Tree removal.. help?

[Pilot]

Burn, baby, burn! At least I have heard that burning works. Drill holes around the stump perimeter, or better yet, bore holes with a chainsaw, then bore down thru the stump from the top to contact the side holes. Pile on debris and burn it, when it goes out, do it again. Burning supposedly takes awhile, but it's supposed to work. I have also heard that burning coal on the stump will do the job even better. Haven't tried it myself.

 

[riptides]

I usually burn stumps out. I drill as much as I can, let some diesel soak into the holes and put a bag of charcoal on top of the stump. It's a good hot slow burn.

 

[DennisArrow]

For sure, burn it out.............I cut as close to the ground as possible to get rid of much stump as possible..........YES, I understand a 3' tree.......Then a bag of charcoal followed up by scrap wood, the branches from the tree itself, and a couple of days..........IT WORKS..........God bless.............Dennis

 

[Jstpssng]

Since you have a backhoe, no need to pay for a stump grinder.
I would dig out around the stump until it's loose enough to put a chain around and drag it out. An ash will have a tap root though.

 

[calman93611]

what I have done with success on smaller trees, up to 24", is first climb as high as you can, secure a steel cable, at least 1/4" and at least 100' long. Then with a chain saw cut the lateral branches when coming back down the tree. Essentially, you will have a tall stick in the air with the cable attached to the top, make sure you secure the cable in the main trunk stout enough to withstand pull from your tractor. Secure the cable so it is pulling the tree away from any structure in case it falls. Use your backhoe and dig down around 18-24 inches, you should find 3-5 major roots, cut the roots one by one, now secure the cable to your tractor and pull slowly, it is best to have someone close to the tree, they watch around base of tree for additional roots, and you can concentrate on pulling with your tractor. Normally the tree slowly falls, like in slow motion, I have never had one hit the ground. Usually the top of the tree is still 5-7 feet above the ground. Use your front loader the push down on the top of the tree, this will slowly raise the root ball. Back fill under the root ball. Remove as much dirt from the root ball. Using your front loader and nudging the root ball, you can slowly fill more and more dirt/sand under the root ball. Eventually you should be able to just roll everything out of the original hole. I have used this method for over 20 years and works extremely well. The main concern is to make sure that your cable is strong enough and long enough. You want to create as small as an angle from the top of the tree to your tractor. It may be necessary to secure at a lower point, 20-25 feet to create a small angle. You can always add more cable, or chain. I try not to use rope because it stretches too much and if it breaks then the tree trunk will snap back in the opposite direction of the pull. Good luck. BTW, you should be able to do all of this in 3-4 hours.

 

[MossRoad]

Its not a good idea to put a pool over a spot where a tree once stood. No matter how hard you try, there will be roots left in the ground that will either rot (causing a depression under your liner) or sprout (causing a tree under your liner), or, the fill that is put in the stump hole will not be compacted properly and again, you'll get a depression under the liner that can easily pop.

Before you purchase a pool, get a manual for the pool and see what they recommend as to how to prepare the site.

 

[LD1]

Since you have a backhoe, no need to pay for a stump grinder.
I would dig out around the stump until it's loose enough to put a chain around and drag it out. An ash will have a tap root though.

Does that logic still work when the stump is bigger than the backhoe?

3' ash stump vs BX25........

Only way the BX is gonna win is TONS of hours digging.

Then once the stump is free from the ground, I highly doubt the BX will be able to do anything with it.

We once dug out a ~36" maple stump. This was prior to having a backhoe. IT was on a small steep hill side too, so we didnt have to wrestle it out of a hole. Once the stump was free from the ground, it took everything my L3400 AND dads JD2040 had to push that thing back to the burn pile. Either one of those tractors would not have budged it. And both are a fair bit larger than the BX.

 

[kevin37b]

If this tree is that big and in that bad of shape . you had best hire a pro . Gonna be much cheaper than a funeral .

 

[EddieWalker]

I've taken out thousands and thousands of trees using my full sized backhoe on a New Holland 555E. My 78 year old dad was a little slow at learning the controls, but over time has mastered it and probably taken out twice what I have over the years. We are at the point where I just put an orange flag on all the trees I want gone and he takes them out.

The fastest, easiest and cleanest method that I'm aware of is to dig down through the roots on both sides of the tree, then change positions and do it again on both sides so you have a big, deep trench on all four sides. The tree will stand there during all the digging and cutting through the roots. Then decide where you want it to go and get on the opposite side. Reach up as high as you can and push it over. Sometimes this works quickly, other times you have to dig a bit more. I use the tip of the teeth at the corners closest to the tree and dig under it.

I've found that the really big pines are the hardest to take down. Those with a 3 to four foot thick truck have a massive tap root!!! I've never found a tree too big to take down with this method. And I've taken down quite a few that once on the ground, I had to cut them into sections with the chain saw just to get them small enough to push with my 170 hp dozer.

The only thing that scares me is the rotten ones. You just never know when part of it is going to break off above you. I've had several close calls with dead pines that when I reach up to push it over, it snaps in half and that top part comes straight down like a spear imbedding itself into the ground. Fortunately I have a roof over my cab that has kept branches off of those trees from causing any damage to myself. I approach every rotten tree with extreme caution!!!!

If you are not comfortable with taking a tree out with your backhoe, then I would strongly suggest hiring it out to a pro.

Eddie

 

[EddieWalker]

I've taken out thousands and thousands of trees using my full sized backhoe on a New Holland 555E. My 78 year old dad was a little slow at learning the controls, but over time has mastered it and probably taken out twice what I have over the years. We are at the point where I just put an orange flag on all the trees I want gone and he takes them out.

The fastest, easiest and cleanest method that I'm aware of is to dig down through the roots on both sides of the tree, then change positions and do it again on both sides so you have a big, deep trench on all four sides. The tree will stand there during all the digging and cutting through the roots. Then decide where you want it to go and get on the opposite side. Reach up as high as you can and push it over. Sometimes this works quickly, other times you have to dig a bit more. I use the tip of the teeth at the corners closest to the tree and dig under it.

I've found that the really big pines are the hardest to take down. Those with a 3 to four foot thick truck have a massive tap root!!! I've never found a tree too big to take down with this method. And I've taken down quite a few that once on the ground, I had to cut them into sections with the chain saw just to get them small enough to push with my 170 hp dozer.

The only thing that scares me is the rotten ones. You just never know when part of it is going to break off above you. I've had several close calls with dead pines that when I reach up to push it over, it snaps in half and that top part comes straight down like a spear imbedding itself into the ground. Fortunately I have a roof over my cab that has kept branches off of those trees from causing any damage to myself. I approach every rotten tree with extreme caution!!!!

If you are not comfortable with taking a tree out with your backhoe, then I would strongly suggest hiring it out to a pro.

Eddie