Need ideas to get rid of a couple of maple stumps

[JPRambo]

Can you identify the species of tree?

Red and White Oak

 

[stuckmotor]

White oak is known to last a long time and I haven't been able to find many on the farm. Thanks for satisfying my curiosity.

 

[Richard]

I'm in the dig it out camp. Just dig them out, get it over with and fix the yard.

When I want to get rid of them....I want to get RID of them and not have them create depressions in the yard as they rot....have to mow around them... I want them gone.

Only way to do that is fire up the backhoe & have some fun.

 

[5030]

Ky property is wooded, mixed hardwood and softwood and this is how I to it....

When I cut them down, I leave about 12" proud of the ground.

Then I drill 1/2" holes all the way around in the cambium layer (just below the bark but not into the inside wood. I fill the holes with straight glyphosate (Roundup) and I drill 1" diameter holes down into the stump about 12" deep (with a ship auger) and then drill intersecting holes in from the sides. I fill the vertical holes with epsom salts.

Let them sit in the weather for a month or two (the stump will start to decompose and turn gray.

When it turns gray, I bore some more 1" holes straight down about 12" and fill with diesel fuel and let it soak in, I do that a couple times.

Then I place a 55 gallon drum (with both ends cut off (as a chimney), place it over the stump and cover the top with match light charcoal briquetts and light it up.

Takes about a week but I've had 100% success in burning them out. After it gets going good and burns up the diesel, it makes a pretty good BBQ fire.

The Glyo kills all the roots and what is left is a hole with ashes. Cover it up and call it good.

Like I said, I've had 100% success so far.

The only limit I have is the drum diameter. I do rake a hole saw and drill a few holes around the base of the barrel to act as a draft source. I don't use a leaf blower or anything, I just let it roast itself. The trick is to let the diesel soak in real well. if you get in a hurry, the stump won't burn all the way down.

 

[OldMcDonald]

5030, No arguing with 100% success. I like the way you detailed how to do it.

 

[Zerk]

I have heard of drilling holes and filling with water in the winter. Doesn't completely get rid of it, but interesting idea.

 

[bigtiller]

Build a flower box with 2x6's or 2x10's. Square is ok but octagon would be better. Set it around the stump, fill it with soil and plant a flower.

Let mother nature remove the stump for you..... SEE my signature below.

 

[sixdogs]

I'm the OP on this and I'm leaning towards leaving them for a few years, with holes drilled in them and then trying to burn or maybe grind. Digging now with the small backhoe on my JD790 would create too wide of a hole and make too big of a mess and I don't want to do that. Maybe after they sit for a year or two I can get them out with the backhoe after they start to break down.

We have a pretty dry climate and clay soil so things take longer to rot around here. One stump has been cut two years now, is fully dead and when I drilled some holes recently it seemed like fresh wood.

Maybe one day I will weaken and find a smaller stump grinder to rent. The only rental ones around here are small tracked type things meant for serious stumps. Mine are not that big and yet too big for my small backhoe.

 

[JerryK]

I dig them out now since I have procured a tractor with a backhoe... but used to do the big hole thing. Fill the big holes with high nitrogen fertilizer, cover with dirt... and redo a couple times. Promotes the natural fungus growing process, speed it up quite a bit. Some stumps [ hard sugar maple ] have taken to the fungus thing in a couple years, other are more stubborn... don't know why....

 

[5030]

5030, No arguing with 100% success. I like the way you detailed how to do it.

Other than grinding them or digging out, my way is the easiest but it does take some time. The initial step, applying full strength Glyphosate to the cambium layer (thats where the tree uptakes and downtakes it's nutrients and the sap flows is the most important step. The Gly travels from the stump, all the way to the root tips because the stump and roots still aspirate, which is why stumps grow suckers... It's still alive underground.

My only cautionary statement about using a herbicide like Rounbup is, if the roots underground have co-moingled with roots from other trees-shrubs, you can kill the other trees-shrubs underground by the Gly transferring to the 'friendly' plant roots. Glyphosare becomes instantly non-toxic to olants when it touches earth, thats why it's a desireable herbicide, but root to root, it can and will kill underground.

if you have time (it's not overnight by any means), it works and works everytime for me.