• Removing some tree stumps (without paying the pros or renting expensive equipment), looking for advi
    28 replies, posted
Anyone have any experience with doing this manually? I've looked around online and every site seems to suggest renting a stump grinder, something I really don't want to do. I'd rather do it by hand, and I'm looking for advice on how I should approach this. I've been thinking of two different ways - the first being digging a trench all around the stump until I find roots, and then cutting them with a handsaw (or breaking them up with the shovel) until I'm able to get the stump loose. However, I'm not sure how far down into the ground the stump goes before the roots start and if I have to end up digging a 3 or 4 foot deep hole it just isn't worth it. (These are poplar trees, if that helps) The second way I was thinking of is to just go at the stump with a pickaxe until the first 4 or 5 inches below ground are a mush that I can scoop out and put soil over. So my questions: if I do the first method, how deep will I end up having to dig? It's not a project I can really abandon half way through so if I pick this method I'll have to stick with it. And if I do the second method, will any problems arise? Could the stump sprout again or make it hard for grass to grow over top? Thanks.
It isn't uncommon for people to purchase certain chemicals for stump removal. You should look into it, seems easy enough. Only downside is that it may take a month or so for the chemicals to set in before you set the thing alight. [IMG]http://pccab.net/10gal/012007_a.jpg[/IMG] Mostly potassium nitrate if I am correct.
When I removed a stump from a largish tree it took me hours to do but I did dig all around and cut all the roots, there were no roots going down they all branched out after going a foot to a foot and a half deep on my tree anyway. If you choose this method I would recommend using a electronic saw as the roots will be damp and cutting through with a hand saw will take ages if its a large tree, going at it with a axe or a picaxe from the top will only split the wood of the stump up and spread it out, it will not make it any deeper without hours doing it. and swinging a axe at damp wood isn't the safest thing to do from that angle, my axe bounced off a few times when I tried that method before just digging it out.
[QUOTE=Lifeslicer;31718522]It isn't uncommon for people to purchase certain chemicals for stump removal. You should look into it, seems easy enough. Only downside is that it may take a month or so for the chemicals to set in before you set the thing alight. [IMG]http://pccab.net/10gal/012007_a.jpg[/IMG] Mostly potassium nitrate if I am correct.[/QUOTE] What do they do? Make the stump rot or something?
Yeah, I'm pretty sure it speeds up the rate at which the stumps decompose
[QUOTE=garry;31724956]What do they do? Make the stump rot or something?[/QUOTE] Well you see Tree stumps are fickle creatures to begin with, with the simple addition of said remover of which tastes horrible to the poor beast, it will uproot and walk to another location that you can easily determine by laying down tree treats in a nice line.
I dug up a stump with my dad one day, it took a few hours but from what I remember the hole wasn't too deep. My dad was sawing through the roots but I just chopped them with my shovel. I can't remember how we actually got the stump out of the ground though, it was pretty heavy.
Going at it with a pickaxe takes a long time and is very hard work, trust me. We sometimes get our neighbor to help by chaining it up to his tractor and ripping it out, I don't know if you have that option though.
Heh. We had a HUUUUGE pine tree with roots that spread out through our whole yard. We dug down about a foot underneath and chopped what roots we could. Attached and chain to it and pulled it with a 4 cylinder truck. Took a fair amount of pull. the engine was almost revving in the red on the tach before it started cracking. Ripped it out with a huge WEERRRRACK. Fun stuff.
While I normally don't bother with stumps as I always saw them off after I fell a tree, I've had to deal with a few. Bore a few holes in it then fill them with the grease from a few nights of pork chops/hamburgers/steak. Put a metal barrel or something around it to keep it contained and add in more wood. Light it and add wood until you think it's down below the ground. Since you're using natural fuel (no motor oil, gasoline or anything else like that) you don't need to worry about contaminating the ground. They take awhile to burn but it's super easy to do and cheap as hell. One particular large stump, though, took [i]four days[/i] to burn. Since your stump is poplar, you shouldn't have any problems. If you don't decide to go the fire route, poplar trees are one of those trees who love to send roots in every fucking direction possible. I think it's more because they're greedy rather than need the support. Using a hand saw on roots is probably a bad idea, I say fuck it and use an axe because I'm not going to struggle with a saw when the root binds it. You do need to be careful with that downward shooting root, I think it's for water. That's at the very bottom and the only way to get at it is to dig out the whole stump, basically. This is why I burn them out if I absolutely have to remove them.[QUOTE=garry;31724956]What do they do? Make the stump rot or something?[/QUOTE][QUOTE=HolyCrusade;31725211]Yeah, I'm pretty sure it speeds up the rate at which the stumps decompose[/QUOTE]Oh those "stump remover" products aren't for rotting the stump. They permeate the wood with saltpeter so you can easily burn it. The problem is, it takes [i]two months[/i] for that to work. Then you need to basically do what I do and really, why waste the money and time on that when you can skip ahead to the fire part.
[QUOTE=RoflKawpter;31747318]Heh. We had a HUUUUGE pine tree with roots that spread out through our whole yard. We dug down about a foot underneath and chopped what roots we could. Attached and chain to it and pulled it with a 4 cylinder truck. Took a fair amount of pull. the engine was almost revving in the red on the tach before it started cracking. Ripped it out with a huge WEERRRRACK. Fun stuff.[/QUOTE] Who the fuck owns a 4 cylinder truck... It defeats the purpose of having a truck :v: I'm surprised to didn't do the damn thing in!
[QUOTE=Lifeslicer;31718522]before you set the thing alight.[/QUOTE] Everyone seemed to miss the important bit in my statement. so yeah, you light that shit on fire. I prefer this method over the ghetto barrel method, but that is just me. everything worthwhile in life tends to take time, be patient.
