I have recently purchased 53 acres of future homestead and I want to clear aprox. 15 acres of 3 yr. old hardwood clear-cut stumps that have been discarded. Does anyone know of a use rather than burry or burn? The majority is southern live oak and most are starting to re-sprout.

-- Chris Crooke (merlin@gulf.net), January 29, 2001

Answers

Maybye use them to grow mushrooms on ? Sept/Oct 2000 Countryside had a very informative article on growing shiitakes on a log.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), January 29, 2001.

Historically used as stump fences?

-- Julie Froelich (firefly1@nnex.net), January 29, 2001.

I was going to suggest burying them (realizing that they will decompose, with resulting settling of the ground over wherever they are buried), but I like the idea of shitake mushrooms.

A friend of mine grows these mushrooms on oak logs. When they are "done", he stands at the junction of his driveway and the main road, and people stop on their way to work to buy them by the baggie full. They taste very good, by the way, and if Roy can grow them....

JOJ

-- jumpoffjoe (jumpoff@echoweb.net), January 29, 2001.

I've seen some gorgeous cocktail tables made out of stumps. Sanded and highly polished.

-- ~Rogo (rogo2020@yahoo.com), January 30, 2001.

15 acres of stumps is alot of stumps. I say all of the above.

-- JimR (jroberts1@cas.org), January 30, 2001.

How big are the stumps? Big oak is horrible to remove. In my area hardwood (mostly oak) stump removal by most rapid methods cost more than the price of the land underneath it. You used to could blow them up but these days the law makes that too difficult. I use roundup on the resprouts as early as possible. The stumps do eventually rot. For 15 acres worth I'd see about hiring a large dozer with a blade meant for stump removal. The big dozers with a "V" style blade will just shear the stumps off at ground level when they have momentum. Don't know the costs but they are used for major field clearing all the time to open pastures.

-- charles (clb@watervalley.net), January 30, 2001.

An added feature of the mushrooms is the "roots" will decompose the wood in a quick fashion.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), January 30, 2001.

How about renting a stump grinder? They work exceptionally well and the resulting "grind" is a seriously worthwhile mulch. With that many acres, you might even have enough mulch to consider selling and paying off the grinder rental!

-- Soni (thomkilroy@hotmail.com), January 30, 2001.

You can get quite big stumps out with a regular tractor provided there is room to drive around the stump and that the top of the stump has not started to rot.

You need two lengths of heavy chain, say 20 feet long, and a strong steel beam about 6 feet long. Attach a chain to each end of the beam. Position one end of the beam close to the stump and wind the chain around the stump securing the end of the chain with something like a railway dog (sorry, 'railroad spike').

Hook the trusty tractor to the other chain and drive around the stump. Everything should tighten up and if nothing breaks or bends the stump will be rotated in the ground. This screwing motion breaks all the roots and tends to retract them also. With a bit of luck the stumps will come out easily with only a moderate sized tractor. Worth a try but as always. "Safety first" no spectators close to the action.

-- john hill (john@cnd.co.nz), January 31, 2001.

I will mention one thing about burying stumps. When renovating this house, we had reason to uncover the old dry well on the property that had been built out of whole logs at least 50 years ago. The well was dry and completely deodorized with age, but the logs looked just as if they had been put in the ground a few weeks earlier. It was a big surprise to everyone that they hadn't decomposed. They were just regular logs, not treated with anything like creosote.

Once removed, could you chop them more to size with a chain saw and use them in the fireplace or furnace?

-- Julie Froelich (firefly1@nnex.net), January 31, 2001.

A dozer.

-- Lynn(MO) (mscratch@semo.net), January 31, 2001.

Another way to kill the sprouts and stumps is to drill a bunch of holes in the top and fill them with salt,then moisten it.It might take a couple of times.

-- Darren in Idaho (darrencindy2000@yahoo.com), January 31, 2001.

