The Gun Counter

We just did a lot of clearing out in the backyard and I've got about 30 tree stumps I need to get rid of. I traded a buddy the use of his Caterpillar 236B, which is like a big 70hp bobcat, for the month of January for an AR15 (arranged the deal before the election when they were affordable) , but the bucket he has is from his tractor and it kinda sucks. It does not have teeth on it, and I have not had any luck digging up the stumps. And I am constantly worried I am going to bend the bucket.

We left two foot or so on the stumps and have wrapped chain around them and tried to pull them out with the cat, and that worked for some, but we've got about 30 that we were not able to pull out that way or get with the bucket.

The stumps are a variety of trees, some oak, some cedar/juniper, some hackberry, some lagustrum(?) and some privit(?). They are all pretty good sized. The previous owners of our house let the backyard run wild for 20-30 years. Most of it was impenetrable when we bough the place two years ago and we are slowly getting it back under control.

I am wanting to plant some fruit trees where the majority of the stumps are right now, so I'd like to get rid of them soonish (vs. the original plan of wait three years and then push them over). I can rent a stump grinder attachment for the Cat locally. I've never used a stump grinder, will they cut down below ground or does it just cut the stump flush?

The other thought is to rent a tracked backhoe and dig around the stumps and get them out that way.

Any thoughts on which to use? I've not used either before.

Drill hole in stump, fill with dirt, plant sapling in hole. Old eastern european trick for orchards. The sapling will grow into the old stump and destroy it.

Can you blast?

A friend drilled a hole in the stump, put some gas in, and lit it up. He got a smouldering fire going that kept going until the whole stump was basically gutted. Add a lawn chair, a book, and a cool drink and you have a vacation.

Can't blast. We're in the middle of, well, on the edge of, Dallas. If they were out at the farm I'd see how long they could hold up to .223 and 7.62 and how many shotgun blasts it'd take to remove them. For, umm... science!

Can't set it on fire, either. Neighbor tried that and another neighbor called the fire department on him and he got a pretty hefty fine. Technically we're still in a burn ban.

hmmm...a couple of them are large enough diameter that I probably could drill them and put the sapling in there. I will try that.

However, that means I _don't_ get to play with new earth moving equipment, so there is a downside to that

Dig around them best you can and rip at roots to weaken. Maybe try to locate a different bucket?

Had great luck on our lot with a lobster claw type attachment in removing 30+ fifty year old avocado stumps. Dug around them on one side. Ripped the roots one by one and then tipped/tore the stump out the other side of the hole.

[strike]Drill a hole and pour molasses in them. Not as fast as diesel or gasoline, but it won't get the fire department involved.[/strike]
I just re-read your initial post and saw that you wanted them removed now, so this probably won't be an optimal solution for you.

You'll have more luck pulling the stumps up with the bucket than by pulling. Sometimes using a cable can help break the stump out - but cable can also cut you in half...

A good sized bulldozer. Keep it on hand for leveling the new dirt after the stumps are removed.

Weetabix wrote:A friend drilled a hole in the stump, put some gas in, and lit it up. He got a smouldering fire going that kept going until the whole stump was basically gutted. Add a lawn chair, a book, and a cool drink and you have a vacation.

I tried the fire thing on some cedar stumps and after a week they looked about the same. And that was in fairly dry dirt. My tractor can pull out the smaller ones but if I had a bigger one I would use a trucking chain and the Dodge 2500 diesel. That gave me a little more heft. I like the hoe or bulldozer ideas.

gandalf23 wrote: Technically we're still in a burn ban.

After all the rain in the last 3 weeks?!?!?!