Please help!!! the stump is winning!

Sparkeee24 · Jun 2, 2005

Howdy everyone! I took on a project far beyond the couple hours I thought it would take. The local deere dealer is letting me demo a 110 TLB, it's awesome! So there is this stump... cottonwood... trunk is about 4 ft diamater. My dads gonna KILL ME!! I have about an 18 ft wide crater, 4 ft deep all around. And it shakes, but not like it would come out. Do Cottonwoods have a root going down? or just to the sides? Any and all help would be appreciated!!! I was trying to surprise my dad after a trip he took to morn a passing family member. I have till monday with a shovel. till tommorrow afternoon with the tractor. I think I will have to call in to work too /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif An awesome going project, and I got in over my head. Thanks for any and all help!!! Brian, Sparkeee24

PBinWA · Jun 2, 2005

Try digging as far under it as you can. Then get out the hose and start using water to clean away the dirt from the roots. Look for the big roots that your Backhoe can't break and cut them with a saw. Keep working under it. According to one web site I googled Cottonwoods are supposed to not have big tap roots. I spent 4-5 hours on a Douglas fir stump this weekend. It took a while but it eventually came out. I didn't have a backhoe either. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

GregJ · Jun 3, 2005

I have had good success by digging a ramp down one side with the fel to get underneath some nasty stumps. If it's moving, you're close. I have used water to clean the roots as well, although it really gets messy. With a JD110 you should be able to dig a ramp and get underneath it no problem. I have also used chains to pull them over into the ramp so I could drag them out.

As far as the crater.... there's no gettin' around it. That's half the fun of owning a tractor, cuz then ya get to fill it back in when you're done. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif Just make sure you're not pouring a concrete slab where the tree was.

Greg

froggy · Jun 3, 2005

Why not just pour diesel on it and let it burn?

jrepp · Jun 3, 2005

I also use the ramp method, usually digging a ramp down from opposite sides deep enough to dig slightly under the root ball works.

Indydirtfarmer · Jun 3, 2005

At times like that, I'm reminded of those immortal words from Jimmy Walker.

DY-NO-MITE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SCB · Jun 3, 2005

If you have access to a come-along or a chainfall, I like to get ahold of one of the bigger roots and tie off to a tree or truck and pull at the root with a direction that would be similar to twisting the stump in place. It works well sometimes when I can't get the tap root to break by rocking back and forth.

PineRidge · Jun 3, 2005

If your BH doesn't have enough reach to curl under the stump with the bucket then the next best thing is the ramp. It does involve a bit more seat time though.

Sounds like a good title for a song. "I fought the stump and the stump won." /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Sparkeee24 · Jun 3, 2005

The stump is still fighting!! but it is a losing battle for the stump. My roommate was so awesome as to spend the afternoon digging down at the sides. So I took a pick axe to under the root ball, and it appears this is working. am finding 1" - 3" thick roots every now and then, and hacking them with my hatchet (sharpening every so often). but now the pick axe is cutting under it nicely. just alot of work for such a little stump. I mean, it's only like, 4 ft across, how bad could it be? famous last words...
Thanks for the advice folks! I am in an un-incorporated county, and our land is about the last piece of "hobby farm" size acreage around anymore. Burning is out of the question. Burn ban as well. Thanks again everyone! Brian Sparkeee24

Bye the way, I would recomend the LTB 110 to ANYONE looking for a smaller TLB. It rocks!