stump root balls NEVER roll cooperatively, unless it isn't necessary for
them too. think it is one of Murphy's laws.

--
Totus Tuus
Claudia (take out no spam to reply)
"Roger" wrote in message
news:WA65d.255368$Fg5.65714@attbi_s53...
Can anyone suggest anything I could do to best remove these? I don't
want
to take a chain saw to them because of the massive amount of clay-rich
soil
embedded in the roots. I had contemplated using a hose to try and wash
the
soil away from the rootball a bit at a time. I'm not sure if this would
really even be feasible, though.

If you or a friend has a power washer - or they can be rented, or bot from
from Home Depot for 100-150 bucks - you could blast the root ball and
remove
much of the clay. Only need to remove enough clay to cut roots down to a
ball-shaped dense mass. Then try rolling it out of the yard, up a ramp,
and
into a pickup.
Never done this - just an idea.

"Alan Sung" wrote:

"ameijers" wrote in message
...
People who clear trees
for a living, when they can get away with it, dozer the root balls and
other
chaff into bigass piles, soak with #2, and burn them. Unless you can leave
them sit till weather washes dirt off, chipper guy won't even want to
touch
them- those dirt clods really cut blade life.

That's not completely true. At a local golf course where they cleared some
woods, all of the stumps were taken out with an excavator and placed in a
huge pile. Then some special piece of machinery was brought in that looked
like a 10 foot diameter cylinder, maybe 8-10 feet high. Inside the cylinder
was a giant flail spinning at a high speed. The giant stumps were dropped in
and what came out of this machine was a nice steady stream of rich looking
soil. I think it was less than 30 seconds to reduce a stump of a 18"
diameter tree to 'nothing'.

Drum grinders. Come in big and bigger sizes. They are what are used for
logging operations, and municipal yard waste recycling.

Amazing what you can find on the 'net, if you do a thorough search for
chipper/shredders. G

"Alan Sung" wrote in message news:9_p5d.262438$Fg5.211425@attbi_s53...
"ameijers" wrote in message
...
People who clear trees
for a living, when they can get away with it, dozer the root balls and
other
chaff into bigass piles, soak with #2, and burn them. Unless you can leave
them sit till weather washes dirt off, chipper guy won't even want to
touch
them- those dirt clods really cut blade life.

That's not completely true. At a local golf course where they cleared some
woods, all of the stumps were taken out with an excavator and placed in a
huge pile. Then some special piece of machinery was brought in that looked
like a 10 foot diameter cylinder, maybe 8-10 feet high. Inside the cylinder
was a giant flail spinning at a high speed. The giant stumps were dropped in
and what came out of this machine was a nice steady stream of rich looking
soil. I think it was less than 30 seconds to reduce a stump of a 18"
diameter tree to 'nothing'.

-al sung

Yeah it's called a tub grinder, make nice mulch.

"Tony" wrote in message ...
I live near Pensacola, FL, and recently experienced Hurricane Ivan.
Fortunately my home had minor damage, but my yard which I had invested much
effort in landscaping these past few months has been decimated.

The biggest problem I face is figuring out the best way to handle the
removal of two root balls from trees uprooted by the storm. The smaller
root ball sits above the ground and is about 4' in diameter. The larger
root ball is about 6' in diameter. I have already cut up the trunk portion
of both trees.

I'm assuming that having the root balls lifted out of the yard by crane
would be very expensive. Having them dragged out by tractor or similar
device would likely damage a large portion of the yard (and the underground
sprinkler system). I could have them ground, but I'm not sure if it is
possible for a stump grinder to work on a root ball that sits totally about
ground and is laying on its side.

Can anyone suggest anything I could do to best remove these? I don't want
to take a chain saw to them because of the massive amount of clay-rich soil
embedded in the roots. I had contemplated using a hose to try and wash the
soil away from the rootball a bit at a time. I'm not sure if this would
really even be feasible, though.

Any suggestions on what to do with these would be greatly appreciated.

