occasions. The nearest rental place at the time was over 40 miles away. However, if you rented on a Friday, you could return it on a Monday and only be charged for 2 days. In this area a 25 hp self-propelled auto sweep model rents for about $250.00 a day. A 35 hp model goes for about $300.00 a day.

 

[Shotgun]

Steel cable probably would work OK as well but I already have the chain. And you have to be careful to avoid kinking the cable by forcing it to bend in too small a radius.

Steel cable is worse than the rope. Steel has a lot of spring, and one snapping can literally take a persons head off. If you're going to use a steel cable, to WAY oversize.

 

[cathead]

If you dig around the stump and rinse off the roots, you can remove the bulk of it with a chain saw. It's hard work though.
Better yet would be a skid steer or even a dozer to make short work of it.