[Closed] Burning stumps

Could you split them with an axe sledgehammer?

Unfortunately because it's right at the base of the tree where the roots splay out, the grain is all over the place, and they just won't split.

I would imagine paying someone to grind them maybe the only option. I tried to burn a stump, which was fun for a while until it got no where fast and left a horrible mess

I had a row of these (from an old hedge) ground out a few years ago, and while I can't remember what it cost I do remember that it felt like a bargain compared to the effort of digging them out! Mine were probably only about 8" diameter each, though.

If I was burning them out, I'd start with a few vertical holes drilled deep into the stump, and then try to get some in from an angle to act as an air inlet into the bottom of the vertical ones. Sawdust/shavings down the holes (maybe with a little diesel, or firelighter fragments) and light it up. The angled holes would hopefully allow the fire to draw air in a similar manner to a rocket stove and generate plenty of heat to sterilise the stump.

ETA: Ignore me - I've now seen your update re digging them out.

I would imagine paying someone to grind them maybe the only option. I tried to burn a stump, which was fun for a while until it got no where fast and left a horrible mess

I've dug the buggers out, that was the hard bit. I'm not paying someone now! 😀
I'm fortunate enough to have a bit of space to do it in a bit away from neighbours.

Yeah, sorry, to clarify, they're already out (along with some hard to split chunks where the trunks split)
I was stubborn and on a money saving drive, I just need to not have them pulled up by the garage now 😀

Swedish candle they ass*. 👍
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*in twenty years when they've dried out.

Pay a tree surgeon to get rid of them? They will have a monster chipper and will be routinely disposing of waste.

Aye, first option would be to see if either the council uplift for a charge, or a tree surgeon, before considering fire. Much as I love fire. 🙂

Turn them into sculptures or trendy garden features and sell them on eBay (collection only)

Burn them... it may take a couple of days.. cook breakfast on the embers.
Have fun.

I'm befuddled by the fact I appear to be both the tightest person here, and the most willing to experiment with fire. This was not what I expected.

Hammer them into a neighbours lawn?

Three days of fire, fire and fire. Still the stump is buried.

Nope I am with you....

Just burn them ... build a fire and stack them on.

Skip and couple of mates to help chuck them in it. I used a mini digger because I'd just dug them out with it.

Particulate polis arriving soon, I hear the distant sirens....

Stick on ebay / Facebook market place as a freebie? Someone might want take them

I go riding at Burnt Stump country park.

I'm not sure if that helps much.

APF

Stick on ebay / Facebook market place as a freebie? Someone might want take them

This. Or your local freecycle group. Just title your post "I've got wood" and I'm sure you'll get a quick response.

Just title your post “I’ve got wood” and I’m sure you’ll get a quick response.

I think there is more demand for hard wood, then the OP's soft wood

I’m befuddled by the fact I appear to be both the tightest person here, and the most willing to experiment with fire. This was not what I expected.

In a previous house, I pulled a number of these things out. A nice line of leylandii, either side of the garden, had been allowed to grow far too much.

First, trees were stripped of small branches. Painful.

The foliage was burnt on an incinerator. Took ages. Made a mess. Painful.

Larger branches were then cut from trees, and piled up. A little less painful but still a pain as it didn't exactly stack very well and was too wet to burn. These things had grown lots of twisted branches about 1" diameter.

Trunks chopped and stacked. This was ok.

Stumps were dug up by hand. Very painful.

The larger branches were finally chopped into short enough lengths to burn on the stove. Also painful.

The stumps were dried out for about six months then just plain burnt on an outdoors fire. Burnt for ages. Made lots of smoke. Had to be 'helped' with extra fuel. Surprisingly, this was painful.

I'd strongly consider paying someone to take the problem away next time. And I'm tight and like fire.

I think there is more demand for hard wood, then the OP’s soft wood

No one likes wood that doesn't last very long, something that will cause the OP issues.

