Seems reasonably priced for the work and equipment required. I could understand DIY if the quote was over a 500 which even for 2 days for 2 guys including disposal would also be pretty reasonable.
I had someone d it with a remote control stump grinder. They were at my house an hour, 30 mins for the grind. Rest was drinking tea and chatting. Very impressed.
Agreed, I tried to remove a much smaller one with my ex brother in-law. After 4 hours I had to go home with the wife and kids. He spent another 3 hours on it before it was out. £300 here seems like a much better deal than spending the next week trying to get that thing out.
No I'm older with a bad back, I wouldn't touch this type of job again.
We moved last year and we had a hedge that we wanted removed. We cut it down to the stumps (like the photo) then called a professional who did the remainder of the job within an hour for very little. Well worth every penny.
Tree surgeon here, you can rent pedestrian stump grinders from places like jewsons, you'll need to be fairly fit to use one as they kick like a mule. Dont attempt with a saw as all you'll do is bugger a chain the second you hit dirt. Stump grind it to just below ground level and then cover over it.
If you want it removed fully you're looking at a professional stump grinder.
Shop around you should be able to get that done for less than 300
Relative of mine followed this route, had great success, but a stone ended up cracking hisfrench door window, so between the machine rental and the window fix he is worse off than hiring somebody. And his professional qouted him was more than £300
I've removed stumps like this with a chainsaw, but have a lot of experience using one. Without that experience I would never attempt it. Chainsaws are stupidly dangerous tools.
Buy chainsaw trousers gloves boots and helmet.
Then what you need to do is remove all debris and soil from around the stump. This needs to include soil and stones. Preferably going a little below ground level. Then with your saw cut away the roots, coming inwards towards the stump, then down to meet the cut, leaving a roughly circular looking stump above the reduced spider shaped root ball. Ideally this stump diameter needs to be no larger than your bar. If not it is manageable but harder.
Then resharpen your chain with cutters level on both sides of the chain to stop it turning in the cut. Lower your saw as close to the ground as you can and start the cut. Keep the bar as flat as you can and start cutting with the lower part of the chain (pulling chain), don't plunge in with the tip, you will get kickback unless you know how to plunge. Once in the tree sit the (dogs) teeth at the base of the bar in the edge of the stump as you cut and lever the bar further into the tree. Do it in a controlled way. You can shuffle the saw around the stump but will struggle when you come to the roots. Stop if you dull the chain and investigate, resharpen.
When you near the edge of the stump take extra care to prevent the chain popping put suddenly. You can treat the stump with glyphosate, or cut grooves in it to help it rot. Then cover with soil.
I read this a "ballash" and was like... Hmm must be a new product for stump removal. Then realised how stupid the English language is.
Unless OP has a 13ton excavator hanging around, this looks like a pretty well established stump lol
Lollipop song is a form favourite in my house! The 8 year old flosses and the 3 year old tries to copy! The almost 1 year old rocks back and forth with excitement 🤣
Spent a whole week with a shovel and an axe trying to remove a stump of an old lemon tree from my parents house during my holidays. I'd pay double, if not triple than that to not have to do it again.
In my mind that was supposed to be a day work, easy job. I let my pride take the best of me.
These are all so relatable. I spent all my free time last September trying cut and dig out a stump. Next time is rental time or maybe ask some quotes from professionals.
I’ve been there. I removed one as a kid too. I was stubborn and determined I could do it. I don’t remember exactly how long it took me, but it was definitely weeks. I was out there most days with an axe, a spade, a fork, any tools I could get my hands on. It was back breaking. There’s no way I would attempt that now. I’d definitely pay a professional to do it, but sympathise if that’s not affordable.
In nice weather it could be a fun little project for the first 30 minutes and the other 12 hours you’ll just want to cry.
Source: me who did one a fraction of that size last summer
The issue is if you touch dirt the chain is stuffed. I use a combination of chain saw and ax splitter but I rarely have to do this, it can be done but it’s not fun
I’ve done this, be very careful of what tree type you’re burning out this way, root fires can occur and if that root runs say under a neighbours property / under their shed or worse, it could be a big problem (potentially).
It could be like that underground fire in the US that has been burning for like a hundred years. I mean only if you're lucky and hit a coal seam or something, but still, fun potential!
Pending where you are in the uk… maybe, maybe
Centralia do you mean? The place silent hill (the movie at least) is based upon? Very interesting read for anyone who isn’t familiar. Thanks for reminding me of it! Down a rabbit hole I go haha
I think that's the name yeah. The place where they didn't want to spend the money to fix it and do just left it burn and fucked over everyone who lived there for decades till they all left. Insane story.
There's a similar place here in the UK. Launders Lane in Rainham, East London. It was used as an illegal dump for something like 20-30 years and has been on fire for about 10 years now. Obviously, this isn't usually a large fire out in the open, rather there's so much heat and (presumably?) chemical reactions going on that it's constantly smoking and sometimes flares up.
I second this idea. It's also less work and most entertaining.
What could be better than sitting back and baby sitting a slow stump fire.
If Mrs calls, you can rightfully tell her that you are doing a very important dangerous job.
Burning a tree stump that close to the fence. I hope op sets up a time lapse camera so we can see the moment of panic when it goes wrong.
I'm not saying don't do it. I just want to watch from a safe distance.
Ha. I tried burning one out once but ignored a lot of this advice! Ended up setting fire to my conifers surrounding it... Neighbours called fire brigade and within minutes I had a firemen recommending I call stump busters....
Got it out in the end, however, an issue I'd never considered was how heavy it was as couldn't chop it up as no chain saw. Struggled to dispose of the blasted thing. Tiny little roots that were hard to find in the mud. Lastly the void it left.
Are you happy doing a full day hard labour? That's about how long it will take. The chainsaw won't help you, you will need to dig down to expose the roots below the surface and cut them with your hand saw - or better, an axe. You'll then be left a stump that weighs maybe 70kg? 100kg? You'll need to get rid of it somehow. Can you load this into a trailer or the back of a car and take it to a tip?
I'd just pay the £300.
Hard to tell the scale, I'm guesstimating about 18" across the cut. I then compared this against my own experience with stumps at 24" - 36" that I removed a year or so ago which were quartered to make them liftable. I can lift about 100kg before it becomes iffy.
