I recently cut down a small oak (approx 15 feed high) and now need to get the stump out. It's not very big, maybe 1 1/2 feet around or so. I've tried cutting most of the roots with an axe but the stump is still not moving. (I left about 3 feet above ground.) I got one estimate from a tree service for $195. That seems a bit excessive, but maybe it's not. Any advice?
we had a tree in my parents yard. we basically cut it down, except the stump, and we left it there for like five years now. I remember seeing some product at wal-mart in the garden aisle area about some stump killer thing. You pour it on top of the stump and it helps break it down.
I took a stump out of my house by having a bonfire around it and then hacking apart the charred remains with an axe which worked pretty well. I then put some new topsoil around it and reseeded and now you can't tell there ever was a stump there.
If $200 is too much, then rent a stump grinder and do it yourself. Pulling it out iwth a truck won't work. Or cut it just below the surface and cover it up ... let nature take its course.
That stump is still sitting there. It's breaking down fine. I'm going to let nature take it's course.
poor some rock salt in it, it will speed up the process, or just pay the service. i don't know if its too much however
I'd just rather spend $200 elsewhere. The tree is only about 7 years old and isn't very big, but big enough that I can't get it to move. My neighbor DID actually use a friends truck to pull his out of the ground about a year ago after cutting the roots as best as he could, so that could be an option I'm going to see if I can cut some more roots and go from there.
Many moons ago, when I was a kid, my dad cut down a tree in our front yard. He then proceeded to cut the stump to all hell using his chainsaw. It was like he was chopping a giant onion still in the ground.
As an aside note... what can you do, actually, with a tree stump still in the ground? Many things... make a table from it... make stools out of it... make a drawing board table... add a metal piece and use it as a sundial... rent a costume and re-enact the Braveheart "last" scene... MANY OTHER things... no? Spoiler You can also be artsie (but still very macho) and make a sculpture on it... etc... Spoiler 'Course, it also matters how big it is that's what she said... Spoiler
If you have a 1/2 drill bit (or a bit capable of drilling deep, wide holes in the stump), drill several holes into the stump. Fill holes with salt. Wait about 8-10 months. The stump will fall apart much easier.
If its 18" in diameter, that isn't all that small for an oak tree. You can use a truck to remove a shallow root system like a pine tree, but an oak has a tap root that goes straight down. You won't budge it with a truck w/out cutting that tap root.
