Cut Stump Treatment

[onetoomanytrees]

I'm looking for some help on coming up with a more affordable, effective cut stump treatment. I've used pathway mostly but would like to find something at a more reasonable price point. I'm looking at mixing Garlon 4 with diesel. Any input or experience?

 

[slowp]

Loppers, saws and excavators. Not as toxic.

 

[Jed1124]

Tordon RTU

 

[TRTermite]

Check out "Removing invasives/pulling by roots" I got a lot of great answers I asked the same questions you are getting ready to ask..

 

[Natty Bumppo]

I'm looking for some help on coming up with a more affordable, effective cut stump treatment. I've used pathway mostly but would like to find something at a more reasonable price point. I'm looking at mixing Garlon 4 with diesel. Any input or experience?

Crossbow mixed with diesel oil or basal oil at about an 8-10% solution, in my experience, is effective. Some species, like black locust and autumn olive, are just hard to kill.

 

[esean]

Try triclopyr 3 (generic Garlon 3) 50/50 in water on the outer 3" of the cut surface. Maples in late winter/spring while sap flow is strong might not be advisable, but should work for most other trees. If you go with triclopyr 4 in oil/diesel put in on the bark around the stump. What species are you cutting and at what time of year that's giving you problems?

 

[Natty Bumppo]

Esean makes a good point about season. I have doubts about stump treatment when sap is flowing up strongly in late winter or spring. Some species bleed more than others when cut.
I've no experience w/ Garlon 3 in water, but Garlon 4 in oil (1:3 ratio, per label, I think) is effective. However Crossbow can be mixed at a lower concentration per label & is cheaper than Garlon. It can also be used per label for basal bark treatment.
Jed1124 recommended Tordon RTU. It's the same stuff as the Pathway you've been using, just packaged in a smaller volume.

 

[esshup]

Here in Indiana, it all depends on whether you are a licensed applicator or not. No license, then Tordon RTU. Licensed? Then anything is open to use, like Garlon 3 or 4. Just be aware of the translocation issues with all of them.

 

[Bill G]

Tordon works well and easily available but expensive. I used to be able to get it for $40/gallon but not anymore. I will be using it tomorrow. I cannot speak to it's effectiveness in warm weather. I only use it in the winter/spring. I do not want to cut brush in warm weather. If you are cutting large stumps you only need to put it around the outer rings. Covering the stump is a waste of money

 

[cookies]

pile bags of charcoal on the stump and lighter up and burn it out, add more charcoal as needed. Hard to return when its burnt to a crisp. A couple plunge cuts then fill with kno3 and cover with plastic to prevent washout, if its pissed you off substitute black powder for the kno3

 

[Bill G]

pile bags of charcoal on the stump and lighter up and burn it out, add more charcoal as needed. Hard to return when its burnt to a crisp. A couple plunge cuts then fill with kno3 and cover with plastic to prevent washout, if its pissed you off substitute black powder for the kno3

Maybe if you had a long time and a semi-load of charcoal

 

[Joisey]

After the derecho in 2012 we were left with a lot of severely damaged trees that had to be removed, resulting in stumps. Too expensive to have 18 tree stumps ground, didn't have access to a backhoe, so for the time being I dug down and cut the stumps at ground level.

Three years later I took a 250 gallon oil tank and cut it in half, then cut the end out of it. I put this around the stump and loaded the barrel full of pine trees that had been killed by the derecho. In under 24 hours the stump was burned well below ground level.

The height of the surround was such that even if the drum was full of wood, the flames were only exposed above the metal when the fire was first lit. Later the coals just glowed, and as they level of coals dropped, I added more wood. Small pine stumps worked great because of the sap and knots in them, giving me a long, hot burn.

In under one month I was done, the stumps were well below ground level and grass seed was planted. It only took time and got rid of downed pine trees in the bargain.

