A small problem

[SeaCat]

Okay I have a smallish problem. The problem is a tree stump roughly six inches in diameter. It's dead, long dead and because of this I have no idea what kind of tree it was. I want to get the root out though.

I have thought about digging down and pullng it but there is nothing nearby to attach a come along to. Hell it's in an odd place whre I would have a hard time getting my car to.

So how do I get the damned thing out? (I know how I want to but I don't think my neighbors would appreciate or approve of my using explosives.)

Cat

 

[rgraham666]

Termites?

 

[glynndah]

Here's a site with some ideas. http://www.tomtree.com/stump2.html I have no idea where they're from, though.

 

[jomar]

If you don't need it out you can take a chain saw to cut it low and and grind it down.

If you need it out you could take a maddock - and hack down through the outlying roots. It should rock out easy then. I did that with pine trees bigger than the size you mention. You might have good luck even though you don't know what kind of tree it was.

http://images.lowes.com/product/converted/049206/049206111769md.jpg

 

[SlickTony]

When I was coming up we had a mimosa tree with a very thick trunk in the back yard, and this tree eventually died of old age. My dad cut it down pretty close to the ground, but we were still left with this stump which you had to mow around.

He poured a lot of TSP (trisodium phosphate) on it, which hastened its decomposition somewhat. Made it stink, too. Yes, rotting wood stinks.

 

[starrkers]

What about a stump grinder? You can usually get below ground level so the grass will grow over what's left.
Hell, I even started a whole new garden over the ground stump of a big old wattle.

 

[SlickTony]

Bet you could rent one. Or hire it done. Seems to me I'm always seeing ads for stump grinding in my part of the world.

 

[WarLordwrites]

Okay I have a smallish problem. The problem is a tree stump roughly six inches in diameter. It's dead, long dead and because of this I have no idea what kind of tree it was. I want to get the root out though.

I have thought about digging down and pullng it but there is nothing nearby to attach a come along to. Hell it's in an odd place whre I would have a hard time getting my car to.

So how do I get the damned thing out? (I know how I want to but I don't think my neighbors would appreciate or approve of my using explosives.)

Cat

Greetings

In the distant past in northen MN I had to grind out a bunch of stumps, smallish birch and "popple" but some as big as the one your looking at.

I used a DR Stump Grinder

if you had a chance to rent that one -- it would chew it well below ground level with ummm minimal well not too bad effort

Enjoy the journey

WarLord

 

[jomar]

SeaCat - Have you had previous experience with leaving a tree stump in the ground (ground below the surface?

 

[Huckleman2000]

I'm with the stump-grinder camp. Unless you've seen shoots coming from the stump - then grind it down and put that smelly crap on it.

Ummm, you're not on a private well, by any chance?

 

[Chantilyvamp]

Ok the redneck is about to come out in me so everyone cover your eyes

If you cant get ahold of something to pull it out, or a stump grinder/chainsaw to level it to the ground.

*coughs* (Yes i have done this. Blame it on my brothers.) Dig out the dirt around the stump below the surface of the ground. Then take ax and splinter the top and sides as much as you can. Now do the unthinkable and pour gaseline or some sort of flameable on it. (You could lay soaked newspaper on/in/around and pushed into the splinters or we have even pushed charcoal into the splinter to make sure it kept burning.) Light it from a safe distance and make sure it burns down below the surface.

Plus, if you do it at night you can bbq marshmallows and it looks real pretty.

 

[SlickTony]

And the marshmallows don't smell of gasoline?

 

[SeaCat]

Ok the redneck is about to come out in me so everyone cover your eyes

If you cant get ahold of something to pull it out, or a stump grinder/chainsaw to level it to the ground.

*coughs* (Yes i have done this. Blame it on my brothers.) Dig out the dirt around the stump below the surface of the ground. Then take ax and splinter the top and sides as much as you can. Now do the unthinkable and pour gaseline or some sort of flameable on it. (You could lay soaked newspaper on/in/around and pushed into the splinters or we have even pushed charcoal into the splinter to make sure it kept burning.) Light it from a safe distance and make sure it burns down below the surface.

Plus, if you do it at night you can bbq marshmallows and it looks real pretty.

I'm liking the idea of the Charcoal.

The stump is old and very much dead. It sticks up just enough to catch a lawnmower or trip a person. It's too small for me to want to rent a stump grinder, but like I said it's in the wrong place for me to yank it.

The last couple of times I dealt with a stump like this I used Black Powder and removed th stumps in a quick and easy manner. Unfortunately I don't think my neighbors would appreciate this method.

The Charcoal method seems like the best idea so far. I think I'll have to attempt this method.

Cat

 

[jomar]

I'm liking the idea of the Charcoal.

The stump is old and very much dead. It sticks up just enough to catch a lawnmower or trip a person. It's too small for me to want to rent a stump grinder, but like I said it's in the wrong place for me to yank it.

The last couple of times I dealt with a stump like this I used Black Powder and removed th stumps in a quick and easy manner. Unfortunately I don't think my neighbors would appreciate this method.

The Charcoal method seems like the best idea so far. I think I'll have to attempt this method.

Cat

Okay, if you're doing the gas on the log thing you need to prepare properly. Before you throw the match make sure the tin cans are on the ground or on a fence post and that the pistols are fully loaded. Try not to aim at the neighbors house if you can help it. Convention for gas fires in the yard is that the whiskey bottle be half empty before the first match is thrown. You can also use the hairspray-flame thrower option. Above all, have fun!

