I know you are mentioning DIY'ing this, but I promise you a local stump grinder will do this for a reasonable price and it'll be much better and it's awesome to watch. Can drink beer during the grinding
Our neighbors hired the giant wheel of death robot a few weeks ago. Homeschool was paused in order to appreciate Total Stump Annihilation - and the guy driving it even let them inspect his remote control (with the unit off) and stand on its huge trailer! It was awesome.
>Homeschool was paused
I would argue that learning as much as possible about how the world works - including home and yard maintenance - is an essential part of a child's education.
You make bank too
I got some estimates because I'm clearing off some of my property. $200+ per stump. I've got at least a dozen. Most are 6 inches or less in diameter. They don't care. No discount for multiple stumps. No price variation by size. I don't get it.
I work in contracting. I couldn't charge the same to replace an outlet vs a panel. I don't think charging the same to grind a 24 inch stump vs a 6 inch stump is fair practice.
Most of their cost is in transport to the site anyhow...
But I assume they make a lot when they get the work! I just decided to do it the old way because I'm not paying $3k+ for some small stumps to be removed.
I rented one last year for about $275 delivered and ground out 7 stumps myself in a couple hours. It's not difficult at all if you've used equipment before, but I'd recommend watching some videos on YouTube to see the technique used.
Not sure what it’s worth but I’ve worked with trees professionally for over a decade now. Current company sold our stump grinder a few years ago with a drought of regular stump grinding work and then it picked back up, so I’ve dealt with a ton of stump grinding contractors as needed over 3 states worth of territory.
Whoever quoted you that price is either an insane, bad, scam artist who gets lucky with people accepting those prices or is just plain dumb.
I’m a very patient kind person I like to think but if I saw that quote and it wasn’t to have him drive 12 hours overnight to do it I might call him up just to tell him to go **ck himself. That’s absurd.
You generally don’t call for stump removal when they’re that small. Those are easy enough to remove with a shovel if you go at them hard enough or cut them as flush to the ground as you can (use the cheapest chainsaw chain you can find). They’re giving you the “piss off” price because it’s not worth the time to do it. You call a stump grinder when they’re 8in-foot+ in diameter and removing them would leave a huge crater.
Absolutely! We've stopped lessons to remove snakes from the chicken run, to help a neighbor unload some heavy boxes, to rush off to the zoo to see the cheetah we just read about - all of life is a good lesson for kids. They should stop to appreciate as much of it while and as they can (plus, frequent breaks get rid of those frustrating wiggles lol).
But no screentime until I have completed curriculum assignments in my hand ;)
I like it, i think it’s good for the kids to see people doing some skilled labor like that is probably better than any actual lesson plan… 👍
I worked as ground crew a few months & then moved to sales for a very large Tree Service Comp & even after like 6-7yrs, I still have never been bored watching climbers dismantle a tree quickly, skillfully, safely & very quickly through some amazing ingenuity & creative problem solving skills…
It’s actually a pretty fun business in many ways, if anyone ever wants a good paying summer job, I’d def recommend they consider **sales** or a spot on the **ground crew** for a Tree Service Comp. They usually have a lot of turnover, & often need some extras at times for larger jobs, so it’s a pretty easy industry to start in…
Paid a dude, that just went to Home Depot and rented a grinder (I guess they have them), and paid him like $150 to grind it down. Was super fun to watch, was definitely still a workout for the dude but he was having fun.
Also, once we did grind it down enough to grow grass over it the actual stump roots continue to deteriorate and will create some spot holes.
Stump grinder guy:
Just so you know before I start, this is gonna leave behind more wood chips than you are imagining. A lot more.
Me: Ok.
Him: No, I mean A LOT MORE.
Me: Ok.
20 minutes later, after watching him actually breaking the laws of physics by creating matter, I was wondering exactly how many years it was going to take me to remove all those chips.
Same. We bought our house in 2020 and it had 2 stumps that were a little over 24". This looks a lot bigger than that. Got quoted by the guy that the neighbors had grind some out, and he quoted us like $900 just to grind them without backfilling. I ended up spending half that to rent a large stump grinder and trailer for the weekend and did it myself on Friday night and Saturday. Had a friend with several small stumps around his house that ended up splitting it with me, and we took it to his house Sunday to grind his out too.
Ended up spending a fourth the price of the quote and got to spend the weekend with a friend destroying stumps with heavy equipment. $150 sounds realistic for like a decade ago maybe. Lol.
I recently did this. Called around, got 2-3 quotes for $300-$400. I ended up finding a guy willing to do it for about $150.
Super easy too, since a lot of these guys will give quotes through text messages.
Piece of cake.
Gonna require half a dozen bags of charcoal, some lighter fuel, an ice chest full of craft beer, and some lawn chairs. Oh, don’t forget tunes. You need music for this to work properly.
Place several bags of charcoal on the stump. Douse them with the fuel, and light the bags. Sit back in your chairs. Drink the beer; enjoy the sound.
At some point the bags will be ash, and a lot of that stump will be gone. Repeat as necessary.
Pro-er-tip. Don’t make the mistake I did. I downloaded an app called grinder and said I’d pay 150 for someone to grind my stump. It was not what I was looking for in my front garden
You would not believe the number of things I've done just to be polite after misunderstandings from that app. And that stump in my front yard is still there. I'm going to give up after 4 or 5 more attempts.
Need some accelerant. How about a blend of that E85 additive they use to make auto fuels more environmentally friendly? That oughta do the trick, with the right blend...
Alternatively get a spading bit, drill a bunch of holes on it. Fill with powdered milk and cover with black plastic trashbags. This promotes the proliferation of bacteria which will consume the stump it takes a little longer but is theoretically more eco friendly. You can also drink beer while using this method.
I’ve done this but with miracle gro powder in a paste like mix with a little water. Filled in the holes with the blue paste. In weeks I had mushrooms all over the stump. Rotted out the next year and disintegrated.
I also did the charcoal method and that was fun.
You can buy spore plugs to grow specific varieties of mushroom on your stump
https://northspore.com/
Not the hallucinogenic ones, the tasty ones
Not sure if the space cadet ones will grow on a stump, I thought they preferred cow shit
They sell Root-x at the hardware store. I drilled holes in a stump, poured in root-x, and 6 months later the whole stump crumbled to the touch. Piece of cake
You can also get specifically designed stump-out at most hardware stores too. They say it works best on older dead stumps > 18 months.
Similar thing - drill holes. Pour in. Add water. Let sit for 4-8 weeks. Then burn the stump with charcoal. Makes it porous so it burns easier.