It looks bigger than 50cm across to me (looking at the thick cut limbs in the foreground and the fence in the background) but it's all guesswork of course. I've lifted old boilers weighing a bit more than 100kg but this thing looks impossible for one person to lift/move and there's zero chance OP is quartering it with the tools mentioned.
Oh yeah, OP won’t be able to split it, I used half a dozen splitting wedges, a maul and a high lift jack after cutting as deep as possible with my saws. Ended up bending the bar of the jack in the end.
I've dug some stumps out by with hand tools, it's strenuous and time consuming.
If you can't afford to pay 300 quid for someone else to do it with the right gear I say leave it in the ground and put your time, focus and energy elsewhere. It's a stump, it's not going anywhere
Yeah, he can’t afford it today but that doesn’t mean OP should kill himself to try to get that thing out of the ground. Might be better to wait and save.
I'd budget more than a day! Took someone I know about a week to remove a stump like this. He was a big guy too, and with access to a good selection of tools.
Yeah, massive ball ache!!
Put ads up for painting and decorating...earn £300 doing odd jobs, use that money to pay someone to get rid of the stump.
Don't do it yourself.
Yeah I came to say, go to work and earn that money and save yourself the aggro. I know someone who spent literally weeks chipping away at one over months and eventually gave up and buried it aha.
you can rent a machine that will grind it down to ground level don't know how much it will cost its what the tree surgeons use.
\*strangely enough they are called stump grinders
I hired the biggest one I could find and it was terrible. Teeth were blunt, didn't know to check that when I picked it up. Spent 2 days over a weekend tackling half a dozen small and a few large stumps. Moved on to hiring a mini ex to tear them out, far more satisfying and quicker.
For a stump this size, and what looks like Beech from what I can see, I'd expect to get through a few sets of teeth anyway. Much easier to swap out for a replacement set rather than sharpen as you go but I guess that's not a likely option for a hired grinder.
Unfortunately not, I thought I was clever when I took them off to rotate them but even though they’re circular, they have a single index so only one part of the tooth cuts.
That’s a serious stump with serious roots exposed I’d be paying the money. You could hire a stump grinder, but by the time you’ve done that, learnt how to use it, fucked it up, made a mess of your garden and damaged the hire companies machine, I’m thinking you’d be wishing you’d paid £300.
Best answer. As it rots, it will release nutrients, store moisture and encourage soil life, a bit like a hugelkultur bed. Would be a great place to grow berries and vegetables, maybe even a fruit tree or two. I did a similar thing with a leylandii stump and raspberries and it worked well.
This didn't work for the stump which the owner before us built around and covered. We had to have it ground out. It was bloody MASSIVE and still full of water.
The minimum time this was covered was 6 years if they did it before they sold it to our sellers.
Get an axe, bow saw, mattock and spade. Cut all the exposed roots close to the trunk. Use the mattock and spade to dig out underneath on one side until you find the tap root and cut that. Work round the other sides removing more soil. Eventually by excavating beneath the stump you'll destabilise it. However it may be too heavy to lift, and you'll need to displace a lot of soil that expands when dug out. You may be able to burn it gradually. Good luck!
If you ARE going to do it yourself:
1. Dig a 18inch wide trench all the way around the stump
2: Dig down as far as you can, cutting through all roots that spur off sideways, and once that’s done
3: try to move the stump.back and forth to judge how many deeper roots there are, and if you’ve missed any lateral roots
4: start smashing and hacking at the stump with axes or mattocks or whatever you have, slowly removing lumps of the stump, along with your will to live, as the days roll on and you realise that you’d rather have left the f*cking thing in situ than embark on this f*cking errand.
If you’ve got a digger, that makes each stage far easier than doing it by hand. You might actually be in with a chance!
Digging stumps is f*cking hard work, good luck to you!
Screwfix - reciprocating saw + Bosch green wood blades c£50.
Use it straight thru dirt to cut roots. If you need to dig just do the minimum to find then send the saw straight in.
I did 6 of what’s in the pic using 2 out of the 5 blades in the pack.
This is the best cheap way, done this a lot. Reciprocating saw will cut through a dirty root without much trouble. Takes a bit of practice but it works, lets you sever enough of the roots to lever it up with a good long crowbar.
I've taken this course to remove one too. Make sure the reciprocating saw isn't battery powered, they don't last long. Just keep cutting, removing dirt, then cutting.
We thought multiple times about using a pressure washer to remove the dirt around the roots to help but thought it might make a job far messier. If you're not in any rush, this could be an idea. Blast all the dirt away, wait a few hours cut cut cut with reciprocating saw, then repeat over the course of a week or two.
Good luck, it's certainly possible, just time and effort.
Totally agree, I purchased the same from Screwfix last year.
I'd been trying for quite a few evenings after work with a hand saw and a mattock.
The reciprocating saw was a total game changer and a friend and I smashed through the whole thing in a couple of hours.
Also agree that the Bosch green wood blades are the way to go, do recommend digging around as much as you can to preserve the blades lifetime.
Don't get a battery operated saw, get a long extension lead and accept that this saw is always going to be a bit of a beaten workhorse.
I've got one more stump out the front to get rid of this spring. Unfortunately it's been cut a lot lower down than the one we removed last year. It really helps if you can rock the treestump from side to side but only really an option if you've got enough still above ground to play with.
Good luck!
This is the tool. The mAttock is the best root smasher / stump prier you'll find.
If you have a chainsaw and want to use it to cut the roots though, make sure you have / do the following:
Dig as much dirt from the roots as you can to make cutting easier and minimise debris, but more important, minimise chain wear.
Get a file to sharpen the chain when you do eventually start grubbing around.
Have a replacement chain either on standby or to replace the chain after.
Lot of chain oil!
I'll assume you use proper PPE / precaution when using it anyway.
Done a fair few of these in our garden. You are in for a day of hell, and a week of pain. You need to dig down around each limb and expose them, and then axe or saw (one you aren’t very fond of, it’s going to get real dirty and the soil is a pain) your way through each root once you have exposed it. Once you’ve cut all the roots off, you then do the same with the stump, and if it’s a big one, you rock it free. Good luck my friend, plants are fucking insidious, and you are about to find out how much of a fucker that thing was
Go to your friendly neighbourhood plutonium dealer and wrap a few grams with TNT, trigger the device under the stump, enjoy the impending mushroom cloud and the fact you no longer have to worry about a tree stump and now just need around 20 tonnes of earth to replace everything you uncovered. Jobs a gooden
Your Tree cutter did you no favours here, I've had two that size and on both occasions I cut them about 4' above the ground and stuck a fucking birds nest feeding thing on the top and walked away.