 

[SeaCat]

Okay, if you're doing the gas on the log thing you need to prepare properly. Before you throw the match make sure the tin cans are on the ground or on a fence post and that the pistols are fully loaded. Try not to aim at the neighbors house if you can help it. Convention for gas fires in the yard is that the whiskey bottle be half empty before the first match is thrown. You can also use the hairspray-flame thrower option. Above all, have fun!

Oh you miss my point.

My neighbors a bit straight laced, they would not appreciate the open flames type thing. (Not to mention we are currently under a burn ban due to drought conditions.) I am liking the charcoal because it would be a nicely controlled thing.

Dig down and around the stump for several feet, saving the dirt. Lay in some metal pipes attached to an air pump then lay in several pounds of charcoal.

Wrap some marinated beef as well as several ears of corn in Aluminum Foil.

Ignite the charcoal and start the air pumps. Cover with some dirt then lay in the meat and corn. Cover this with another layer of dirt and allow it to cook for a while.

By the end of the day the stup should be burned away and dinner cooked well.

Cat

 

[jomar]

Oh you miss my point.

My neighbors a bit straight laced, they would not appreciate the open flames type thing. (Not to mention we are currently under a burn ban due to drought conditions.) I am liking the charcoal because it would be a nicely controlled thing.

Dig down and around the stump for several feet, saving the dirt. Lay in some metal pipes attached to an air pump then lay in several pounds of charcoal.

Wrap some marinated beef as well as several ears of corn in Aluminum Foil.

Ignite the charcoal and start the air pumps. Cover with some dirt then lay in the meat and corn. Cover this with another layer of dirt and allow it to cook for a while.

By the end of the day the stup should be burned away and dinner cooked well.

Cat

Ah, I see. Certainly not as much rowdy fun, but you can't go wrong with a cookout.

 

[Stella_Omega]

Oh you miss my point.

My neighbors a bit straight laced, they would not appreciate the open flames type thing. (Not to mention we are currently under a burn ban due to drought conditions.) I am liking the charcoal because it would be a nicely controlled thing.

Dig down and around the stump for several feet, saving the dirt. Lay in some metal pipes attached to an air pump then lay in several pounds of charcoal.

Wrap some marinated beef as well as several ears of corn in Aluminum Foil.

Ignite the charcoal and start the air pumps. Cover with some dirt then lay in the meat and corn. Cover this with another layer of dirt and allow it to cook for a while.

By the end of the day the stup should be burned away and dinner cooked well.

Cat

And you'll probably have a visit from Miss Piggy next door, oh happy day!

 

[gauchecritic]

I took out a cherry tree stump after some little bastard cut it down in the middle of the day.

The biggest problem was the tap root directly underneath.

Saw or chop off the outshooting roots until you can rock the stump more than about 25 -30 degrees from vertical, enough to wield a saw or more likely an axe (or chopper as we like to call them over here). Sever the tap root, which will almost certainly be below ground level, and even a little girl can pull the stump away. (Little girl for preference as you lie there gasping for breath and 50 pounds lighter by water loss. This effect gives your wife, neighbours and most of the local community a very satisfying feeling of smug superiority at being outdone in 'manswork' by a little girl)

 

[SeaCat]

Well my father came up with a most satisfying all around solution. One that allows me to play with nasty potentialy dangerous things while staying out of trouble. In fact he brought along some of the materials needed.

He reminded me that there is sitting in his shed a five pound can filled with Magnesium Shavings. (Actually grndings but we won't get too picky.) He carried down a small can that had Magnesium filled condoms for my use.

The new plan is to dig down around the stump until I can reach the Tap Root. After placing an ignitor and an air line in the bottom of the hole I will back fill it with Charcoal while placing the filled condoms around the tap root and stump beneath ground level. After dousing the entire thing with the accelerant of my choice I will cover the entire thing with dirt, tamp it nicely, start the air supply and hit the ignitor.

This should do wonders for the stump. I'll sizzle the thing in the ground without my neighbors getting up in arms. The only bad thing is I won't be making the earth jump.

Cat

 

[rgraham666]

Snicker. The things you do for fun, Cat.

 

[SlickTony]

It does sound like fun, Cat. Can you make a video or something?

 

[SeaCat]

Snicker. The things you do for fun, Cat.

Rob I enjoy making the earth move. I once started writing a book about how to make I.E.D.'s but was convinced to shred it.

I have been known to wake up neighborhoods and stymie people trying to gain access to areas I didn't want them to enter.

The most fun I had was a concusive device I used to wipe out Rats. (We had an old Chicken Coop out behind a neighbors place. Unfortunately this was inhabited by large numbers of rats. I created a concusive device out of an old car hood, gunpowder and other items. I dropped the floor about six inches, wiped out the rats and woke up people for roughly two miles around. {My mistake, I shouldn't have detonated it at 0300.})

I have been asked by two Police Departments to teach their people. One demo I did had the local Police wondering why they were even thinking of dealing with nasty toys like I showed them. Hopefully they will never have to deal with the toys I showed them, but at least they learned.

Cat

 

[SeaCat]

It does sound like fun, Cat. Can you make a video or something?

If it works as I plan it the only things visible will be a slight wisp of smoke coming from the ground.

Cat

 

[SlickTony]

If it works as I plan it the only things visible will be a slight wisp of smoke coming from the ground.

Cat

Aw, foot...

 

[Guest]

Snicker. The things you do for fun, Cat.

It would be a treat to watch you play with explosives, Cat.