Tony

I read through the thread and don't really see any suggestions that
you can use except for possibly burning. My approach would be a
comgination of some of them. Pressure washer to get as much dirt as
possible off, chain saw to cut them into chunks you can move.

No, cutting up the dirty root balls will not destroy your saw. It
will destroy your chain, bar, drive sprocket and possibly the clutch.
These are easily replaceable and not that expensive. Even just
pitching the saw away at the end of the job will be cheaper than any
other method (except burning) You will also be sharpening the chain
several times while working.

This is one of those jobs that will cost money (unless you can burn
them in place). Some jobs just can't be done 'on the cheap'.

Harry K

There's another approach which is easy, inexpensive, and won't damage
anything, but it does take a lot of time: rotting it out.

Wood will decompose into soil given four additional ingredients: air,
water, nitrogen, and bacteria.

Air: Expose as much of the stump as possible. Drill holes into it to
let air in.

Water: Water it frequently; try to keep it moist. If you can, rig up
a drip to keep it constantly moist. If possible, keep it out of the
sun so it won't dry out as quickly.

Nitrogen: Apply a high nitrogen fertilizer

Bacteria: Get some rotten leaves or soil (the stuff you scoop out of
your gutters is good), and spread it over the stump.

If you see mushrooms growing on and around the stump, and see grubs
burrowing in it, then you are doing it right. Fungi, insects, and
bacteria will all work to convert the wood back to soil.

If you keep a compost pile, start a new one on top of the stump.

It may take a year or more.

--- Chip

(Charles H. Buchholtz) wrote:

Nitrogen: Apply a high nitrogen fertilizer

Better yet, drill holes in the stump, and pour in some stump remover
(aka KNO3; potassium nitrate; saltpeter) which you can get at the
hardware store.

On Fri, 24 Sep 2004 22:32:32 -0700, someone wrote:

Gouge a hole in the center with a chainsaw (the bigger the better). Put
a bag of charcoal in it and light it. Should burn most of it.

Are you claiming to have done this?

-v.

On Mon, 27 Sep 2004 16:07:45 +0000 (UTC), someone wrote:

It may take a year or more.

Probably disqualifies that method, for this application.

He isn't covered by insurance for this???? (Unless it fell on the
house I suppose.)

Sounds like disaster cleanup to me.

-v.

(Harry K) wrote in message . com...
"Tony" wrote in message ...
I live near Pensacola, FL, and recently experienced Hurricane Ivan.
Fortunately my home had minor damage, but my yard which I had invested much
effort in landscaping these past few months has been decimated.

The biggest problem I face is figuring out the best way to handle the
removal of two root balls from trees uprooted by the storm. The smaller
root ball sits above the ground and is about 4' in diameter. The larger
root ball is about 6' in diameter. I have already cut up the trunk portion
of both trees.

I'm assuming that having the root balls lifted out of the yard by crane
would be very expensive. Having them dragged out by tractor or similar
device would likely damage a large portion of the yard (and the underground
sprinkler system). I could have them ground, but I'm not sure if it is
possible for a stump grinder to work on a root ball that sits totally about
ground and is laying on its side.

Can anyone suggest anything I could do to best remove these? I don't want
to take a chain saw to them because of the massive amount of clay-rich soil
embedded in the roots. I had contemplated using a hose to try and wash the
soil away from the rootball a bit at a time. I'm not sure if this would
really even be feasible, though.

Any suggestions on what to do with these would be greatly appreciated.

Tony

I read through the thread and don't really see any suggestions that
you can use except for possibly burning. My approach would be a
comgination of some of them. Pressure washer to get as much dirt as
possible off, chain saw to cut them into chunks you can move.

No, cutting up the dirty root balls will not destroy your saw. It
will destroy your chain, bar, drive sprocket and possibly the clutch.
These are easily replaceable and not that expensive. Even just
pitching the saw away at the end of the job will be cheaper than any
other method (except burning) You will also be sharpening the chain
several times while working.

This is one of those jobs that will cost money (unless you can burn
them in place). Some jobs just can't be done 'on the cheap'.

