Stump Remova Suggestions Please

[RalphVa]

I vote for the stump grinder as the safest alternative. One of our local rental outfits rents them. I've had people come in with them but have not rented one myself yet.

You have to be concerned when using winches or chains is where will they whip if they break. You could be killed or a tractor or vehicle severely damaged. Not worth it for a stump.

Trees send roots out 4 or 5 times their drip area. So, there are lots of roots down there that won't die unless you remove the upper growth area. A stump grinder will do this.

Ralph

 

[GregJ]

BS,
One thought about your burning idea.... Without adequate oxygen, you will have a very difficult time getting a good fire going. With just the narrow trench around the stump, there will be very little movement of air to feed the fire. I think I would vote with Ralph on this one. Stump grinders are not that expensive and I think it would save you a lot of grief.

Greg

 

[uhmgawa]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Pushing and pulling on the stump's top with the BH had absolutely no effect (except on the BX23).)</font>

Not surprising. It is unfortunate you don't have any remaining lever to
pop this out (ie: tree). I've found the easiest way to remove the entire
works is to cut 3/4 around the existing tree with the backhoe while
'testing' how loose the root ball has become. By this I mean pushing
on the tree as high up as possible with the backhoe bucket. You'll
either knock the tree over and pop the root ball out or you'll need to
continue digging. This is the easy part.

Next you get to find a means to decapitate the root ball. If the tree
isn't too large I can usually lift the trunk near the root ball with the
bucket (or wedge the bucket between ground and trunk) enough to
suspend the root ball. Then you can make a single cut to remove such.

Moving the dead weight to it's final resting place is another matter.
As is filling in the crater you've made (with other than your tractor)
so you can continue the above process. Note this works for me. You'll
have to judge if it makes sense for your particular situation.

 

[Fat_Man]

You wont get the stump to burn sufficiently this year. Since it was still alive and covered with damp soil, until recently' the moisture content will be too high to burn adequately. If you want to burn it you'll have to wait till fall.

 

[Charlie_in_TX]

The lack of O2 is a concern. When they clear here (Houston) they scrap the debre into a pile, dig a hole nearby to burn in. They use a airpump (a motor powered fan) connected to a pipe to force air into the pile. It burns all the green stuff and does it so hot there is little smoke. We have done something similar with HVAC squirl cage fans. Gets the fire so hot it will burn any kind of wood. You should be able to rent a smoke removal fan to burn that stump away in a day or so.

 

[GareyD]

You can also use a leaf blower...burns wood piles like it was in a forge.. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

GareyD

 

[CFRED]

I pulled a stump that my Hitachi EX-200 would not lift. It must had weigh 15000-20000 lbs.

 

[uhmgawa]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I pulled a stump that my Hitachi EX-200 would not lift. It must had weigh 15000-20000 lbs. )</font>

If I really couldn't budge a freshly exhumed stump I'd give it time
and let it dry out. No idea of how long that process would take.
I've also heard local contractors use a jack hammer to vibrate the
root ball and remove any loose soil in order to reduec it's weight.
But this would be most effective if you already have it out of the
ground.

 

[KiotiJohn]

Had a similar situation just before I bought my tractor. I was helping a friend's father remove a large, heavy stump and we couldn't get it out of the hole. We tied a rope to his pickup and pulled the left over trunk portion one way, and I tied another rope on the ball as much as possible and hooked that to my car. With the pickup pulling back on the top portion, that lifted the ball enough that I could roll it out of the hole with little problem by just backing my car. Since it looks like you have a toothbar, I'd stick it in that ball and curl/uncurl, knocking out as much dirt as possible. Move it around and do it again until you've gotten most of the dirt removed. Works great for me. John

 

[fatcat]

Go for the TNT option ... more fun that way /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Knew of a guy here in NH that used TNT to cut trees down, a stick each 90 degrees around the trunk ... what a show.