# How to remove this stump



## Colbyt (Jan 27, 2014)

If those are your only available tools then that way will work. And it will be work. 


A recip saw with a pruning blade is better for cutting roots and better for back.


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## Photobug (Jun 25, 2017)

Colbyt said:


> If those are your only available tools then that way will work. And it will be work.
> 
> 
> A recip saw with a pruning blade is better for cutting roots and better for back.


Got two of those 

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## Photobug (Jun 25, 2017)

Got my battery operated recip saw, going out to chop off the branches at ground level to make it easier to dig. How far down should I dig to remove the roots? I will eventually want more shrubs there as my water gas meter and sewer clean out are there and need to be hidden.


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## SeniorSitizen (Sep 10, 2012)

I prefer leaving a few inches of trunk wood like in the picture to fasten to and pulling. Do you have anything available to pull with?


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## Photobug (Jun 25, 2017)

A dodge diesel
I've already gone down about a foot and tried cutting base away. I'll dig a little deeper to see if there is enough to wrap a strap around


SeniorSitizen said:


> I prefer leaving a few inches of trunk wood like in the picture to fasten to and pulling. Do you have anything available to pull with?


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## SeniorSitizen (Sep 10, 2012)

You have plenty above ground to put a chain around.
We pull those little ones or bigger ones too.


I don't recommend a_ - stretching _- strap for pulling.


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## MTN REMODEL LLC (Sep 11, 2010)

I pull some pretty big stuff (30 year old aspen 6-7 round) with a super reduced chain hoist and chain..... but you need something big to attach to... like a big pine or your truck will do).

I find it easiest to take time, and put a lot of tension on it, let it sit an hour or to, tighten up on it again, and again if necessarily, untill it pops.


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## Photobug (Jun 25, 2017)

Dodge 1 stump 0









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## SeniorSitizen (Sep 10, 2012)

If pulling I would put a clove hitch knot around each of those little fellers sticking up and pull all of them in 1 pull. With 2 ccw loops and loop A set on top of loop B then drop the knot over each stub and tighten. The knot may cut the limb in half on tuff ones.


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## Msradell (Sep 1, 2011)

Photobug said:


> The ground will be lifted about 4-5" to bring the level up to the top of the foundation afterwards.


You don't want your lawn and landscaping to be at the top your foundation. It needs to be 4-6" below where your siding begins. Otherwise you'll have problems moisture wicking up into your siding.


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## Photobug (Jun 25, 2017)

Msradell said:


> You don't want your lawn and landscaping to be at the top your foundation. It needs to be 4-6" below where your siding begins. Otherwise you'll have problems moisture wicking up into your siding.


Thanks, I did have a consult with a landscape guy last year, but I forgot the exact details. I remember we needed to get within a certain height then fill the area between with bark or mulch. I have left the details of the landscaping to my wife, which means I will probably be here at the last moment trying to figure out how to do it.


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## cat's_pajamas (May 9, 2018)

SeniorSitizen said:


> You have plenty above ground to put a chain around. We pull those little ones or bigger ones too.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 Your photo made my stomach do a bit of flip-flop this morning. I'm digging up and trying to remove the stump of a pine tree because the stump is in the way of the retaining wall I'm going to build and the drainage gravel that will be behind the retaining wall.










I've dug down and around the stump (San Angelo bar, 36" breaking bar, shovel) and used a big axe to chop through a huge root (9 inches thick), but I learned from a lumberjack (here the other day to talk about cutting down some dead cedars) that there is a tap-root and that I will need to use a reciprocating saw to cut through it.









A neighbor loaned me an only-used-once Dewalt DWE305 12.0 Amp Reciprocating Saw that he got for free as a promotional item and says he doesn't care if I end up ruining it (I'll try not to). He also gave me a Harbor Freight package of blades -- no pruning blades, but some for wood and general purpose. I will buy some pruning blades, but maybe I'll try it with the wood blade on a smaller root. A neighbor's son thinks that after I get the roots cut he can attach a chain and pull the stump out with his SMALL pick-up, but I have my doubts about that (because of the lack of power of the pick-up and where the stump is located).

The Allan Blocks and "supersacks" of gravel for my retaining wall were delivered on June 20, but this stump has to come out before I can proceed with taking out the old wood wall. This is turning out to be a bigger issue that when I first looked at the stump and thought "Just some digging and hacking..."









*I welcome and appreciate any advice, observations or experiences with stump removal.*


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## Photobug (Jun 25, 2017)

cat's_pajamas said:


> *I welcome and appreciate any advice, observations or experiences with stump removal.*


Find someone with a bigger truck.