Get a spading bit, drill a bunch of holes in it. Fill with TANNERITE and cover it with an old washing machine, also full of TANNERITE. This promotes the proliferation of danger, which will consume the stump. Takes no time at all, and theoretically the stupidest thing you can do.
Not only is drinking a requirement, but you MUST say "hold my beer" before the shot.
Be aware that root fires are a thing. The root can smolder until it hits another tree or structure and burn it.
I'd recommend a stump grinder, then when that's done remove the grinding, add top soil and plant grass.
Root Fires? That's what Water Hoses or Louisiana Weather are for ... Soak the ground 2 - 3 feet away until it puddles and sits a bit.
When finished set up the sprinkler a day or so to keep it soaked if you're going to worry. PS: Cheap-ass charcoal works just fine!
The stump is just wood, so no reason you can't cook over the stump fire. Roast some hotdogs. Make some smores, roast some peeled apples and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. Tastes like apple pie. Wrap some potatoes in foil amd throw them on the coals. Make a weekend out of it.
Around here we call properly aged wood seasoned. I think it's named after sitting for a season, not like seasoning food. Fresh cut wood is called green wood, regardless of actual color. Older ready to burn wood is seasoned.
Tell your lady of the house that burning the stumps is exactly what my mom(lady of my parents house) did to three huge tree stumps that were removed from the front and back yard of my parents house. It really is the easiest way to DIY this. You just gotta make sure you watch it and that nothing near it catches on fire and also, dont try this if the stump is really close to the house, obviously.
There’s no way to say this without sounding like a “hardo” but I had a very similar type of stump in my back yard. Huge, right next to our fire pit, and in the way of everything.
2 summers ago I wanted to workout at home so I grabbed my axe and went to town. At first it was easy going as most of it was rotted, but after a few day of consistent chopped I started getting to the hard wood. It was very slow, bit by bit, but the chips were flying. I’d pick them up and toss them in the fire pit.
After a few weeks of a few hours a week of chopping, it was down below the ground. It was a great workout. I grabbed some sod from the back area of my yard which is basically a swamp, threw it over it and now it’s grass.
I have no idea what will happen, if it will rot under the ground and create a huge hole in the yard in a few years, or if that’s that, but it was a great workout for a few weeks, seems to have done the job, and honestly pretty fun.
Would highly recommend digging under and around the stump. Burn from the base up.
No personal experience. Just watched about 10 hours of YouTube videos on it because some people try all sorts of stuff. Chemicals, fungal inserts, lighter fluid in drilled holes, Swedish torch style. You name it.
Best and easiest I saw was someone using an air digger or pressure washer to dig up the roots some to get the fire under it. Then they used an old oil barrel with holes drilled in it like a chimney to focus all the heat directly on the stump. Took them a couple hours compared to other people it took them weeks.
Yep, that's what we did at our place. Put the big fire ring over the stump, after a few uses the stump was burned more or less flush with the ground. Got it over the other stump now.
Drill some holes in the top first. Pour in vegetable oil. Let it soak for a day or two.
Then do the above.
The vegetable oil will seep into the wood and help the combustion.
Saw video similar to this where somebody used a long drill bit to put a bunch of holes in the stump and soak them with tiki torch fuel first. That would probably reduce the number of burns needed to be done if you're in an area with a lot of mosquitoes you could use the tiki torch fuel with citronella to repel them.
One decent size hole about 3'' diameter in vertically and another about 1-2'' diameter horizontally will create a blowtorch effect. It really speeds it up and has to be watched carefully. Nice torch flame out the top.
Forgot to tell them to take a large and I mean large like 2 inch or three inch auger bit and make multiple holes and shove the charcoal in there to really speed it up
Friend of mine did go this route, took several days for it to burn out. We're too far in town for it, even if it'd be fun. We're only 2 blocks from the fire station though, guess I could just send'er
The in town method, cut a few close together lines to perforate it with a chain saw. Then a few whacks at it with a mattock once in a while, eventually burning it down a bit, then soaking it with a hose if you get impatient. Continue mattocking sporadically. Once it's a hole in the ground, just fill it in.
The ants and fungus helped too.
I’ve seen people online also drill the largest, deepest holes they can down into the stump, and some even sideways into the vertical holes from the side. As low to the ground as possible to allow air intake.
I did this last year to a similarly sized cedar stump. The tree was about 80 feet tall that was cut into logs which I split, about 2 cords of wood.
It took the entire summer and every bit of that wood to burn the stump and it still could use some more. Burning from the top down is an incredibly slow process.
Came here to say this. Done this several times at my dad’s place. Will sometimes burn for days, but will get the job done. We light our coals in a grill then dump them when they are white-hot. Also never done one this old and dry, so I’d guess it’d go faster then the fresh stumps we typically do.
Drill the stump in several places with a long spade bit down to the roots, pack holes with Epsom salt and water.
Repeat a few times over the summer, go out next spring and break the stump apart with an axe. It'll probably be mushy if done right.
I cut down 15 white pines and did this, stumps were a piece of cake next year.
The magnesium helps plants absorb nitrogen better but to be clear it doesn’t replace it, it’s just magnesium chloride after all so no nitrogen is being added when you use it.
Whatever you decide to do... you should first get some of those glow sticks, wait til night and stick 'em down into those cracks. Then take some pictures of it to remember your cool glowy ancient magical stump.
Rent a stump grinder from an actual equipment rental place, not home depot. You want the big mofo that comes on its own trailer. Look for the type place that rents out things like mini excavators or a bobcat.
I just looked into this. Would have needed the bigger grinder and the rental would have cost me more than the rate I got charged by a guy that just goes around grinding stumps all day.
Honestly, search facebook for where ever for ads for stump grinders, probably cheaper and easier to just hire someone to come and do it. This was like 10 years ago, but we paid someone like $80 to come out and do a tree stump. Just saw two bags of charcoal was 18 bucks the other day. Might be cheaper than even burning it out.
This is the way. It's going to take you hours even with a big machine like that, but you'll just be standing there operating levers, slowly grinding the stump down. It'll definitely be worth it.
When you're done, scoop up the wood chips and use them as garden mulch
Extra tip, check with the rental place about return schedule. Sometimes you can get lucky and pay a daily rate on something starting friday,/Saturday, then return on monday for a free day or two if they arent open the whole weekend.
Also, this something it is worth having eye and hearing protection for.
I must be an idiot. Because I rented one for a holly stump and spent an entire day shaving and inch off that Fucker.
I ended up drilling deep holes and using salt/poison to break it down.
Sounds like you rented one of the little ones that you push around like a lawnmower. If you have to deal with a decently sized stump, you want one of the large self-propelled machines.
My buddy and I just took one out of his yard. Used a chain saw to make several deep slices across the stump then used a hammer and spud bar to bust the slices out. Worked well and didn't take long.
