We have just had 3 big connifers cut down at our house we rent out and now need to sort out getting rid of the stumps.

Whats the best way or most cost effective way of removing them ??

is there a tool you can hire etc??

Cheers

Steve

How much is your time worth? if you’ve lots spare, stip the connifer of branches, leave a 6ft pole, cut away at the roots & use the trunk to lever it out.
Otherwise get a company with a stump grinder in, be done in a morning, not sure I’d want to try to operate one of those bugger.

Probably of absolutely no use to you, but if you do happen to have a big John Deere you need one of these……..

We have just had 3 big connifers cut down at our house

Tell me you left a few feet on them so you can dig/ chop roots and pull out.

Like this.

Opps missed that bit.. as above, if no trunk above the ground, just get a company with a stump grinder in. They’re impressive/scary in operation

Oddly enough I went out this morning to remove the stump of a birch tree in our garden, but the crocuses and other flowers around the base were too pretty, will have a go when they’ve gone. It’s in well so lots of digging/swearing, I reckon.

It is, a lot of digging and swearing.

When I had a load to do, (13 if memory serves) and someone helpfully cut them off at ground level I bought one of those electric sabre saws which made chopping off the roots a whole load easier.

Nope the lad that did it has left about 3 inches sticking out the ground.

Rented house? 3″ stump. Scatter chipped bark over them and stick a big planter on top.

I just leave them as an indication of my awesome lumber-jacking skills. 😀

digging them out is best if you want to do anything with the land. Anything else will leave bits of root and they don’t rot nearly as quick as you might think. Get a sabre saw and some cheap wood blades. Dig a bit, plunge the sabre saw in and chop both ends of the root, then dig a bit more. Its hard but satisfying.

Eventually we want to use a bit of the land they were on to extend the driveway to make it two cars wide and then put a fence the other side so the roots and stump need to come out.

Honestly the leverage gained via leaving more length on the stumps would only really help if the roots are relatively easy to remove – thus I doubt that would make a great deal of difference to how arduous the job in hand is .. Pure elbow grease and a selection of tools – Sharp axe , lump hammer and a wedge , big spade , little spade – just make sure you dig the surrounding soil out from around the roots before you go in on the buggers – Took me two days to take one out – then again getting a team in to stump grind isn’t cheap – would bother trying yourself if you’ve never used one as they’re quite viscous bits of kit – I believe the newer ones are remote control – which may be an indicator of the need to stand well back !

Leave them where they are until you’re pissed off about something or have a bad day at work. Then attack them with a multitude of hand tools.

We left one of ours in as it’s actually quite nice but the others were all stress-reliefed out, I almost missed them when they were gone. NOW what am I going to hammer the **** out of?

An old electric drill and large wood bits to drill through the large roots (dug around 1st) and a spade through the small stuff and to finish off where the drill has left a bit. Worked quite well for me. It was quite satisfying hauling out each large root but still hard work.

Nope the lad that did it has left about 3 inches sticking out the ground.

Why didn’t you get someone in to do the full job?

I did 8 stumps last year, I have 19 to go next year in our garden.
Spade. Pick axe. Old saw. Effort.
😐

Spade. Pick axe. Old saw. Effort.

this ^ + blood sweat and tears

Swap the pick-axe for a pick-mattock and the old saw for a sabre saw. Much easier.

Br it was done as a favour by a friend. Only cost 250 quid as opposed to the grand odd for the same job and they would of left the stumps too

You need these beautiful men.

In space of 2 and a bit days, turned this

into this

(you would not want to be a tree root in the way of Mr Orange!)

As above. Sharp mattock. Dig as much soil away as possible first though.

Watch your shins. Good luck.

You need to find out whether the local tree surgeons do their own stump grinding or use one bloke who just does grinding. Find him if they do.

I don’t know if the mate who did the favour is insured etc. That difference in price gets highlighted if a cheap mate drops a tree on a car or building and isn’t insured. Just so you know for future work.

Br it was done as a favour by a friend. Only cost 250 quid as opposed to the grand odd for the same job and they would of left the stumps too

I’ve dug them out in the past, won’t be doing it again…

Mini-digger?

Have dug plenty out. Cut every root you can find. Then a block of wood (fulcrum) and big crowbar provides the leverage to move the stump and find the remaining roots – the 1.5m bar at Machine Mart is great for £30.

1 Dig out underneath enough to get a rope under it
2 Attach rope under roots to a Land Rover
3 Engage low range
4 Pull stump out
5 Open beer, look smug.

Farming with Dynamite
All in here, simple stuff and cost effective.

i left 3 of mine at waist height, cut them dead level, made one into a table and one into bird tables

Having a mate with a stump grinder helps 🙂

As mentioned above, if you can find someone with one locally they can be reasonable in their charges (considering what a ballache getting them out manually is).

Mini digger works well. You’ll have them all done in a day with a digger and won’t be knackered.

Renton if you are anywhere near Cardiff way I’ll be happy to help you. Have removed plenty in my time.

Gareth

Hire a tree stump grinder, I did 3 or 4 hard wood tree stumps in a morning. Great machines 🙂

@Marin_No_8: Does that mean you have the tools? Say…a chainsaw? I would love someone local with a chainsaw to give me hand cutting a shed load of cedar in my back garden.

Any chance?

@SaxonRider Yes I do. Drop me an email with a picture or two at garethesplin@googlemail.com

Will do, later today. Thanks!

Whatever you do get rid of them, they are unsightly and kill off the ground around them. I had five in the yard when I bought this place. There’s a very nice Jamaican bloke round here with the body of atlas and a keen gardener to boot. In a day all the ground was turned over for planting grass and the roots were gone. I was so pleased the tip was nearly bigger than the price he charged, money well spent. If you haven’t got the technique or the strength and persistence, get someone in.