Explosives: Tree stump removal

[Crafty]

Hello. I have been having trouble with removing a stump. I cannot afford to rent a dozer, grinder, or hire someone to do it for me. I have several LARGE stumps to remove. Digging is also impossible because there are many other tree roots nearby, and the ground is mostly rock and clay.

I cut down the trees a few years ago. I don't know what kind they are, but they are the toughest damned trees I've ever seen in my life! My chainsaw broke cutting them down, and an axe barely penetrates the surface! They look like Poplar, but they are simply too large to be poplar trees.

I am on my last leg, and this is my idea:

1) Drill a 1.5'' diameter hole in the stump, about 3-4 inches deep 2) Fill it with gunpowder 3) Cork it tight 4) Install a long fuse 5) Light it and run

This will most certainly work. The only problem is that there are a LOT of nearby trees that I want to keep, and I don't want to catch anything on fire. Has anyone tried anything similar to this?

Also, I cannot use chemicals. The trees are right above my well sump. Burning is also out of the question.

Please do not try this yourself. I don't anyone to get hurt from my idea. I'm looking for people who've tried it or something similar.

Open to other suggestions. Advice is appreciated. Thanks a lot!

[SteveB]

Consult a pro?

Steve

[Murray Peterson]

Crafty wrote in news:Xns9433E99EEA65n@63.223.8.240:

When I was younger, my father used some stumping dynamite to remove several large tree stumps. Fire wasn't the primary problem -- it was flying debris. If you have anything valuable within several hundred yards of the stump (like your house), don't even think about doing something like this. Rocks, dirt, and chunks of wood go flying for a long distance -- much further than you might expect.

There are also legal considerations; is it legal for you to build and detonate your own bomb at that location? You should check with your local fire/police department ahead of time -- you don't want to end up in jail over a tree stump.

[Joseph Meehan]

You want to blow it up right over your well sump?

Call in the pro with a stump grinder. Let them make fast work of it.

[Stormin Mormonn]

Well, you've ruled out all the practical alternatives. What do you think we are, magicians? Either leave the stumps in, or choose one.

I cannot afford to

Digging is also impossible because

My chainsaw

[Bruce]

Not sure how well this works but you can buy an expensive commercial product that accelerates the decomposition process of the stump. I have seen it for sale at Home Depot and it is somewhat expensive: $10 for a small container with enough to do two stumps. I looked at the container and the main ingredient is Potassium Nitrate (which you can buy on eBay for $10/10lbs).

You can also drill holes and fill with cheap 10-10-10. Not sure how well that works either but it does provide a source of nitrogen for the bacteria that eat the stump and that's what will eventually do them in.

Not the fastest way to get rid of stumps but I plan to try one or the other next year when I clear some large trees to expand a horse pasture.

[DBCooper]

Let me know when the blast will occur. I want to come and watch.

Crafty wrote in news:Xns9433E99EEA65n@63.223.8.240:

[mark Ransley]

You dont know gunpowder, when you cork it you may set it off and blow yourself up. Plus you will need alot more than you describe to do anything. Like a pound or 2 . But your pump is below, bad idea.

[oldal4865]

. . .(snip). . .

Another way of describing this plan is :

"Make my own explosive" "Blow up Something with home-made explosive"

I spent some time doing stuff a bit like this for my Uncle when he was mad at some Vietnamese.

Step 3 is tricky. You have to do this just right or you blow a hand off , maybe even part of a head.

Er. . .you know stumps tend to rot out if you wait long enough.

Regards Old Al (4 fingers and a thumb on each hand but a bit light on eye brows)

[SteveB]

My favorite video clip was the one from the Pacific Northwest.

A whale beached itself, and died. There was a discussion on the best way to remove the whale from the beach. Too big to pick up and put on a flatbed.

Then someone had an idea. Pack explosives around the whale and convert it to very very small pieces. The idea was accepted, and the explosives placed. In the meantime, people started showing up. TV cameras showed up. Ice cream trucks showed up.

All was ready. Cameras zoomed in from a "safe" distance.

10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 BOOM.

It looked good for about five seconds. Then chunks could be seen dropping from the sky. Closer and closer to the cameras came the puffs of dust from landing chunks of blubber. People start screaming and running. Chunks now landing IN the crowd of hysterical people. Cut tape.

In the aftermath, there were large chunks of blubber all over. One chunk the size of a VolksWagen landed on top of a car pushing the roof down to seat level. Luckily, no one was sitting in the car. People had bloody blubber stains all over them, and it rained a mix of explosive residue mixed with blubber, oil, and blood.

In the end, they had to go all over with pitchforks and front end loaders and pick it all up.

It reminded me of Mr. Carlson's line in WKRP in Cinncinati: "As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly."

STeve

[SteveB]

Be forewarned. BATF agents have NO sense of humor.

Steve

[Charles Krug]

Recipro saw with a pruning blade. You don't want to use your chainsaw that close to the ground, as you'll just eat up your chain and bar.

Pruning blade is 2-3 bucks. All you need to do it get it below lawnmower height and let Mother Nature do the rest.

Then toss the blade. Nothing is more useless than trying to cut wood with a dull recipro blade. DAMHIKT.

[Crafty]

Well, it may be the only thing I can do. There are just too many to hire someone else to do it for me. There's about 15 of them. I live in the mountains, and it's a LONG way to town. Anyone coming out here would cost serious dough.

Sure, the deep country is tranquil, but when you need something, you're usually SOL unless you want to pay a lot or travel a long way to get it.

Thanks for the suggestions, though.

[Charles Spitzer]

buy the stump grinder, perhaps used, and sell it after you're done. it'll probably be cheaper than having someone else do it.

[Eric Scantlebury]

I was just going to suggest he look up someone here that has a termite problem and offer to "relocate" the problem.

[c_kubie]

For some reason, fire sounds like a good solution. (you should consult other people to determine the best approach to a controlled stump burning. We don't need to start another california fire)

Are you trying to level it off for grass? or to put something in its place?

[Jimmy]

Al, you're my kind of guy (or, it takes one to know one, and I know what you been doing :-)

[Richard J Kinch]

Aside from the legal problems, admit that you have no idea how big or deep this hole should be, and how much powder to charge in. Guessing will not work. Some things can be learned on-the-job, but blasting?

There are good reasons that stumps are no longer removed by blasting, even by those who might know how.

[Charles H. Buchholtz]

Crafty ( [e-mail]) wrote: : Hello. I have been having trouble with removing a stump. I cannot afford to : rent a dozer, grinder, or hire someone to do it for me. I have several : LARGE stumps to remove. Digging is also impossible because there are many : other tree roots nearby, and the ground is mostly rock and clay.

I've heard that you can get rid of stumps by drilling holes into the stumps and then watering frequently (daily?) with a high nitrogen fertilizer. The organic breakdown of wood is limited by the supply of air, water and nitrogen - give it plenty of all three and it'll turn to compost pretty quickly. At least, that's the theory - I've never done this.

There's also burning out the stump. It's reckless, but probably safer than blasting. I'd use the air/water/nitrogen technique myself.

I did a quick look in google and found this.

--- Chip

[Pat Keith]

Its possible to buy explosives to remove the stumps. Here you must obtain a license from the county before you can purchase explosives. Its not cheaper then grinding. When you are done removing them with explosives you have a large hole in the ground that will need to be filled and a large stump that will need to be disposed of in some manner ( you said no fire). Grinding makes a lot of sense. A lot of stumps can be done in a day. I like to burn my stumps. I simply build a small fire on top of the stump and add some more fire wood every few hours. Usually takes about a week.