Honestly, nobody is going to want these. We've got an open fire and I don't want them, neighbours have wood burners (one of them heats his house entirely with them) and they don't want them.
It's interlaced with soil and stones, and will need at least a couple of years to burn nicely.
The brash has been removed, I cut the usable branches for the neighbours, and the stuff that's left really is no use to anyone.

I'm thinking a charcoal base and I'll just give the first one a go.

I’d strongly consider paying someone to take the problem away next time. And I’m tight and like fire.

I would concur with this.

We have taken out 8 large to medium stumps, about another 15 small leylandii hedge stumps. The one in my photos is the only one of any reasonable size we burnt on site - and even three days of fire refused to really get rid of it.

We have taken far more to the tip, I have another perhaps 15-20 rhododendron left rotting and 8 more large stumps from Holly, Birch and Rowan also left to rot down.

We did burn a fair bit - but at the end of the day some of it just won't burn as you hope, even after drying out.

As a rough idea of scale, these are a couple of them.

(But to reiterate, they are all out of the ground...)

I'm stubborn and like a challenge, so nobody is getting paid 😀

Stick on ebay / Facebook market place as a freebie

Better still chain them up by the front gate, they'll be gone in an hour! 😀

Otherwise it's a long wait for the fire to do it's job. (Maybe go and research homemade napalm using a TOR window).

Honestly, nobody is going to want these.

From your pics, yours look perfect actually! Especially if you have a bit of space available like you say.

Been there done that.
They will not burn - guaranteed.
All you'll be left with is a bunch of charred stumps.

As a rough idea of scale, these are a couple of them.

Haha, great. Can I come and watch (from a distance)?
😉

If those were mine I'd take another ring off them, as they seem quite tall, and then split them so I could get them to the tip.
But I've got a 20ton hydraulic splitter!
You could try chainsawing them up into smaller bits but the soil on the stumps will knacker the chain.

I faced something similar last year with 3 large stumps. Chopping screwed my chainsaw, burning proved futile so in the end i slipped a guy working next door with a mini digger £20 and he buried them all in the garden in about 20 minutes. Wish i'd gone that option sooner!

I had some massive bushes in my front garden and a messy tree. After trying for hours to dig one out I decided I’d get someone round to do the rest, used a stump grinder (big petrol thing with tracks and a massive angle grinder thing on the front, was on a trailer pulled behind a transit!). £120 and 1 hour later all remnants of the bushes and roots had gone.
And most importantly my back was ok with it too! Physio is a lot more expensive!!

Particulate polis arriving soon, I hear the distant sirens….

Shame you can't see the blue lights...

No way will they burn. You'd have to keep a fire going for days around each one.

he buried them all in the garden

Will keep an eye out for the honey fungus thread that is due in a year or two!

But to reiterate

Don't reiterate, incinerate.

You could make some cool scorched tables.

Surround with sandbags.
Drill holes.
Insert shotgun cartridges (or other readily available ordnance)
Stand well back.
Initiate cartridges.

As a rough idea of scale

Deity on a bendy bus.

Take them to the tip. One at a time, if necessary.

I only had to try an incinerate stumps / trunks that were around 10" diameter when I decided to let myself in for it.

Pay someone £100 to get it ground and removed then use the wood chips.

Surround with sandbags.
Drill holes.
Insert shotgun cartridges (or other readily available ordnance)

Hillbilly gunpowder is made from sugar, sulphur, and saltpetre (three S's). I learned about this from my dad, they used to use it for splitting logs BITD. You have to be really, really careful about mixing it, a spark of static electricity can set it off. Basically just put the ingredients on a fine weave cloth and roll them round to mix them. Then very carefully pour it into the holes and tamp it. I haven't tried this, but, according to drunk old men reminiscing about their glory days, it works a treat. I always wanted to try it, but my dad forbid it because it's dangerous AF.

I vote explosives.

Or bury them.

Bury them under explosives. Got it.

I haven’t tried this, but, according to drunk old men reminiscing about their glory days, it works a treat.