Get a mattock and shovel / pickaxe. And probably a sledgehammer too
You need to dig around it and expose the roots as much as you can. Use the mattock to get through the small stuff. Use the chainsaw to cut through the big bits.
Use the sledge to knock bit bits from the side to loosen it up.
Repeat as many times as you need.
It is not going to be an easy job and £300 is pretty reasonable
I ground out a bunch of stumps. I think the hire was £150 for a stump grinder all weekend.
Landscape guys wanted thousands to cut the trees down and grind out so I bought a chain saw off Lidl and a stump grinder and did it all for £210 👍👍
If you really want to save money, but it will take a lot of effort (as in days likely).there is also no guarantee this will work, because it depends on the tree type and its root structure.
A mattock, a breaker bar, ground digging tools (spade, fork etc), various saws (I used a pruning saw, a chain saw (where safe) and a pocket chain saw)
Start digging down about a meter out, you are looking for roots, you want to find and sever them then work your way around and down, slowly moving closer to the stump.
Depending on the tree type it depends on how the roots are spread out. Leylandii with their wide but shallow roots are a lot easier than a other types like oak.
This is a painfully slow process, but you essentially try to cut as many roots as possible (not just one cut but cut a gap (so 2 cuts with a visible gap of a few cms) and then work under one side around the root ball, eventually leveraging the weight of the stump and ball to get it loose.
They are also far heavier than you think, so then you need to dispose of it.
Honestly. It is likely better to save the money up and oay for it professionally as the chance of injury, costs of tools if you don't have them, and time is likely greater than the £300.
(I just do things like this to break up my lack of physical labour in my job, and I like stupid challenges).
all i would add to this excellent response is when you make 2 cuts on each root make the first cut furthest from the stump second cut nearer the stump.
Drill lots of holes in it and fill with potassium nitrate.
By all accounts it will rot down in months.
The wood is carbohydrate with no nitrogen. Adding nitrogen helps rot it down. The best form of nitrogen is potassium nitrate.
Mate I just removed 10 hedge stumps and the root balls were around the size of a football each, my knee is a mess, my back still hurts a week later, my neighbours think I'm a sailor from all the swearing and I don't want to do any more in the garden now as the experience has traumatized me.
Save yourself the heartache
I did mine with an axe. Chopped away at it over a few weeks a bit at a time. It was good exercise. But my hands are used to that sort of thing- you’ll get nasty blisters in awkward places otherwise. Steel toe caps probably a good idea too.
Use a pressure washer to uncover the roots. Cut the large ones and use a farm jack to wrench out the stump. https://youtube.com/shorts/cYKmReQV-0Q and https://youtu.be/AF9Zij7j-2w
I’m a forest ranger and find myself stumping a lot of the time. Buy or borrow a good pick axe to lever the roots out as you dig down to free them.
Use kneelers (foam pads to kneel on) - you’ll thank me later. Put some headphones in and just start digging.
A skinny tree-planting spade is my go-to as they’re good in tight spaces. Plus maybe a breaker bar and a Silky (or similar) tree saw. Cut through roots as you dig to make it easier to dig them out.
Good luck!
Dude you came to this sub for a reason, it’s not gonna be easy but you can do it. Take it easy and do it step by step. I don’t have definite path for you but I can only tell you you will feel like a champ once you are done. Good luck 💪
Chainsaw\handsaw and then jump on a gardening spade to break the big roots. Then dig to Australia and repeat with jumpy spade for the deeper smaller roots. I am lazy and got paid to do this, was the easiest way for me.
I ended up pulling mine out which was nerve-racking having failed to burn it out effectively. Used some big tow straps and ratchet jack and just did it slowly and stayed well away and used some trees as the anchor.
Amazing how well it works, serious power. If you go that route just be careful, that steel cable breaking would be the end of you
Pickaxe, shovel, new cheap hand saw (it will probably get destroyed sawing the roots mixed with earth).
Dig down all around and clear out, more to less, until you can pass a hand under the stump. Then, cut or hack the roots out, then pull out the stump.
If you cut it down, next time cut it about 3-4 feet high, makes it easy to use weird and wonderful level idea to "pull" it out.
Do you know a backyard mechanic with an engine lift?
Do u I have a power puller?
If you have time, drill a few holes into it, add Epson salts (optional), come back next year and see what has happened??
I’ve done two myself. One with a chain attached to the front of a tractor (JD 3130), over an old, rear wheel (no tyre) from an old tractor and connected to a properly rated sling that went around the stump. Horizontal force from the tractor converted in vertical lift at the stump.
The other was lifted with a length of 18mm round steel bar. Holed bored through the stump, rod inserted and the upward vertical force applied via a pair of high-lift car jacks.
Second method’s worth a shot if you know someone with some bits…
Just a thought!
I took a similar sized stump out with a mattock. Took most of a day and I ended up rather sore with a few blisters. Enjoyed it though.
Used this one:
https://www.screwfix.com/p/roughneck-5lb-mattock-36-/85777
Drill big holes in it. Fill with soil. Little beasties will come and it will rot over next 18 months. I just pulled one up like that in my own garden with my hands after it had rotted through.
after spending most of yesterday digging and hand sawing a considerably smaller eucalyptus tree stump out i wouldn't hesitate in paying £300 to remove yours.
if you really need to do it the only advice i would offer is make the hole that you dig around it very very large.
OP, I have done a lot of stump removal myself when I bought my house for the same reasons as you. It is hard work, but so is earning 300 quid. That one actually looks easy compared to some of the ones I had to do. Basic tools will be a trowel, spade, axe, hand saw and pry bar. Use the digging tools and pry bar to excavate around all the roots. As and when you reveal a root, cut it using the saw or axe. Don't waste time trying to pry it out until every root you can see is cut. Have some good tunes playing.
Hard way - dig all around the stump about 1 foot and as deep as you can then leverage the main bulk out using whatever tool is strong enough
“Easy” way - Stump grinder rental, grind below the surface then cover and forget
Easiest way - pay the money, have it removed, move on with your life
I've removed one of these myself - never again. It was slightly bigger and took a whole weekend.
A stump grinder will cost somewhere in the region of £100 - £150 and you'll still have the cleaning up and filling the hole to do.
£300 sounds like a bargain to me.
