# Best ways to cut a stump close to the ground?



## sportbikerider78 (Feb 19, 2016)

What is it about that close to the ground cut that seems to be difficult to make?  I always end up leaving too much above ground.  

Are their tricks to this?  

What techniques do you guys use to get the stumps to rot more quickly?


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## DougA (Feb 19, 2016)

I keep an old bar and chain for those situations. My goal is to cut it low enough so the mower deck will go over it without catching.  If you really want to get rid of a smaller tree, dig around the roots and cut them a foot from the stump.
For big trees, you can buy stuff that you put into holes you drill on the top to accelerate rotting.

One tip on felling that I like.  Mark the lowest spot that you can cut up from the ground. Then, measure up the trunk your standard length. Fell the tree at that spot, then cut the lower one. It's a lot easier and safer to fell a tree at a comfortable height than trying to cut it at the lowest spot.


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## peakbagger (Feb 19, 2016)

If you have access to pressure washer I have been told it makes world of difference if you pressure wash down low around the trunk to get rid of soil and rocks before sawing. I haven't tried it but it makes sense. I still would use an old chain. I also use Doug's suggested approach, although a logging foreman would kick me off his crew for wasting wood (the money is in the first log so cutting it high cuts down on the profit so most foresters want the trees cut low. I much prefer making my cuts at a comfortable level and then taking a final cut if need be down low. Where I cut, my brother usually wants me to leave the stumps high as its easier to push them over with his bull dozer. I find that cutting low works better with my backhoe so I can dig in behind it  but I am newby at it.

To get them to rot quicker, I usually do a few X shaped plunge cuts in the top to let water collect in it. They still last a long tims unless you burn them. Here is link to using potassium nitrate

http://www.treeremoval.com/stump-removal/how-to-burn-and-rot-tree-stumps/#.VsdEZo2FO9I


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## rustynut (Feb 19, 2016)

sbr......i found some stuff @ HD called Stump Out just about the time i had decided to try some Rid-x that they use in septic systems.
bought both and plan on testing on a couple of same size stumps i have in the yard but havn't got that far yet. Both were pretty cheap.
under $10 if i recall. Anyhow thats my plan. Good luck with those buggers... rn


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## woodhog73 (Feb 19, 2016)

I cut my stumps as flush to the ground as I can get them and then if you want them to rot quicker drill holes in them , like using a hammer drill. That's what I've been told but I've never tried as most of my stumps are in the woods anyways.  I think they sell stuff you can poor in the holes to rot the stump quicker , but the holes will fill with water when it rains and that helps it rot quicker too.

But get them as close to the ground as possible unless you are having them ground down etc. or carve them up for planting flowers and such. Sounds dumb but lots of people plant cheap flowers in hollow stumps for a different look


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## heavy hammer (Feb 19, 2016)

Fell the tree cut the stump as low to the ground as you can.  Then you could rent a stump grinder, they do make stuff to put on the stump to help it rot.  I know people will burn them.  There are a lot of options a machine could remove it a bulldozer or excavator.  If you are going to remove a few stumps you could pay a tree company to grind the stumps there are guys that do a great job and don't charge a lot.


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## Zkx14 (Feb 19, 2016)

Never used a pressure washer, but have done a couple maples from near the house with a garden hose.  The ground around them was crowned around the base.    I dug out below level.  Flushed with hose.  Came back later after it was dried up a bit and cut it.  When my chains are getting down to nubs, I save them for stuff like this.  I have cut cross hatch slots into the tops of some to accelerate rotting.


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## DougA (Feb 19, 2016)

I forgot about the flower pot. Cut out an area in the middle, put some soil in and plant flowers. The stump will rot faster. Worked for me.


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## TJ1 (Feb 19, 2016)

Cover the old stump with a layer of lit charcoal then add some more to it. Come back tomorrow and most likely the stump will be equal to or lower than ground level,


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## sportbikerider78 (Feb 19, 2016)

Great suggestions guys. 

I love burning stuff and that is easy,,,so I'll try the charcoal method first.

Great suggestion on old chains.


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## warno (Feb 19, 2016)

I tried digging around my tree I had removed last year to get the stump below ground level. Then I washed as much soil off that I could. I wasted about 10 Sawzall blades and a chain saw chain before giving up and calling a stump grinding service. In the time I messed around digging and washing and cutting, the $125 I spent on grinding it out was well worth it.


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## Zkx14 (Feb 19, 2016)

warno said:


> I tried digging around my tree I had removed last year to get the stump below ground level. Then I washed as much soil off that I could. I wasted about 10 Sawzall blades and a chain saw chain before giving up and calling a stump grinding service. In the time I messed around digging and washing and cutting, the $125 I spent on grinding it out was well worth it.



Forgot about the sawzall.  I have actually used that many times for roots when removing small stumps.  The demolition blades work great.  But, yes- stump grinder is the best if you really want it gone.  Years ago I had a massive Mamosa tree in my front yard.  I took it down and was messin with the stump when a guy stopped by and said he could get rid of it.  I guess he worked for a tree service and had access to the equipment on the weekend .  I think I gave him $75 and he turned my stump into mulch.


