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burning stumps

Started by postville, May 16, 2012, 08:57:36 PM

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postville

Anyone tried pouring diesel fuel onto an old stump and burning to get rid if it? I read you put some old tin on top, light it and it will eventually burn down to the roots. Bob
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Onthesauk

I've read, though never tried myself, about drilling holes in the stump.  Pour diesel in, cover with plastic and let it sit for 6+ weeks.  Fill with diesel again and then light.  I usually just keep a burn pile going for a day or two.

Your mileage may vary. :)
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sandhills

Charcoal on the top of old posts works well, not too sure how it would work on a green stump though.

thecfarm

I kept a pine stump covered with a piece of tin for about 2 months and poured used motor oil on it for all this time. This was an old dead stump that I could not get out with the tractor in the wood yard.I put some brush on it and and tried to burn it.Did not haul alot of brush to it,did not think it would take alot. Did not amount too much at all. Than I had my land logged and he got it out with his forwarder. Still worth a try. Just want you to know the fire could follow the roots into the woods or other trees,IF you can get it going.
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

Mooseherder

I've had good results with one and not as good with another.
The one stump that smoldered for 2 days burnt a couple inches under ground and I was able to put dirt in the hole.  You would never know there had been a good size tree there.  It had been cut a few inches above ground, drilled holes and soaked with tiki torch fuel.
The stump that had been cut flush to the ground didn't do as well.  Have attempted to burn it more than once and it is still there flush with the ground even though I had the stump cooking twice with help from feeding the flame with a leaf blower.  I thought for sure when it got that hot it would continue burning overnight but it didn't.

pineywoods

Cut the top and bottom out of a 55 gallon drum. Set the drum over the stump with 3 or 4 bricks under the drum to allow air passage. Fill with junk wood and lite her up. The drum acts a chimney and makes a very hot fire. Usually burns out the roots...
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Woodwalker

Quote from: pineywoods on May 17, 2012, 08:57:38 AM
Cut the top and bottom out of a 55 gallon drum. Set the drum over the stump with 3 or 4 bricks under the drum to allow air passage. Fill with junk wood and lite her up. The drum acts a chimney and makes a very hot fire. Usually burns out the roots...
I'm with Piney. Keep feeding the fire and it'll burn out the stump pretty quick.
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postville

Thanks, I'll let you know how it works out. Bob
LT40 25hp Kohler, Gehl 6635, Valby grapple, Ford 4600, Farmi winch, Stihl saws

YellowHammer

Using a 55 gallon drum cut out on both ends is a great tip.  I've never done it, but started using one on Thursday and have already burned out two stumps, one that I tried to burn out last year with not much success using a regular bonfire.  This works much better.
Thanks
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thecfarm

I'm going to give it a try too,someday. I have a couple on the edge of the lawn I would like to get rid of. Must be a red oak,those stumps seem to last forever.
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MikeON

Do you have to keep putting firewood in the drum until the stump is burned out?  How long does this process take?
My sister has some oak stumps within 15' of the house.  How safe would it be that close?
Thanks.
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s grinder

Why not rent a stump grinder or hire someone,probably wouldn't be that expensive.

thecfarm

I have about 5-6 stumps and probaly more if the barrel idea works real good for me. Even $100 would be too much for me. I have plenty of wood but not money.
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

Mooseherder

Here is a video of the second stump that just wouldn't go away as the first one did.
I think it was because the first one had more meat above the ground.
This one is still level flush with the ground.  It'll be a long time until it is gone.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Az49NA81eow

mike_belben

i figured anyone searching will certainly read this thread, so its a good place to park this vid me and boy made on how to burn fresh green stumps that have been excavated and are still wet dirtballs.  we did it for a neighbor lady from church who wants to put cows in the pasture soon and wanted all the metal and wire tangled in this pile gone first so the calves wont get into it. it rained hard for days prior and very hard in the middle.  doesnt matter, you can still burn stumps to zero with tin, a leaf blower and time. you end up with a lump of dirt and ash in the end.


Burning Green Stumps - YouTube
Praise The Lord

Joe Hillmann

I have burned out stumps by lighting a fire above them than forcing air into it with an electric blower.  It is pretty slow.

