I had an unsightly stump in my way for over a year. Today I wanted to remove it. It didn't look too difficult, but I don't have much experience with such things. After digging, and chopping with a pickaxe, I realized I wasn't getting very far.
I thought I would try a Come-along with a tow strap. DANG, that little trunk was solid, even with the hand powered wench.
(Come-alongs are nice to have. My Dad used his a lot, so I thought I would give it a try today in his memory.)
The stump would not budge, so I dug around it some more, and used my battery powered chainsaw to cut some of the roots. It came out then.
This chainsaw works pretty well, considering it is battery powered. It cuts a lot better than I expected when I first purchased it, over a year ago, and the battery lasts maybe an hour with heavy cutting.
That's not great if you really need to use a chainsaw a lot. But for limbing, and sawing up a few sticks of firewood it can't be beat. And it is great for little jobs like this. It is quiet, and it doesn't put out exhaust fumes. (I find it is handy to keep the perimeter of my property, and my trails clear from deadfall, and wind blown trees. I can usually do it entirely on one battery charge.)
As a side note: I wanted to avoid using petroleum based bar oil. I tried vegetable oil. It works, but I have found it tends to get gummy after a while. Maybe some of you know a way around that issue. Let me know if you do. Using some sort of veggie oil would make this a green machine. That would be cool!
[See Ya]
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Thank you very much! I am honored.
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If you just have one stump to pull then you do have a lot of options. Digging with a narrow shovel and chopping roots with an axe is my first choice. I've never had any luck pulling them out.
I had a 3 acre area with about 80 stumps to remove. That requires a grinder or a bulldozer. I bought a stump grinder on Craigslist, used it for 6 months to clear the land, and resold it for a few hundred bucks more than I paid. Pretty lucky.
You might consider using the #ghsc tag and following the members of the Global Homesteading Collective.
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You indeed were lucky, indeed, to find a grinder and then sell it for more. Good job! I have considered renting a stump grinder. I don't have too many stumps to remove (maybe 10). It could probably be done over a weekend, or a year using my method :).
My hat is off to the old timers that cleared land without bulldozers. I am always amazed how strong roots are. I am glad I don't have 80 to remove, like you did.
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Funny thing is that about two weeks after I sold the grinder a tree in my yard got sick and the arborist said it needed to be removed. Now I have a 30" oak stump right in the middle of my lawn. I'm removing that one the slow way - I put a little soil, fertilizer, and mulch on top of it. The fungus will get it eventually.
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That sounds like a good method. I was thinking about trying to burn em out. Someone said make a burn barrel. Cut both ends out. Sit it around stump, and burn your burn barrel as usual. That might be worth a try.
As long as stumps are pretty flush with the ground they are not such a big deal.
When life gives you stumps, make tabletops.
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Burning them out can work really well or not at all depending on how moist it is. Fresh oak might as well be made out of stone if it is wet. White pine is the opposite. I lit a pine stump and it burned for days because of all the pitch in it.
Best to dig out as much soil as possible from around the stump and let is dry for a long time before you try to burn it out. A gallon of diesel might help, too.
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