Get rid of a stump

[danl]

I want to burn a stump out. It is a Sassafras stump, pretty large,about 24" across and it was dead for a while.

I have tried to burn stumps before with no success. I have high hopes for this one because it is pretty rotten.

I am thinking about drilling some holes in it down from the top and through the sides with a large spade bit and soaking it with kerosene, gas, whatever and torching it off. Maybe I should cover it with a tarp for a few days and let it dry out first, had some rain.

Any previous experience?

 

[Tim/South]

I have cut into the root ball of stumps with a chainsaw to allow the kerosene to soak in. You can go pretty deep into the stump with out getting into the dirt with your saw. I cut cross sections and then busted out the middle of the stump. I was bored and had fun. Soak with Diesel, add kerosene the next day and light it up.

 

[danl]

I know burning probably isn't the best way to get rid of it, but you have to figure in the entertainment factor....

 

[snake67]

Backhoe - works well

Cheers

Bez

 

[backhoeboogie]

What Bez said.

Another plan? I have no use for a leaf blower but I aint citified. Then I saw one used on a stump. The guy piled coals around the stump that was alive. Buried it. Then fired up his leaf blower and got that whole thing glowing red. Turned off the leaf blower and left for about 15 minutes. Came back and fired it up and walked around that stump again getting the whole thing cherry red. Kept doing that every 15 to 30 minutes or so. Live stump was gone by the end of the day and he the roots glowing red down in the ground.

 

[danl]

I don't have a backhoe, boogie and snake67. Wish I did, it cost $75.00 an hour with a 2 hour minimum to get a neighbor with a small excavator.



Besides, I still lose the entertainment part. My Mom used to think I was a border line pyromaniac as a kid.

 

[Kscattle]

Saw into it as previously said and soak, then pile brush on it and burn. Once the brush is gone and stumps on fire pile dirt around it but not covering it. Leave the top open for draft and it'll burn a long time and way down low.I saw a brush pile done this way and it burned for a couple months, even with snow on the ground.

 

[Bigfoot]

My tried and true method-----Place the open end of a 55 gallon drum over the stump. Open the bottom (now the top) half the way around, and pry it up at a 90 degree angle. Get a hot fire going in the drum. Refuel it a couple of times, the. Just leave it alone. Oh yea, you gotta shoot the drum a few times with a .22 near the bottom so it will get air. It will sit there, and draw like a lot bellied stove, consuming the stump.

 

[greybeard]

55 gal drum here too. Open both ends, drop it over the stump, fill it up with sticks and debris, and set it afire.
Nice to do on a cold day

 

[Phil in Tupelo]

A little more expensive but I've had success using self lighting charcoal. Pile the fresh charcoal around the stump with most pieces touching stump and then light it. Maybe it keeps the fire close to the target, not certain, but much easier to control if in an area sensitive to fire. Good luck.

 

[sim.-ang.king]

Drill some holes in it, and load it up with Ammonia-Nitrate and diesel fuel....stand back about 1/4 mile.

Major fun factor!!!
Specially when you get questioned by the FBI!!!!

 

[Jogeephus]

Drill some holes in it, and load it up with Ammonia-Nitrate and diesel fuel....stand back about 1/4 mile.

Major fun factor!!!
Specially when you get questioned by the FBI!!!!

That won't blow up, it will just burn with pretty colors. You need a good cap to set it off cause its very stable. Once you make it unstable you best hope its not near any windows.

If you will drill about three holes straight down into the stump and then drill 3 45's meeting these holes and fill each with about a quarter pound of potassium nitrate then fill the holes with water and let it sit for four to six weeks. After you've done this and you are ready to burn it, fill the holes with diesel or kerosene and allow to sit for a few hours till the stump has soaked up the fuel then light it. Once its lit it should burn like charcoal.

 

[Tim/South]

Reminds me of a more simple time of my youth when my grandfather would just drive to the mining supply store and buy dynamite. He would dig down, blow the stump lose then pull it out with a tractor.
For some reason we can not do that anymore.

 

[Ouachita]

Reminds me of a more simple time of my youth when my grandfather would just drive to the mining supply store and buy dynamite. He would dig down, blow the stump lose then pull it out with a tractor.
For some reason we can not do that anymore.

I understand. My Grandad was was one of those uncouth folks that would take a day off and dynamite the Cossotot River before they built the lake. He said the fish tasted better that way. Less stress

 

[glacierridge]

Does it freeze hard by you?
I'm from WI so I know very little of how cold other places get.
I've heard that drilling holes and letting them full with water and freezing will speed up the process of a stump rotting to nothing.

 

[danl]

In 1971 or so, Dad and Mom bought a place to build a house, Dad didn't want to hire a dozer to clear trees so we cut the trees and he got a box of dynamite and we tried blasting the stumps out. We didn't accomplish much, but we had a great time.
Did you know an old truck tire will go 50 or 60 feet in the air if you put enough dynamite under it????

He ended up getting a dozer any way, but those were some fun times. I was about 15 at the time, how many 15 year olds get the chance to blast dynamite these days? Well other than Muslims and they only do it once.. :shock:

 

[Ouachita]

Well other than Muslims and they only do it once.. :shock:

Especially the young ones; they blow up so fast.

 

[Anonymous]

That tannerite stuff is pretty explosive when mixed and then shot. I can tell you 1 pound of it will blast a 6x6 post in half.

 

[pdfangus]

I had one a few years ago and I piled brush on it and burned a pretty good amout of brush ......hauling it in and throwing it on the fire....at the end of the day I shoveled everything to the center and hopefully onto the top of the stump.
for the next few days every day I went and shoveled everything to the center again. the stump burned underground for several days even through a rain. at the end one mor shoveling to the center of the ashes and debris left me with a stump gone and a level spot.....filled with ashes and burned debris....

that fifty five gallon drum trick sounds good....will have to try that....

 

[Dave]

Dynamite is serious fun but if you can't get any and want to burn the stump anyway. Take a shop vac and put the hose on the blow side. Add a piece of pipe to the end of the hose. That way you direct the air right on the part you want to burn. Put that pipe right into the fire. My Dad burnt up some old growth fir stumps that were 5 to 8 feet in diameter using an old canister vacume cleaner that he turned the fan around to blow. A few piece of coal to get a hot fire, some air blowing on it, and a sheet of metal to hold the heat in against the stump. It will sure work. But I can tell you from experience dynamite does work much better and is so much more fun.