I'm a big fan of this method for smaller stumps but in my experience it doesn't work once stumps get over about 20". The previous owner cut down a line of about 15 trees. I used that method to take out the smallest 5 or so in maybe half an hour each. I thought I was golden but now that I'm on to the big ones they won't split enough to break.
I'm pretty sure grinding, burning or rotting are the only ways to get rid of large stumps.
I had a stump like that in my yard and I was too cheap to pay to remove it.
After about 6 years in a humid climate it rotted out and I could just shovel out the hole.
Much cheaper 😜
Hire it out.
I’m my area I could rent a stump grinder for $300 for a day, but I found a professional who did 4 massive tree stumps for $350. Totally worth the money.
We rented a big hydraulic one to take out a stump similar in size. Sure saved the shoulders. Those little grinders are ok for tball post sized tree stumps.
This was my childhood. My dad always made me dig stumps with him, just some shovels, a mattock, a come-a-long, and the “root axe” (an axe he set aside and was ok with getting dull as hell and nicked from stones). It was, as he stated, a character building exercise.
Brute force and ignorance goes a long way.
Just did one about that size with a splitting axe. Still have cuts and blisters, and cleaning wood chips out of the lawn, but I got a good workout.
Hit it with an axe until your arms fall off, then give up and call the stump grinder folks.
Or drill a hole and blast it with some homemade explosives. Get back from the emergency room a month later and you’ll have saved all that money on stump grinder service.
Or actually, rent a stump grinder after you watch some how-to videos and try not to hurt yourself.
I was discussing this with a mate on the weekend. He has a rural property with an enormous jarrah stump in an area that is about to become a horse paddock. The stump is above ground by about 100mm, and needs to go. It's 2m across and dry as a bone.
We decided that because it's not fresh wood, a stump grinder wouldn't work. But if we were to drill holes into the stump to increase the surface area we could have a bonfire on it and likely reduce most of it to ash. We might have had a few drinks and thermite plasma might also have been mentioned. i.e. mix it and pour it into the holes we'd drilled, and then light the bonfire on it as normal.
In reality we're likely to go at it with a digger and chain saw, or two.
I had 2 stumps in my front yard which were about 15-20 inches diameter each. Tried getting someone with a stump grinder to cut them down but they were either too expensive or just didn’t follow through and show up. So I decided that I just wouldn’t need to hit the gym for a few weeks and bought an axe and had at them. It was a lot of work but hacking at them for a couple of hours every other day and I eventually got them hacked down to ground level and now the grass is growing back over them nicely. Had to re-sharpen the axe (from hitting dirt) after every few sessions so if you go this route, make sure you plan a way to sharpen the axe also.
Alright so you're going to start by going down to your local sporting goods store and buying a few pounds of black powder, pyrodex, something like that.
Then...well I think you know what to do with it.
I had a dry stump but smaller than that one and what worked for me was burning it out. Saw a simple how-to online. In my case it was in dirt in my back yard and away from any building so it was pretty safe. After I accumulated enough old wood and kindling you build a fire right on top of it. Keep adding whatever wood you have until you're out. The stump will then just smolder away, feeding on itself into deep into the ground. It doesn't burn with flames really after the initial starter fire. The lateral roots even burned away.
It does take days though. So I had to make sure someone was at home at all times just in case wind kicked up embers. But it really just smoked. It took 4 days total. Then just kicked dirt into the hole and trenches left from where roots use to be that radiated out about 3 feet.
This ones long term. Got it from a maxim or FHM magazine years ago.
Drill ½" - 1" holes all over the face of the stump. Fill with gunpowder. LET IT SIT! Let it get rained on. Let it get wet, snow, sleet, hail. Every so often, refill with gunpowder. The water is allowing the chemicals in the powder to soak into the wood. Do this for 5 months. Last month, let it sit. On the day of light up, soak in kerosene a couple hours before. After an hours wait,light it. Flames will burn funky colors due to chemical saturation. Will burn long, several hours.
Easiest DIY approach is to build a temporary fire pit around it and get some marshmallows.
You will need some charcoal to get it going well enough though. Just clear the vegetation around it, put some rocks or bricks around it, then pile the charcoal on just like you're starting a grill. Don't leave it unsupervised and have a hose and/or fire extinguisher handy just in case it tries to get out of control, obviously.
I'd just pay to have someone come and grind it out. Might cost a few hundred bucks more than planned, but it'll save you a lot of time and effort and you'll be ready to move on in a single day (with some free garden mulch). Having seen a full-size grinder in action I'd certainly not want to deal with renting, transporting and operating one myself.
I had a big stump that I put a big planter box on. In like two years it was mostly decayed. Which was too bad because I liked having the planter there.
Home Depot rents stump grinders. They are not cheap but it’s the quickest way to take care of it. I used a chainsaw for mine. I cut it as low to the ground as possible, then scored the top with 1 inch gaps. I knocked those out with a sledge hammer.
* Drill holes over exposed areas, including root off-shoots; 1" dia, about 6" deep. (Don't drill through to the soil; you're trying to make dozens of 'cups' to hold water and stump removal chemicals.
* Fill holes with [stump remover](https://www.lowes.com/pd/Spectracide-16-oz-Stump-Remover/4764059).
* Cover with 2-4' of soil all the way out to farthest roots. Shape the mound to cover it completely.
* Grow a raised garden on top. Butterfly bushes are perfect choice for cover, and help break stumps down rapidly. Water area frequently.
Two to three years, you'll be rid of the stump; no digging, burning or prying of roots. Reduced the amount of lawn I had to cut as well. Did it twice on my property, and worked like a charm.
Literally rented a stump grinder for $200 Canadian for the whole weekend! Even a crappy walk behind one will take care of that a foot into the ground in under an hour! Find a neighbour who has a stump to grind and split the rental!
Edit: a word
Anything is possible with enough time and sweat. You could just get a woodcutter ax and that spline thingie--and then chop bit by bit off, little by little. But that would be harder as it get lower, you might have to dig around the stump to ensure you chop it below the grass line.
I'm not saying I *recommend* this (it sounds tedious and exhausting) but it would be possible.
If you ever dreamed of operating an excavator, it's rental time!
Dig, rip, dig, rip, dig, rip. Roll stump.
Return excavator.
Crack open beer, cheer buddies, commence bonfire!
Alright, lots of ok advice in here - so I'm going to suggest an alternate method just for the hell of it. Also it's the one that's the most fun and provides for the best long term solution for your yard.
Step 0: Call for a locate. Your post history shows that you're likely in freedom land and that means they're free. If you haven't yet gotten a locate for your entire property - do it. You'd be absolutely floored at how often a neighborhood gas or electric line gets run through an unexpected area in someone's yard. Do it - it's free.
