32" Doug Fir stump - Do I have a chance of success?

[CurlyDave]

In the future, if possible, cut your tree higher up. The higher the better. That way you will have some leverage to assist you...

I have to agree with this.

The only reason to cut a tree low is to maximize the board feet of lumber it will produce. I try to cut trees where I will take out the stump as high up as I can comfortably operate the chain saw.

If the stump is going to be really large it is far easier to cut it off again closer to the ground once you have broken it free.

 

[irwin]

Every stump will come out, it's just a matter of persistence on your part.

From the picture, I don't think you have taken out enough dirt around the sides. Keep digging. I've had them hold tight until I dug down as deep as I could, all the way around. What really kills me, is I'll fight and fight a stump while digging around it, but then change sides and it pops loose.


Good luck, if you take out enough dirt, it will break free.

Eddie

I'll repeat what's been said" keep digging". Here's a big one from last summer. Had to dig deep, then push/pull till it loosen'd and pushed it over.

 

[RonMar]

I just did one a little larger than that last winter/spring/summer. It was about the same distance from the house... One thing that worked well for me was to dig a real deep hole as close alongside the trunk as I could get with the backhoe bucket. I actually did this on two sides. Then I took a pressure washer and used that to wash away the soil and rocks into the pits. This really helps to expose the roots, and gets you some clearance under the trunk to get at that tap root. The problem with roots is that they often grow around and conceal rocks, so chainsaw work is very frustrating. Another problem is the weight. Don't be deceived by that stump. That is the wetest wood on the tree and that stump you have probably weighs in at over a ton. You can expose and clean the roots with the pressure washer and more easilly cut them. But then you have this 2000+ pound stump setting in a basket of it's own root stubs. You just are not going to be able to move it any appreciable distance untill the tap root is cut, as it has to go up and over the roots.

The tap root is usually encrusted with rocks and in my experience VERY difficult to cut. I actually had the best results burning thru the tap root. The cleared space under the stump makes a natural oven. I used a 4" radioshack 12VDC fan connected to a 4" piece of round metal ducting about 3' long to feed air under the stump and into the heart of a very small but fiercly burning fire. A 12V car battery will power this fan for about a week, so you can easilly use a vehicle battery to run it. I kept this fire pushed up against the taproot and occasionally broke away at the surface of the root with a long metal pipe to help the burnthru. It has to dry out some before it will burn thru, so even this takes a while. Did I mention be patient Mine was a little bigger and probably close to 3000 pounds. It took many hours of work over several weeks to free it. It was also all my 30 horse 4WD tractor could do to drag it up and over the root stubs. It would not drag well, and it was right at my loader limits to roll it over and over to get to my burn pit. Here is a pic of the monster. Our house is about 15' from the right hand edge of the stump.

Good Luck.

 

[AchingBack]

I did an oak stump with my JD 48 hoe and swore I wouldn't do it again, mine was smaller than yours plus I left the trunk about 20 ft high to give me more leverage when pulling with my truck. (like AchingBack mentioned)

It still took several hours, I was surprised how easy it was to dig around the stump ripping up the roots but it would not go over even with hard pulling at the top of the trunk! This stump had no tap root and the roots were not deep at all, you can see by the length of the trunk how much leverage I had, I can't imagine how much longer it would have taken me with a short stump.

JB.

You had the good sense to soak the ground well. Aren't we glad we have these roots holding our dear earth in place? When taking on a job like this; slow and steady goes far in a day.

 

[skidoo]

Lots of good input so far, thanks... I am considering using the pressure washer technique and I also have 9500 lb winch on a Jeep and snatch strap that I could use it that would make a difference. But, first I'll continue digging tomorrow...

RonMar, that sure looks larger and has more side roots to boot.

 

[skidoo]

I have to agree with this.

snip...

Well, I agree too... But then, at the time, I did not want my son nor I to hold the chain saw above the neck line, and did not want to be on any ladder or equipment so we had the quickest method to move out of the way. Then again, it doesn't help when the son cuts it lower after the fact just for the fun of it without asking first!!!

 

[JB4310]

You had the good sense to soak the ground well. Aren't we glad we have these roots holding our dear earth in place? When taking on a job like this; slow and steady goes far in a day.

I can't take credit for the water, that was just Mother nature

Well, I agree too... But then, at the time, I did not want my son nor I to hold the chain saw above the neck line, and did not want to be on any ladder or equipment so we had the quickest method to move out of the way. Then again, it doesn't help when the son cuts it lower after the fact just for the fun of it without asking first!!!

Yeah the way I got mine so high is I had a guy with a bucket truck cutting down a few trees that couldn't be just dropped. the other stumps we cut flush with the ground but this one had to come out for driveway expansion, so he recommended cutting it high up, don't know how you could do that without a bucket truck, would be to dangerous from a ladder.

JB.

 

[ScottAR]

Keep digging.... You will win eventually...

My short experience with stumping is dig out from under the stump
as much as you can. My rig can mostly reach over to the far side
of the hole and get most of the bucket under the stump. Curl the
bucket and dipper out about half a bucket of dirt. This will take
a few minutes on smaller ones I've been doing and a pretty long
time on a biggie like that one.

I also like to grab a big root off to one side and pull on it with the
bucket. Twisting torque seems to help break things loose. HTH

 

[scoutcub]

Years ago I lived in western Washington State and had a buddy clearing a few acres for a homesite. His method was to get a rope as high on the tree as possible, and commence to pulling....he only had an old small cat tracked loader....but he got all his trees down. (+leverage+) And these were fair sized trees.
The advantages (stating the obvious here) are not having to spend all the seat time stumping.....
The disadvantages.....losing all the seat time.....getting the rope up high.....and having equipment (preferably tracked) that can pull it down.

Never tried it personally, it just always stuck in my head.

 

[EddieWalker]

Since you can't undo what's already done, it's just a time thing.

While leaving the stump taller would have helped, not cutting any of the tree is even better. The canopy on top of the tree will take it over nice and easy. Just dig your hole around the base, and then push it the way you want it to go. Depending on soil and roots, some trees go down with just a small trench on two sides, others need allot more dirt taken out. Either way, there is no tree that's too big to take out this way.

Eddie