GregJ
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I'm stumped..
- Thread starter Jibber
- Start date
OP
Jibber
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- RD-13, Putnam County, New York
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Re: I\'m stumped..
Wow.
That's quite a stump! How long did THAT take?
I guess I'd better invest in quite a pile of topsoil before I go crazy on this project!
Wow.
That's quite a stump! How long did THAT take?
I guess I'd better invest in quite a pile of topsoil before I go crazy on this project!
EddieWalker
Epic Contributor
Re: I\'m stumped..
I like to start digging as close to the stump as I can get. If I hit a root too thick, I move the bucket over half the width of the bucket and try to cut through again. I do this on either side until I get through and start digging down.
Once I get the holes started I keep trying to get close to the stump again.
I've gone 12 feet deep on all four side before I could get the really nasty ones to break free!
Of course, getting the stump out of the hole is even more difficult! You might have to dig a ramp to pull it out with a chain, but if your just going to grow grass over it, just knock it over and bury it.
Never bury a stump in and area you might, even remotely, plan to build on. 10 to 20 years from now you might have a low spot where you bury a stump, but chances are you wont even know it.
Good Luck,
Eddie
I like to start digging as close to the stump as I can get. If I hit a root too thick, I move the bucket over half the width of the bucket and try to cut through again. I do this on either side until I get through and start digging down.
Once I get the holes started I keep trying to get close to the stump again.
I've gone 12 feet deep on all four side before I could get the really nasty ones to break free!
Of course, getting the stump out of the hole is even more difficult! You might have to dig a ramp to pull it out with a chain, but if your just going to grow grass over it, just knock it over and bury it.
Never bury a stump in and area you might, even remotely, plan to build on. 10 to 20 years from now you might have a low spot where you bury a stump, but chances are you wont even know it.
Good Luck,
Eddie
OP
Jibber
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Re: I\'m stumped..
12 feet!
egad.. and I thought the rocks were going to be tougher than the stumps!
12 feet!
egad.. and I thought the rocks were going to be tougher than the stumps!
GregJ
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Re: I\'m stumped..
Jibber,
Let's put it this way. My B7500 didn't exactly jerk those things out of the ground. I would just go out in the evenings and pick away at them for an hour or so and eventually (many evenings later) I'd get 'em. I have removed about 8 large stumps or stump clusters this last year. This weekend I may be removing about a 14" spruce. Looks like a piece of cake. Am I sounding a little cocky.... It probably has a tap root that stops someplace just short of China. That's usually what happens when I get confident. As far as the big stumps, like I said, I have pretty nice soil to work with, so at least I wasn't fighting a lot of rocks or shale. I have mostly sand with a few veins of clay. But from my experience, significantly weakening one side of the stump after digging all the way around really helps to get it out. It also helps to twist the root ball. In other words, to grab a stout root on one side of the stump and try to spin it with your hoe bucket. That will usually loosen any tap roots. As far as topsoil, I have filled in these holes with the spoils and with a little light grading from the surrounding area, you'd never know they were there. In fact I have lawn where they were and it hasn't even settled. It seems like it would take a lot of soil to fill in for a root ball like that, but just a few inches from the surrounding area seems to work. Good luck with your project.
Greg
Jibber,
Let's put it this way. My B7500 didn't exactly jerk those things out of the ground. I would just go out in the evenings and pick away at them for an hour or so and eventually (many evenings later) I'd get 'em. I have removed about 8 large stumps or stump clusters this last year. This weekend I may be removing about a 14" spruce. Looks like a piece of cake. Am I sounding a little cocky.... It probably has a tap root that stops someplace just short of China. That's usually what happens when I get confident. As far as the big stumps, like I said, I have pretty nice soil to work with, so at least I wasn't fighting a lot of rocks or shale. I have mostly sand with a few veins of clay. But from my experience, significantly weakening one side of the stump after digging all the way around really helps to get it out. It also helps to twist the root ball. In other words, to grab a stout root on one side of the stump and try to spin it with your hoe bucket. That will usually loosen any tap roots. As far as topsoil, I have filled in these holes with the spoils and with a little light grading from the surrounding area, you'd never know they were there. In fact I have lawn where they were and it hasn't even settled. It seems like it would take a lot of soil to fill in for a root ball like that, but just a few inches from the surrounding area seems to work. Good luck with your project.