Granted my stump was significantly smaller but my truck made such quick work of it. The potential to just remove some of the roots and be able to yank it out. Your tree being a big pine might mean some significant roots to get through unless you can yank it with a truck.


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## Gregsoldtruck79 (Dec 21, 2017)

Here is my advice CatsJ. Either rent a stump grinder or hire a man with a stump grinder. ($150 either way around here) I dealt with two stumps like yours in my yard. The one in the pic, I used my sawzall, chainsaw, dulled 3 chains and used every pry bar, digging tool I had on it. Plus, a half bottle of Tylenol for my aching body to finally get it out. 

The other stumps tap root and perimeter roots were so large, I just ended up taking my chainsaw and cutting it up in pie slices, until it was 12 inches down below the ground, where I could soil over it and plant grass seed. 

If you let someone (just being nice, not hired) hook their truck up to that stump that has less than a Dodge 3500 4x4 turbo diesel, you "may " end up feeling your on the hook... for paying the damages they will do to their truck. 

Because there is something about males and their ego. They will pull the whole bottom end out of their truck off trying to get that stump out, before they will admit " Nope, my truck just ain't big enough".  JMO and Good Luck to you.


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## de-nagorg (Feb 23, 2014)

I have said it before , and will repeat myself again.

50 years ago I worked for a stump removal guy, that used a 10 ton truck with a bed mounted winch, and gin poles on the tail roll, to pull stumps.

Dig around the stump, wrap a large chain low around the stump, and back the truck up close to the stump, and run the winch line, through the block on the gin poles, and down to the chain, hook it up and pull.

If your truck is not strong enough, get a snatch block, and use it on the chain, then run your winch cable through the snatch block, and back to the gin poles. ( this doubles the pulling power), then pull.

If you still don't have the power, use a bigger snatch block, they are made with 2, 3, 4, pulleys that multiply your available power.

And jerking on a stump with a pickup and chain is a good way to ruin your pickup. 

I have seen bumpers, axles, beds all yanked off by " ********", ( there is that word again), being themselves.


ED


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## Gregsoldtruck79 (Dec 21, 2017)

I seldom see those old rigs driving around any more Ed. What she could do though, is hire a wrecker truck to do the same thing. But I seriously doubt a 20-30 ton wrecker will pull that stump then haul it off, for $150.00 -200. Which I believe is about what a stump grinder man may charge. JMO


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## cat's_pajamas (May 9, 2018)

Photobug said:


> Find someone with a bigger truck...


Yes, you're right and not letting him use that little truck was my first thought and I should have immediately said, "no, I don't want to ruin your truck". Now, I admit that I did have moment, before I started digging and before I took a gander at those HUGE roots (and, before I knew about the tap root) that I thought if I cut all the roots, maybe the stump would come out pretty easily. Once I really saw what was going on, I knew in my heart that we couldn't use his little truck.


Gregsoldtruck79 said:


> If you let someone (just being nice, not hired) hook their truck up to that stump that has less than a Dodge 3500 4x4 turbo diesel, you "may " end up feeling your on the hook... for paying the damages they will do to their truck.
> 
> Because there is something about males and their ego. They will pull the whole bottom end out of their truck off trying to get that stump out, before they will admit " Nope, my truck just ain't big enough". JMO and Good Luck to you.


Yes. Even though I am paying him for his help (and, have only needed a small amount up to now), I kind of knew in my gut that his truck was too small for the job and when the time came, I'd thank him but tell him "I don't want to ruin your truck". And, you're right. The "male ego" is a factor. He's a nice young man, but at the very beginning when he knew I was going to build a retaining wall, he had a lot of advice for me (an "old lady") that was contrary to what I know I need to do (I've done a LOT of research, including reading the 50 page Allan Block Best Practices manual, the Installation manual, the Spec Guidelines, and a document about the importance of compaction [which set me straight about using a plate compactor because I was trying to weasel out of that and was hoping to use a hand tamper]).

Thank you both for your response to my post and your advice.


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## cat's_pajamas (May 9, 2018)

de-nagorg said:


> Dig around the stump, wrap a large chain low around the stump, and back the truck up close to the stump, and run the winch line, through the block on the gin poles, and down to the chain, hook it up and pull...
> 
> ...And jerking on a stump with a pickup and chain is a good way to ruin your pickup...
> 
> ...



Thanks for your reply, Ed. The stump is in a place where a truck could maybe back up 30 feet away, which is one of the things I mentioned to the young man with the little truck...that he couldn't get close enough and the angle was bad (and, of course, I knew in my heart that his truck is too small). I'm going to have to keep working on digging it out and maybe hope for some help from the lumberjack who will be back here in a week or so to cut down some dead cedars.