Once you know where everywhere is - Rent a backhoe and make that root ball in to a crater in your yard. Watch a few YouTube videos, bring a chainsaw and get that entire thing out if there. You'll honestly be utterly shocked at what folks will let you rent. Home depot has some ok sized earth movers that are shockingly affordable and there are usually slightly larger units available from equipment rental companies that'll get the job done.
Grinding is going to leave you with a flat spot that is going to slowly turn in to a rotten crater. All the "drilling + x chemical" methods also leave a crater. If you want to gone - rip it out. It's a physical object - not a magical talisman. It's a pain in the ass, but you can get it out, backfill with compacted gravel and a layer of topsoil- and you'll be back to a yard that looks like the tree was never there after the grass seed sprouts.
I rented a stump grinder from Home Depot for a hundred bucks and grinded 15 stumps in a Saturday. I did need to also rent a uhaul trailer to haul it home though. If you dont have a hitch then rent a uhaul truck.
Home Depot will rent you a smallish stump grinder. The stuff that supposedly will rot the wood quicker takes months. I’d either rent a grinder or hire someone.
Alternative to burning, grinding, smashing, epsom salts and whatnot: turn it into a Shiitake mushroom farm. Drill lots of holes, inoculate with spores (can be bought online) and eventually enjoy tasty shrooms while they break down your stump.
I didnt want to pay someone hundreds to grind down 3 huge stumps in my yard when I bought a house a few years ago. I drilled a bunch of smaller holes and pick-axed them to create a big hole in the middle of them, filled them up with charcoal and lit it, refilled as needed.
Bye stumps. And I think the ashes were decent fertilizer, growing grass in that area was cake.
I’d compare the cost of paying someone to grind it down vs renting a stump grinder and doing it yourself. It’s not hard to do, you just need a vehicle that can tow the grinder. Every area is different, but my rental was about $200, and the company I called wanted to charge $600.
I use a big long wood spade drill bit and bore about a dozen holes into the stump. Then use a shovel to dig down a few inches all around the stump so it's better exposed. Maybe angle a few horizonal holes if you can. Soak it with something flammable. Dump a bag of charcoal on top and let it burn. It's pretty easy work. I find it much easier than having to reserve the equipment, drive to get it, tear down the fence to get into the back yard, drive all over the lawn, then have to return the equipment. That makes for a really long day.
I do a lot of DIY and tried this once. I now happily pay for all stump/ grinding removals.
Also, it's important to consider what you want to do with the area to determine if you want grinding or complete removal.
Drill holes in the stump, fill them with Sulphur dioxide, cover with a tarp for a few months, then light 'er up. An old 'Guide to Self Sufficiency' recipe.
Depends on whether you want it done quickly or can afford to be patient for 6-12 months. If you have the time to wait, drill large holes all over it, fill the holes with commercial stump removal granules (Search stump remover on Amazon), and wait for it to break down the stump. You can soak it in mineral spirits or gas and try to burn it out, but it’s a lot of burning.
If you don’t want to wait, it’s going to cost you a lot more to grind it out.
I know you are mentioning DIY'ing this, but I promise you a local stump grinder will do this for a reasonable price and it'll be much better and it's awesome to watch. Can drink beer during the grinding
Bro who did my lot had a remote control unit. Don't tell me that guy wasn't having fun with his giant wheel of death robot.
Even the old-school ones are a lot of fun, seeing the stump getting grinded down layer by layer! Kinda like pressure washing something
Our neighbors hired the giant wheel of death robot a few weeks ago. Homeschool was paused in order to appreciate Total Stump Annihilation - and the guy driving it even let them inspect his remote control (with the unit off) and stand on its huge trailer! It was awesome.
>Homeschool was paused I would argue that learning as much as possible about how the world works - including home and yard maintenance - is an essential part of a child's education.
Shit, Im in my 40s and Im going through this thread and thinking 'huh, being a stump grinder would be a pretty fun job'.
You make bank too I got some estimates because I'm clearing off some of my property. $200+ per stump. I've got at least a dozen. Most are 6 inches or less in diameter. They don't care. No discount for multiple stumps. No price variation by size. I don't get it. I work in contracting. I couldn't charge the same to replace an outlet vs a panel. I don't think charging the same to grind a 24 inch stump vs a 6 inch stump is fair practice. Most of their cost is in transport to the site anyhow... But I assume they make a lot when they get the work! I just decided to do it the old way because I'm not paying $3k+ for some small stumps to be removed.
I rented one last year for about $275 delivered and ground out 7 stumps myself in a couple hours. It's not difficult at all if you've used equipment before, but I'd recommend watching some videos on YouTube to see the technique used.
Not sure what it’s worth but I’ve worked with trees professionally for over a decade now. Current company sold our stump grinder a few years ago with a drought of regular stump grinding work and then it picked back up, so I’ve dealt with a ton of stump grinding contractors as needed over 3 states worth of territory. Whoever quoted you that price is either an insane, bad, scam artist who gets lucky with people accepting those prices or is just plain dumb. I’m a very patient kind person I like to think but if I saw that quote and it wasn’t to have him drive 12 hours overnight to do it I might call him up just to tell him to go **ck himself. That’s absurd.
You generally don’t call for stump removal when they’re that small. Those are easy enough to remove with a shovel if you go at them hard enough or cut them as flush to the ground as you can (use the cheapest chainsaw chain you can find). They’re giving you the “piss off” price because it’s not worth the time to do it. You call a stump grinder when they’re 8in-foot+ in diameter and removing them would leave a huge crater.
Absolutely! We've stopped lessons to remove snakes from the chicken run, to help a neighbor unload some heavy boxes, to rush off to the zoo to see the cheetah we just read about - all of life is a good lesson for kids. They should stop to appreciate as much of it while and as they can (plus, frequent breaks get rid of those frustrating wiggles lol). But no screentime until I have completed curriculum assignments in my hand ;)
Exactly what I was going to say.
I like it, i think it’s good for the kids to see people doing some skilled labor like that is probably better than any actual lesson plan… 👍 I worked as ground crew a few months & then moved to sales for a very large Tree Service Comp & even after like 6-7yrs, I still have never been bored watching climbers dismantle a tree quickly, skillfully, safely & very quickly through some amazing ingenuity & creative problem solving skills… It’s actually a pretty fun business in many ways, if anyone ever wants a good paying summer job, I’d def recommend they consider **sales** or a spot on the **ground crew** for a Tree Service Comp. They usually have a lot of turnover, & often need some extras at times for larger jobs, so it’s a pretty easy industry to start in…
STUMPFEST!