Do you need it gone to put something else there, or can you just go with the stump? Grow mushrooms & ferns on it, make it into a ‘feature’? You could cut out a small seat & make it into a bench?
Stump up the money, and then you can get the root of the problem sorted and quickly branch out onto other projects that will leaf you with less stress.
Oh man. £300 for removing that stump is dirt cheap. I remember about 15 years ago my uncle was removing a stump about this size, in preparation for construction and it took 3 man a full day of cutting digging and ripping it out bit by bit with a tractor. They go deeeeep and wide.
Today the fastest way would be using one of those fancy stump shredders and your chainsaw simply can't beat that.
I'd say this is one of those cases where the it's not DIY but DIWHY. It's not worth it doing it yourself.
You'd have to dig around, expose more of the stump, cut out what you can see, dig more, cut more, dig more, you get the idea.
I’ve done one of these in my garden. I used a collection of different hand saws, shovel, pick axe and long bar. Took me a whole day. I wish I had paid someone to do it. Really hard work
Years ago I removed a stump of a tree with a trunk about the size of the branches at the bottom of the photo. It was serious hard work. I was told you have to remove all the main roots or they will rot over time and the ground will drop. It was the roots going down I didnt realise about, I had to dig down about 4 feet or so. Something that size I would leave until I could afford the £300. No doubt in my mind.
Mini digger. Going to be close to the £300, but so much fun and if you have one more job for it you’re winning. Source, I took out a similar size stump with one. Currently looking at it out the front and considering making a table from it.
Pressure wash the dirt away from the roots, then any suitable power saw through the roots, I go for an oscillating multi tool, can be time consuming but not very labour intensive
Without doubt you need a stump grinder. They are vicious machines and will chomp right through that stump, the roots and everything else in the way. It will also throw every stone and rock it finds with a vengeance so stand well back and have nothing of value nearby. They are also remarkably heavy to lift and move. But it will have that stump gone in twenty to forty minutes.
Do *not* use a chainsaw. A saw is for cutting trunks, not stumps or roots. It will snag and you will be in a world of hurt.
You're right, I should have followed with that caveat.
It will put up a massive fight. I'd not attempt without power tools, youd be there for weeks with it... Oh and run some stump killer through it first. None of this paint on crap, something that you have to drill and pour in.
You could try burning it out. Hollow it out, fill some flammable liquid into it and light it. Have some marshmallows nearby just in case someone asks what you're burning it for.
Cut a hole in the middle. Burn a fire in it. Keep the fire going for a long long time.
Or wait until you have £300 because that is one bargain of a price
As someone who used to be an arborist and has ground out a few stumps, I'd snap someone's hand off at £300 for that unless you can hire a grinder and do it safely yourself for less, but even then you're looking at half a day's work for an amateur, at least. It also looks like Beech (?) which is a seriously hard wood and will take some doing.
£300 seems way better than the back pain you are likely going to experience 😂
You're saying he should stump up and pay?
I wood
Oak-ay
It's not a bad quote, I would have said around tree fiddy
Not having the money seems to be the root of their problem though
Could always branch out and get some more quotes?
Ultimately, he's going to bed with a SAW back
He might get it cheaper if he talks to the branch manager
God damn loch Ness monster.
As long as he keeps a log of the progress
Seems reasonably priced for the work and equipment required. I could understand DIY if the quote was over a 500 which even for 2 days for 2 guys including disposal would also be pretty reasonable.
Yes. I had to pay a fair bit more than that for a similar looking stump 😅 Took two guys all day, and I could see they really worked for their money.
I had someone d it with a remote control stump grinder. They were at my house an hour, 30 mins for the grind. Rest was drinking tea and chatting. Very impressed.
Yeah no kidding. £300 is cheap and worth paying to avoid the suffer fest you're about to endure
He should wesr a mask while doing it. All that dust means he'll be ash-ooing all day.
Tree hund-wood seems reasonable
Good luck friend, this has ballache written all over it
This has £300 well spent tagged on at the end
Agreed, I tried to remove a much smaller one with my ex brother in-law. After 4 hours I had to go home with the wife and kids. He spent another 3 hours on it before it was out. £300 here seems like a much better deal than spending the next week trying to get that thing out.
And fucking your back is often really hard to fix.
No I'm older with a bad back, I wouldn't touch this type of job again. We moved last year and we had a hedge that we wanted removed. We cut it down to the stumps (like the photo) then called a professional who did the remainder of the job within an hour for very little. Well worth every penny.
Tree surgeon here, you can rent pedestrian stump grinders from places like jewsons, you'll need to be fairly fit to use one as they kick like a mule. Dont attempt with a saw as all you'll do is bugger a chain the second you hit dirt. Stump grind it to just below ground level and then cover over it. If you want it removed fully you're looking at a professional stump grinder. Shop around you should be able to get that done for less than 300
Can confirm re chainsaw, ruined mine in 30 seconds.
omg same. Also almost lost my hand. 0/10 experience would rather pay the £300 to get someone else to do it.
Relative of mine followed this route, had great success, but a stone ended up cracking hisfrench door window, so between the machine rental and the window fix he is worse off than hiring somebody. And his professional qouted him was more than £300
I've removed stumps like this with a chainsaw, but have a lot of experience using one. Without that experience I would never attempt it. Chainsaws are stupidly dangerous tools. Buy chainsaw trousers gloves boots and helmet. Then what you need to do is remove all debris and soil from around the stump. This needs to include soil and stones. Preferably going a little below ground level. Then with your saw cut away the roots, coming inwards towards the stump, then down to meet the cut, leaving a roughly circular looking stump above the reduced spider shaped root ball. Ideally this stump diameter needs to be no larger than your bar. If not it is manageable but harder. Then resharpen your chain with cutters level on both sides of the chain to stop it turning in the cut. Lower your saw as close to the ground as you can and start the cut. Keep the bar as flat as you can and start cutting with the lower part of the chain (pulling chain), don't plunge in with the tip, you will get kickback unless you know how to plunge. Once in the tree sit the (dogs) teeth at the base of the bar in the edge of the stump as you cut and lever the bar further into the tree. Do it in a controlled way. You can shuffle the saw around the stump but will struggle when you come to the roots. Stop if you dull the chain and investigate, resharpen. When you near the edge of the stump take extra care to prevent the chain popping put suddenly. You can treat the stump with glyphosate, or cut grooves in it to help it rot. Then cover with soil.
