Stump Remover Chemicals

[Bmi48219]

Anyone had success with commercially available Stump Removers? We have a fresh pal. Tree stump fifteen inches diameter. It’s seven inches above where I want it to be. A stump grinder isn’t in the cards, too many things that would get in the way or damaged.

[Kosh75287]

I think "Stump Killer" is pretty much pure Salt Petre (potassium nitrate), which I view as far too irreplaceable in "other processes" to be poured on a stump.
Do you have a power drill and a spade drill bit of any width? I think I'd drill some holes as deep as you can and situated in a way similar to the numbers on a clock (not the digital ones). One should be in the center of the "watch face", and the others should be midway between the center and the outer edge of the stump. Pour DRANO or dry sodium hydroxide pellets in the holes and pour water in the holes (NOT needed with liquid DRANO). Forget about it until next weekend, then check & see if the wood hasn't loosened up considerably.
You'll probably find that it can be chipped away from the center & surrounding holes. If nothing else, it should be easier to attack this way, than going at it from the outside with a bow saw or other wood-cutting implement.

[Misery-Whip]

Get some firewood and start a camp fire on it. Cook some hotdogs and make some smores...

How I take care of em.

[hoodat]

I've got a twenty five pound keg of black powder, plenty of cannon fuse, and prolly a hundred small CO2 empty cartridges. I'd have to have some fun. Matter of fact I'm getting ready to make a stump about the size that you mention.

Now look what you've done. jd

[imashooter2]

I used it on a stump grown through a chain link fence. Some 20 years later it is mostly still there.

[JRLesan]

C3h5n309

[MarkP]

I cut mine down low using a carbide chain, then drill holes and pour some diesel in the holes let it soak for a week or so then pour on more diesel and place scrap wood on top and burn it. This has worked well for me on smaller stumps 12 to 16" dia. Not so well on a 48" Silver Maple stump. I ended up renting a large grinder for two large silver maple stumps. I did use vegetable oil and charcoal on a tree stump in our flower bed and that also worked. It took 4 yds of dirt to fill the holes where the large stumps were ground out.

[BLAHUT]

I have cut stumps as close to the ground as I could, a couple about 36" + or so, then dug a little out around the stump, local feed store has some stump killer, poured it on, if I have time it will be dead in less than a year and well-rotted, if I am in a hurry, I pour on the stump killer and let soak in for a few days, kills the routs, then I drill holes all over the stump and pour drain oil on and let it soak in for a week, then pour on more drain oil, and let it soak in, then a little diesel, pile on some scrap wood or charcoal and light, will burn itself out in a few days well below ground.

[BLAHUT]

C3h5n309

Most people are not versed in the use of this.....

[36g]

C3h5n309

Do you mean C3H5(NO3)3?

[hiram]

I drilled 1" holes and filled them with muriatic acid. It took a while but worked.

[megasupermagnum]

There are two "free" methods that I've used successfully. The first step in both is to dig around the stump with a shovel and pick axe/mattock to expose the main roots. From there you can either cut the stump off as flush as you can with a chainsaw, then bury it under dirt. The other way is using an axe, cut the main roots as best as you can. Expose around the stump so you can wrap a chain around it. Pull it out slow and steady with a tractor or truck. Use chain, not recovery straps.

No, I've never seen a store bought chemical that eats up stumps in any reasonable amount of time. Burning them does work if you have a full weekend to watch the fire.

[Strummer]

Do you mean C3H5(NO3)3?

Makes a nice little boom [emoji95]

[M-Tecs]

C3H5(NO3)3 AKA Nitroglycerin is hard to come by.

[36g]

C3H5(NO3)3 AKA Nitroglycerin is hard to come by.

And there's a reason for that...

[john.k]

I cleared my back acre in 1995 .....drove the stumps into the ground with a pile driving weight........two years ago ,I decided to build my retirement hobby shed there ,the excavation for the slab kept digging up stumps .......as it had council building permits,location couldnt be moved,so I had to get in a guy with a radar and dig out each stump,then backfill and compact the hole.

[Thundarstick]

Nitrogen, ammonia nitrate is the ticket for getting stumps to rot quickly. The micro organisms that break down cellulose need the nitrogen. If I need it gone quicker than nature, I dig around it, drill a hole down the middle, and burn it out. Different woods have different difficulties both ways.

[Half Dog]

If you’re patient, I hear stump rot works. I’ve always needed a stump gone when I wanted it gone so I would dig it up. I would dig a bit, chop the roots, pry the stump up, then bury the hole. It didn’t take too long.

[GhostHawk]

I've seen video of a guy who used a bag of charcoal in winter.

Drilled a central hole in stump then drilled a couple of smaller air holes into that from the sides to allow air to get in.

