Don't have a stump grinder ...

[Bootstrap]

I have used the sawsall on stumps before. I find it much better than a chainsaw. Chainsaw will dull so fast in dirt. Sawsall blades seem to hold up better. Long ones can be much easier to snake in to cut deep roots.

My Sawsall is not cordless. I have 150 ft of extension cord I can use. If those stumps are not close to a house, the cordless may not work so well since battery life is an issue.

I hadn't thought of that - a Sawsall is perfect for this. The trees are small, but I do want to get them below soil level, and on the bushes (which spread quickly) I want to get the main root out after disconnecting from the other roots. I haven't had an excuse to use it for at least a year, it's about time ...

[Judas Maccabeus]

My fathers method was faster:

Dynamite. 1 stick per stump

Yeah, but I don't think I could convince local authorities to allow me to do that. Or my wife.

You think he had a permit? This was 1965. Only gripe my mother has was when he let me light the fuse!
J.M.

[Neto]

In this area of Ohio there is so much sandstone that you cannot use a chain saw to cut anything below ground level. I'm not talking about getting the blade in the dirt. I dug all around an apple tree stump I needed to take out (the tree was right below the power lines, and after the big ice storm here in 2005 or so, the power company came & cut down about 10 of our trees that were near the lines.) I cleaned off the dirt as best I could, and it was going fine until all of a sudden the chain was done cutting. I hit a sand stone that was way up inside the trunk. I figured that the roots got ahold of it, and just lifted it up as the tree grew.

I never had a chain saw in Brazil. What I said about using chain saws on the airstrip project was other guys - Growing up on the great plains, I had never operated a chain saw until we moved back to the States & I finally bought one. None of the Indians had chainsaws, either. We just used an ax (& machete on small stuff like a few inches diameter). (I know I'm off topic here, but just have to add that when they would fell a really big tree, it was a village event. A guy might chop for days on the same tree, but when it was ready to come down, he'd tell everyone, and we'd all go watch it fall. I missed out on one really big one for some reason, and although it was around a half a mile away or so, the house shook when it hit the ground.)

[EJM]

Dig down one side of the stump and use a propane weed burner.
Make a tripod out of rebar or fence posts to wire the weed burner to and check it every 15 minutes.
depends on the species and size, this might be the most painless way out.
Trees are designed by God to withstand a pretty fierce wind so they don't give up easily.

[Bootstrap]

Sawzall worked brilliantly on the smaller stumps. Thanks, Robert! I don't want my chainsaw chain to get into the dirt, I don't mind throwing out Sawzall blades, and it just seems to work better.

I had one stump about 18" wide. I sawed a big X in the top down to ground level, sawed side cuts with the Sawzall, then removed each quarter with a crowbar and a sledgehammer.

[MaxPC]

Trees are designed by God to withstand a pretty fierce wind so they don't give up easily.

I can attest to that. That's why I enjoyed having a tractor with the necessary torque.

[Robert]

Sawzall worked brilliantly on the smaller stumps. Thanks, Robert! I don't want my chainsaw chain to get into the dirt, I don't mind throwing out Sawzall blades, and it just seems to work better.

I had one stump about 18" wide. I sawed a big X in the top down to ground level, sawed side cuts with the Sawzall, then removed each quarter with a crowbar and a sledgehammer.

See, this proves I know everything about everything, but am humble enough not to constantly say it. I just say it enough times to convince myself.

Feel free to ask me whenever you get "stumped" again.

[MaxPC]

See, this proves I know everything about everything, but am humble enough not to constantly say it. I just say it enough times to convince myself.

Feel free to ask me whenever you get "stumped" again.

Or have an axe to grind

[silentreader]

There's no doubt Robert is at the root of all this nonsense. You'd think maybe he could branch out into more serious stuff. I guess, as they say, the nut doesn't fall far from the tree.

[Robert]

There's no doubt Robert is at the root of all this nonsense. You'd think maybe he could branch out into more serious stuff. I guess, as they say, the nut doesn't fall far from the tree.

Would you leaf me alone!