Stump removal w/chainsaw or sawsall?

[18watt]

Greetings-

I have a 22" stump in the corner of my backyard that is inaccessible for a stumpgrinder. I am in city limits, so no fire. What is the best option for removing this stump so I can proceed with rehabilitating my backyard?

I've considered just burying my chainsaw into the dirt, vs. renting a sawzall and going after the roots. Could I seriously damage the tools by doing this?

I have removed 3 smaller stumps with a 6' pry bar and an axe. 3.5 hours into this 22" (hickory?) with no sign of progress, I'm willing to take any suggestions.

Thanks for your expertise.
18watt

 

[fishhuntcutwood]

Why not rent a chainsaw? Don't muck up your saw, no matter what it is on a stump. Stumps are dirty, and hard on saws. That's what rentals are for! Chainsaw would make short work of it. Clean up the area to be cut as best you can, with a hose, or air or whatever. The less dirt you cut into the better.

Welcome to AS. Where are you in MN? My parents live in Brainerd. I was just there for vacation. Great state.

Jeff

 

[18watt]

Well, I've thought about that, but it doesn't sit well w/me to rent a saw and mangle it-it'a tempting for sure. Sawzall won't do it??

I'm just outside of Rochester. Spent some time in Nome, AK, BTW.

 

[Adkpk]

Axe, shovel, prybar leather gloves and a come-along (if there's a tree to dead man it to). You'll feel good when its done.

 

[TopJimmy]

Can't you just work a big berm into that corner of your yard?

Seriously, Jeff had good advice. I keep a couple of old saw and old laminated bars that I can use for really dirty cutting.

Jim

 

[18watt]

Can't you just work a big berm into that corner of your yard?

Seriously, Jeff had good advice. I keep a couple of old saw and old laminated bars that I can use for really dirty cutting.

Jim

I've thought about just incorporating it into the landscape, but it's close to my neighbor's garage and I don't want to lump soil around their siding. This thing has to go.


ADRPK-I'm still feeling good from the other 3, bro! I'm in need of a downer I guess.

 

[Stumper]

What do you mean inaccessible to a stumpgrinder? Some access is difficult and requires use of a mini stumpgrinder but anything you can get a chainsaw to I can get a stumper to. As far as digging around it and sawing it off--sure it can be done-been there and done that but why not just shoot yourself in the foot with a shotgun-it will be almost as much fun.

 

[18watt]

Here's the issue. I have a garage that is about 2 feet from my house-oriented so the SE corner of my brick house is opposite from the NW corner of my garage. The garage has one garage door only-no other way to get out but the driveway. There is a fence that goes around the perimeter to my south and east-lying neihbors. My north lying neighbor has her garage oriented to my house in a similar fashion to my garage-spaced about 6 feet. The border is a hedge of arbor vitae bushes and yews that I cannot run a stumper over. The only way to get something big back there is to crane it over, or take it through the front door of my house, and out the back door. My back porch door has a gap of about 28".

How's that for not thinking of everything when I bought this place-I could kick myself. The Mrs. has already smacked me for using the wheelbarrow!

 

[chowdozer]

Here's the issue. I have a garage that is about 2 feet from my house-oriented so the SE corner of my brick house is opposite from the NW corner of my garage. The garage has one garage door only-no other way to get out but the driveway. There is a fence that goes around the perimeter to my south and east-lying neihbors. My north lying neighbor has her garage oriented to my house in a similar fashion to my garage-spaced about 6 feet. The border is a hedge of arbor vitae bushes and yews that I cannot run a stumper over. The only way to get something big back there is to crane it over, or take it through the front door of my house, and out the back door. My back porch door has a gap of about 28".

How's that for not thinking of everything when I bought this place-I could kick myself. The Mrs. has already smacked me for using the wheelbarrow!

I had a 28" spruce on top of my watermain, so I couldn't use a grinder. Here's what I did. Bought a cheap sawzall at the pawn shop. I got a Sears model because I know I can get parts for it and no one wants a used Craftsman sawzall. Tell them you want a good deal. Bought a bunch of Sears pruning blades too. Cleared dirt away from the stump. Everytime I found a root, I cut a 2' section out of it and dug down further. Eventually, I got under it enough to get the taproot. I worked on it every night for a couple hours over the course of a week. Besides the sawzall, the tools I found most useful were a little one hand flower bed shovel, a three fingered flower bed scratcher and a 6 foot prybar.

 

[manual]

Axe, shovel, prybar leather gloves and a come-along (if there's a tree to dead man it to). You'll feel good when its done.

You can also build a tripod for the come-along rap a strap to one root pull and then grab another pulling like a loose tooth.
water loosens the dirt if your not dealing with clay.
good luck.