Fill the cavity with charcoal and light it up. After a day repeat only now the cavity will be much bigger.

The video I saw I think he filled it 3 times, the last time there was virtually nothing left.

I think he covered the stump with a piece of tin laid on loose to keep wind from blowing sparks.

I have a big cottonwood stump I may do that with next year if I find some ambition.

[Dio]

I've got a 55 gallon drum with both end cut out.
I put it over stumps and ad a bit of kerosene, lots of brush and burn it out.

[Big Tom]

a pound of C6H2(NO2)3CH3 will do the trick

[36g]

a pound of C6H2(NO2)3CH3 will do the trick

If only subscripts would work...

[Kosh75287]

Yes, all the organo-nitrates are very convenient substances for stump removal. It's the OBTAINING of them that is problematic. And any who try to make their own fully deserve the trouble that will eventually visit them.

[mexicanjoe]

Ive heard drilling holes in the stump and filling it with buttermilk will work. The bacteria in buttermilk is supposed to eat away the wood

[Bmi48219]

I've seen video of a guy who used a bag of charcoal in winter.

Drilled a central hole in stump then drilled a couple of smaller air holes into that from the sides to allow air to get in…..

I like this idea. Sold my last chainsaw 15 years ago, at my age there won’t be another. Ditto for the JD 410W and chains. Don’t have room in the garage for them.
I’ve been thinking of using a skill-saw to cut 3” deep slots 3/4” apart across the top of this stump, north to south and east to west. Still have a 15 lb electric demo hammer and a 2” chisel point. Starting 3” down from top of the stump I can cross-chisel the wood sticking up between the sawcuts. Go across the whole stump to take 3” off the top and start the process over again.
But it would be way less labor intensive to go with the charcoal method. Just need an old shallow metal pan with holes for a cover. Or an old pot lid.

[dannyd]

Here in Florida, if you drill as many 1 inch or bigger holes in the stump as you can then the water from the rains will do the rest. This method takes about a year but you can speed it up by drilling more holes of any size after it rains to let in more water.

Getting water in the stump is the key things. I have removed about 6 stumps using this method.

[popper]

I used ammonia fertilizer on a couple small stumps, worked by enticing termites to devour them. Can't burn them in the city. Depends on the type of tree. Maul and wedge will work on old wood, not so easy for green stuff.

[salpal48]

Charcoal brickets are the simple and the Fastest. Five bags on top. Stump is Gone

[waksupi]

I burned a big stump out a few years ago. Set it on fire in November, was still smoking in March!

[megasupermagnum]

I burned a big stump out a few years ago. Set it on fire in November, was still smoking in March!

You are supposed to bury them when you are done.

[Duckiller]

I used 1/2 stick of dynomite to take out cherry tree stumps in the orchard. Round steel bar bigger than sticks to make hole under stump then set it of . Planted new tree in spring.

[john.k]

Blowing stumps was pretty common in the day you could buy a couple of sticks of gelignite ,caps and fuze at the local hardware store.

[Shawlerbrook]

The commercial products are not much faster than Mother Nature. There are some YouTube videos on burning them but black powder is a lot more fun.

[country gent]

If you burn them a fire ring around them and a shop vac set up to blow ( most allow the hose to be plugged into the exhaust) into it really increases the burn and speed.
We did it this way. Let stump dry for a month or two in the sun. drill holes 3/4"-1" as deep as you can and as many as possible. soak filling holes with diesel fuel old oil mix and covering for a week soak as needed. Charcoal, brush, we used stoker coal a few times fire on top and around sides. get going good and turn blower on. Have everything back a ways when the blower goes on it is going to get very hot.

[abunaitoo]

I have a couple of small stumps I want to get rid of.
When I chopped it down, I drilled holes in it and filled it with Round up.
It killed the tree stump, but didn't do much of anything else.
Can't burn it.
No open fires allowed in this idiot state.
I've read that those stump removers take a long time, if they work at all, to eat the stump.
Be watching this thread to see if anything comes up.

[MarkP]

I have a couple of small stumps I want to get rid of.
When I chopped it down, I drilled holes in it and filled it with Round up.
It killed the tree stump, but didn't do much of anything else.
Can't burn it.
No open fires allowed in this idiot state.
I've read that those stump removers take a long time, if they work at all, to eat the stump.
Be watching this thread to see if anything comes up.

You can remove alot of wood volume using a chain saw with a carbide chain. Just be extra carful plunging in with front of bar and know where the upper front quadrant is on your bar to avoid a nasty kickback. If you hit some dirt with carbide will not dull it like a steel chain will dull. Eventually it will, avoid rocks and steel it will break the carbide inserts.

[rbuck351]

I use a John Deere 500 back hoe. It takes a couple of hours and leaves a big hole. Still a lot faster than days of burning or a year of stump remover.