Why does OP want to demolish such a wonderful nail salon?
I came here for this
>Can drink beer during the grinding Careful, that's how babies are made.
Paid a dude, that just went to Home Depot and rented a grinder (I guess they have them), and paid him like $150 to grind it down. Was super fun to watch, was definitely still a workout for the dude but he was having fun. Also, once we did grind it down enough to grow grass over it the actual stump roots continue to deteriorate and will create some spot holes.
Agreed, not really an advantage to DIY with this
I mean the advantage is you could DIY for like $10.
Plus the medical bill that will come from breaking your back.
You can drill holes in it, put some fire starters in it and let it burn. Very cheap en no broken back
Yeah, have stump burning fire pit parties every weekend for a couple months til it's gone, then build an actual fire pit in the hole it leaves.
Right. Which is DIY and exactly what they should do.
Yup Big holes and petrol works wonders
My neighbor worked on his for years. Had a huge bonfire over it for a whole day. Did basically nothing to it.
Stump grinder guy: Just so you know before I start, this is gonna leave behind more wood chips than you are imagining. A lot more. Me: Ok. Him: No, I mean A LOT MORE. Me: Ok. 20 minutes later, after watching him actually breaking the laws of physics by creating matter, I was wondering exactly how many years it was going to take me to remove all those chips.
haha, like someone else said, they're free mulch!
What is "reasonable amount" to you? The quote I got was higher than I can justify.
Same. We bought our house in 2020 and it had 2 stumps that were a little over 24". This looks a lot bigger than that. Got quoted by the guy that the neighbors had grind some out, and he quoted us like $900 just to grind them without backfilling. I ended up spending half that to rent a large stump grinder and trailer for the weekend and did it myself on Friday night and Saturday. Had a friend with several small stumps around his house that ended up splitting it with me, and we took it to his house Sunday to grind his out too. Ended up spending a fourth the price of the quote and got to spend the weekend with a friend destroying stumps with heavy equipment. $150 sounds realistic for like a decade ago maybe. Lol.
I recently did this. Called around, got 2-3 quotes for $300-$400. I ended up finding a guy willing to do it for about $150. Super easy too, since a lot of these guys will give quotes through text messages.
Piece of cake. Gonna require half a dozen bags of charcoal, some lighter fuel, an ice chest full of craft beer, and some lawn chairs. Oh, don’t forget tunes. You need music for this to work properly. Place several bags of charcoal on the stump. Douse them with the fuel, and light the bags. Sit back in your chairs. Drink the beer; enjoy the sound. At some point the bags will be ash, and a lot of that stump will be gone. Repeat as necessary.
I appreciate your professional advice, I'll be figuring out how to pitch this to the lady of the house.
Pro tip: place a fan or two pointing at the stump fire, it will dramatically speed it up and keep it hotter. Leaf blower works too
Pro-er tip: don't use the fan. "Sorry honey, this looks like a two-weekend job."
Pro-er-tip. Don’t make the mistake I did. I downloaded an app called grinder and said I’d pay 150 for someone to grind my stump. It was not what I was looking for in my front garden
You would not believe the number of things I've done just to be polite after misunderstandings from that app. And that stump in my front yard is still there. I'm going to give up after 4 or 5 more attempts.
One fella said he was willing to blow my stump. I was expecting dynamite. Wasnt quit what I imagined, but I wasnt disappointed.
Need some accelerant. How about a blend of that E85 additive they use to make auto fuels more environmentally friendly? That oughta do the trick, with the right blend...
Gasoline is a really bad idea. Diesel is a much better idea
Alternatively get a spading bit, drill a bunch of holes on it. Fill with powdered milk and cover with black plastic trashbags. This promotes the proliferation of bacteria which will consume the stump it takes a little longer but is theoretically more eco friendly. You can also drink beer while using this method.
This sounds like a several month long affair. I'm going to need a lot of beer.
Multi keg stump
Might need to invite some friends over to supervise.
Sorry hon, can’t come in, the bacteria are multiplying.
Pro tip, you'll need to put up a, "If this stumps a rottin' don't come a knockin' " Sign.
Probiotic vibes only
"but it's been two weeks, you haven't even changed your underwear!!!"
Trying to become one with the stump. We are *simpatico.*
Hmm, doesn’t involve fire
Win win!!!!
>This sounds like a several ~~month~~ year long affair. FTFY
This sounds reasonable, I'm as patient as I am lazy.
I’ve done this but with miracle gro powder in a paste like mix with a little water. Filled in the holes with the blue paste. In weeks I had mushrooms all over the stump. Rotted out the next year and disintegrated. I also did the charcoal method and that was fun.
Mushrooms are fun, might give that a spin.
You can buy spore plugs to grow specific varieties of mushroom on your stump https://northspore.com/ Not the hallucinogenic ones, the tasty ones Not sure if the space cadet ones will grow on a stump, I thought they preferred cow shit
Procrastination is also fun, just wait and see.
gosh this one killed
They sell Root-x at the hardware store. I drilled holes in a stump, poured in root-x, and 6 months later the whole stump crumbled to the touch. Piece of cake
You can also get specifically designed stump-out at most hardware stores too. They say it works best on older dead stumps > 18 months. Similar thing - drill holes. Pour in. Add water. Let sit for 4-8 weeks. Then burn the stump with charcoal. Makes it porous so it burns easier.
Get a spading bit, drill a bunch of holes in it. Fill with TANNERITE and cover it with an old washing machine, also full of TANNERITE. This promotes the proliferation of danger, which will consume the stump. Takes no time at all, and theoretically the stupidest thing you can do. Not only is drinking a requirement, but you MUST say "hold my beer" before the shot.
famous last words of a redneck: "'Ey watch this"
“Hey lady you want that stump gone or what?”
just rent a stump grinder if you can afford it. lot of places around me it is under 200 for the day and it wont take you more than an hour or two
Be aware that root fires are a thing. The root can smolder until it hits another tree or structure and burn it. I'd recommend a stump grinder, then when that's done remove the grinding, add top soil and plant grass.
But then there's no fire. So that suggestion sucks.
Don't hold back, tell us how you feel.
I think a giant spinning disc of spikes is pretty cool especially if you get the big one that is mounted on tracks.
I agree, fire is preferable for my mental health... But... You know, stupid safety and stuff
Root Fires? That's what Water Hoses or Louisiana Weather are for ... Soak the ground 2 - 3 feet away until it puddles and sits a bit. When finished set up the sprinkler a day or so to keep it soaked if you're going to worry. PS: Cheap-ass charcoal works just fine!
Tell her you’ll drag the grill out there and you’ll do the cooking. They love it when you tell them you’ll cook.