Yeah, that's likely to end up with you on a watch list these days! I've used shotgun cartridges to assist in the dismantling of garden shelters before and they don't come apart easily. I guess that's why the luftwaffe left them alone and leveled the houses and railway lines either side instead.

Bury them under explosives.

That won't work. You'll just scorch the top.

You seem hell bent on burning them. get a fire going with the logs from the trees or split bits from the trees and load the stumps on. you'll need a very hot fire over a couple of days.

We used to burn trees when access to them was limited and not worth the hassle of extraction. you'll need the kind of fire you dont want to be near / sucks the oxygen out of your lungs / burns the hair off your arms when loading it to get rid of them pronto.

the downside to burning is that if they don't burn away completely you're left with manky lumps of wood to dispose of. your call.

I'd get a skip no tree surgeon will want to chip them (unless tehy have a tub grinder or the like)

Access is restricted unfortunately. However, dragging then to a skip may be doable.

In all seriousness plan A is to try and break them up a bit more into more manageable chunks with a sledge and wedges in order to burn, plan B will involve hiring a skip.

I've pretty much ruled out burning as-is thanks to this thread 😀 Thanks for the advice peoples 🙂

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HTH 😁

What's on the other side of that chain fence? Can you roll them over there?

I'd definately have a go at them with an axe. You might not split them but imagine how fit you would get trying!

What’s on the other side of that chain fence? Can you roll them over there?

A play park 😀
I mean, the kids would love it, but I'm not so sure the Council or parents would be that chuffed. Also, there's a massive metal fence and a load of hedging whips there now.

Can you not jetwash all the soil and garbage off them? That will get rid of a big chunk of weight and then allow a bit more chopping, or at least half a chance of dragging to the tip.

Good plan! Will wait for the hose to defrost then lay into them.

Your OP was 4 hours ago, you could’ve had a roaring fire going by now. Get a leaf blower to hand to give the fire some extra oomph and you’ll get through them stumps

Thermite

I’ve pretty much ruled out burning as-is thanks to this thread

You're right; the problem is that charcoal makes quite a good fire protection layer. Once you have 5cm of charcoal on the outside, the bit in the middle just doesn't get enough heat or oxygen.

This needs before and after pictures.

Haven't you got a mate with a van or decent size trailer? OK, it'll cost you, but only a few quid's worth of beer.

Haven’t you got a mate with a van

Even if he does now, he'll certainly not after he's put tree stumps in it and torched it.

Could you not power wash them to remove the dirt and stones then chop them up with your chainsaw?

Trailer to recycling centre. Do you have towbar? Can you borrow/hire a trailer? It does look like a 2 person lift.

Not a fire. They’re wet & full of sap/tar. Do you have a council skip for ‘industrial’ waste. Ie. The big stuff that the local skip can’t handle?

Do you have a wheelie bin for garden waste? Lay it on it's side & roll 1 stump each time there's a collection?

Make a feature out of them , the Victorians made stumperys, very good for lots of insects and small mammals.

Could you not power wash them to remove the dirt and stones then chop them up with your chainsaw?

It'll be absolutely full of grit, in beyond the outer layer.

Do you have a wheelie bin for garden waste? Lay it on it’s side & roll 1 stump each time there’s a collection?

Pretty sure our garden waste crew would notice the weight of the bin and refuse to pick that up.

I did this yonks ago with a sycamore in our first house. Drilled lots of 1" holes in the top of the stump, got some some salt petre from a Chemists (probably don't sell it anymore) filled the holes and stopped with putty. Left over the winter for the salt petre to be absorbed and then built a fire around in in the spring - it did burn quite well. Sodium chlorate would work too - but you'd probably risk a visit from the Anti-terrorism police if you tried to get some!

oh noo. (

Any update? I'm interested to know how this panned out.

Fire?
Splitting?
Left for the next house owner?
Visit from the anti-terror unit?

I'm on tenterhooks!