Big, stubborn Tree Stump

[camel307]

Hi,

I have spent about a day and a half trying to dig out a large tree stump.

I have dug about a foot deep all the way round the trunk of a tree and hacked off all the roots as I have made my way round.

Please see picture attached.

I was just wondering whether anyone has done similar to this and whether or not I have (theoretically) done the hardest bit.

I have considered giving up and paying someone to finish the job off but if I am nearly there I am willing to perservere.

Is it best to just keep digging down until I get to the bottom of the trunk? And then is it a case of trying to heave it out?

Thanks guys

Untitled

• camel307
• 4 Feb 2014
• 1

 

[HERTS P&D]

Drill holes in the trunk and apply petrol, then have a bonfire.

Andy

 

[Deleted2797112]

I took out three of what look to be a similar size (hard to tell the scale from the pic) recently. I did it the way you have and each one took me a couple of days. I found I needed to get some leverage underneath to get them moving but once they start to move, they come out quite quickly. I think you've done the hardest part. Have you got a metal bar or a pickaxe or mattock - something you can ram underneath and get a bit of weight on?

 

[camel307]

Thanks both.

Ceres, the trunk itself has a diameter of roughly 50cm but the underbody is a bit bigger.

I have mostly used a pickaxe, axe and shovel to get this far so yes I do have a pickaxe. I also have a long bar (not too strong though) and a decent (quite long) crowbar. So yes, good thinking re levering it out once I can get under it.

Your post has certainly encouraged me to have it out this weekend lol.

Thanks

 

[wrathkeg]

You will probably find there isn't much movement until just before it is ready to give. Even thin roots can be surprisingly strong. As Ceres says, go for leverage and chop roots as you find them.

 

[LeadFarmer]

Be careful, I severely damaged my back a few years ago trying to life a similar sized trunk & rootball out of my garden.

The rootball weighed a tonne and I actually had to lif it out with a mini digger (which struggled). But I later tried to move it slightly by hand, which is when I turned into a cripple for 3 months. My Chiro sorted me out eventually, but in 3yrs later I'm still not fully recovered.

I ended up having to get someone in to cut it up with a chainsaw, which took a lot of effort as the root ball was rock solid.

For subsequent stumps that I needed removing I paid about £100 to a tree surgeon to do it, he arrived with one of these to grind it out (which I should have used in the first place)...

 

[Deleted2797112]

Sorry about your back. Rather than lift the whole thing once I'd dug them out, I scraped/knocked off all the soil I could and then used a bow saw and axe to cut manageable sized chunks off to get them down to a size I could handle. Doing this meant I could dispose of them over a few weeks in my brown bin rather than trips to the tip. Being a small, no longer young person of the female persuasion, I'm used to finding workarounds that reduce the need for brute force!

 

[r896neo]

As said once out your problems are not over! You'd need to seperate that into 5 or 6 pieces to be able to lift them. I just did one half that size yesterday with a combination of stihl saw with specialist blade and an axe.

 

[LeadFarmer]

Believe me when I say I'm a big bloke. At 6'3" & 22 stone I can tackle most things, but I couldn't even budge my rootball an inch.

 

[gwernybwch]

You will probably find there isn't much movement until just before it is ready to give. Even thin roots can be surprisingly strong. As Ceres says, go for leverage and chop roots as you find them.

I've dug out a number of tree stumps and agree with wrathkeg. Although I think that might need to dig deeper; when I have dug them up I have almost dug under the stump / rootball itself. Even then they have taken a fair amount of leverage to finally lift the actual stump / rootball.

Good luck!

 

[camel307]

Thanks everyone.

Some very useful responses.

I will have another go this weekend and let you all know how it went.

cheers

 

[scbk]

A pinch bar/fencing bar and a mattock are two useful tools for digging out stumps

 

[camel307]

SUCCESS!

Tree stump is out.

I continued to dig round the stump, excavating as much soil as possible. It still appeared solid but I tried my luck and used a 2.4m of timber to leverage it out and low and behold it came loose. I was able to cut a few under roots and then the rootball came out fully.

Cleaned off all the mud but is still very heavy so 2 of us rolled it into a corner where I intend leaving it to rot so I can easily chop it up.

Thanks for the encouragement and tips people.

 

[Deleted2797112]

Well done! Very satisfying and saved a few quid too not having to get the professionals in. Shortly after I moved here, the landlord of the house next door had a couiple of 'landscapers' in to tidy up the garden (which mainly involved cutting open bags of bark, laying the bags down and piling the bark on top). W were chatting and I mentioned that I wanted to take out three trees in my garden and they asked for £300 to do it and take the trees away. I declined politely!

 

[LeadFarmer]

SUCCESS!

Tree stump is out.

Cleaned off all the mud but is still very heavy so 2 of us rolled it into a corner where I intend leaving it to rot so I can easily chop it up.

.

Make it a feature by using it as a stumpery by turning it upside down and growing ferns amongst it