"Jim Paterson" wrote in
:

I hve experienced this several times with Leylandii hedges and there
is no easy way. Dig round each stump and saw through any roots you
expose then (assuming you have left a long enough piece of trunk)
lever the stump back and forth until it gives. Of course the easiest
way is to get someone else to do it for you. Jim

Yew will be a much bigger job than leylandii though - the wood is more
flexible, and I think they have a different (deeper) root pattern. Plus
they may well re-grow from the stumps, if the hedge was well-established:
yew is very resilient!

I once lived in a house with an old yew tree on a steep bank. We looked at
getting the yew tree removed, but were advised that if the roots came out,
the bank would collapse, taking our house with it! We left it where it
was...

Victoria