Trying to remove this stump without renting a grinder, or hiring someone. Some progress pics. All i have at my disposal is an axe, reciprocating saw, and a mattock. Intend to take off the big lateral roots, and am unsure how to tackle the middle. Not sure how much deeper it’ll go. Manually going at it is extremely taxing on the body. I may end up renting a grinder from home depot to take on the middle if needed but I’m trying not to. Any advice, thoughts, criticism is welcome.
by Ok_Luck1700
11 Comments
burn it
Just rent a grinder, they’re not expensive and pretty fun to use
Have you considered potassium nitrate? You could drill holes in the stump, add potassium nitrate (marketed as a stump remover), add hot water, then bury the remains. It will hasten the decay.
You could also burn it. Drill holes, add potassium nitrate and a little gas, then light it on fire. It will smolder for a while, but it will get rid of the stump.
Tbh just go for the grinder.
I had a tree go down in my yard last year, and the stump pulled out of the ground as well, probably a similar size to this one, maybe a bit bigger (hard to tell from the pic). We cut up the tree and just tipped the stump back into the hole for the time being. I figured I’d be able to get it out on my own later and just push it into the woods behind my house.
A few months later I came back around to actually getting that stump out, and it *still* took me several days of digging, axing, and chainsawing. Once it was loose again, I had to use a car jack to get it out. I think moving it was the most I’ve sweat in a long time, easily weighed at least as much as a fridge if not more.
Literally no part of the process was easy or fun, it was absolutely exhausting and I will 100% go for the easy route if I need to do it again. And keep in mind, this was a stump that was already pulled up out of the ground when the tree went down – yours looks like even more of a pain in the ass lol
Hire a stump grinder contractor. Any landscaping company can either do it or recommend another contractor. Many greenhouses also either do it or can recommend a guy.
Pressure washer + sawzall
Just keep digging and hack it out with an axe. Lot of work, zero dollars, very gratifying.
All you have to do is get it lower than grade then bury it and level the ground
Drill some holes in it, fill it with the stump removing powder and cover it with mulch for six months
Get as much dirt off as you can and build a fire on top of it. Doesn’t have to be big just enough for really hot coals that will help start breaking it down.
Keep digging, use pressure washer if you have one to get deeper around the roots.
Don’t listen to the people saying grind it, the grass on top of this stump will look like crap for years if you do that