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## de-nagorg (Feb 23, 2014)

Gregsoldtruck79 said:


> I seldom see those old rigs driving around any more Ed. What she could do though, is hire a wrecker truck to do the same thing. But I seriously doubt a 20-30 ton wrecker will pull that stump then haul it off, for $150.00 -200. Which I believe is about what a stump grinder man may charge. JMO


Greg: There are 2 of them sitting about a mile from me, for sale, but I doubt that she wants to buy an old ( 70's) truck just for this one job. 

To use a stump grinder, I think that a person needs to have the stump cut down to near ground level, before using one. 

That is the way that I have done it in the last 15 years anyway, cut the stump, rent a grinder, and operate it to grind down to about 2 feet deep, and wide around the stump, then need to haul away all the ground wood.

Return the grinder, and settle the difference from the deposit and actual usage time.

ED


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## Doug46 (Apr 19, 2016)

I have a tree, now 12" diameter, that the previous owner stupidly planted less than 1 foot from top of a retaining wall. I need to get it out as it's already cracking the wall. I dug down 2 feet but it's hard to know if I got the major roots out. I'd like to pull it out with my truck as I've done several other trees that way, and it works very well if you leave about 6 feet of the stump uncut, so you get leverage in toppling the stump. 

But, if I start to pull the stump this way we are worried it may increase pressure on the wall, even though obviously we are going to pull AWAY from the wall. So, I would like to remove at least some of the wood of the trunk where it grew up hard against the wall. Problem being, there is dirt and rocks entrapped everywhere in the root system, and I am sure I'll run into rocks if I try to cut or drill between the stump and wall. 

Any ideas for what tools could be used? Would a diamond drill work in wood?


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## de-nagorg (Feb 23, 2014)

No. There are not any self cleaning teeth, in the Diamond bit.


Get a regular Ax, and chop, chop, chop, until you find rock, then a spud bar, to lever the stones.

Yeah I know you don't want to put that much work into it, but sometimes that is what it takes.



ED


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## Doug46 (Apr 19, 2016)

ED, thanks for the confirmation about the diamond drill bit in wood (no go). Also thanks for the idea about using a pulley system to multiply the pulling power.

Been chain-sawing, chopping, picking, digging for last two days, so maybe a couple more won't kill me (I'm 71, so who knows :wink2. My favorite tool is a fireman's style axe that I chopped off the handle short so I can get in tight spaces. And a grinder to keep it sharp. 

Wife says don't pull it with truck, but I know the limits of my F150 and the required prep for the pull, and it has worked really well for this, in the past. The key is to NOT cut short the trunk, when you are taking down the tree. I left a good 7 feet of it this time, and I pull it from the top giving lots of leverage to break the last remaining roots. I pull it slowly and if there is no motion at all, go back and chop more roots. 

Still, if I damage the wall or the truck, there will be H to pay!


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## de-nagorg (Feb 23, 2014)

Yes: I hate those " I told you so's"

That's when I switch off the Hearing aid, and just agree.


Good call using a fireman's ax, You can switch to the pick side if needed, and keeping it sharp is a very good idea.

With a low cost bumper mounted winch and enough snatch blocks, your F 150 is plenty big enough to act as an anchor point to pull this stump.


ED


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## cat's_pajamas (May 9, 2018)

Stump removal progress: When the lumberjack came out last Friday to take down two dead cedars and one live cedar that was leaning toward my house (also sitting where my retaining wall steps need to go), I had him cut down the stump as far as possible without his chain saw hitting the dirt. He also cut through some of the roots closer to the stump than where I had cut them with an ax. I've dug down a bit more since the photo was taken and exposed even more roots. My back was "twingey" on Monday am so I have stopped working on it for few days. Plus, it is very, very hot here. I may go try a little bit today...cutting the smaller roots with the reciprocating saw.
(Sorry for duplicate image posting. I don't know why it is showing two images. I can't figure out how to delete the extra one. I also tried deleting the original image and inserting a smaller version, but ended up with three images showing.)


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## Gregsoldtruck79 (Dec 21, 2017)

Looks good CP, now what happens next as far as getting the stump gone ? 

Going to try to pull it ?


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## cat's_pajamas (May 9, 2018)

Gregsoldtruck79 said:


> Looks good CP, now what happens next as far as getting the stump gone ?
> 
> Going to try to pull it ?



I'm going to dig down a bit more (I keep finding roots) and also keep removing dirt toward the center of the trunk. If you look closely at the photo, you can see where I removed a lot of dirt toward the center of the trunk --- I was looking for a tap root (which I haven't found yet). Then, I will try to loosen and move the stump with my San Angelo wrought iron bar. It should be easier now that the huge piece of trunk was cut off. I can't believe how heavy that piece is.


