Stumped-by-a-stump questions

[Hunt]

*
I’ve decided to have an old red maple tree cut down. It measures about 105 inches in circumference, 1 foot above grade [see attached photo].
The tree and stump-to-be sits on a hill that rises sharply from the street; I’ve had two arborists tell me that a stump grinder would have to be lifted up to the stump by a crane. The one estimate I’ve received so far to grind the stump is $1,200.

Assuming that the other estimates I will be getting are at or near that sum, and that I decide not to have the stump ground down, I have the following questions:

Do I have to worry about a lot of sucker trees sprouting up from the stump of a red maple?

If I wanted to have some fertilizer or other accelerator put into holes bored into the stump, is there a special drill that arborists use to bore such holes?

Would it make more sense to have the stump cut level, so that water would sit on it and presumably help the stump rot, or cut flush to the slope of the hill, in which case there would be less stump to rot?

Would it be helpful if I removed the rocks and did some digging near the base of the tree before the grinding began, or is that part of the arborist’s job?

Thanks in advance for any help you can give me on this

 

[derwoodii]

This site may offer some answers to your dilemma.
http://www.dumbstump.com/

At $1200 to crane n grind I reckon a good bloke or yourself if able with a shovel n axe would be cheaper, shes not so big and the slope would assist undermining it. May take while but Ive dug out similar in less than a day.

Unsure about Maple but its Autumn over there so unlikely to sprout suckers till your spring. If shes still there then treat drill n fill with a herbicide.

 

[jefflovstrom]

What about a grinder on tracks?
Jeff

 

[oscar4883]

Hard to judge the grade from the pic. Is it possible to rent a grinder yourself and have a rollback drop it off? Not sure how far away the street is from where the grinder needs to go but it may be something to think about. A rollback should be able to shoot it over the sidewalk given enough room on the street. Also, at 1ft. above grade it should be flushed again. That would be a little to much for most of the smaller rental units I believe.

 

[treeseer]

That's a healthy looking tree, by the pic. Best solution may be to prune the tree to meet your goals, and let the stump and roots continue improving your land. The slope will erode with the tree and roots gone and dead.

 

[Hunt]

Thanks for the replies so far.

I’ve attached another photo that gives a better idea of the slope to the tree.

As to the tree’s health, it was one of those 60/40 decisions; it had already lost two of its five large limbs, one in February, the other in August [which left a large gash in one of the remaining limbs]. The second lost limb destroyed part of the front railing and rather than wait for another limb to drop and destroy a new railing_or hurting one of the neighbor’s children_I was already leaning toward cutting the tree down. Anyway the decision has more or less been made for me. I told the power company that I was thinking of having it cut down and they had a company cut back the canopy about ten feet from the electric line. As a result the tree has little of its canopy left and probably wouldn’t survive much longer anyway. Too bad of course; it was a beautiful tree in its prime.

In theory I like the idea of personally taking the stump out with a shovel, mattock and axe. Besides my time [almost certainly longer than a day, since I'm not in shape] we would have to add in the cost of my medical bills after I reaggrevate my rotator cuff

As for the roots keeping the soil from eroding, I presume various plants could serve the same purpose if the tree roots were no longer there. Can dead tree roots prevent erosion?

 

[jefflovstrom]

Thanks for the replies so far.

I’ve attached another photo that gives a better idea of the slope to the tree.

As to the tree’s health, it was one of those 60/40 decisions; it had already lost two of its five large limbs, one in February, the other in August [which left a large gash in one of the remaining limbs]. The second lost limb destroyed part of the front railing and rather than wait for another limb to drop and destroy a new railing_or hurting one of the neighbor’s children_I was already leaning toward cutting the tree down. Anyway the decision has more or less been made for me. I told the power company that I was thinking of having it cut down and they had a company cut back the canopy about ten feet from the electric line. As a result the tree has little of its canopy left and probably wouldn’t survive much longer anyway. Too bad of course; it was a beautiful tree in its prime.

In theory I like the idea of personally taking the stump out with a shovel, mattock and axe. Besides my time [almost certainly longer than a day, since I'm not in shape] we would have to add in the cost of my medical bills after I reaggrevate my rotator cuff

As for the roots keeping the soil from eroding, I presume various plants could serve the same purpose if the tree roots were no longer there. Can dead tree roots prevent erosion?

