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

[sandman2234]

When you have dug to the maximum reach of your hoe, all the way around the stump, and given it a good pull with the winch and added push with the tractor, and it still doesn't come out, then consider burning it or blasting it. Dispite being so close to the house, by the time you're at this point, you won't care if it takes out the house, you will be so frustrated by the stump. Hang in there, as it has been mentioned several times, persistance is what gets stumps out!! Getting in a hurry and trying to speed things up tends to break equipment and hurt people. Take your time, and keep digging! When the stump is ready to come out, it will just fall over in the hole, and you can drag it out via the ramp you have dug on one side of the hole to get your tractor into the hole with it!
David from jax

 

[Ductape]

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.

Irwin, how do you do it???? Standing there with a coffee cup in your hand while you your wife runs the human power shovel ??!!! You sir, are my new hero.

 

[scoutcub]

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

Eddie;
Are you saying just push it over with a tractor after digging the trench? That sounds like one step better than getting a rope up high. I've also heard filling the trench around the tree/stump with water will help to loosen it up? (perhaps more for transplanting)
Well, I've got some recently purchased land in Ohio that needs some trees removed for a homesite, I think I will try this method.

As a sidenote....is the Texas economy still holding it's own? You're close to my old stomping grounds, Killeen. Still have a house in Harker Heights. Last I heard home prices were doing much better than nationwide....but that was several months ago.....

 

[SPIKER]

RONMAR:
looks are deceiving, I know who big you're JINMA is with the HOE on there. that stump must have been 4' across on top and 6" at ground level!? had to be a heck of a ong time playing around getting that puppy out of there!

I can't add much other than try & not break anything, dont use the 4 wheel drive as you are more likely to still not move the stump and also break the tractor, dont ask how I know this...

anyhow the dig under & burn with small fan works well, might I also add using a propane blow torch (weed burner big type not hand held solder type.) to fry & dry the tap root once exposed. pressure washing works great if you can keep the water level down and or can pump it back away fro the working area, not to mention it gets muddy fast this way but will soften the dirt for easier removal of the stump...

mark

 

[two_bit_score]

In looking at your picture again it shows a bow saw on top of the stump. I would recommend using a recip. saw with a long blade to get down in those roots and cut them loose. Save a lot of wear and tear on you working that bow saw.

 

[woodlandfarms]

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.

I love the burn out marks on your lawn. Wife must have loved you much after that stump was pulled...

 

[skidoo]

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.

If it was out in the open, I may have tried something like that. Here is a picture of it where it fell. We took it down in Feb. As you can see on the left, there is a group of 3 similar sized Ponderosa Pines where the branches in the crown are sort of in the way, and on the right is the house. I only had a window of a few feet left or right where I could drop it. Fortunately, it fell perfectly where I wanted. Turns out that we removed the deck anyway to re-do it...

Well, off to do more digging. I think I'll try using the forks too...

 

[scoutcub]

Gotcha.
I'm going to use my forks as well to transplant a blue spruce....dig around the root, and soak it for awhile......then try to center the forks on the root ball and let the hydraulics do the rest. Hopefully....

 

[irwin]

Irwin, how do you do it???? Standing there with a coffee cup in your hand while you your wife runs the human power shovel ??!!! You sir, are my new hero.

Well, you know we do need a helpmate occasionally. The L35 couldn't pick up the stump, so she jumped in to help out by removing a few rocks and some dirt.... a good woman doesn't care if her hands get dirty once in a while.

 

[skidoo]

Success!!!

I did not need to use the pressure washer nor a winch. Just kept digging at it. But, it was heavy. I had to drag it out of the hole with the BH. Only then, was I able to maneuver the forks close enough to do any sort of lifting. That is as high as it would lift. That was fine because I did not want it any higher. It tried to tip me over from there when I turned it around on the slight slope of the driveway....