Fresh asphalt and stump depressions

[USAFpj]

Good morning, gents. I've had these (4) Loblollies in my front yard as a circular drive for the last (9) years. Over time, these trees that I refused to cut, have now expanded to 18in diameter and it's time for them to be harvested.

If I were to remove them and then cover the area in asphalt, what is the best technique for ensuring solid ground over time? My initial thoughts are to drop them, cut the stump, remove the stump, then fill the void with compacted dirt/crusher run.

Or is stump grinding feasible? Seems like that would lead to depressions once the roots start to deteriorate? Thanks for the insight!

 

[Rockbadchild]

You will want to remove all organics, add material with high compaction.

 

[workinonit]

Those small trees can be cut and the stumps removed with a back hoe. They will absolutely need to be dug up. and make sure all the tap root is removed. I cut 130 of them in my house spot and ground the stumps. The ones where my house is were all dug up. @7 years later I'm still having to fill craters in my yard.

 

[USAFpj]

Will do! Thanks for the replies, gents.

 

[EddieWalker]

I dig the entire tree up with my backhoe and after cutting it up, I fill in the entire hole with clean fill. I dump the dirt into the hole and then drive into it to compact it. Once I get the hole full, I drive over it with a load of dirt in my bucket before dumping the dirt for extra weight in compacting it. By the time I have it full, it's solid from driving my front tires over it so many times.

 

[USAFpj]

Thanks, Eddie! I've been taking your advice since 2014; you and a few others on here as well. My projects turn out pretty good by listening to those that have been there before. I hate reinventing the wheel...