Wow! Are you kidding! That stump is done in 60 minutes!
Dang, Jeff

 

[treeseer]

Wow! Are you kidding! That stump is done in 60 minutes!
Dang, Jeff

heck yes looks fromn here like just ramp the curb and you could back right up to it.

somebody is getting very creative in finding ways to make payments on their crane. :censored:

nice pic of the slope--can you send one of the crown?

ps i would not try to manually remove that sucker, not even 40 years ago when i was younganddumb. uttahere:

 

[jefflovstrom]

Dude! You could walk a Dosco up that slope and it would pull you up with it. There are very few stumps that cannot be done, Quit looking for the easy way out. Did I just say that?
Jeff

 

[jefflovstrom]

40 years ago when i was younganddumb. uttahere:

That was then, this is now. Then you were young and dumb.
Jeff

 

[Dave]

From the available information, the only logical conclusion would be for me to move to Virginia. Like Jeff said, in and out in an hour.

 

[derwoodii]

Gee dunno? I reckon pretty steep n slippery. You may have a crack at gettin a grinda up but...Perhaps just cut her to ground n let the hmm looks like ivy cover it over. Pop a nice clay pot with flowers on top and that's stumps gone.
Agree seems a shame a great trunk must a been a great tree to loose.

So if it has to go, save your $1200 n buy a few nice new trees to plant n grow.

 

[Hunt]

Thanks to all for the advice. The stump won’t be ground for the time being; a tree service has made and I accepted today a very good bid on cutting down what remains of the tree. They did not make a bid on grinding the stump, saying that I would not want to pay what they would charge me.

Perhaps I will still find someone willing to tackle the stump grinding for a reasonable fee, but in the meantime I’m still hoping for opinions on two of my earlier questions:

Would it make more sense to have the stump cut level [at grade level on the high part of the hill; but higher up the stump on the lower part of the hill], so that water would sit on it and presumably help the stump rot, or to have the stump cut flush to the slope of the hill [i.e., cut on a downward angle], in which case the water would run off but there would be less stump at the bottom to have to rot?

If I wanted to have some fertilizer or other accelerator put into holes bored into the stump, is there a special drill that the tree service could use to bore such holes if I asked them, or should I just expect to make the holes myself using my trustworthy carpenter’s brace?

 

[Mike Van]

Have the stump cut flat, get a big flower planter & set it right on it. Or, let the pachysandra just over grow it.

 

[derwoodii]

is there a special drill that the tree service could use to bore such holes if I asked them,

Ask your tree contractor to chain saw bore cut in some slots to the stump as seen best required.

 

[Hunt]

Thanks for the advice about cutting it level and about the "chain saw bore cut." A shout out to Western Connecticut, which I've driven through a number of times, and to Australia, which I would probably like to visit some day.

 

[hickslawns]

It is close to the road? Just rent an excavator with a backhoe or mini excavator to dig it out. Has to be cheaper than the $1200. Farmers dig them out all the time. We have done a few, but I live in flat country, so can't help much.

 

[newsawtooth]

I you aren't going to have it ground, which could easily be done by any of the four wheel drive or tracked grinders. And you feel that you must do something, just have the tree service etch a cross hatch pattern on the stump as has been discussed. The liquid stump removers are a fools errand and stumps do not decompose faster with all the drilling and etching. When I cruised timber there were machine mangled stumps from 50 years ago standing strong in second growth units. Grind it or live with it, that is your choice. Who digs out stumps anymore...heh...I did last week and that will last me another 5 years until I forget my rule against it again.

 

[treeseer]

cut it low. any drill would do. and if you own any other leafy assets, get them managed professionally, instead of watching them become liabilities.

Or...let it sprout, and train 3 or 5 of the sprouts to be a new clump-formed tree. It will grow fast and be easy to manage.

 

[Cowboy Billy]

Cut it high and carve a chair out of it. I have one that I did that to and another one that I carved into a giant mushroom. I should have painted them as they are starting to rot now but both are about 10 years old now.

Billy