Kitchen Garden Forum

Our allotment has several plots recently cleared but possessing several tree stumps up to 9 inches in diameter. Digging these out is really hard work. I have heard of a system involving a ratchet and strap. Has anybody used one of these? How do they work? Where can you get them from? How much do they cost?
Thanks.

Hi Barry,

If they are only 9 inches they should be quite easy with a mattock. I've always used one on far bigger tree stumps with no problems. Just chop around and underneath the stump, and out she comes.

I usually use time rather than effort on tree stumps. I mainly use a trowel (after shifting the easy stuff with a spade), loppers and bowsaw. Work round finding roots and cut out at least a 6" piece with appropriate tool according to diameter, creating gaps like this makes it easier to rock the stump to find more roots and eventually shift it.

Should you know a Building Ground worker, they will have a suitable tool, its a fairly narrow shovel that has had the wooden handle removed, this they weld into a four foot length of scaffold pole, [this gives it the required weight] this will then chop through most tree roots, BUT please keep feet well apart, it will go through your Tootsie so easy.

As Archimedes said; give me a long enough lever and I could move the Earth!!

Cheers !!!

most people make the mistake of sawing the trunk at gound level, then you have to dig the roots out.
if you saw the top off at about head height the remains of the trunk make a good lever to pull on, a rope tied to the top and pulled either by a vehicle or some sort of winch will often pull small trees straight out without much digging.
try putting winch in the search on ebay to see the different types availabe. it also may be possible to use one of the ratchet straps used for securing loads on lorries, but you would need one of the big industrial ones off a lorry not the silly little ones sold at car boots for a quid.
may be easier and quicker to hire in a mini digger , especially if thyre allready sawn at ground level

We have finished removing the massive conifers that blighted our garden

Dig around the stumps & roots as best you can. We then used a friends block & tackle to dislodge the stumps, then a chainsaw to hack them up. (These can be hired).

The best thing for sawing through smaller roots that are still in the ground is an angle grinder - then pull, hard.

HTH

We have just had three large trees (goat willow, larch and mountain ash) and several smaller trees removed in our garden because they were making the house ever darker, obstructing the views and, in one case, lifting the public pavement. So, we are left with lots of stumps which my husband will attempt to dig out. He is a strong fellow and has all the requisite tools, but I thought there was a chemical which could be used to "dissolve" the stumps. Is that still available or has it been withdrawn? I can't remember the name.

i seem to remember being told the acid out of car batteries poured into holes drilled down into the stump would help disintegrate the stump, but ive never tried it.