Burning stumps

I quit burning stumps out 20 years ago after one I burned out had a lateral root that went under the block pilings of a storage building and took almost a month to burn out.

When it rained heavily a couple months after the root fire died out, the ash filled tunnel under the building where the 1 to 2 foot diameter lateral root had been collapsed and sinking the storage barn enough to separate the side and back walls and roof and shatter the ventilation vent and window insert before the area dried out enough to salvage the building.

Since that fiasco when I have a stump to dispose of , I drill into it and dose it with tree and brush killer to ensure the root system dies but remains as ground fill and then pour wood ashes from my barbecue pit over the stump to provide some contained lye leeching and pack over it all with grass clippings piled a couple feet deep over and around the stump to promote anerobic heat decomposition for a season before the beetles and yard mites finish off arobically composting the stump the second season.

After a couple years of breakdown , any surface remains of the stump can usually be broke up with a hoe into mulch pieces.

I have used it to break down four red oak stumps over the last decade.

__________________
"I didn't have time to slay the dragon. It's on my To Do list!"

In our area we had a guy who drove around looking for stumps to grind off.
I had him do one several years ago...stump that .measured 52 in. across at the widest point. The engine on his grinder was not running right. So I cleaned out the sediment bowl on the engine, put in a new spark plug, and adjusted the governor & the carburetor settings. It ran like a watch !
He quoted me a price of $30 to start....very reasonable...Even so, he wanted to pay me $20.00 !!!
We laughed & had a beer. I heard a few years later he had a heart attack.......the good do die young ...sigh !

I'm guessing that unless it's really dry already, you'll have a hard time doing this in Virginia--things, including the ground, are just too wet here. My unscientific survey of the responses here is finding that most (most, not all) of the folks who have said it works for them are out west, and you all have a much drier climate than we do on the east coast.

At flea market once and run up a stump burner. It was basically a gavinized upside down funnel. About six feet high and about five feet at the base. Some company name with the word stump burner embosed in it.

So a barrel may work fine.


Good luck,
Ky-Jeeper

__________________
A socialist will trample over one hundred poor people just for the chance to throw a rock at a rich man.

I've had mixed success with stump burning. I drill holes in the stump, and let it dry and rot. Then, I set my burn barrel over it, no top or bottom, and fill it with leaves, pine needles, branches, etc. Then I let it burn for days. As the stuff burns down , I use a shovel to dig down around the stump, and hack at the stump itself. Refill, and keep going. After 4-5 days, it has normally burned down to below ground level.

Just a little story about using gasoline or kerosene. I worked for the Ag depardment for 15 years and we would get reports from the local fire department. Person used gasoline/kerosene to burn a stub, House/barn burned to the ground. Why? Because you may think that the fire is out when the stub is gone, but it's not. The fire can travel down the roots of a tree and set other trees on fire or building.

Thanks for all the info.I may just have to suck it up and pay someone to do it because renting a grinder is just a little less then having a contractor do it.These are larger stumps like small table tops so the 55 gal drum wouldn't work.Well maybe I will put a little more back work into them and burn some calories and if no luck by spring I will pay to have them grinded. About $220.00 for 2 stumps.One of the stumps we are burning a bowl sized hole in the middle of it to use as a natural bird bath.

__________________
His name was Jeremiah Johnson,They say he wanted
to be a mountain man.

Of course, you could always drill holes in the stump, as large as your drill can handle, and as deep as possible. Rainwater will fill these holes and eventually rot the main stump completely.

I've seen stumps take forever to rot away using this method, and a few that seemed to rot very quickly.

FWIW, and not that it matters, $220 to have 2 stumps removed might be a very reasonable amount for the work involved...but spending $220 is still a lot of money, at least in my world, to spend on a non-necessity. Just my opinion though.

I've seen big stumps enclosed in a galvanized sheet metal "collar" about 6 or 8 inches higher than the stump. It is then filled soil and planted with annual flowers. The combination of the soil bacteria and the plants eventually consume it. As with all wood, may last centuries if left exposed to the air but is quickly destroyed when in contact with soil bacteria.

Martin

I would prefer the expense of renting a grinder or a backhoe than the results of pouring kerosene into MY ground.

But then, that's just me

__________________
Roger

I have not read this whole thread, but have you researched something like "Gordon's Stump Remover"?
You still have to burn the stump, but makes the stump more porous first.

SPIKE

__________________
All things should be done with COMMON SENSE!
All things should be done with RESPECT!
All things have a PROPER time and place!
And most things should be done in MODERATION!