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## Poindexter (Feb 20, 2016)

If you choose the chemical route, you will probably find the active ingredient in stump remover at Lowes-Depot is Potassium Nitrate.  Instead of paying $5/# for stump remover, see if you can't get a 50# bag of Potassium nitrate from the feed store or agricultural supply house for maybe 15 bucks or so.

There is some patience involved, but no motrin.


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## jaychino415 (Feb 20, 2016)

I used an old splitting maul, shovel and hacked away at the roots and stump. Took a few hours but the area is pretty much clean. Left small remaining roots to become compost.


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## Hasufel (Feb 21, 2016)

Poindexter said:


> If you choose the chemical route, you will probably find the active ingredient in stump remover at Lowes-Depot is Potassium Nitrate.  Instead of paying $5/# for stump remover, see if you can't get a 50# bag of Potassium nitrate from the feed store or agricultural supply house for maybe 15 bucks or so.
> 
> There is some patience involved, but no motrin.


You'll find that TNT is a whole lot faster, and waaay more satisfying!


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## xman23 (Feb 21, 2016)

If you get a straight cut a inch above the ground without hitting a rock inside the stump, you did good.


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## iamlucky13 (Feb 22, 2016)

warno said:


> I tried digging around my tree I had removed last year to get the stump below ground level. Then I washed as much soil off that I could. I wasted about 10 Sawzall blades and a chain saw chain before giving up and calling a stump grinding service. In the time I messed around digging and washing and cutting, the $125 I spent on grinding it out was well worth it.



I did the similar on a 15" DBH green japanese maple that was a real tangle of roots (beautiful tree, but too close to my house and had to go). There was a 3-4" root every inch or two around the stump just below the surface. I spent hours cutting all the visible roots with an axe and couldn't budge it. I widened my cuts and realized there was another nearly solid layer of roots even deeper.

I checked with Home Depot and they wanted something like $75 to rent one of these jokes:


I called a tree service, and I think he charged me $125 to bring out his diesel-powered Vermeer stump cutter. He had it turned into a hole full of mulch 3-4' in diameter and at least 12 inches deep in 15 minutes.

Were it not so close to the house, and were we not wanting the stump gone quickly so we could replant the flower bed, I would have tried one of the other techniques. I've heard drilling holes, filling them with potassium nitrate, wetting it so it can soak in over a few days, and burning it is pretty reliable.


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## iamlucky13 (Feb 22, 2016)

Hasufel said:


> You'll find that TNT is a whole lot faster, and waaay more satisfying!



http://www.amazon.com/INTENSIVE-FAR...rds=intensive+farming+and+the+use+of+dynamite


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## Dobish (Feb 24, 2016)

i have used a few methods.... some involve an excavator and making giant holes in the yard, some have involved a landscaping axe, but last year when we clear cut a bunch in our back, I left most of them up, with the intention of hitting them with the dozer. That didn't really work out as planned, and they all started to grow sprouts (crappy box elder!)  This spring I need to do some work on the stumps, but due to where they are, I didn't want to tear out the root balls, because it would most likely take half of my patio with it!  We have  stump in the front yard that we put flowers in.  We also have a lot of stumps right up against the house or the fence that I can't get a stump grinder in. They are also mostly surrounded by rocks, so i think I will have to get really creative.


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## jetsam (Feb 24, 2016)

My Dad always just used to go to a fireworks stand and get some M80s.  They were supposedly 1/8 stick of dynamite back then.

I can believe it because they were pretty effective.

Still have to get in there with the pick and shovel,  but some explosives sure speeds things up.

These days you can't  buy fireworks like that,  but you can buy black powder and fuse pretty easily.


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## Oldman47 (Feb 24, 2016)

Dobish said:


> i have used a few methods.... some involve an excavator and making giant holes in the yard, some have involved a landscaping axe, but last year when we clear cut a bunch in our back, I left most of them up, with the intention of hitting them with the dozer. That didn't really work out as planned, and they all started to grow sprouts (crappy box elder!)  This spring I need to do some work on the stumps, but due to where they are, I didn't want to tear out the root balls, because it would most likely take half of my patio with it!  We have  stump in the front yard that we put flowers in.  We also have a lot of stumps right up against the house or the fence that I can't get a stump grinder in. They are also mostly surrounded by rocks, so i think I will have to get really creative.
> 
> View attachment 175633


If you can cut off those stumps a couple of inches shorter, just apply a little Tordon around the fresh cut immediately and you will never need to deal with them again. I cut this mulberry last summer and applied the Tordon before even moving to cut my next stump. Instead of 5 new sprouts like I had come to expect, there is nothing growing from the stump.


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## TJ1 (Feb 25, 2016)

Don't overthink it, as I said before a bag of charcoal works wonders


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## BillinTX (Feb 26, 2016)

My old farmer friend told me the best way to get rid of a stump is to attach something useful to it like a vise or an anvil.
It'll rot out in no time.


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## St. Coemgen (Feb 26, 2016)

Cut the stump as close to the ground as possible (you can make the final close to the ground cut after you fell the tree with hand tools or a chain saw -- it really is not that difficult), then use either a stump grinder tool (you can rent them) or one of these methods to finalize the process:

http://www.treeremoval.com/stump-removal/


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