Tie a rope round it, attach it to a car and floor it. Worked for me. But take a strong rope and a strong car
Well I used the pickaxe method because I'm a cheap bastard who doesn't want to buy things (and can't get a vehicle in the yard) It worked! Unfortunately, on the second stump I broke the pickaxe. So I'm SOL again basically. Maybe Minecraft was right about not using them on wood. [editline]19th August 2011[/editline] [QUOTE=JumpinJackFlash;31799383]You do need to be careful with that downward shooting root, I think it's for water. That's at the very bottom and the only way to get at it is to dig out the whole stump, basically.[/QUOTE] That's what people call the "tap root", right? I don't really care about that, I just want to get enough out to cover it with soil and have a flat lawn.
[QUOTE=Zeke129;31819012]Well I used the pickaxe method because I'm a cheap bastard who doesn't want to buy things (and can't get a vehicle in the yard) It worked! Unfortunately, on the second stump I broke the pickaxe. So I'm SOL again basically. Maybe Minecraft was right about not using them on wood. That's what people call the "tap root", right? I don't really care about that, I just want to get enough out to cover it with soil and have a flat lawn.[/QUOTE]I'm not sure how one would remove a stump with a pick, but you might want to try a splitting maul, driving apart small wedges of wood and then chopping them off below ground level. Not sure how well that would work.
The 'best' way involves dynamite or some other high energy explosive. However, most people posting on internet forums don't have a blasting license, so don't do that. If you live in America, an expensive, yet flashy way involves something called tannerite. It's a shock-sensitive high energy explosive that can only be set off by incredibly high amounts of kinetic energy, its common use is as a reactive target for firearms (shoot it, it explodes). About a pound is enough. You can see examples of this on youtube.
[QUOTE=JumpinJackFlash;31819272]I'm not sure how one would remove a stump with a pick, but you might want to try a splitting maul, driving apart small wedges of wood and then chopping them off below ground level. Not sure how well that would work.[/QUOTE] That's basically what I was using the pick for, the stumps were old and beginning to crack so if I hit it in the right spot a shard would break off. It was pretty smooth sailing until it broke.
Depending where you live make a fire and keep it burning until the stump is done for. Be sure to scratch off ash regulary.
[QUOTE=Killuah;31839237]Depending where you live make a fire and keep it burning until the stump is done for. Be sure to scratch off ash regulary.[/QUOTE] Next thread will be "removing some police cars"
Get some explosives
[QUOTE=JumpinJackFlash;31819272]I'm not sure how one would remove a stump with a pick, but you might want to try a splitting maul, driving apart small wedges of wood and then chopping them off below ground level. Not sure how well that would work.[/QUOTE] Don't use a splitting maul unless the wood is nice and crisp, otherwise you will just dent the wood without actually splitting it. This is because a Maul doesn't actually cut wood, it tears the fibers of the wood apart and it splits at the grain. In soft wood the fibers don't tear as easily. A pickaxe is a good tool, if the wood is soft then a felling axe would be perfect since a felling axe is meant to be sharp and to cut through fibers. That's what I use when I need to cut up soft wood.
Try thermite.
[QUOTE=yawmwen;32016236]Don't use a splitting maul unless the wood is nice and crisp, otherwise you will just dent the wood without actually splitting it. This is because a Maul doesn't actually cut wood, it tears the fibers of the wood apart and it splits at the grain. In soft wood the fibers don't tear as easily. A pickaxe is a good tool, if the wood is soft then a felling axe would be perfect since a felling axe is meant to be sharp and to cut through fibers. That's what I use when I need to cut up soft wood.[/QUOTE]I've never had a problem using a maul on soft wood, especially wet poplar or pine. Just takes a few swings for it to finally go, but I do agree soft wood is a bitch to split. He could use a chopping axe to chip into it towards the bottom. If it's soft enough to absorb the impact of a maul totally, it should be easy to chop apart.
Okay, so get some fire. Now this is the hard part; put the fire on the stump, and burn it.
[QUOTE=cathal6606;32038474]Try thermite.[/QUOTE] This might actually work. That shit can burn through a fucking engine block. Fill a coffee can with thermite light it off on the stump and record the results.
[QUOTE=Ven Kaeo;32087608]This might actually work. That shit can burn through a fucking engine block. Fill a coffee can with thermite light it off on the stump and record the results.[/QUOTE] This just in, 16 year old boy melts hole to the earths mantle with termite!
[QUOTE=JumpinJackFlash;32054629]I've never had a problem using a maul on soft wood, especially wet poplar or pine. Just takes a few swings for it to finally go, but I do agree soft wood is a bitch to split. He could use a chopping axe to chip into it towards the bottom. If it's soft enough to absorb the impact of a maul totally, it should be easy to chop apart.[/QUOTE] Any axe that's sharp would work. I have to chop up a lot of really wet and soft old wood sometimes and I was hardly able to split it with a maul, it took me 5-6 swings to get any progress. When I took out a chopping(felling? I thought they were the same thing, oh well) axe, I could get a piece of would cut in 1 or 2 swings.
[QUOTE=coco911231;32167244]This just in, 16 year old boy melts hole to the earths mantle with [B]termite![/B][/QUOTE] Quite a feat :v:
If you guys have a friend/relative with a backhoe you could always ask to borrow it, you'd be able to quickly remove the stump and for cheap/free. Kind of like how our neighbor came over in the middle of the night without even asking and dug up one of our stumps with his backhoe because he said "your yard would look better without it." :downs:
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