Removal of Large Conifer Stump

Hi,
I'm new to this forum (and gardening really) and this is my first post.
I have recently had a conifer tree taken down and I'm now looking to remove the large stump. The picture doesn't really do it justice but the tree was taller than a 2 storey house and the stump is at least 1 metre across. Does anyone have any advice on the best way in which to tackle this?

Cheers
Matt



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Welcome to the Forum

Hard work is the answer
You can hire a stump grinder which will grind it up into small bits but these machines will be hard to use or get some one in to do it for you

I've dug out a lots of stumps in my time with a digger and by hand if your going to dig it out by hand, make the hole as big as pos, then dig around all roots a cut them off at the edge of the hole and by the stump, the hardist ones will be the tap roots which will be in the middle of the stump and go staight down so you will have to dig under the stump to get these
once you are left with just the stump in the hole it will be to heavy to lift, the best way is to roll the stump to one side and back fill the hole then role the stump on to the soil you have fill in then fill the other side and so on till you can roll it out of the hole

If you use a digger, make the hole as big as pos, find the roots but cut them off around the outside the the hole as with a digger they will rip out a root and and lift other parts of the root and bring them to the surface and you may then start to hit these with your lawn mower,

use a axe to cut the roots not a chainsaw as the soil will damage the chain and the slip clutch

If any one else is going to dig up stumps it's best to leave about 5/6 foot of the trunk in which to help you to rock the stump back and forward

happy digging

 

... you can double or even treble that width below ground level!
Which ever advice you follow from the above post/s ... make sure you have plenty of hot water ready and a decent bath soak product to relax your back and leg muscles in for when you have finished!
to GC @mattf869

 

Thank you for all the replies.
I really want to remove it as to give me more space in my garden otherwise I would leave it. And I don't have the funds to hire a digger or any machinery.
So good ol' manual labour it is.
Thanks for the advice Jiffy, I have the relevant tools to cut and chop it out so I'll continue digging for now.
I'll get my o/h to add a bottle of radox to the shopping list [emoji6]


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If it was me I would just stand a big pot on it & call it a feature...

 

Your welcome, and you will need some more soil to fill in the hole and for when it start to setle in years to come

there is one more way to remove a stump, which i have used many years ago but it's to dangerous now to use

 

We recently dug out 6 leylendii stumps via digging and sawing and quite a bit of swearing.
Having extracted them the question of what to do with them arose - dry and burn or a 20 mile return trip to the civic amenity dump? I decided to hang on to them and use them as a natural architectural feature. Turned upside down they look quite interesting as well as providing homes for mini-beasts. Photo doesn't really do justice as I've rearranged since it was taken.

BTW - FC's suggestion about using a pressure washer is a good one. I've used that method in the past to 'bore' holes for radio antenna supports.

 

If it was me I would be looking to use one of these:

http://www.amazon.com/Black-Decker-PSL12-Discontinued-Manufacturer/dp/B004JMZH30

Be very careful if it bounces though. Also, the pressure washer is a good idea - soil makes pretty short work of a saw!

 

Welcome to GC Just had a thought...Have you got a trolley Jack? I wondered if you dug down so far to be able to get the Jack in place ,it would still involve plenty of digging and cutting of roots but might take a bit of the strain

 

Perhaps it wasn't my best idea but I did remove a stump of similar size. How? by attaching a heavy duty cable to the stump and the towbar on my 4x4. The good news is the stump eventually came out, the bad.....I didn't know 4x4s could rear and I left half the rubber of my tyres on the driveway. I also had an idea that my tyres weren't round anymore having flat areas!. I had to get 2 new tyres so probably cheaper to have hired someone to grind it out.

 

Thanks for the great advice, and the warnings lol. And sorry for the late reply
I've got some family members coming round tomorrow to help me attempt to dig and cut it out (with the offer of free food and drink) so I will update you all with how I get on.


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Yay! "Garden" party gardening ... my favourite!! Always gets done much quicker with a group of you at it.

Something which occurred to me ... have you decided what you are going to do with it once it is out? We recently took out 3 stumps/roots. OH duly took them to the tip, assumed they would go under "Green Waste" ... nopey ... .... household waste. I kid you not! So, give the council a quick call *before* you trudge down to the tip just so you know where they are to go

Good luck tomorrow Oh and don't forget the before/during/after photo's

 

That is odd about the waste. I will see what it looks like when it comes out, may make a nice garden feature / kids seat

Will do [emoji106]


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