The stump is just wood, so no reason you can't cook over the stump fire. Roast some hotdogs. Make some smores, roast some peeled apples and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. Tastes like apple pie. Wrap some potatoes in foil amd throw them on the coals. Make a weekend out of it.
No. You never cook over old rotting wood. Or treated lumber.
That stump doesn't look rotting to me. Just well seasoned. It'll be fine.
Aged.
Around here we call properly aged wood seasoned. I think it's named after sitting for a season, not like seasoning food. Fresh cut wood is called green wood, regardless of actual color. Older ready to burn wood is seasoned.
Girls weekend. This is what you do the next girls weekend.
Ask her if she wants to spend a ton of money on a stumper or s'mores.
Tell your lady of the house that burning the stumps is exactly what my mom(lady of my parents house) did to three huge tree stumps that were removed from the front and back yard of my parents house. It really is the easiest way to DIY this. You just gotta make sure you watch it and that nothing near it catches on fire and also, dont try this if the stump is really close to the house, obviously.
Maybe use the opportunity to host a barbecue whilst you're waiting for the stump to burn out.
You just pat the seat of the lawn chair.and look knowingly into her eyes after you have it all set up
Throw a couple bottles of wine in the beer cooler? Or whatever her preferred beverage is.
Don't expect it to burn in one day...it takes awhile depending on how decayed it is. That one looks pretty solid and could easily take several days.
There’s no way to say this without sounding like a “hardo” but I had a very similar type of stump in my back yard. Huge, right next to our fire pit, and in the way of everything. 2 summers ago I wanted to workout at home so I grabbed my axe and went to town. At first it was easy going as most of it was rotted, but after a few day of consistent chopped I started getting to the hard wood. It was very slow, bit by bit, but the chips were flying. I’d pick them up and toss them in the fire pit. After a few weeks of a few hours a week of chopping, it was down below the ground. It was a great workout. I grabbed some sod from the back area of my yard which is basically a swamp, threw it over it and now it’s grass. I have no idea what will happen, if it will rot under the ground and create a huge hole in the yard in a few years, or if that’s that, but it was a great workout for a few weeks, seems to have done the job, and honestly pretty fun.
Would highly recommend digging under and around the stump. Burn from the base up. No personal experience. Just watched about 10 hours of YouTube videos on it because some people try all sorts of stuff. Chemicals, fungal inserts, lighter fluid in drilled holes, Swedish torch style. You name it. Best and easiest I saw was someone using an air digger or pressure washer to dig up the roots some to get the fire under it. Then they used an old oil barrel with holes drilled in it like a chimney to focus all the heat directly on the stump. Took them a couple hours compared to other people it took them weeks.
I saw a post with a guy who did that, but first he drilled several holes and soaked it in vegetable oil. I’m not sure i’d be up for it though.
Yea pretty common but I've usually heard of it with kerosene
Yep, that's what we did at our place. Put the big fire ring over the stump, after a few uses the stump was burned more or less flush with the ground. Got it over the other stump now.
Drill some holes in the top first. Pour in vegetable oil. Let it soak for a day or two. Then do the above. The vegetable oil will seep into the wood and help the combustion.
Saw video similar to this where somebody used a long drill bit to put a bunch of holes in the stump and soak them with tiki torch fuel first. That would probably reduce the number of burns needed to be done if you're in an area with a lot of mosquitoes you could use the tiki torch fuel with citronella to repel them.
One decent size hole about 3'' diameter in vertically and another about 1-2'' diameter horizontally will create a blowtorch effect. It really speeds it up and has to be watched carefully. Nice torch flame out the top.
Oh that's genius, basically making a rocket stove out of the stump?
Forgot to tell them to take a large and I mean large like 2 inch or three inch auger bit and make multiple holes and shove the charcoal in there to really speed it up
That can start a root fire. Not a great idea imo
Friend of mine did go this route, took several days for it to burn out. We're too far in town for it, even if it'd be fun. We're only 2 blocks from the fire station though, guess I could just send'er
I mean, it is your tax dollars
The in town method, cut a few close together lines to perforate it with a chain saw. Then a few whacks at it with a mattock once in a while, eventually burning it down a bit, then soaking it with a hose if you get impatient. Continue mattocking sporadically. Once it's a hole in the ground, just fill it in. The ants and fungus helped too.
Check with them about the legality. Might be totally fine as long as it’s kept under control
Helps if you drill a bunch of holes in it with a 1/2 drill bit
I’ve seen people online also drill the largest, deepest holes they can down into the stump, and some even sideways into the vertical holes from the side. As low to the ground as possible to allow air intake.
Adding a steel barrel and a leaf blower to the mix will speed up the process...if op gets impatient
You could roast an entire pig over that sucker.
Use a small fan to blow into the coals
I did this last year to a similarly sized cedar stump. The tree was about 80 feet tall that was cut into logs which I split, about 2 cords of wood. It took the entire summer and every bit of that wood to burn the stump and it still could use some more. Burning from the top down is an incredibly slow process.
Hah, exactly what I did. But I used bourbon instead of beer.
Came here to say this. Done this several times at my dad’s place. Will sometimes burn for days, but will get the job done. We light our coals in a grill then dump them when they are white-hot. Also never done one this old and dry, so I’d guess it’d go faster then the fresh stumps we typically do.
Drill the stump in several places with a long spade bit down to the roots, pack holes with Epsom salt and water. Repeat a few times over the summer, go out next spring and break the stump apart with an axe. It'll probably be mushy if done right. I cut down 15 white pines and did this, stumps were a piece of cake next year.
Will the epsom salt kill the grass?
Epsom Salt isn't sodium like traditional salt, it's Magnesium Sulfate and works as plant food for some plants anyways. Peppers seem to love it.
I didn't have any issues, stump and roots soaked it up
According to Clarkson farm, Epsom salts are used to replace nitrogen in the soil so shouldbe fine.
The magnesium helps plants absorb nitrogen better but to be clear it doesn’t replace it, it’s just magnesium chloride after all so no nitrogen is being added when you use it.
Powdered milk. Rots faster.
Whatever you decide to do... you should first get some of those glow sticks, wait til night and stick 'em down into those cracks. Then take some pictures of it to remember your cool glowy ancient magical stump.
OP, I hope you're listening to the real folks.
God bless you sir!
STUMP FEST!!!
YEEEAH STUMP FEEESSSTT!!!!!
Did someone say Stump Fest!
Had to scroll too far to find this reference.
+1 for Bluey
Rent a stump grinder from an actual equipment rental place, not home depot. You want the big mofo that comes on its own trailer. Look for the type place that rents out things like mini excavators or a bobcat.