I have also accidentally caught the roots of a hollow tree on fire and several weeks later the tree had a fire on the inside, so be careful.

Tacotodd

Mike, I replied on your video asking when you did it, so I'm asking again, when did you do this. Regardless of when, it still looks interesting.

But, not all of us have a way to extract the stump. Have you got any other ideas on doing this, besides what's being mentioned in this thread? I'd like to hear them.
Trying harder everyday.

mike_belben

Bout a month ago.  I either leave them in the ground or dig them out. 
Praise The Lord

Mooseherder

This stump is the same one as in previous video that took several days..
I would stoke it with more air and wood everyday when i got home from work.  The trailer rim sunk down with.   I start them with charcoal and fed wood and air as needed.
Stump Burning Challenge - YouTube

florida

I've burned many stumps out but it's a terrible way to get rid of one. The last one was 4' across and took us 4 months of burning every evening and all weekend most weekends. In the process, we probably used 2 cords of wood to keep the first going. A pro with a stump eater would have had it gone in 2 or 3 hours for a few hundred bucks. I burned a smallish oak stump out a few years back. It had been cut for about 3 years and I used about 100 pounds of charcoal and more time than I'd care to think about. Before I burned I bored 1 inch holes all over it and filled them with old oil and eventually lighter fluid. There are many more in between but suffice to say I'll be sitting in a chair sipping an adult beverage and watching the guy with the stump eater next time.
General contractor and carpenter for 50 years.
Retired now!

thecfarm

florida is right on the money!!!!
I just burned a red ok stump that have been cut at least 3 years. I used a 55 gallon drum lifted up in the air with 4 inch blocks. Had a bunch of holes on the side close to the bottom, maybe a foot high for draft. I filled that at least 6 times with hardwood. Might of even been 8 times. And I do mean filled.  I had it cut down not much above ground. I did what I wanted to do, it's out of sight now. A slow way to get rid of a stump, but I saved $100 doing it. 
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

treemuncher

Quote from: Tacotodd on April 26, 2021, 06:46:17 PM
Mike, I replied on your video asking when you did it, so I'm asking again, when did you do this. Regardless of when, it still looks interesting.

But, not all of us have a way to extract the stump. Have you got any other ideas on doing this, besides what's being mentioned in this thread? I'd like to hear them.
Try rotting out the stump with fertilizer. Use a high nitrogen type like straight ammonia nitrate if you can find it. The county Ag Extension agent told me years ago to use high nitrogen fertilizer to burn down my remaining wood mulch if I wanted to get grass growing quicker where the mulch was too thick. 
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mike_belben

I think that is a case of the nitrogen feeding the microbes that digest the carbon then.  Its basically an attempt at hot composting a stump as if it were leaves, woodchip or sawdust.

  Piling your grass or manure over stumps, as well as peeing on them is similar.  I can get sawdust to turn to dirt in about 3 weeks in hot weather. 
Praise The Lord

Mooseherder

I think we burned 14 stumps in our yard since  2004.  We had 3 hurricanes that year that weakened many of our Pines.  I have one of those left to burn but it is right next to a good tree.
I drilled a bore hole thru the top of that stump many years ago thinking it would hurry up the decay.  It hasn't yet.  We took down a massive coconut tree by the driveway a few years ago.  It was taken down for safety reasons because the walkway was beneath a truckload of coconuts 60 feet high.
I make stump burnings a fun event.  This one will burn next winter. I'll document and post.

Start with a full charcoal chimney.  Light it and flip it upside down on the center of the stump leaving the chimney on it. The chimney intensifies the heat on it.  After a couple hours remove the chimney add wood and air to keep it going.   Let it burn thru the night.  Next day blow the ash off and renew to fire red stump and add another piece of wood.  Repeat process as low as you want stump.  I got one 16 inches below grade.  Try to top that. :D
Our soil here is sugar sand.  I buy Bags of play sand to fill in the divits and our Floratam grass grows with sideways runners so you can't even tell where the trees were a year later.


mike_belben


Not to be a one upper but you asked for it.  My dad had a stump fire consume the underground rootball of a large tree by surprise somehow.. It was discovered  weeks after when the tin was rounded up.
 He ended up putting a 55g drum in the hole and filling it with trap rock then routing gutter runoff into it.  
Praise The Lord

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