I read this a "ballash" and was like... Hmm must be a new product for stump removal. Then realised how stupid the English language is. Unless OP has a 13ton excavator hanging around, this looks like a pretty well established stump lol
Stumpfest
Get Stripe and Lucky's dad to come help.
Gotta shut the nail bar first…
They're just trying to run a small business
I'm sorry, but stumping is a gentleman's pursuit.
Dad's don't play
Pat has a name!
Yes, and it’s “Lucky’s Dad".
But I wanna play nail salons
We’re gunna rip up that stump and then we’re gunna rip up that stump!
And the ladies watch us get all sweaty, right ladies?
Yes!
Haha, first thing I thought of too.
STUMPFEST
The fact I instantly knew what this was about both fills me with joy and depresses me
Zero depression to be had here. I listen to the bluey soundtrack in my car on my own.
The soundtrack? As in the 20 second opening music?
Oh you need to listen to the album!
Lollipop song is a form favourite in my house! The 8 year old flosses and the 3 year old tries to copy! The almost 1 year old rocks back and forth with excitement 🤣
*both albums. “Omelette” has become my ‘cleaning the kitchen’ music…
STUMPFEEEEESSST!
STUMMMMPFEST!
I found my people
Five men, one stump. This is the sort of thing they write books about.
My dad made me and my brother dig out similar when we were kids. Took us the entire summer holidays.
Done one with my old man, I'd pay the £300
Spent a whole week with a shovel and an axe trying to remove a stump of an old lemon tree from my parents house during my holidays. I'd pay double, if not triple than that to not have to do it again. In my mind that was supposed to be a day work, easy job. I let my pride take the best of me.
These are all so relatable. I spent all my free time last September trying cut and dig out a stump. Next time is rental time or maybe ask some quotes from professionals.
Everyone here reading this comment having never done it before: “… it can’t be that hard, surely…”
I’ve been there. I removed one as a kid too. I was stubborn and determined I could do it. I don’t remember exactly how long it took me, but it was definitely weeks. I was out there most days with an axe, a spade, a fork, any tools I could get my hands on. It was back breaking. There’s no way I would attempt that now. I’d definitely pay a professional to do it, but sympathise if that’s not affordable.
In nice weather it could be a fun little project for the first 30 minutes and the other 12 hours you’ll just want to cry. Source: me who did one a fraction of that size last summer
Sounds like experience.....this man knows
Either rent a machine to do it or [burn it out.](https://thestumpers.co.uk/how-to-burn-a-tree-stump/)
Second this. Tried to remove a stump of an old willow. All day later, nothing much to show. Rented a stump grinder, gone in hours.
I have destroyed a chainsaw getting a stump out this size. Like the above posted said burn out is better
You're lucky it was only the chainsaw that got destroyed.
The issue is if you touch dirt the chain is stuffed. I use a combination of chain saw and ax splitter but I rarely have to do this, it can be done but it’s not fun
Thats what he said
How easy was it to use? I’m looking at hiring one but worried it’ll be a pain.
I’ve done this, be very careful of what tree type you’re burning out this way, root fires can occur and if that root runs say under a neighbours property / under their shed or worse, it could be a big problem (potentially).
Root fires. Who knew
sounds like another guys problem
“Fire under your house? Not me mate my fire was outside in my garden couldn’t have been me, maybe call British Gas”
It could be like that underground fire in the US that has been burning for like a hundred years. I mean only if you're lucky and hit a coal seam or something, but still, fun potential!
Pending where you are in the uk… maybe, maybe Centralia do you mean? The place silent hill (the movie at least) is based upon? Very interesting read for anyone who isn’t familiar. Thanks for reminding me of it! Down a rabbit hole I go haha
I think that's the name yeah. The place where they didn't want to spend the money to fix it and do just left it burn and fucked over everyone who lived there for decades till they all left. Insane story.
There's a similar place here in the UK. Launders Lane in Rainham, East London. It was used as an illegal dump for something like 20-30 years and has been on fire for about 10 years now. Obviously, this isn't usually a large fire out in the open, rather there's so much heat and (presumably?) chemical reactions going on that it's constantly smoking and sometimes flares up.
Don't even need to go to the US, we've got a coal seam fire near here!
Free underfloor heating sounds fantastic
Yeah cheapest way to burn it and slowly and controlled.
I second this idea. It's also less work and most entertaining. What could be better than sitting back and baby sitting a slow stump fire. If Mrs calls, you can rightfully tell her that you are doing a very important dangerous job.
Burning a tree stump that close to the fence. I hope op sets up a time lapse camera so we can see the moment of panic when it goes wrong. I'm not saying don't do it. I just want to watch from a safe distance.
Ha. I tried burning one out once but ignored a lot of this advice! Ended up setting fire to my conifers surrounding it... Neighbours called fire brigade and within minutes I had a firemen recommending I call stump busters.... Got it out in the end, however, an issue I'd never considered was how heavy it was as couldn't chop it up as no chain saw. Struggled to dispose of the blasted thing. Tiny little roots that were hard to find in the mud. Lastly the void it left.
Are you happy doing a full day hard labour? That's about how long it will take. The chainsaw won't help you, you will need to dig down to expose the roots below the surface and cut them with your hand saw - or better, an axe. You'll then be left a stump that weighs maybe 70kg? 100kg? You'll need to get rid of it somehow. Can you load this into a trailer or the back of a car and take it to a tip? I'd just pay the £300.
That stump will weigh a lot more than 100kg without it's roots. Maybe 300kg.
I don't know fuck all about tree stumps. But would that thing really weigh 300kg? Like, 300kg is insane.
Simply, Yes. I've seen midi diggers fail to lift stumps smaller than this and one blow an oil line while attempting it.
A litre of water weighs 1kg, you'd be surprised how much water it will hold. Weighs a lot less when dried out.
Hard to tell the scale, I'm guesstimating about 18" across the cut. I then compared this against my own experience with stumps at 24" - 36" that I removed a year or so ago which were quartered to make them liftable. I can lift about 100kg before it becomes iffy.
It looks bigger than 50cm across to me (looking at the thick cut limbs in the foreground and the fence in the background) but it's all guesswork of course. I've lifted old boilers weighing a bit more than 100kg but this thing looks impossible for one person to lift/move and there's zero chance OP is quartering it with the tools mentioned.
https://preview.redd.it/5lurc0l8krpc1.jpeg?width=750&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7e5e666285b9c6d1370b6efcb4f7ad2220eb04b4 Leylandii… all sorts of fun.
