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If a tree poses a significant risk to your property, then you must get rid of it by hiring tree removal professionals or cutting it yourself.
While this is a relatively easy task, the next step will likely prove more challenging: removing the stump.
Taking out the tree stump in your property shouldn’t leave you stumped. Below are a few options that you can consider before deciding the best stump removal solution for you.
Things to Consider
Stump grinding is, typically, not included in the cost of landscape services or professional tree removal. If you choose not to pay for additional fees, your property will be left with this protruding base.
Before deciding whether your do-it-yourself (DIY) skills will suffice or not in eliminating a tree stump, consider the following points:
- Are the tree roots deeply attached to the ground?
- What is the size of the stump?
- Why do you want to get rid of the stump?
- Do you like it removed right away, or can it wait?
- What are the risks of leaving a stump unattended for a long time?
Cutting a tree leaves a stump because it’s only cut at dirt level. Besides causing safety risks to small children, an unattended tree stump attracts dangerous pests and insects.
The tree roots can also damage your property’s structure, depending on the tree’s location.
As you may have imagined, taking out a large tree stump in a property requires intensive labor, special tools, and machinery. In most cases, you’d want to seek professional stump services to help you out.
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5 Options to Remove a Tree Stump
After coming up with the answers to the questions above, choose from these few options, including easy to moderate DIY methods.
Preparing the Stump
Materials needed: chainsaw, spade drill bit
Whether you’ve decided to tackle the stump on your own or seek expert help, check whether you can cut off the remaining stump height. Drill some deep holes in the stump.
Make sure they’re equally spaced and cover the whole stump perimeter. With the holes, your chemicals can enter the stump and stay inside. Additionally, these holes can act as vents if you decide to burn the tree base.
1. Applying Stump-Removing Chemicals
This is the easiest method but also demands the most time. It could take about a year to have the stump removed from your property. Using chemicals essentially helps accelerate the decomposition process.
2. Using Plastic Bag or Tarpaulin
Removing the plant’s life source is another easy way to hasten tree stump rotting. Covering the stump with a plastic bag or a tarp will deprive it of light and oxygen.
Make sure the wind won’t blow the plastic out of place by putting bricks or anything heavy. It may take up to three months for this method to work, depending on the stump size.
3. Removing the Stump Manually
Materials needed: chainsaw, bow saw, digging bar, ax, or hatchet
If you can’t wait to get rid of the stump as soon as possible, roll up your sleeves and get ready for some manual labor. Use a chainsaw to cut off the remaining base left by a professional tree removal service.
Take some protective gear, such as gloves and boots, before using the tools mentioned above. Loosen the ground around the tree base before chopping and cutting through the stump.
This method should ideally be done on small to medium-sized trunks, and take several hours to get done.
4. Burning the Stump
This strategy can be used alone or to complement DIY stump-removal activities discussed earlier. After drilling holes in the base of the tree, you can place a stump removal product that’s readily available on the market.
Pour some fuel or kerosene in the holes and wait for a long time to allow proper absorption. Burn the tree stump and monitor it closely, making sure the fire doesn’t spread. Don’t forget to check with the homeowner’s association whether you’re allowed to do this.
5. Hire a Professional Stump Removal Service
If you need to get rid of the tree stump in your property as soon as possible, it’s best to hire stump removal experts to do the job efficiently.
Ideally, you can ask professional tree removers to dig out the tree stump as well, although you have to pay extra. Depending on the size and structure of the root, you may have to shell out at least USD$100 per stump removed.
Some homeowners choose to rent a stump grinder, which is available in most hardware stores. The cost for renting out this piece of equipment is about USD$100, too, and the homeowner may still have to put in some effort to clear the ground.
The Bottom Line
Taking out a tree stump is a labor-intensive task, although there are more accessible DIY options.
Depending on when you must have the pesky tree base removed and the amount of effort you’re willing to take, you can choose from any of the solutions discussed in this article.
No matter what you choose, always remember that removing a tree stump shouldn’t leave you stumped.
