Stump Removal...Best Method?

[beenthere]

I kicked a couple and they sure seem very "firm" still.

Kicking them may not indicate just how easy they will come out, after all this time. Try some serious pull on them (and I said pull, not jerk!!) with a tractor or even a truck using cable or chain. Make a block and tackle arrangement using cable to gain some pulling power (mechanical advantage) between two stumps, and whichever is left standing of the two then move to another pair. Prolly quicker than grinding stumps.

There was a post using a stump splitter, but it was very heavy duty and required some big tractor power to run

How about a pic of the area? We like pics.

I also agree, leave them there if you are going to plant more trees.

 

[Kyle241]

Based on the description of your plans for the property, I would not remove them. I would cut them close to the ground and let them rot. For any trails I would remove them or grind them down. Up my way, jack pine stumps come out easily with my FEL and with a tooth bar would really make it easy. Now if we are talking elm stumps then it's dynamite does the job.

 

[Pete Judd]

Up here in the PNW we just bring in a shovel with a thumb. Grab them out of the ground drop them a few times to get the dirt off (dirt don't burn) and put the stumps in a pile. Wait a few months for them to dry, and have a big fire. But we are talking about large fir and alder stumps, sometimes western red cedar as well. Smaller alder stumps here at the house, cut them flush and drill holes into them with the cordless drill, and let them rot out in a year or two.

Have not been able to get the blasting stuff in a lot of years.

 

[trailbuilder]

Jack Pine stumps are similar to Red pine stumps. I ground 85 stumps 12-15 inch in diameter in an hour with my ASV PT100 and Fecon for a customer to turn the woods into pasture, it worked well and was cheap $300, no mess when I was done either. I drive by and the horses seem happy.
2 Harbors is not too far away from Ironwood if you need a hand. I work in Duluth, Ashland, Corny and Bayfield.

 

[tawilson]

I've dug out a few pine stumps, and you can't tell what a project it will be till you give it a poke. A tractor with a front end loader might pop them out or you might need a hoe or dozer. I'd buy a 4wd tractor with a front end loader and see how it goes and then decide how to deal with them. I can tell that secretly down deep you want a tractor anyways. I'm perceptive, plus I've been drinking.:thumbsup:

 

[Pilot]

Best machine for pulling stumps, at least large ones, is an excavator, or shovel and thumb as Pete Judd says. It does the least damage to the site (dozers are awful--compaction, disruption of the topsoil, no selectivity--everything in front of the blade goes into the pile along with a lot of dirt) and is cheaper and faster. This has been confirmed by research studies by researchers I know and whose work is good and my own observations agree.

But you have small stumps that have been dead awhile. And you want to reforest.

Don't bother with them except where you want a trail. And on the trail I would just cut them almost flush. Yeah, stumps are ugly, but they'll soon disappear in your new forest.

And as for transplanting, I am not so sure that's a good idea. Around here 2 year old seedlings from a nursery went for $.25 each a couple years ago. These are vigorous and well fertilized, parents are selected for good genes and the seedlings are cultivated for transplanting. A good tree planter can plant around 400-600 nursery grown seedlings per day. Wild seedlings don't do nearly as well. And you have to dig them up without damaging them and care for them properly before replanting. It's a lot of work. And you're probably looking at 200-300 seedlings per acre. Think about it.

 

[MarkV]

I don't know why you would bother to pull pine stumps when you intend to reforest. Here after a clear cut we wait a year and then do a controlled burn to get rid of the slash. After that a planting crew comes in to plant seedling. Nature takes care of the stumps before the property is ready to log again.

MarkV

 

[jonyyuma]

The pine stumps here only take a couple of years, then rot out. I then dump dirt down the holes.Unless you are building a road over them, why bother? If youre in a hurry, a year or two then burn it. Jy.

 

[Reg]

The pine stumps here only take a couple of years, then rot out. I then dump dirt down the holes.Unless you are building a road over them, why bother? If youre in a hurry, a year or two then burn it. Jy.

My point(s) exactly.
It really DOES depend on your intended use in the short and mid term.
For building, turning out high value heavy animals, or laying hard roads you probably can't afford to let them rot in the ground.

For SOME crops you may be able to, you may not want to, it probably depends on what you will grow and how you will til (or not til).

 

[TMR]

I think I need to visit the property and take another look at the stumps. I think the area was logged at least 10 years ago. Perhaps they are not a solid as I thought when I just "kicked" one. Maybe a tractor and FEL could push them right over/out?

Also, if they are stubborn then just clearing the trail that I want to establish should be sufficient at this point. First project will likely be to gather and burn the "slash"...that will probably improve the looks of the area quite a bit.

Re; transplanting natural seedlings...that is a bit of a hobby. I will likely try a few and see what the results are...NO large quantities planned. I first may try a manual post hole digger and see if I can just pull out of dirt and directly place in a pre-dug hole? My thought is this would work on the 1-2 year seedlings...ie; put the "open" post hole shovel down over the seedling, push into the ground, close the digger...and move it intact to the new hole. Kind of like the big landscaping truck/diggers do with large trees? I will learn quickly if it works or not.

Thanks...TMR

P.S. Going up to the property this weekend and will try to get a couple of pictures...TMR

The pine stumps here only take a couple of years, then rot out. I then dump dirt down the holes.Unless you are building a road over them, why bother? If youre in a hurry, a year or two then burn it. Jy.