stumps

Ellis Kinney · Dec 28, 2021

I have lost hundreds of Ash trees in the last few years, and I normally dig out the stumps near the edges of the hay fields and other places I mow with the excavator. I have one stump I want removed near other trees and to dig it up would require digging up the roots from healthy trees. Does anyone have a home remedy for drilling and rotting out a stump? Thanks, Ellis

Bill(Wis) · Dec 28, 2021

Can you just cut the stump flush with the ground and just leave it? I had a big maple tree that had to come down because it was too close to where I built my new shed. The stump ended up about 10 feet from the access door to the shed and right along side the walkway to the shed. I cut the stump off flush with the ground and put an oak barrel planter on it and filled it with flowers every summer. Now, 13 years later, the stump is gone. If that's not suitable, some people have told me that drilling holes in the stump and applying salt works well. Another good way to do it, which I do a lot of, is to burn them. Sometimes I place a 55 gal barrel with both ends cut out over the top of the stump and soak the stump with my old waste oil and torch it. Also burn a lot of other stuff that way which can be done at the same time.

rrman61 · Dec 28, 2021

Can you burn it without affecting the other trees? I use diesel poured into/onto the stump if it gets into the stump it works better

leroy in ne · Dec 28, 2021

For what its worth. Adding nitrogen to compost pile with large amounts of dry leaves and grass plus a little moisture aids composting. Maybe a few holes filled with fertilizer?

Steve in VA · Dec 28, 2021

I have had success using a salt block that soaks into the stump. The squirrels take care of the rest.

fixerupper · Dec 28, 2021

It takes a long time for ash to rot naturally. We cut some ash stumps off flush in my lawn back in the 60's and it took a good 20 years till they were completely gone. I don't know if there was any product out there to help with the rotting process back then or not.

glennster · Dec 28, 2021

drill holes from the top down into the stump, then pour whole buttermilk into the holes. cover with damp mulch. a good thick coat of mulch and a fungus will rot the stump out. a good size paddle bit works good drill down as deep as you can

rustred · Dec 28, 2021

what i have done is cut down trees then clean around the stumps and cut them as close as i can to ground level even slightly lower then covered them with dirt and done. dont need much dirt like 2 or 3 inches and you then can mow the grass with no problems of hitting a stump. these were about a foot and bigger across the stump. waiting on a tree stump to rot ,... it will out live you.

TimV · Dec 28, 2021

Did just that with a big white pine stump in my yard. Took a couple years but it rotted down nicely, and several similarly sized white pine stumps in another part of my land where it wasn't important to remove them are still there from around the same time, which tells me it was worth 5 bucks of buttermilk and an hour of time to do it.

Tim(NY) · Dec 28, 2021

There's a youtube video where the guy uses a chain saw to cut # shaped grooves as deep into a stump as he can get and then builds a fire of twigs on the surface. Coals from the twigs drop into the grooves and the stump burns from the bottom up. How successful I guess depends on how dry the stump is. I've tried this on a few small spruce stumps and it works, but I have to do it multiple times. You have to keep the grooves open.

jimg.allentown · Dec 28, 2021

How about using a stump grinder and grinding it down to below ground level? Another thing that I heard is that you can drill holes in the stump and fill them with saltpeter. After a few weeks, you can pour a little kerosene on it and set it on fire, and it will burn down to ash. Oh...it already is ash (LOL). I meant another kind of ash.

tomturkey · Dec 28, 2021

I've had good luck with a 55 gal barrel with both ends cut out. Drill holes into the stump and pour diesel fuel or used oil over the stump. Set the barrel over the stump. Block the barrel up with bricks, only a couple inches. Put branches sticks on top of the stump and set it on fire. The draft from the fire at the bottom of the barrel really burns the stump well. Worked for me. gobble

Traditional Farmer · Dec 28, 2021

Stump grinder

Janicholson · Dec 28, 2021

This works well if the time window is available. if not a grinder would be expedient. Jim
Chemical.

john in la · Dec 28, 2021

A bucket of termites would get the job done.

But seriously.
I agree with Glenn.
Drill some holes in the stump and cover it in cream or other sweet milk.
Then cover the stump with leaves or light dirt.
If you can transplant an ant mound on the stump it will speed things along.

muleman51 · Dec 28, 2021

Oak stumps take forever to rot, I don't think Ash is much different. There was an Oak stump that showed up every time the crush rock got low in the parking lot, no one can remember there ever being tree in the middle of the lot. Some of the guys had been around there 50 years or more. It was just as hard as the day it was cut.

Phil-mar Farms · Dec 28, 2021

This is another not to fast way to rot a stump. Cover the stump with a fresh load of manure

caterpillar guy · Dec 28, 2021

If the tree is still there the roots rot off pretty fast on dead ash trees. If it has been a few years already it might just tip out of there pretty easy. All the treatments and burning may damage the other trees so they die. If that is not a problem then go for it. Other wise just watch it a few years. If just the stump it might still tip out with a bit of pressure on it. Size will affect the time needed.

504 · Dec 28, 2021

Build a fire and keep a good chunk of wood on it and it will burn to nothing. The secret to starting a good fire is use a small mower tire,it will get hot and the tire will burn out in a few minutes.

ss55 · Dec 28, 2021

It is a lot of work, but for one or two trees I've had good luck leaving the tree attached, hook a tow strap as high as I can reach and then dig around the tree by hand to uncover the main roots. Cut off the roots in the direction that I want it to fall, leave the bigger sides roots to act as a hinge and then pull the tree over with a tractor or pickup. The tree usually pops the stump out of the ground as it hits the ground. Then trim off the remaining roots and drag the tree away.

Texasmark · Dec 29, 2021

I have had Pecans that died or were getting old and I worried about them being blown over that I just cut at ground level....as low as I could get with the chain saw...maybe 4 off the ground, and half a dozen years later, for a number, the stump was pulverized on its own that you could push out of the way with your FEL bucket. Faster response is stump killer with Glyphosate you paint on the stump with a brush...cuts the time to 1/3 for me.

Drew · Dec 29, 2021

I've done the same with good results. I've got the fire roaring hot enough to make the barrel glow

Uncle murph · Dec 30, 2021

I have never seen roots rot like they do on a ash tree,leave them alone if possible and they will uproot with almost zero dirt,the attached roots rarely being more than a foot long.

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