I vote for a dozer. A big one might cost $100 an hour, but they can do a lot of work in an hour. I would guess you are looking at about $100 an acre, which isn't bad. Two options on windrowing. Have them pushed up with a little dirt as possible. In a couple of years you should be able to burn them (local regulations permitting). Other method is to lightly cover the windrow with dirt. This will help keep the stumps wet and accelerate rotting. Maybe in about ten years have the dirt pile spread back out.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), February 01, 2001.

I don't know whether this would be cost effective, but I bought a product called Stump Rot from a mailorder nursery - to get rid of some cedar stumps in my side yard - it worked ok - some kind of chemical process. You have so many though, I would worry about what it leaves in the soil.

-- Linda Al-Sangar (alsangal@brentwood-tn.org), February 04, 2001.

You have a firewood business without knowing it! Cut down those 15 acres as firewood, and leave the stumps alone. They will push up new growth, and you can let all sprouts grow, or just some. All will grow at many times the rate of "regular" trees because of the immense root system. Harvest every few years and use the money from selling firewood to buy cleared land! GL!

-- Brad (homefixer@SacoRiver.net), February 04, 2001.

Stream and fish habitat restoration are a big thing nowadays with all the environmentalism. Around here they use stumps and logs to create fish habitat in streams that have been damaged by development. It may take a lot of phone calls to hook up with the right parties, but you may be able to get someone to take the stumps away for free if there is a project going on nearby where they need lots of stumps. Start by calling some wetland biologists in the area, or the county/state fish and wildlife office.

-- Skip Walton (sundaycreek@gnrac.net), February 04, 2001.

You indicate that you want to "clear" this land; i.e. remove all stumps etc. and use the space for another purpose, perhaps pasture or crop land. Getting the stumps out of the ground is the easiest part. Hire an excavating contractor with a large hydraulic excavator or "track-hoe" to grub the stumps. For serious grubbing a 20 ton or larger class machine is what you want, smaller (12-15 ton) machines will do it, albeit more slowly, and you will inevitably be paying by the hour. Unless the stumps are very large (30" and up), a good operator on a large trackhoe ought to be able to grub an acre a day with ease! If there are no such machines in your area, get a good sized (Caterpillar D6/D7 or Deere 750/850 or bigger!) dozer, more of a brute force approach. What do you want to do with the stumps after they have been dug up? Once they have been shook clean of most dirt they can be piled or windrowed to rot or for later burning. If you are only clearing 15 of the 53 acres, how about finding a ravine or gully on the uncleared portion to deposit some or all of the stumps in to slowly rot above ground? Burial is the next cheapest option, though illegal in my state, check with the state enviromental agency. Burning is next, although burning 15 acres of stumps without starter "fuel" i.e. laps and logs will be tough. Stumps are very dense and will only burn _completely_ in a very hot fire. An air curtain incinerator will do the trick, call a big land clearing contractor and check. This will also involve a trackhoe and other equipment (expensive). Having the stumps grubbed and then processed through a tub grinder, wood hog, or in-line grinder is the last resort, as your grinding fee alone could have five figures before the decimal point. I am a land clearing contractor who deals with this stuff every day, so my solution is more oriented towards hiring someone than the "do it your self" option. I've seen people try to clear acreage by hand, draft animal, tractor, whatever. One guy had a 1970 IHC Scout with a chain that he tied to stumps and tried to jerk out of the ground. Hmmmmm. If you don't have anything better to do with your time, go for it. If you wait too long to do this the cut- over area will start to resemble a jungle and then you have two problems, the brushy growth that has developed since the logging, and the stumps that are hidden by it. If you want to clear this land you ought to do so before the desired area is engulfed by regrowth and volunteer species. After that point the cost per acre will certainly increase. Best of luck!

Pete

-- pete (k4mw@esinet.net), April 27, 2001.

My brother would take old hardwood stumps, cut them in to usable sizes and make wooden bowl, gavels, and other knick nacks on a wood turning lathe. back then he had to use an old buck saw to cut up the stumps but in this era with chain saws one can cup up stumps into of suitable size for a wood turning lathe.

-- Lee Knapp (LMatticeK@aol.com), August 02, 2001.