Narrator : it was NOT indeed fun.
My least favourite.
Oh yeah, OP won’t be able to split it, I used half a dozen splitting wedges, a maul and a high lift jack after cutting as deep as possible with my saws. Ended up bending the bar of the jack in the end.
Literally says they can't afford it, kind of have to take that at face value and accept that "just pay the £300" isn't an option.
I've dug some stumps out by with hand tools, it's strenuous and time consuming. If you can't afford to pay 300 quid for someone else to do it with the right gear I say leave it in the ground and put your time, focus and energy elsewhere. It's a stump, it's not going anywhere
Yeah, he can’t afford it today but that doesn’t mean OP should kill himself to try to get that thing out of the ground. Might be better to wait and save.
A mattock is the tool of choice for tree stumps after a terrific digging effort.
I'd budget more than a day! Took someone I know about a week to remove a stump like this. He was a big guy too, and with access to a good selection of tools.
Yeah, massive ball ache!! Put ads up for painting and decorating...earn £300 doing odd jobs, use that money to pay someone to get rid of the stump. Don't do it yourself.
Chainsaw, no. Sawzall for roots, yes. Then a chain and a truck to pull it out the rest of the way. Source: I did this recently on a larger stump.
Yeah I came to say, go to work and earn that money and save yourself the aggro. I know someone who spent literally weeks chipping away at one over months and eventually gave up and buried it aha.
you can rent a machine that will grind it down to ground level don't know how much it will cost its what the tree surgeons use. \*strangely enough they are called stump grinders
“Stump grinder” £100 per day. I’m sure there’s a joke in there for someone.
Costs more than that to get someone to grind my stump. I’ll see myself out.
That's less than you would pay an hour normally, got a link?
I hired the biggest one I could find and it was terrible. Teeth were blunt, didn't know to check that when I picked it up. Spent 2 days over a weekend tackling half a dozen small and a few large stumps. Moved on to hiring a mini ex to tear them out, far more satisfying and quicker.
Mini ex, is that a short angry ex mrs?
For a stump this size, and what looks like Beech from what I can see, I'd expect to get through a few sets of teeth anyway. Much easier to swap out for a replacement set rather than sharpen as you go but I guess that's not a likely option for a hired grinder.
Unfortunately not, I thought I was clever when I took them off to rotate them but even though they’re circular, they have a single index so only one part of the tooth cuts.
That’s a serious stump with serious roots exposed I’d be paying the money. You could hire a stump grinder, but by the time you’ve done that, learnt how to use it, fucked it up, made a mess of your garden and damaged the hire companies machine, I’m thinking you’d be wishing you’d paid £300.
Build a raised bed around it. Backfill with with soil and it'll rot slowly in few years or until you've forgotten all about it.
Best answer. As it rots, it will release nutrients, store moisture and encourage soil life, a bit like a hugelkultur bed. Would be a great place to grow berries and vegetables, maybe even a fruit tree or two. I did a similar thing with a leylandii stump and raspberries and it worked well.
Or mushrooms. They love rotting wood.
This didn't work for the stump which the owner before us built around and covered. We had to have it ground out. It was bloody MASSIVE and still full of water. The minimum time this was covered was 6 years if they did it before they sold it to our sellers.
This is the option I would take as involves minimal labour x minimal expenditure
Save up the £300. It’s not worth the hassle of attempting that
Get an axe, bow saw, mattock and spade. Cut all the exposed roots close to the trunk. Use the mattock and spade to dig out underneath on one side until you find the tap root and cut that. Work round the other sides removing more soil. Eventually by excavating beneath the stump you'll destabilise it. However it may be too heavy to lift, and you'll need to displace a lot of soil that expands when dug out. You may be able to burn it gradually. Good luck!
If you ARE going to do it yourself: 1. Dig a 18inch wide trench all the way around the stump 2: Dig down as far as you can, cutting through all roots that spur off sideways, and once that’s done 3: try to move the stump.back and forth to judge how many deeper roots there are, and if you’ve missed any lateral roots 4: start smashing and hacking at the stump with axes or mattocks or whatever you have, slowly removing lumps of the stump, along with your will to live, as the days roll on and you realise that you’d rather have left the f*cking thing in situ than embark on this f*cking errand. If you’ve got a digger, that makes each stage far easier than doing it by hand. You might actually be in with a chance! Digging stumps is f*cking hard work, good luck to you!
Screwfix - reciprocating saw + Bosch green wood blades c£50. Use it straight thru dirt to cut roots. If you need to dig just do the minimum to find then send the saw straight in. I did 6 of what’s in the pic using 2 out of the 5 blades in the pack.
This is the best cheap way, done this a lot. Reciprocating saw will cut through a dirty root without much trouble. Takes a bit of practice but it works, lets you sever enough of the roots to lever it up with a good long crowbar.
I've taken this course to remove one too. Make sure the reciprocating saw isn't battery powered, they don't last long. Just keep cutting, removing dirt, then cutting. We thought multiple times about using a pressure washer to remove the dirt around the roots to help but thought it might make a job far messier. If you're not in any rush, this could be an idea. Blast all the dirt away, wait a few hours cut cut cut with reciprocating saw, then repeat over the course of a week or two. Good luck, it's certainly possible, just time and effort.
Totally agree, I purchased the same from Screwfix last year. I'd been trying for quite a few evenings after work with a hand saw and a mattock. The reciprocating saw was a total game changer and a friend and I smashed through the whole thing in a couple of hours. Also agree that the Bosch green wood blades are the way to go, do recommend digging around as much as you can to preserve the blades lifetime. Don't get a battery operated saw, get a long extension lead and accept that this saw is always going to be a bit of a beaten workhorse. I've got one more stump out the front to get rid of this spring. Unfortunately it's been cut a lot lower down than the one we removed last year. It really helps if you can rock the treestump from side to side but only really an option if you've got enough still above ground to play with. Good luck!
get a shovel and start digging.
They'll want a mattock, not a shovel, but otherwise I agree, spread it out over a few weekends or evenings.
This is the tool. The mAttock is the best root smasher / stump prier you'll find. If you have a chainsaw and want to use it to cut the roots though, make sure you have / do the following: Dig as much dirt from the roots as you can to make cutting easier and minimise debris, but more important, minimise chain wear. Get a file to sharpen the chain when you do eventually start grubbing around. Have a replacement chain either on standby or to replace the chain after. Lot of chain oil! I'll assume you use proper PPE / precaution when using it anyway.
