Above-ground Stump removal ideas needed
 

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

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.

In article ,
"Tony" wrote:

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



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.

"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.



Bury them deeper than they was, and any luck at all, they will re-sprout and
a new tree will grow--depents a lot on the species and if there is suffient
starches in the rootball......you will know if you start getting suckers to
grow offa them as these will definately need trimmed if you only want a
single trunk....

Im a machinist by trade, and am a nurseryman as a hobby--to me the whole gig
reeks of possible opportunity...........anybody maybe need several hundred
rooted trees that do well in Florida ????

--

SVL

I have done this twice, and it IS work, but it works. We have sandy soil in
Nevada where these trees were planted. We started digging them out by the
roots, and used a big shop vac to remove the dirt as we went. This way, you
could easily see the roots that were holding the thing. We cut those with a
sharp double bladed long handled axe. Any type of chainsaw or regular saw
dulls quickly. On one, we had a come along on it with a tight bind on it
because we couldn't get the truck close. On the other, we had a chain to a
four wheel drive truck. It was slow going, but in both cases at a time once
it started to move, it popped out from there, breaking the remaining roots
on its own.

Don't know if that would work with the type of soil you have. We had a
neighbor who suggested the water blaster idea, but decided we would soon
have a muddy moat. It was a chore, but they took only about three hours
each. One was a eucalyptus tree, and the other a chinaball. Both trunks
were about sixteen inches in diameter. If you haven't cut the main trunk
yet, leave it a little tall, and this will improve your pulling leverage.

HTH. There is no easy way to do it.


Steve

From: "Roger"


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.

Clay? In Florida?

"HA HA Budys Here" wrote in message
...
Clay? In Florida?

Absolutely. I'm in Northwest Florida and most of the yards here have pretty
acidic clay soil. It's only on the beaches that I've ever seen sandy soil
(Pensacola Beach [what's left of it], Gulf Breeze, and so on).

I have "soil" in one section of my yard that even after top dressing with
organic material and core aerating several seasons is still so hard that you
can't put a screwdriver in the soil unless it is wet.

I'd be thrilled with a higher sand content in my yard.

Tony

How do you remove an underground stump?

"Oscar_Lives" wrote in message
news:yGf5d.109459$MQ5.50534@attbi_s52...


How do you remove an underground stump?



Hehe...

100 interesting and fun things to do with high nitrogen fertilizer.........

--

SVL

"Oscar_Lives" wrote:



How do you remove an underground stump?

With a backhoe.

Tony wrote:

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.

Is there some reason you can't blast 'em out?

Dynamite is easy to use. The guys who sell it can give you pointers.

"JerryMouse" wrote in message
...
Tony wrote:

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.

Is there some reason you can't blast 'em out?

Dynamite is easy to use. The guys who sell it can give you pointers.

Well, considering that one of the stumps is about 3' from my house, I'm a
bit tentative about using such extreme measures. :)

Tony

"Tony" wrote in message
...
"JerryMouse" wrote in message
...
Tony wrote:

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.

Is there some reason you can't blast 'em out?

Dynamite is easy to use. The guys who sell it can give you pointers.

Well, considering that one of the stumps is about 3' from my house, I'm a
bit tentative about using such extreme measures. :)

Ignore Jerry, he thinks he is witty.

I take it you don't live in the kind of neighborhood where you can just drag
the rootballs to a disused corner of the lot, and leave them as habitat for
small creatures? All sorts of things would be very happy living in the nooks
and crannies. Failing that, simplest solution is to just clean out and
deepen the holes they came out of, and bury them. If planting replacement
trees makes that not an option, you are either facing a whole lot of manual
labor with shovel and ax and maul and wedges, or a decent sized check to
somebody with the equipment to get them out of there w/o trashing your lawn
and sprinklers and such. Dirty wood like that will kill a chainsaw quick,
and possibly you, too, from kickback when it jams. 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.

aem sends....

"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

"Alan Sung" wrote in message
news:9_p5d.262438$Fg5.211425@attbi_s53...
"ameijers" wrote in message
...
(snip)
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'.

Wow- never seen that particular sort of device before. Sounds like a Tim
Taylor special. Guess things have progressed a little since I got an inside
job. Ordinary stump grinders and towed chippers for liftable chunks were all
I ever got to see close up, and both of those weren't that hard to jam.

aem sends...