Right-Of-Way Stump Removal

Manual removal

• If the stump is shallow with a short tap root (pine, live oak, etc.), it can sometimes just be pulled out of the ground with a strong chain attached to a four-wheel-drive truck or tractor. Use a chain saw to cut the large surrounding roots, wrap a heavy chain under the root stubs on one side and attach the chain to a tow hitch. Use the vehicle to make a few sharp tugs in succession on the chain to break the stump free of lower roots and then give it a slow steady pull. Usually, the stump will come right out of the ground. This is quicker and easier than taking the time to locate, rent and haul in a stump grinder. If the stump is too deep and too hard for a chain to pull out of the ground, a stump grinder is the next best option.

Machine removal

• Stump grinders have large circular blades that sweep back and forth over the stump, grinding it down. The stump grinder is designed to work right through soil so you can get the stump root deep into the ground. One precaution, though, is making sure the stump grinder can get to the stump through any mud, obstacles or other complications. It's a wheeled vehicle moved by hand. Make sure you can get it to the stump before making the effort to locate and rent the unit.

Chemical removal

• There are chemicals on the market that will decompose and break down stump wood, but this process can take days or weeks. An old home remedy for stumps is nothing more than a drill and some salt: drill lots of holes, pour in the salt and wait. Within two or three seasons the stump will be pulpy and break apart by hand. No one, though, who is clearing a right-of-way for a road, sidewalk, farm field, ball field or construction lot has the time to wait for these different chemicals to act. Also, burning a stump is another way to spend a lot of time getting nowhere. A stump can burn for days and when the fire goes out the stump is still there. Try to avoid methods for stump removal from a right-of-way when time is of the essence and getting the job done means meeting looming deadlines.