 

[CDElliott]

Tordon works well and easily available but expensive. I used to be able to get it for $40/gallon but not anymore. I will be using it tomorrow. I cannot speak to it's effectiveness in warm weather. I only use it in the winter/spring. I do not want to cut brush in warm weather. If you are cutting large stumps you only need to put it around the outer rings. Covering the stump is a waste of money

I keep Tordon RTU in a small plastic spray bottle from Walmart's travel shelves. It lets me get by with the least amount of spray. I can spray it on the cambium ring and it works fine for what I do.

 

[Bill G]

I keep Tordon RTU in a small plastic spray bottle from Walmart's travel shelves. It lets me get by with the least amount of spray. I can spray it on the cambium ring and it works fine for what I do.

I use a spray bottle also but they do not last long as the Tordon is hard on the sprayer

 

[atlashunter]

Do you mix the Tordon with diesel?

 

[pdqdl]

I'm looking for some help on coming up with a more affordable, effective cut stump treatment. I've used pathway mostly but would like to find something at a more reasonable price point. I'm looking at mixing Garlon 4 with diesel. Any input or experience?

Tordon RTU

...Jed1124 recommended Tordon RTU. It's the same stuff as the Pathway you've been using, just packaged in a smaller volume.

Tordon RTU & Pathway are the same thing.

I never buy RTU: You are paying extra for water.
If you want to get the same results, mix your own RTU from concentrated products. Get some Tordon 22k (need to have an applicators license), cut it with water, add some 2.4-D herbicide to match the RTU formula, then you have cut your price per gallon to 1/2 or maybe 1/3rd of the RTU products. Any other product that has picloram as an active ingredient can be substituted for the Tordon 22k, but will probably not be quite as strong as the 22k; you will need to do your math on that.

Triclopyr (Garlon, Turflon-D) can be substituted for the 2,4-D to make a really hot brush killer that might have better effectiveness on a wider variety of hard to control plants. Cost will go up, too, but the doses can be reduced.

Triclopyr is reasonably cheap anyway. Cheap and effective enough to use as stump treatment by itself, and it carries a label for stump treatment and brush control.

If you wish to cut your costs and increase the effectiveness, you might try adding one of the expensive organosilicate surfactants. They greatly increase the penetration into the cambium, and you should be able to reduce your doses accordingly. There is a wide variety available, look for a brand that mentions enhancing bark permeation.

"Some research suggests that the wetting properties of these surfactants are so good that they can also allow bacteria and fungi to more easily invade plants"​

 

[SweetMK]

A barrel, with the end cut out,, toss in some branches that you have to pick up anyways,, then a few pieces of firewood.

This stump ended up burning for almost a week,, and burned into the ground over six inches.

I have burned 4 into the ground this year,, the last two I added a fan blowing,,
with blowing air,, you get 24 hours worth of burn in two hours.

 

[pdqdl]

Yeah, that'll cut way down on regrowth.

So will this:

https://www.discountvisqueen.com/plastic-weed-barrier.php

"Solid Plastic Weed Barrier​

There are many reasons you may want to use a solid barrier in the garden. Farms often use the process of soil solarization in order to prepare soil for planting. In solarization, a solid clear or black barrier is placed over the desired area. It blocks out all water, photosynthesis, and even gas exchange. This deprivation combined with the sunlight heating up the plastic eradicates weeds, pests such as nemotodes and insect eggs, and even harmful bacteria. When planting time comes, the purified soil is mixed with fertilizers to infuse nutrients. Backyard gardeners may want to use the same process in order to fully destroy aggressive rhizome weeds like Bishop's Weed, pests, or harmful bacteria."​

Except that you can't always cover something with Visqueen.

Given that the OP was looking for a less expensive stump treatment, that suggests a high volume need that isn't too practical to treat with a burn barrel.

 

[SweetMK]

Yeah, that'll cut way down on regrowth.

Given that the OP was looking for a less expensive stump treatment, that suggests a high volume need that isn't too practical to treat with a burn barrel.

Oh,, I agree it is not a volume method,, but, for me,, it is a FUN method!!
Gotta do something when you are retired!! LOL!!

 

[pdqdl]

I'll never retire. Worked all my life, and I forgot long ago how to have fun.
I'm at work now, trying to get my mechanic to finish fixing a truck so that we can use it in snow removal tomorrow.