"Alternative" Stump removal options.

[jpm]

hav you though of renting a small exavator for a day? not that much $ and you get to play with it

 

[yzbdsbp]

I have several stumps around my new barn, I have been looking for ways to get rid of them. This past week I poured some burnt motor oil on a stump and lit it, thinking that it would burn for just a little while, well 10.5 hours later it was still going! I didnt even drill holes, I just poured it over the top, because i didnt think it would burn very long. I wish now i would have done it right, so Im going to be hunting some burnt motor oil for the rest of them. I know you said that this area was going to be a food plot, but if you drill holes and control how much excess you have running around the stump, ie drilling holes and letting it soak in then add more, I would think most of the oil would burn up and not affect the soil a whole lot. Its worth a try, I know I was surprized.

 

[dmccarty]

I do have a backhoe to dig stumps but it takes awhile since its not a full sized backhoe. I pour old fuel on a stump that I cant dig up since its to close to other trees. Figure this stump is going to burn real easy one day. I have some other stumps that I'm going to remove the same way.

Prior to Sept 11, 2001 I looked into getting explosives to take out stumps. At the time, it looked like I could legally do so. I even talked to a company that sold explosives. I did not go any farther with this idea.

My wifes grandfather just burned up stumps in the ground. I think that is how the cleared the farm back in the day. As the old oaks around the farm house died, he would just stack up wood on the stumps and start a fire. Eventually the stump would go away but it would take a couple of fires.


Skyco, why can't you burn stumps in NC? Is that just for your county?

Later,
Dan

 

[Skyco]

Skyco, why can't you burn stumps in NC? Is that just for your county?

Later,
Dan

Nope - state law. It is an air quality issue. To be honest I kinda like it, I wish we had stronger burning laws in some of SC. I used to be bothered sometimes by smoke from open burning in my neighborhood. Fortunately Lexington County where I live has enacted stronger ordinances recently that have stopped most of it close to me. Now if you have lots of land and it isn't gonna smoke anyone out then I'm ok with it..

http://daq.state.nc.us/news/brochures/openbur.shtml

 

[Ronbo]

We need pictures to fully understand what you are doing. We also need pictures of how you dispose of these stumps.

We just like pictures.

Ron

 

[dmccarty]

...
NCDENR - Division of Air Quality - Open Burning Brochure

Things have changed yet also seem to be the same since I last burned in 2002/2003. The link you had is confusing. And I think on purpose since its from the air quality division and they don't want you burning.

Here is the burn permit I used to fill out. Well it has changed a bit. I think the difference is if one is a homeowner aka in a typical subdivision/town/city lot or a larger landowner.

NCDFR - Online Burning Permit Application


I have seen large land clearing operations were stumps and logs were burned over the last few years. It was done for land clearing of subdivisions. The subdivision was in my county and just across the road another property was being cleared for another development in Wake county. The Wake county clearing was done with a drum chippers. Pretty sure Wake has strict air quality rules. The one in my county was done by burning which does not have its own rules as far as I know.

If one can meet the requirements for land clearing then one can burn stumps and logs. But one does have to have a bit of land to do so. Or get the neighbors to agree.

My wife's grandmother still burns trash. She has been doing it all her life and I don't think she will stop though she should. She danged near killed herself throwing gas on the fire a few years ago. But she is also sitting on hundreds of acres of land and I doubt the little smoke generate can be seen.

Later,
Dan

 

[Pilot]

Seems to me that even if you try any of the burning or explosive methods you will probably still have roots to deal with. Since they are underground, they often don't dry enough to burn and don't get enough air.

Dozers are lousy machines for stump removal. They depend on their traction and often spin their tracks. If they can't get it from one side, they move to another, all the while tearing up the ground. In pushing the slash into a pile, they often push in a lot of dirt at the same time.

Most stump grinders leave roots that will be a problem for tilling.

Excavators are the machines to use for forest work these days. Faster, cheaper and they do less site damage. Around here, almost all the loggers have switched to excavators for logging and most woods work; dozers are kept for the very few jobs they can do better.

 

[GBeck]

haha..been reading this thread you guys here at TBN are great...a simple remove a stump has turned into fire, explosives, and even a rant about not changing the way we live...
this might be a little unconventional for this site...but around here there's a guy we call with a stump grinder...charges like 50 bucks an hour....anything breaks on HIS equipment that HE was was running...is HIS to fix and repair. I had a stump that was roughly 3 feet round 2 feet above the ground that was ground down to a nice mulch 1.5-2 feet below grade in about 45 min...

so bottom line was roughly 85 bucks for the stump ...
50 bucks...to watch someone else chew it up....no headaches
35 for beer and a buddy to 'help'

 

[irwin]

I'll stick my nose in here, just to throw in a stump picture. L35, about 3 hours, but I took my time. If I didn't need to prep the area for a car port I would'a let it rot.
Digging big stumps is hard on equipment, of course we own the equipment to do what we need done. Usually anything more than half that size gets cut level to ground, anything smaller gets dug up. My stump disposal area(s) are getting full.