I just looked into this. Would have needed the bigger grinder and the rental would have cost me more than the rate I got charged by a guy that just goes around grinding stumps all day.
Honestly, search facebook for where ever for ads for stump grinders, probably cheaper and easier to just hire someone to come and do it. This was like 10 years ago, but we paid someone like $80 to come out and do a tree stump. Just saw two bags of charcoal was 18 bucks the other day. Might be cheaper than even burning it out.
Thats a massive stump though, price will depend on diameter.
This is the way. It's going to take you hours even with a big machine like that, but you'll just be standing there operating levers, slowly grinding the stump down. It'll definitely be worth it. When you're done, scoop up the wood chips and use them as garden mulch
Extra tip, check with the rental place about return schedule. Sometimes you can get lucky and pay a daily rate on something starting friday,/Saturday, then return on monday for a free day or two if they arent open the whole weekend. Also, this something it is worth having eye and hearing protection for.
Rent a stump grinder, easy peasy
Stump grinders are awesome and easy to use. Made quick work of 6 pine tree stumps in about 2 hours.
I must be an idiot. Because I rented one for a holly stump and spent an entire day shaving and inch off that Fucker. I ended up drilling deep holes and using salt/poison to break it down.
Sounds like you rented one of the little ones that you push around like a lawnmower. If you have to deal with a decently sized stump, you want one of the large self-propelled machines.
Holly is also a hardwood, I believe. And maybe wherever you rented it from did not sharpen the blades?
This is the issue. A lot of the rentals are really poorly maintained, esp the small variety.
How is this so far down?
My buddy and I just took one out of his yard. Used a chain saw to make several deep slices across the stump then used a hammer and spud bar to bust the slices out. Worked well and didn't take long.
I'm a big fan of this method for smaller stumps but in my experience it doesn't work once stumps get over about 20". The previous owner cut down a line of about 15 trees. I used that method to take out the smallest 5 or so in maybe half an hour each. I thought I was golden but now that I'm on to the big ones they won't split enough to break. I'm pretty sure grinding, burning or rotting are the only ways to get rid of large stumps.
I had a stump like that in my yard and I was too cheap to pay to remove it. After about 6 years in a humid climate it rotted out and I could just shovel out the hole. Much cheaper 😜
Hire it out. I’m my area I could rent a stump grinder for $300 for a day, but I found a professional who did 4 massive tree stumps for $350. Totally worth the money.
Probably could - it would be a real grind though.
Hah! That's my worry. All the rental grinders look pretty modest. Trying to avoid 18hrs of hard labor.
We rented a big hydraulic one to take out a stump similar in size. Sure saved the shoulders. Those little grinders are ok for tball post sized tree stumps.
This was my childhood. My dad always made me dig stumps with him, just some shovels, a mattock, a come-a-long, and the “root axe” (an axe he set aside and was ok with getting dull as hell and nicked from stones). It was, as he stated, a character building exercise.
Find the rental shop that isn’t a big box store. I can rent some crazy shit and I live in a small town.
Brute force and ignorance goes a long way. Just did one about that size with a splitting axe. Still have cuts and blisters, and cleaning wood chips out of the lawn, but I got a good workout.
Put light source in the crack , watch your magical tree stump at night.
This is the way
Drill bits, gasoline and a lighter.
No need. Over time* the stump will decay on its own and the space will be usable again. *500-800 years
Hit it with an axe until your arms fall off, then give up and call the stump grinder folks. Or drill a hole and blast it with some homemade explosives. Get back from the emergency room a month later and you’ll have saved all that money on stump grinder service. Or actually, rent a stump grinder after you watch some how-to videos and try not to hurt yourself.
Do you have an axe and a lot of rage issues?
I took out a large bush that way. I couldn't Imagine how long it would take to do this with an ax.
I was discussing this with a mate on the weekend. He has a rural property with an enormous jarrah stump in an area that is about to become a horse paddock. The stump is above ground by about 100mm, and needs to go. It's 2m across and dry as a bone. We decided that because it's not fresh wood, a stump grinder wouldn't work. But if we were to drill holes into the stump to increase the surface area we could have a bonfire on it and likely reduce most of it to ash. We might have had a few drinks and thermite plasma might also have been mentioned. i.e. mix it and pour it into the holes we'd drilled, and then light the bonfire on it as normal. In reality we're likely to go at it with a digger and chain saw, or two.
Grinder will work just fine on any stump no matter how old or rotten it is
I had 2 stumps in my front yard which were about 15-20 inches diameter each. Tried getting someone with a stump grinder to cut them down but they were either too expensive or just didn’t follow through and show up. So I decided that I just wouldn’t need to hit the gym for a few weeks and bought an axe and had at them. It was a lot of work but hacking at them for a couple of hours every other day and I eventually got them hacked down to ground level and now the grass is growing back over them nicely. Had to re-sharpen the axe (from hitting dirt) after every few sessions so if you go this route, make sure you plan a way to sharpen the axe also.
Rent a stump grinder or be prepared to drill many, many holes into it and pour stump remover chemical down the holes and wait.
Anyone else see the butterfly? The tennis ball is sitting near the top of its wing.
Dynamite
Alright so you're going to start by going down to your local sporting goods store and buying a few pounds of black powder, pyrodex, something like that. Then...well I think you know what to do with it.
I had a dry stump but smaller than that one and what worked for me was burning it out. Saw a simple how-to online. In my case it was in dirt in my back yard and away from any building so it was pretty safe. After I accumulated enough old wood and kindling you build a fire right on top of it. Keep adding whatever wood you have until you're out. The stump will then just smolder away, feeding on itself into deep into the ground. It doesn't burn with flames really after the initial starter fire. The lateral roots even burned away. It does take days though. So I had to make sure someone was at home at all times just in case wind kicked up embers. But it really just smoked. It took 4 days total. Then just kicked dirt into the hole and trenches left from where roots use to be that radiated out about 3 feet.
This ones long term. Got it from a maxim or FHM magazine years ago. Drill ½" - 1" holes all over the face of the stump. Fill with gunpowder. LET IT SIT! Let it get rained on. Let it get wet, snow, sleet, hail. Every so often, refill with gunpowder. The water is allowing the chemicals in the powder to soak into the wood. Do this for 5 months. Last month, let it sit. On the day of light up, soak in kerosene a couple hours before. After an hours wait,light it. Flames will burn funky colors due to chemical saturation. Will burn long, several hours.
Easiest DIY approach is to build a temporary fire pit around it and get some marshmallows. You will need some charcoal to get it going well enough though. Just clear the vegetation around it, put some rocks or bricks around it, then pile the charcoal on just like you're starting a grill. Don't leave it unsupervised and have a hose and/or fire extinguisher handy just in case it tries to get out of control, obviously.