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## Gregsoldtruck79 (Dec 21, 2017)

cat's_pajamas said:


> I'm going to dig down a bit more (I keep finding roots) and also keep removing dirt toward the center of the trunk. If you look closely at the photo, you can see where I removed a lot of dirt toward the center of the trunk --- I was looking for a tap root (which I haven't found yet). Then, I will try to loosen and move the stump with my San Angelo wrought iron bar. It should be easier now that that huge piece of trunk was cut off. I can't believe how heavy that piece is.



Dang CP, I hope you do not end up on a chiropractors table or worse in a ER, fighting with that stump.


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## cat's_pajamas (May 9, 2018)

Gregsoldtruck79 said:


> Dang CP, I hope you do not end up on a chiropractors table or worse in a ER, fighting with that stump.



Yeah, me too.:sad:


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## de-nagorg (Feb 23, 2014)

When levering on it utilize a fulcrum, it saves backs, and multiplies the force.

As well as a longer lever.

Looking good, Do you have access to an A-Frame, and a chain hoist.

Wrapping around the main body with cables, and using the chain hoist, is a good way to pull it also, after digging around it.


ED


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## cat's_pajamas (May 9, 2018)

de-nagorg said:


> When levering on it utilize a fulcrum, it saves backs, and multiplies the force.
> 
> As well as a longer lever.
> 
> ...



I'll probably use the large piece of sawed-off stump as a fulcrum.

I have no access to an A-Frame or chain hoist. I barely have access to any help (no need to go into details -- that is just the way it is). My updated plan after working on it for a while today (this is all taking TOO long) is to dig and clear away a lot more dirt and have the neighbor's son, hopefully, use his chainsaw to cut away the remaining piece of stump in chunks --- as much as possible vertically and horizontally--- working away at it. I found what I think might be a tap root and I'm not sure how deep it goes. If I have most of the remaining trunk gone, I can work at the tap root.

Feeling a bit discouraged today.:sad:


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## Gregsoldtruck79 (Dec 21, 2017)

If he can just saw out in pie pieces, the main "round" part of the stump, I really do not think leaving the tap or other root stubs in place, will be that great of an issue. 

What is left in the hole will rot, making some back filling of dirt an issue for a few years as the dirt settles, when the rotting wood crumbles.

If this back fill every year for maybe 2-3 years *is not a issue, *the stump is really not worth possibly doing permanent body damage to yourself. Be safe now.


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## cat's_pajamas (May 9, 2018)

After a month of off-and-on working at it, I finally gave up on trying to hack away the tree stump and roots. The neighbor did put in a last ditch effort by trying to cut wedges into the stump, but even though I cleaned out as much dirt as possible, it kept dulling the chain (I gave him money for a new one). Plus, that stump was just too difficult -- even though the tree had died from the bark beetle infestation, the stump and roots were very green ("wet" almost) and fibrous. Last Monday, (July 30, 2018) I had a tree service come out with a grinder and they made the tree stump (aka "the dinosaur foot" aka "the Kevlar stump") disappear (bottom photo). You can see one of the rotting railroad ties I removed in the background. They also took care of a stump that was in the way of where my retaining wall steps will be, and a couple of very small stumps.

Before they arrived, I put a lot of the dirt back around the stump (top photo shows the mid-way point of me covering most of the stump and roots) so they could get the wheels on their grinder as close as they needed to. I wish I would have taken a photo of them grinding the stump, but I was too busy ducking flying debris. Pretty amazing piece of equipment --- it looks like a mini-Caterpillar with a very scary circular blade on the end of a hydraulic arm.


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## Colbyt (Jan 27, 2014)

Yep. I usually get my moneys worth watching as I smile and think about the misery saved.


Then the reality of cleaning up the grindings sets it. That can be quite a project.


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## cat's_pajamas (May 9, 2018)

Colbyt said:


> Yep. I usually get my moneys worth watching as I smile and think about the misery saved.
> Then the reality of cleaning up the grindings sets it. That can be quite a project.


 I wish I would have just called the tree company to grind it a month ago. I didn't realize they could grind it down to nothing...I thought a bunch of it would still be in the way of my drainage gravel. So, in addition to paying them, earlier on I paid a lumberjack who was here to cut down some dead trees to cut off almost two feet of remaining trunk, and then I paid the neighbor's son for his time in trying to chainsaw more of it away (plus paying for a new chain). And, yes...cleaning the grindings is still going on. I can't have any "organic" material in the soil behind the gravel drainage, and I will be tamping down soil a little at a time to fill that huge stump-hole. So, I've been removing buckets of grindings and grindings/soil to the compost bin.


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