Greg
Slamfire
Veteran Member
Re: I\'m stumped..
Well if burning isn't a problem, burn the stumps themselves. Get some saltpeter, (sodium nitrate) drill a 1" hole down through the middle of the stump, then drill holes, at an angle from opposite sides so they intersect the first hole. Fill the holes with the saltpeter, wait for a rain, or water in. After a week or so, fill the holes with some diesel fuel and light it. Should burn the stump and most of the roots.
Well if burning isn't a problem, burn the stumps themselves. Get some saltpeter, (sodium nitrate) drill a 1" hole down through the middle of the stump, then drill holes, at an angle from opposite sides so they intersect the first hole. Fill the holes with the saltpeter, wait for a rain, or water in. After a week or so, fill the holes with some diesel fuel and light it. Should burn the stump and most of the roots.
OP
Jibber
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Re: I\'m stumped..
Burning them at another location isn't a problem.. but burning them in place could be.. it's basically a wooded area.. I planned to chip away here and there.. instead of clear cutting and then removing all the stumps at once..
Burning them at another location isn't a problem.. but burning them in place could be.. it's basically a wooded area.. I planned to chip away here and there.. instead of clear cutting and then removing all the stumps at once..
Seat_Time
Member
Re: I\'m stumped..
Geesh those are some big stumps...I have limited stump removal (maybe 20 smallish - 4-8" diameter stuff) experience; however, I have learned a couple of things. My first stump I went in behind the stump with the backhoe and tried to pull towards me and through - no chance of one timing it. But nipping either side with one scoop, then reaching behind and pulling UP and not through seemed to pluck them out pretty easily. I guess the operative word is "up", I was truly surprised at how many would pop out. It's worth a try before spending alot of time digging around all sides. Oh, and one more thing...when cutting the tree down, I try not to cut the tree flush with the groud....a little bit of trunk is useful if you need to "rock" the S.O.B. back and forth.
Geesh those are some big stumps...I have limited stump removal (maybe 20 smallish - 4-8" diameter stuff) experience; however, I have learned a couple of things. My first stump I went in behind the stump with the backhoe and tried to pull towards me and through - no chance of one timing it. But nipping either side with one scoop, then reaching behind and pulling UP and not through seemed to pluck them out pretty easily. I guess the operative word is "up", I was truly surprised at how many would pop out. It's worth a try before spending alot of time digging around all sides. Oh, and one more thing...when cutting the tree down, I try not to cut the tree flush with the groud....a little bit of trunk is useful if you need to "rock" the S.O.B. back and forth.
Re: I\'m stumped..
I have only 4 hours or so using the bh on my tc24 with stumps. I pulled 2 14" oaks, and a small maple. Everything I did has been mentioned. For one I did have to get in the hole and cut some of the big roots with an axe. Hiring a bigger piece of equpiment would have been nice, but getting him around my property would have caused mucho damage. Also it's a stump here, a rock there.... A small bobcat excavator goes for $360 for 10 hours. It will take a while, but in the end it will work out better for me. (I hope)
I have only 4 hours or so using the bh on my tc24 with stumps. I pulled 2 14" oaks, and a small maple. Everything I did has been mentioned. For one I did have to get in the hole and cut some of the big roots with an axe. Hiring a bigger piece of equpiment would have been nice, but getting him around my property would have caused mucho damage. Also it's a stump here, a rock there.... A small bobcat excavator goes for $360 for 10 hours. It will take a while, but in the end it will work out better for me. (I hope)
Junkman
Super Member
Re: I\'m stumped..
In NH it is more than a "rock here"!!!!! The rocks in NH are as big as cars and those that they didn't want to keep there, they exported to MA and CT!!!!!!
In NH it is more than a "rock here"!!!!! The rocks in NH are as big as cars and those that they didn't want to keep there, they exported to MA and CT!!!!!!