How low do you cut a tree down to a stump?

[Koa Man]

A 24 in stump is not always the same as 2 12in stumps.

It is NEVER the same. A 24 inch stump is more equal to FOUR 12 inch stumps, not two.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

(12*3.141592)2=75.398208
24*3.141592=7598208

 

[bushinspector]

We always cut to the root flare. If we grind the stump we charge 2.00 a inch at the widest spot. I just tell the customer - as wide the hole will be when we get done. Measure the distance in inches and then double it. This lets them spend as much as they want. We give a lot less free bids and saves a lot of gas.

 

[TreeClimber57]

Whatever the customer wants..

Unless of course I am grinding as well, then cut as close to ground as possible to make grinding easy.

 

[Koa Man]

(12*3.141592)2=75.398208
24*3.141592=7598208

John,
That is correct mathematically, but in the real world of stump grinding, you know that it is much easier to grind two 12" stumps compared to one 24" stump. Taking it even further, I can grind four 12" stumps in half the time it would take to grind one 48" stump.

 

[Norwayclimber]

(12*3.141592)2=75.398208
24*3.141592=7598208

Thats the correct formula if you want to know the distance arround the stump.

To find the squareflat you have to use 3,14 * r * r

Two 12 inch stumps

(3,14 * 6 * 6) 2 = 226 square inches


One 24 inch stumps

3,14 * 12 * 12 = 452 square inches

 

[TreeClimber57]

(12*3.141592)2=75.398208
24*3.141592=7598208

??

What is this formula for. That is for circumference, not area.

If doing square inches (or area) of the stump.. the formula is (pi X radius squared)

12 inch stump is = 113.097312 sq inches
24 inch stump is = 452.389248 sq inches

That is obviously one stump only and one that is a true circle.. never met one of those yet but maybe someday.

Formula for (2 X pi X r) or (d X pi) is for the circumference.

12 inch stump is = 37.699104 inches circumference.
24 inch stump is = 75.398208 inches circumference.

I grind the area when I do a stump..

 

[TreeClimber57]

Thats the correct formula if you want to know the distance arround the stump.

To find the squareflat you have to use 3,14 * r * r

Two 12 inch stumps

(3,14 * 6 * 6) 2 = 226 square inches


One 24 inch stumps

3,14 * 12 * 12 = 452 square inches

Whoops.. somebody else picked up on it.

 

[Koa Man]

All you math guys, thanks for backing me up. I am no math expert, but I just know from experience it takes much longer to grind a 24" stump compared to two 12" ones. Now I know mathematically how to prove what I knew for a long time, that doubling the diameter is increasing the area four times.

 

[outofmytree]

Don't be too hard on JPS. Base 10 math is tough for "older" guys who still think in base 12.:monkey:

 

[Norwayclimber]

Don't be too hard on JPS. Base 10 math is tough for "older" guys who still think in base 12.:monkey:

No intentions on being hard, just pointing out the facts As for the Base stuff I have no idea of what you're speaking of

Anyways, since we've allready gone off topic, I know the maths, but I still charge by the inch (or cm to be more precise) I make less money on big stumps, but save lots of time in bidding. I just tell them the price over the phone, and let them do the maths, simple and clean

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

Don't be too hard on JPS. Base 10 math is tough for "older" guys who still think in base 12.:monkey:

Actually my gut was agreeing, but my math was not. I had a strong feeling i was wrong, hence my just putting the figures there.

But i did get pi right without looking it up.

 

[Pruning Artist]

View attachment 124410

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Guess I get carried away . Some don't even cut it flat / straight , I think that looks sloppy .

 

[voxac30dude]

for me it doesn't matter how big the stump is i allways leave the stump 6 inches above grade when i cut down a tree. people here on maui tend to like it that way.

 

[airman]

it depends upon if I am grinding it or not, what the customer wants and what the $ is on the job.
typically at the flair, sometines lower

 

[dukntz]

Do any of your prices include stump chip removal? That is the hard one to bid, been burned by not anticipating how long it takes to rake out all the chips and backfill. If you dont get enough of the stump out or leave too much chips, you get mushrooms next year. And not the good kind!

 

[Ellistrees]

I usually give price both ways - clean up and no clean up

I like to price my stumps at .25 cents per square inch with full clean up.
And I have a min. for going out. Then I'll give a discount for no removal of chips and just blow them around the yard. Though big stumps I do not recommend this because of the large amount of chips. These days people want the cheapest price.
Also I grind stumps about 30% less if I'm taking the tree down. This makes the overall job seem better.

 

[pdqdl]

Do any of your prices include stump chip removal? That is the hard one to bid, been burned by not anticipating how long it takes to rake out all the chips and backfill. If you dont get enough of the stump out or leave too much chips, you get mushrooms next year. And not the good kind!

Grindings are easy.

Take the area measurements (shown above) and apply them to the entire diameter of the area that will be ground up. Multiply by the depth of material you are grinding (above and below ground). If all measurements are done in inches, you will probably want to convert that to cubic feet by dividing by 12 cubed=1728. You now have a good approximation of the cubic feet of material that will be ground up.

OOOps! That will be the volume PRIOR to becoming wood chips. Multiply by about 3-4 (volume increases dramatically when you grind), divide by 6 cubic feet per wheelbarrow (roughly) and you will have a good idea how many wheelbarrows you will be hauling away.

24" diameter stump, with 6" above ground and 9" deep grind=about 4 wheelbarrows.

48" stump, using the same method: 15 wheelbarrows? It all depends on the wood and the grinder.

That sounds about right. Maybe more, maybe less.

You could save yourself some time, measure in feet only, and presume that one cubic foot of wood to grind will make one wheelbarrow of grindings.

 

[Ellistrees]

Sure those numbers are right

Quote above ""24" diameter stump, with 6" above ground and 9" deep grind=about 4 wheelbarrows.

48" stump, using the same method: 5 wheelbarrows. 15 wheelbarrows? It all depends on the wood and the grinder.""

That sounds about right. Maybe more, maybe less.



Wow, I'd like to see his grinder. When I do a 48" stump, I get about 2 pickup loads of chips and I don't go that deep, maybe 6" on average. Maybe my grinder fluffs them up, LOL:monkey:

 

[highpointtree]

At $6 an inch it`s not so bad. And we used to measure the full flare and include any roots we had to chase. So a 20 inch tree might be 30 inches with the flare, and more with any roots. That``s $180+. Not bad. And no way it takes more than an hour and a half..

It`s not that it didn`t pay well enough, it was just a PITA for us to do and there wasn`t that much demand from the customers.

I would grind that stump and clean it up in 20-30 minutes for the same price.