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During some building works recently the builders kindly used their digger to pull out a couple of big tree trunks and dump them on our bonfire area. I've had 2 or 3 bonfires since and they have barely made a dent in the stumps (probably 2-3 foot in diameter each). I've tried making them smaller with a chainsaw however both seem to have either flints/metal in them so i've kanckered the chainsaw blade on failed attempts a couple of times.
Seems like burning is my best option...any ideas how I can make this more efficient than my previous attempts to simply 'have a bonfire'. I was wondering if a bag of coal lit on top of one might help burn down into the stump? Any other clever ideas?
The stumps have been sat there for nearly a year now so hopefuly a little drier than they were.
It's a thankless task and ultimately you may fail (depending upon the size of the stumps).
They're not 'normal' wood and just don't burn the same.
I've still got a couple of small ones in our burning pile that are made of "unburnium".
Keep going for another year or two then give in and somehow take them to the tip.
A stump grinder or would have been the better original solution unless the stumps were in the way of building, in which case they'd have been better on top of the skip.
Thermite?
They will take an age to burn. The best approach is to get them into smaller pieces. I'm guessing that the wood is still very moist if it has been buried.
I took mine to the tip. It was a job to get it in the trailer and the tip guy wasn't totally sure what to with. Said he'd try and smash it with his big digger.
Or build a stumpery
If you use a oil drum with the top and bottom cut out over the stump it acts like a chimney and then yo can burn it with other wood. Depends how big the stump of course.
Whilst looking up ways to get rid of some stumps in-situ I found a guy who used auger bits to drill a lot of holes in them, pour in diesel, leave it to soak into the wood, repeat daily for a week then light it up.
Still seemed to take several attempts, and probably soaked a lot of it into the soil too!
Only one logical solution, get in the whale removal experts
**** me what is wrong with some people? Just leave them, will provide an awesome habitat for critters/fungi. Nature will dispose of them eventually.Still seemed to take several attempts, and probably soaked a lot of it into the soil too!
+1 zilog
If your garden is big enough to have a bonfire area, I'm sure you can park the stumps in a corner somewhere to decompose naturally.
If you have to get rid, I would take it to the tip.
I have three big stumps, two cut down to below ground level and one we have cut to create a feature/area wth plants that hide the stump.
I did use fire on our biggest stump. It has been 'drying' for 4 years, plus u used it's own wood to keep a fire going for 48 hours, after drilling and chainsawing the top. It's now below ground level.
@nickjb - Wish i'd seen that before id started hacking at them and burning them! They wouldn't look quite so nice after my failed attempts to destroy them!
They're too big to lift so the tip is out of the question! Likewise an oil drum wouldn't fit over them.
Unless there are any other bright ideas i think i'll keep at it with the burning and if that fails try and drag them under a hedge to decay i guess...
You can use charcoal if you want to get it hotter and burn it out, will probably still take a few fires.
I was going to suggest thermite but it appears that somebody beat me to it.
Why doesn't the video link work?
Drill as many big holes in them /through them as possible? Increasing the surface area Shoukd help.