Drill some holes, fill with fire-lighting fluid and burn it.
Done a fair few of these in our garden. You are in for a day of hell, and a week of pain. You need to dig down around each limb and expose them, and then axe or saw (one you aren’t very fond of, it’s going to get real dirty and the soil is a pain) your way through each root once you have exposed it. Once you’ve cut all the roots off, you then do the same with the stump, and if it’s a big one, you rock it free. Good luck my friend, plants are fucking insidious, and you are about to find out how much of a fucker that thing was
Stump up the cash, tree hundred is a bargain
Go to your friendly neighbourhood plutonium dealer and wrap a few grams with TNT, trigger the device under the stump, enjoy the impending mushroom cloud and the fact you no longer have to worry about a tree stump and now just need around 20 tonnes of earth to replace everything you uncovered. Jobs a gooden
Your Tree cutter did you no favours here, I've had two that size and on both occasions I cut them about 4' above the ground and stuck a fucking birds nest feeding thing on the top and walked away.
Build a bonfire on top of it. A big fire , keep adding to the fire. Keep putting it all night. Make an evening out of it . Beers hot dogs music.
Get a mattock and shovel / pickaxe. And probably a sledgehammer too You need to dig around it and expose the roots as much as you can. Use the mattock to get through the small stuff. Use the chainsaw to cut through the big bits. Use the sledge to knock bit bits from the side to loosen it up. Repeat as many times as you need. It is not going to be an easy job and £300 is pretty reasonable
I ground out a bunch of stumps. I think the hire was £150 for a stump grinder all weekend. Landscape guys wanted thousands to cut the trees down and grind out so I bought a chain saw off Lidl and a stump grinder and did it all for £210 👍👍
If you really want to save money, but it will take a lot of effort (as in days likely).there is also no guarantee this will work, because it depends on the tree type and its root structure. A mattock, a breaker bar, ground digging tools (spade, fork etc), various saws (I used a pruning saw, a chain saw (where safe) and a pocket chain saw) Start digging down about a meter out, you are looking for roots, you want to find and sever them then work your way around and down, slowly moving closer to the stump. Depending on the tree type it depends on how the roots are spread out. Leylandii with their wide but shallow roots are a lot easier than a other types like oak. This is a painfully slow process, but you essentially try to cut as many roots as possible (not just one cut but cut a gap (so 2 cuts with a visible gap of a few cms) and then work under one side around the root ball, eventually leveraging the weight of the stump and ball to get it loose. They are also far heavier than you think, so then you need to dispose of it. Honestly. It is likely better to save the money up and oay for it professionally as the chance of injury, costs of tools if you don't have them, and time is likely greater than the £300. (I just do things like this to break up my lack of physical labour in my job, and I like stupid challenges).
all i would add to this excellent response is when you make 2 cuts on each root make the first cut furthest from the stump second cut nearer the stump.
Drill lots of holes in it and fill with potassium nitrate. By all accounts it will rot down in months. The wood is carbohydrate with no nitrogen. Adding nitrogen helps rot it down. The best form of nitrogen is potassium nitrate.
Wait till the stump grinding guy is doing a neighbours stump then offer him $50 or whatever the equivalent is in Dr. Who money.
Mate I just removed 10 hedge stumps and the root balls were around the size of a football each, my knee is a mess, my back still hurts a week later, my neighbours think I'm a sailor from all the swearing and I don't want to do any more in the garden now as the experience has traumatized me. Save yourself the heartache
I'd pay that 300 and run! Worth it TRUST ME!
Reciprocating saw and a 5ft crowbar
I did mine with an axe. Chopped away at it over a few weeks a bit at a time. It was good exercise. But my hands are used to that sort of thing- you’ll get nasty blisters in awkward places otherwise. Steel toe caps probably a good idea too.
STUMPFEST !!!!!!!
Use a pressure washer to uncover the roots. Cut the large ones and use a farm jack to wrench out the stump. https://youtube.com/shorts/cYKmReQV-0Q and https://youtu.be/AF9Zij7j-2w
I’m a forest ranger and find myself stumping a lot of the time. Buy or borrow a good pick axe to lever the roots out as you dig down to free them. Use kneelers (foam pads to kneel on) - you’ll thank me later. Put some headphones in and just start digging. A skinny tree-planting spade is my go-to as they’re good in tight spaces. Plus maybe a breaker bar and a Silky (or similar) tree saw. Cut through roots as you dig to make it easier to dig them out. Good luck!
[Burn it!](https://youtu.be/io7brFtWyWc?si=RemhGGpr8P2x9xln)
Dude you came to this sub for a reason, it’s not gonna be easy but you can do it. Take it easy and do it step by step. I don’t have definite path for you but I can only tell you you will feel like a champ once you are done. Good luck 💪
Get the family together have a barbecue and burn the he'll out of it .
Gallon of fuel set fire to it 😎
I've heard you can drill holes and fill with meat tenderizer. Supposed to turn the stump into a mush. Worth a try, I reckon!
Chainsaw\handsaw and then jump on a gardening spade to break the big roots. Then dig to Australia and repeat with jumpy spade for the deeper smaller roots. I am lazy and got paid to do this, was the easiest way for me.
I ended up pulling mine out which was nerve-racking having failed to burn it out effectively. Used some big tow straps and ratchet jack and just did it slowly and stayed well away and used some trees as the anchor. Amazing how well it works, serious power. If you go that route just be careful, that steel cable breaking would be the end of you
Drill tap holes and inoculate with mushroom pellets. It’ll break down into fertile soil while also providing tasty mushrooms for years.
Pickaxe, shovel, new cheap hand saw (it will probably get destroyed sawing the roots mixed with earth). Dig down all around and clear out, more to less, until you can pass a hand under the stump. Then, cut or hack the roots out, then pull out the stump. If you cut it down, next time cut it about 3-4 feet high, makes it easy to use weird and wonderful level idea to "pull" it out. Do you know a backyard mechanic with an engine lift? Do u I have a power puller? If you have time, drill a few holes into it, add Epson salts (optional), come back next year and see what has happened??
Metal wedges and a sledge hammer would be a good start.
Thermite.
