comic cuts

Does anyone have a surefire way of killing off tree stumps and roots?

Need to get rid of 8 asap!

TIA

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OllyK

You can buy stuff from a garden centre, drill the stump and pour the crystals on. No sign of life from an Oak in my garden. It diesn't claim to speed up the rotting down however.

Brendan Hughes

The surefire way is dig them out.

About what diameter is the trunk at the base?

Do you have vehicle access?

Have you already cut the trees down to ground level? If not, leave 5ft of trunk - much easier to rock them after you've cut through most of the roots.

MickWrx

I've seen quite a few landscapers pulling them out with rope/chains and a Warrior, not sure if their is a chemical way, pretty sure it would not be quick.

lots of hard work seems the order of the day

comic cuts

Hi Brendan.
Trees were cut down to near ground level 2 months ago. They are about 10" diameter and I've no vehicle access. Need to get them out as they are pushing over a wall!

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Brendan Hughes

Then if you can't get a stump grinder to them, I'm sorry to say I'd do it by hard work. Get a trenching spade (narrow blade), a hand trowel, a Stanley Jetcut handsaw (very sharp and cheap enough to throw away and buy another when you've blunted it on pebbly soil), and the biggest crowbar /lever you can lay your hands on - 5-8ft long. A dog can be very handy as well, they're brilliant for digging out the earth round the roots. Two tips - 1) do NOT try to cut through a root if you haven't exposed the bottom of it by digging - you'll assume it's 2in thick but it will actually be oval section and it'll go down 5in - and 2) cut an entire section out of the root, maybe 4-6in long, and throw it away - ie, two cuts through each root, not one. Partly this helps when levering, that the two faces don't touch and jam, but it also helps to create a gap when sawing through the root next to it.

You can do it with a chainsaw if you really want, but you blunt the chain on the soil incredibly quickly, and it's frankly dangerous. An axe or pruners might be good for the smaller roots, but TBH I'd go with the jetcut - unless you're amazingly fit, 8 stumps with an axe will knacker you.

Puff The Magic Wagon!

iTrader: (2)

Don't muck about with a crowbar, go get a scaffold pole or 2

Best thing to do is to do lots of digging to start with, don't just dig a bit then try and lever. Dig down deep too. Roots are generally soft so an axe is useful as is a hatchet for smaller less accessable roots. There is an actual pickaxe type tool specifially designed for de-rooting which you can use like an axe or a spade.

comic cuts

Thanks Brendan and Puff T M W.........great advice there. Looks like I'll be getting fit! It's going to be a big hole when I've finished!

Will head for an ironmongers at lunchtime and see what cutting tools they've got!

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Brendan Hughes

Start digging a good 3ft away from the tree, don't mess about trying to dig out something that size with a hole 18in diameter. As you get deeper, dig inwards, so eventually you're trying to dig under the stump to the other side.

Scaffold pole sounds a great idea. But don't even think about levering until you've cut through all the main roots. We have a tractor with 4ft dia wheels, and all that does is wheelspin itself into the ground unless virtually all roots are cut. The lever is there more to rock the stump and show you where the next roots are, rather than to snap through many roots. You might want to cut one or two major roots very long (eg 2-3ft away from the trunk) to use them as a lever and twist the stump out at the end.

I must have dug out 40-50 stumps in my time, most with a tractor but the 7 in my own house without. You'll be fit or dead by the end of it You may also find it nicer to leave one and go on to do a bit of work on the next to give yourself a change; I've often made the mistake of thinking "I'll just finish this one before dinner and stop", to find that the bugger has three tap roots, a half-brick buried under another root, and it takes me another four hours and past midnight to get it out - after which I'm crippled for three days

Apparition

I see an accident happening sometime soon.........
Yve

OllyK

Indeed....comic cuts - set the video rolling before you start

Dream Weaver

I had to remove a 15" diameter stump on Saturday in the back garden.

Used a chainsaw for a while til it was blunted

Tried digging and pulling it out etc, in the end had to resort to hammering it to death with my big log splitter straight down the stump, then chipping the splits off sideways with the same splitter.

Back breaking stuff, but it did the job.

luke m

i see this thread turning out like the abseiling window washers safety dullness episode...i'll come back and read it in two weeks!

Brendan Hughes

Flippin heck, that sounds brave. Surely the principle of a log splitter is that it follows the grain of the wood and you use it on some non-shock absorbing surface like a chopping block. You used it on a stump - check the grain patterns?! - buried in earth... It's not an approach I'd take out of choice!

john_s

iTrader: (1)

Last stump I took out involved:

Big FRO axe
Disposable saw
Digging spade
Shovel
Gardening trowel
2* trolley jacks
Chainsaw
Logsplitter
Crow bar
Wrecking bar
Scaffold tube

and a lot of hard work.

Good fun though

(* - 2 trolley jacks because one gave up half way though with a very loud bang when one of the metal straps on it snapped)

John.

David Lock

Moving the wall would seem an easier option.......

comic cuts

Wow this thread has caused a stir!
Thanks for all your contributions...........it sounds like I'm going to have some fun seeing there are 8 of the blighters to come out!

Have got a chain saw but won't use it until I can see clear light around the bit I'm cutting. As there's a wall up to stump level I may just remove part of it (it's bitter and twisted already!) shore up remainder and tackle each stump from the side too, may be quicker.

Think I'll skip the video........X rated gory films won't get past the mods!

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Karl 227

Aha, so we now know that the wall is a female one

comic cuts

Yep! Very popular too.......it's a party wall!

Just wait till I get that acrow up against her!

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Brendan Hughes

Fair enough, but not only that, try to peel the bark off the root - there will be plenty of crap ingrained in the bark that will blunt the chain too.

BTW, if they're really underneath the wall, and it's a brick wall, and it's heavy and is now supported by tree roots which you're about to take out - I suggest you set the video up and check your will's up to date!

JoanUK300

My neighbour is also trying to take out a tree stump....


....I suggested drilling loads of holes in it, dousing it in petrol then setting light to it........

Seems an easy option when I see what you lot are doing....anything for an easy life!!!!

wilftwo

I would go for the stump grinder.

I think you can hire stump grinders these days pretty cheap.

Otherwise you can get a blokey in to do it with his own for about £50 a stump.

Brendan Hughes

Tell you what Joan, the fire will be crap, but the power drill, with a nice 10mm bit, is not a bad idea...

Brendan Hughes

In the best traditions of Blue Peter, here's one I prepared earlier;

r32

If you want to stop them growing for the time being and save the wall, then drill into the stump, several holes with the biggest drill you can find and pour in neat weed killer. It will kill them pretty quick and give you time to attack each stump at your leisure ............................... sound like hard work and a long job. Hope you didnt have anything else planned for this year!
Good luck.