I Keep Hitting This Stump. What Can I Do?

You know exactly what this is. Every time you mow you have to stop, back up, go around it, and try not to clip the blade on it. The kids are running around the yard and you are watching them the whole time because that stump is right there. You have stubbed your toe on it in the dark. Your dog keeps sniffing around it. It has been sitting there since the tree came down and every single week it is in the way again.

The good news is this is one of the easiest problems to fix. Here is what your options actually are.

Why You Cannot Just Ignore It

A stump that is annoying you now is going to keep getting worse, not better. It is not going to rot away on its own anytime soon. A hardwood stump in Wesley Chapel can sit in your yard for ten to twenty years before it breaks down enough to disappear. Here is why stumps take so long to rot and what they are doing to your yard while they sit there.

In the meantime that stump is a tripping hazard every single day. If you have kids or pets running through the yard it is only a matter of time. Surface roots spread out from the base and are just as dangerous as the stump itself, especially in taller grass where you cannot see them.

What Happens to Your Lawn Equipment

This is the part that actually costs people money. Hitting a stump with a mower blade does not just scratch the stump. It damages the blade, throws off the deck, and can wreck the spindle depending on how hard the hit is. Most homeowners who have been mowing around a stump for a year have already nicked it at least once. Every time you mow around it you are also leaving an uneven ragged area of grass that never looks right. The stump wins every single time.

Can You Just Cut It Lower

You can rent a chainsaw and cut the stump flush with the ground but that does not solve the problem. A stump cut to ground level is actually harder to see and more dangerous to trip over than one sticking up a few inches. It is also still there, still attracting insects, and the root system is still in the ground doing what root systems do. Cutting it lower is just trading one problem for a slightly different version of the same problem.

Can You Rent a Stump Grinder and Do It Yourself

You can but most homeowners who try this regret it. Rental stump grinders are small, underpowered machines designed to handle stumps up to a certain size. If your stump is from a mature oak, pine, or any larger tree that is common throughout Wesley Chapel and Pasco County, a rental grinder is going to take you most of a day and still might not get it below grade the way a professional machine does. Professional grinders run significantly more horsepower than anything you can rent at a hardware store. What takes us thirty to forty five minutes on most jobs can take a homeowner with a rental machine three to four hours, and the result is usually not as clean.

There is also the safety factor. Stump grinders throw debris. Without the right experience and protective equipment that debris goes in directions you do not expect. It is not a machine most people should be operating for the first time on their own property.

What Stump Grinding Actually Does

A professional stump grinder comes in and grinds the stump down six to eight inches below the soil line. The surface roots get ground down too, not just the stump itself. What is left is a pile of wood chip mulch that you can use in your flower beds or we haul off, your call. The area is clean, level, and safe. You can mow straight over it. The kids can run through the yard without you watching every step. The dog stops sniffing around it because there is nothing interesting there anymore.

Most single stumps take between thirty minutes and an hour. You do not need to be home for the job. We come out, grind it down, clean up, and it is done.

How Much Does It Cost

It depends on the size of the stump, how many you have, the condition of the wood, and how accessible the area is. There is no flat rate that applies to every job because every stump is different. Here is exactly what goes into stump grinding pricing in Wesley Chapel so you know what to expect before you call anyone.

We serve Wesley Chapel and all of Pasco County including Land O’ Lakes, Trinity, Hudson, New Port Richey, and Zephyrhills. If you have got a stump in your yard that you are tired of dealing with, call Stump Grinding Wesley Chapel for a free estimate and we will come out and get rid of it.