Got some big oak trees. Horizontal segments of large root runners have
surfaced around in the yard out anywhere from 5'-25' or so. These things
are troublesome for mowing purposes, as I have to avoid them with the
tractor deck, but go back and clean up around them with weed wacker.
Could be my imagination, but they seem to be slowly coming up higher out of
the ground.

Two questions:

1. Would removing the above ground segments hurt the tree significantly?

2. Any easy method of removal other than getting a stump grinder after
them?