Harry K

The only way I can think of doing it on the cheap is to dig a bigger
hole and roll them in. Let the termites take care of them.

In article ,
(v) wrote:

On Fri, 24 Sep 2004 22:32:32 -0700, someone wrote:

Gouge a hole in the center with a chainsaw (the bigger the better). Put
a bag of charcoal in it and light it. Should burn most of it.

Are you claiming to have done this?

-v.

no (although memory makes me think I've seen this done before), but does
that disqualify it from working? of course I'd basically rescind this
advice as further info shows the stump to be three feet from the house.

You could make the best of this by (still) gouging out the center but
leaving a rim of three or four inches and then filling the gouge
(hopefully you've made it as deep as possible) with good soil and
planting either vegetables, flowers or even something like a grape vine
which could be trained to climb a trellis. This will either last a long
time or rot away in a few seasons and then you can start over until it
is gone or more easily managable.

The only way I can think of doing it on the cheap is to dig a bigger
hole and roll them in. Let the termites take care of them.

Hose them clean, varnish them, and sell them as art.

(Beecrofter) wrote in message

The only way I can think of doing it on the cheap is to dig a bigger
hole and roll them in. Let the termites take care of them.

This sounds like the best idea.. after all he has a root ball pulled
out of the soil and if he cuts the trunk off close to the root ball,
it won't be too much more digging. ---leo/lee

In article says...
He isn't covered by insurance for this???? (Unless it fell on the
house I suppose.)

As has been discussed before, even talking with your insurance agent will
require him to register your conversation in a database used to raise
your premium. If you see your insurance agent walking down a street,
divert your eyes, walk in a different direction, and don't let him see
you.

"Lee" wrote in message
om...
(Beecrofter) wrote in message

The only way I can think of doing it on the cheap is to dig a bigger
hole and roll them in. Let the termites take care of them.

This sounds like the best idea.. after all he has a root ball pulled
out of the soil and if he cuts the trunk off close to the root ball,
it won't be too much more digging. ---leo/lee

In theory this sounds like a good idea, but it's not as simple as it might
sound. The larger of the two stumps--even with all of the tree trunk cut
off--is roughly a cube 6' on each side. The hole next to the stump is the
same diameter but only about 1 foot deep. (I'm guessing that since the tree
went down when the soil was saturated with water there was something akin to
a small mudslide that filled in the hole.) Given that this soil is mostly
clay, I don't see anyway short of using a backhoe digging a hole of that
size.

I have come to the conclusion that no method of removal will be easy (or
even close).

Some folks have mentioned using homeowner's insurance to cover the cost of
removal. We're already contacted our insurance company. Since almost every
home in this area has some damage, we figure whether we make a claim or not
our rates are going to be affected. Unfortunately, insurance only covers
trees that have fallen on the house, and so since these trees did not hit
the house, that is not covered.

Tony

On Mon, 27 Sep 2004 14:35:17 -0700, someone wrote:

In article ,
Gouge a hole in the center with a chainsaw (the bigger the better). Put
a bag of charcoal in it and light it. Should burn most of it.

Are you claiming to have done this?

no (although memory makes me think I've seen this done before), but does
that disqualify it from working?

It doesn't mean it WILL either. It shows me you that have no less
basis to think it will, then I have to think it won't be effective. I
do a lot of chainsaw work for a homeowner (rural property owner who
also has a number of business locations with trees). I have also
burned a lot of "brush" which around here includes what city folk
would call logs and stumps. A fresh stump doesn't burn very well. A
single big chunk of wood doesn't burn very well.

Have you done much chainsaw work? Because to "gouge a big hole" is
definitely NOT something easily done with a chainsaw, ESPECIALLY in a
stump. If it was that easy, he'd just cut up the stump in little
pieces and put them out with the trash, why bother with the hole. The
OP seems well aware of the problems of chain sawing a stump.


Your other idea I don't regard as useful input either - that either it
will or it won't work - so what - it won't help him if it won't.
Basically you have no clue again and are just guessing.

sorry.

-v.