 

[18watt]

Chowdozer-thank you. I was hoping that someone had actually succeeded with a sawzall-I think I have to use this method.

I've been tempted to use a chainsaw, but I don't know what's under the ground and I'm concerned about a broken chain, hitting a rock or some buried metal object. We all know someone who's been hurt by foolishly using a chainsaw, I'd rather keep out of the news.

 

[Diesel JD]

My dad and I dug up a lot of stumps when I was a kid. if the soil is easy to dig in it's not too bad of a job. I would clear away all the roots I could with handtools and dig down as deep as it took to make the taproot manageable. if you can make a wide enough hole to safely work with a chainsaw or go down far enough that the taproot is manageable with a handsaw do it. Onthe other hand that's probably a full saturday's worth of work at least. You're right to be careful with a chainsaw in thsi situation. If you cut it use an old bar and chain or else semi chisel chain. My biggest worry would be sucking in too much saw fumes in a hole or having the stump fall on me. I wouldn't think kickback or hitting something would be any worse on a stump than above ground, provided its a soilid piece of wood and you can see what you're cutting,
J.D.

 

[computeruser]

Just cut it with the darned saw. Sure, it's dirty and hard on the saw, but so what? Assuming you have enough saw to actually do the job, you can always clean your saw up and this is a good excuse to buy some new loops when you're done trashing your old ones. If all you're working with is a little saw, then this might not work so well.

Clear around the roots as best you can with your shovel/rake/prybar/compressed air/etc., and start cutting sections of the stump out where possible. Sooner or later you will get through it. Assuming you're running a saw with enough oomph to plunge into the trunk and do vertical cuts, you could hold the saw vertically and cut across the stump in a grid fashion and then start prying out the resulting sections.

Sure, it'll be dirty and undoubtedly less safe than bucking wood held up off the ground with a timberjack, but it'll get the job done.

 

[18watt]

Just cut it with the darned saw. Sure, it's dirty and hard on the saw, but so what? Assuming you have enough saw to actually do the job, you can always clean your saw up and this is a good excuse to buy some new loops when you're done trashing your old ones. If all you're working with is a little saw, then this might not work so well.

Clear around the roots as best you can with your shovel/rake/prybar/compressed air/etc., and start cutting sections of the stump out where possible. Sooner or later you will get through it. Assuming you're running a saw with enough oomph to plunge into the trunk and do vertical cuts, you could hold the saw vertically and cut across the stump in a grid fashion and then start prying out the resulting sections.

Sure, it'll be dirty and undoubtedly less safe than bucking wood held up off the ground with a timberjack, but it'll get the job done.

It's an MS 250, which is probably a little saw to most folks here, but it's in its own section of the garage, roped off like my Ferrari!

 

[madbrad312]

:censored: stumps man it just takes time make it easier for yourself wet the soil around the stump drench it in fact sawsall could hurt if you get kickback as to the chainsaw :jawdrop: somebody must have some money to tell you to do it that way chains aren't that cheap life expectancey of that chain is what 2 seconds keep going the way you are you'll get yer done
patience it takes time
WHITE MEN CAN'T JUMP THEY CLIMB
good luck
madbrad312

 

[Adkpk]

I have a mini grub axe (not pictured). I dig a deep hole, two feet deep, Then I just slowly chip away at the dirt chopping the roots as I uncover them slowly but surely. Slowly. I treat it like my "David" (Michelangelo). It can be really interesting to see how the tree puts it's roots down. I love to chop the bigger roots with the axe. There're porous and soft not like the trunk or branches, so solid. Once I get around the whole bulb of the root ball the hard part begins. I struggle with the tap roots. But that is where you use the come along. The sounds of the roots ripping out as you crank on the handle give the satisfaction that your work is done. The end. Give yourself a week and go buy your favorite case of beer and dig in ,man.

 

[Adkpk]

For got to add the pic.

 

[RED-85-Z51]

Back in the 50's on my Grandfathers farm just outside of Lansing, he was an accomplished Stump Blaster. People from the area called him to get their stumps out.

He had a neighbor blast all morning one day on an old stubborn stump. He just made a mess, never budged the stump. Grandpa went over, simply because the constant blasting was annoying. 10 minutes later the stump was laying about 15 feet away from the crater, and he used just a fraction of the dynamite the neighbor had wasted all morning. The key is placement AND quantity, not one or the other.

I wish the average man could still buy Demolition grade Dynamite...It would have been useful after IVAN.

 

[madbrad312]

grub axes are great for this job i use a stone pick axe you can put more prying force on the handle
has anyone told him to use a splitting maul yet to bust the stump up better?

 

[oldsaw]

I bought a chainsaw for $5 at a garage sale just to take a stump out. I still have it...for the next stump.

Mark