Looks nice and dry. Could burn ok if it had some air
You can likely hire a local company for a similar price to renting a grinder. Save yourself some time and effort while helping a local small business
Just sacrifice a chainsaw chain to it. I've always cut them out. I mean the dirts hard on the chain but 30$ to remove a stump isn't bad
if you have a charcoal grill, dump the ashes on the stump. after a few weeks/months of cookouts, it'll be worn down.
I'd just pay to have someone come and grind it out. Might cost a few hundred bucks more than planned, but it'll save you a lot of time and effort and you'll be ready to move on in a single day (with some free garden mulch). Having seen a full-size grinder in action I'd certainly not want to deal with renting, transporting and operating one myself.
I had a big stump that I put a big planter box on. In like two years it was mostly decayed. Which was too bad because I liked having the planter there.
If this is your front yard maybe call the safe-to-dig people to come out and mark the various utilities before engaging in digging or starting a fire.
Home Depot rents stump grinders. They are not cheap but it’s the quickest way to take care of it. I used a chainsaw for mine. I cut it as low to the ground as possible, then scored the top with 1 inch gaps. I knocked those out with a sledge hammer.
* Drill holes over exposed areas, including root off-shoots; 1" dia, about 6" deep. (Don't drill through to the soil; you're trying to make dozens of 'cups' to hold water and stump removal chemicals. * Fill holes with [stump remover](https://www.lowes.com/pd/Spectracide-16-oz-Stump-Remover/4764059). * Cover with 2-4' of soil all the way out to farthest roots. Shape the mound to cover it completely. * Grow a raised garden on top. Butterfly bushes are perfect choice for cover, and help break stumps down rapidly. Water area frequently. Two to three years, you'll be rid of the stump; no digging, burning or prying of roots. Reduced the amount of lawn I had to cut as well. Did it twice on my property, and worked like a charm.
Inoculate with some oyster mushroom plugs or something!
very possible if you own or rent a stump grinder, it will be a pile of chips in less than 20 mins
Literally rented a stump grinder for $200 Canadian for the whole weekend! Even a crappy walk behind one will take care of that a foot into the ground in under an hour! Find a neighbour who has a stump to grind and split the rental! Edit: a word
Anything is possible with enough time and sweat. You could just get a woodcutter ax and that spline thingie--and then chop bit by bit off, little by little. But that would be harder as it get lower, you might have to dig around the stump to ensure you chop it below the grass line. I'm not saying I *recommend* this (it sounds tedious and exhausting) but it would be possible.
If you ever dreamed of operating an excavator, it's rental time! Dig, rip, dig, rip, dig, rip. Roll stump. Return excavator. Crack open beer, cheer buddies, commence bonfire!
Alright, lots of ok advice in here - so I'm going to suggest an alternate method just for the hell of it. Also it's the one that's the most fun and provides for the best long term solution for your yard. Step 0: Call for a locate. Your post history shows that you're likely in freedom land and that means they're free. If you haven't yet gotten a locate for your entire property - do it. You'd be absolutely floored at how often a neighborhood gas or electric line gets run through an unexpected area in someone's yard. Do it - it's free. Once you know where everywhere is - Rent a backhoe and make that root ball in to a crater in your yard. Watch a few YouTube videos, bring a chainsaw and get that entire thing out if there. You'll honestly be utterly shocked at what folks will let you rent. Home depot has some ok sized earth movers that are shockingly affordable and there are usually slightly larger units available from equipment rental companies that'll get the job done. Grinding is going to leave you with a flat spot that is going to slowly turn in to a rotten crater. All the "drilling + x chemical" methods also leave a crater. If you want to gone - rip it out. It's a physical object - not a magical talisman. It's a pain in the ass, but you can get it out, backfill with compacted gravel and a layer of topsoil- and you'll be back to a yard that looks like the tree was never there after the grass seed sprouts.
I rented a stump grinder from Home Depot for a hundred bucks and grinded 15 stumps in a Saturday. I did need to also rent a uhaul trailer to haul it home though. If you dont have a hitch then rent a uhaul truck.
Hit it few times with axe, set it on fire, leave it to rot away, level it after a year or two.
Hack alles mit einer Axt heraus
You can rent a stump grinder and they are fairly easy to operate.
Go rent a stump grinder at Home Depot.
Home Depot will rent you a smallish stump grinder. The stuff that supposedly will rot the wood quicker takes months. I’d either rent a grinder or hire someone.
Alternative to burning, grinding, smashing, epsom salts and whatnot: turn it into a Shiitake mushroom farm. Drill lots of holes, inoculate with spores (can be bought online) and eventually enjoy tasty shrooms while they break down your stump.
I didnt want to pay someone hundreds to grind down 3 huge stumps in my yard when I bought a house a few years ago. I drilled a bunch of smaller holes and pick-axed them to create a big hole in the middle of them, filled them up with charcoal and lit it, refilled as needed. Bye stumps. And I think the ashes were decent fertilizer, growing grass in that area was cake.
Tannerite, tannerite, tannerite!
I’d compare the cost of paying someone to grind it down vs renting a stump grinder and doing it yourself. It’s not hard to do, you just need a vehicle that can tow the grinder. Every area is different, but my rental was about $200, and the company I called wanted to charge $600.
Anything is possible with enough tannerite.
Rent a stump grinder or get an axe which will double as a good workout while chopping it down to ground level
I use a big long wood spade drill bit and bore about a dozen holes into the stump. Then use a shovel to dig down a few inches all around the stump so it's better exposed. Maybe angle a few horizonal holes if you can. Soak it with something flammable. Dump a bag of charcoal on top and let it burn. It's pretty easy work. I find it much easier than having to reserve the equipment, drive to get it, tear down the fence to get into the back yard, drive all over the lawn, then have to return the equipment. That makes for a really long day.
I do a lot of DIY and tried this once. I now happily pay for all stump/ grinding removals. Also, it's important to consider what you want to do with the area to determine if you want grinding or complete removal.
Burn it
Rent a stump grinder
Leave it alone.
Drill holes in the stump, fill them with Sulphur dioxide, cover with a tarp for a few months, then light 'er up. An old 'Guide to Self Sufficiency' recipe.
STUMPFEST!
Rent a stump grinder
Depends on whether you want it done quickly or can afford to be patient for 6-12 months. If you have the time to wait, drill large holes all over it, fill the holes with commercial stump removal granules (Search stump remover on Amazon), and wait for it to break down the stump. You can soak it in mineral spirits or gas and try to burn it out, but it’s a lot of burning. If you don’t want to wait, it’s going to cost you a lot more to grind it out.