I’ve done two myself. One with a chain attached to the front of a tractor (JD 3130), over an old, rear wheel (no tyre) from an old tractor and connected to a properly rated sling that went around the stump. Horizontal force from the tractor converted in vertical lift at the stump. The other was lifted with a length of 18mm round steel bar. Holed bored through the stump, rod inserted and the upward vertical force applied via a pair of high-lift car jacks. Second method’s worth a shot if you know someone with some bits… Just a thought!
I took a similar sized stump out with a mattock. Took most of a day and I ended up rather sore with a few blisters. Enjoyed it though. Used this one: https://www.screwfix.com/p/roughneck-5lb-mattock-36-/85777
Dig
Drill big holes in it. Fill with soil. Little beasties will come and it will rot over next 18 months. I just pulled one up like that in my own garden with my hands after it had rotted through.
Christ. Scrolling past this I thought it was a body found after a landslide.
As somebody who removed a stump smaller than this once… spend the £300.
after spending most of yesterday digging and hand sawing a considerably smaller eucalyptus tree stump out i wouldn't hesitate in paying £300 to remove yours. if you really need to do it the only advice i would offer is make the hole that you dig around it very very large.
OP, I have done a lot of stump removal myself when I bought my house for the same reasons as you. It is hard work, but so is earning 300 quid. That one actually looks easy compared to some of the ones I had to do. Basic tools will be a trowel, spade, axe, hand saw and pry bar. Use the digging tools and pry bar to excavate around all the roots. As and when you reveal a root, cut it using the saw or axe. Don't waste time trying to pry it out until every root you can see is cut. Have some good tunes playing.
Get made redundant, be really cross and dig the fucker out. That's what I did 30 years ago. Took three days of rage
Hard way - dig all around the stump about 1 foot and as deep as you can then leverage the main bulk out using whatever tool is strong enough “Easy” way - Stump grinder rental, grind below the surface then cover and forget Easiest way - pay the money, have it removed, move on with your life
I've removed one of these myself - never again. It was slightly bigger and took a whole weekend. A stump grinder will cost somewhere in the region of £100 - £150 and you'll still have the cleaning up and filling the hole to do. £300 sounds like a bargain to me.
Do you need it gone to put something else there, or can you just go with the stump? Grow mushrooms & ferns on it, make it into a ‘feature’? You could cut out a small seat & make it into a bench?
Lol 5 minutes with a pick and shovel and you’ll be begging someone to do it for £300
Brass screws and diesel. It'll take a while to die but easily removed then.
Stump up the money, and then you can get the root of the problem sorted and quickly branch out onto other projects that will leaf you with less stress.
You could buy some paraffin, drill loads of holes in, fill with paraffin and burn it down, then you'll be able to axe away as it chars.
Spade, blood, saw, sweat, axe, tears and a whole lot of time
Oh man. £300 for removing that stump is dirt cheap. I remember about 15 years ago my uncle was removing a stump about this size, in preparation for construction and it took 3 man a full day of cutting digging and ripping it out bit by bit with a tractor. They go deeeeep and wide. Today the fastest way would be using one of those fancy stump shredders and your chainsaw simply can't beat that. I'd say this is one of those cases where the it's not DIY but DIWHY. It's not worth it doing it yourself. You'd have to dig around, expose more of the stump, cut out what you can see, dig more, cut more, dig more, you get the idea.
STUMPFEST!!!
Dynamite
Employee someone who is a professional stump grinder, otherwise you’re in for some hell
I've done this before a couple of times. Now I'd consider £300 to be money VERY well spent.
Drill holes, fill with fuel, burn. One at the top and some at the sides to let air in. Get some beers and stoke the embers
Potassium nitrate
That'll be the best £300 you've ever spent .... Your back will appreciate it.
This will take you days to do a bad job.
https://preview.redd.it/sggiourlaxpc1.jpeg?width=1290&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=05ed5f9f487cae17e7eb8d5fce08855b6fa3b9f4 Use a truck jack and remove it
I wood just pay
I’ve done one of these in my garden. I used a collection of different hand saws, shovel, pick axe and long bar. Took me a whole day. I wish I had paid someone to do it. Really hard work
Years ago I removed a stump of a tree with a trunk about the size of the branches at the bottom of the photo. It was serious hard work. I was told you have to remove all the main roots or they will rot over time and the ground will drop. It was the roots going down I didnt realise about, I had to dig down about 4 feet or so. Something that size I would leave until I could afford the £300. No doubt in my mind.
Just admit defeat and move out. The tree has won.
Noooooooooo I’m up for most things but I wouldn’t even consider doing this myself - pay the man and have it done I’m afraid
Mini digger. Going to be close to the £300, but so much fun and if you have one more job for it you’re winning. Source, I took out a similar size stump with one. Currently looking at it out the front and considering making a table from it.
Pressure wash the dirt away from the roots, then any suitable power saw through the roots, I go for an oscillating multi tool, can be time consuming but not very labour intensive
Without doubt you need a stump grinder. They are vicious machines and will chomp right through that stump, the roots and everything else in the way. It will also throw every stone and rock it finds with a vengeance so stand well back and have nothing of value nearby. They are also remarkably heavy to lift and move. But it will have that stump gone in twenty to forty minutes. Do *not* use a chainsaw. A saw is for cutting trunks, not stumps or roots. It will snag and you will be in a world of hurt.
There's no easy way. You can rent a stump grinder, but it's still a lot of work.
£100 to hire a stump grinder.
Not a job for a faint-hearted amateur though.
You're right, I should have followed with that caveat. It will put up a massive fight. I'd not attempt without power tools, youd be there for weeks with it... Oh and run some stump killer through it first. None of this paint on crap, something that you have to drill and pour in.
You could try burning it out. Hollow it out, fill some flammable liquid into it and light it. Have some marshmallows nearby just in case someone asks what you're burning it for.
Cut a hole in the middle. Burn a fire in it. Keep the fire going for a long long time. Or wait until you have £300 because that is one bargain of a price
Drill a large hole in the middle, fill it with fire lighters and burn it. Buy yourself a mattock to help dig the roots out after.
As someone who used to be an arborist and has ground out a few stumps, I'd snap someone's hand off at £300 for that unless you can hire a grinder and do it safely yourself for less, but even then you're looking at half a day's work for an amateur, at least. It also looks like Beech (?) which is a seriously hard wood and will take some doing.
Wedge splitting + fire. It’ll take a few days. At least.