Stump removal

Have 45m run of double staggered Leylandii .... (no I didn't plant them)

Want to remove and plant something better ... I can obvioulsy use s chain saw and cut down to a stump, there seems to be 2 main options to removal of the remainder.

  1. Pull out stump with a trefoil such as in this video
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    ... but how well will that work on 20 yr old Leylandii .... typical diameter between 6 and 8 " .... assume roots will be extensive

  1. Hire a stump grinder .... HSS have a 6HP model :
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or do I need something beefier such as

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The trees are on a raised bank about 1.5m above ground behind a 1.2m wall. I can put a ramp to wheel up a 'portable' grinder .... but not something like a bobcat or similar

Reply to
rick
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Try and dig the first one out by hand?

We took down a huge Leylandii when we first moved in and found it to be very shallow rooted so getting the stump and the main roots out was (relatively) easy. This tree was considerably more than 6-8" diameter.

That trefoil looks fun, but does rely on something pretty big as the main post. It also looks to be pulling upwards; I would think that you could tear out most of the stumps by leaving a taller trunk and pulling more sideways.

Another option (depending on access and the potential for collateral damage) would be to hire a mini digger for the day and use the small bucket just to grub them out.

Cheers

Dave R

Reply to
David

  1. Cut flush with ground with chain or bowsaw. Light fire on top. Leave to smoulder two weeks.

I had some. They are LONG GONE.

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

Done that with bigger stumps than Leylandii.

Good if you want to get the soil prepped up for replanting

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

If they're sufficiently far from the house the first step can be omitted. They burn nicely.

Owain

Reply to
spuorgelgoog

Get a man in with a really big stump grider and chipper. Saves a lot of effort. Alternatively, do what we did and have the Leylandi cut off at 6 ft, kill the remainder with professional tree stump killer and rotavate the ground between the stumps to allow for the planting of Laurels. The Laurels were about £22 each for bushy 4 ft tall plants at todays prices and were in 20L? containers. Plants Galore supplied them. They have established well, with no failures. Cost about £2K in total IIRC. I had to lay a drip watering hose across the Laurels in the first year as the weather was dry. The Leylandi were used as the mounting posts for a chain link fence, this was the reason for retaining the stumps. I reckon they will rot out in less than 20 years and be replaced with Metpost mounted wooden units. Our Leylandi were on a .7M Bank, behind a brick retained raised bed. Sounds similar. The method outlined did not disturb the soil at all as the tree roots are not touched much at all. Laurels have all the characteristics of slow growing weeds and are now up to about 5,5 ft providing a perfect screen!

Reply to
Capitol

Sorry, forgot to say prices were for 30M.

Reply to
Capitol

Dynamite perhaps

Brian

Reply to
Brian Gaff

Why do you actually want to take out the stumps? Is it just because it seems the right thing to do? I had a Leylandii hedge that was getting too big and difficult to control. I cut them all down to about 6ft and stripped any side branches (there weren't many). That in itself will kill them. No need for fancy stump killing chemicals: they won't re-grow from old wood. Then just forget about them. I planted a hedge of something else in between the stumps, which fairly rapidly grew up and hid them. Every couple of years I go down the stump row and give each a mighty heave to loosen it. So far, about four have just come free at the roots and been removed. The remainder are loose and on the way. Takes a few years for the roots to rot away like that, but by far the simplest solution if you're prepared to wait.

Reply to
Chris Hogg

In message , Brian Gaff writes

I was thinking the same, there used to be a BBC2 trade test video, in the days before 24/7 TV, that showed stump removal with explosives. ANFO may be better though not quite so fast, so less worry that you may drop a stump on the neighbours. If you go down this route may we come and watch?

Reply to
Bill

Leave about 2 metres of trunk above the ground. This makes it easier to apply some lateral force on the stump. if you cut them to ground level then without a JCB, a stump grinder may be necessary.

Also wait for some heavy rain to soften the soil. Leylandii are notorious for sucking all the moisture out of the soil and leaving it like concrete.

Reply to
Andrew

Not necessary, they'll die anyway, Leylandii don't regrow from old wood at all. We have cut several down like this and they really do just die. If left long enough the stumps are *very* easy to pull out because they are no longer alive.

Reply to
Chris Green

Problam with ANFO is you still need a high explosive to initiate it, and I suspect the days of "24 Hour use or return" explosives licences are long gone.

[googles]

Apparently not. You can still get "Acquire only" explosives certificates.

Reply to
Huge

Pro blam!

:o)

Reply to
Huge

We had four Leylandii about 16ft high in our front garden. I cut them down to 1.5m and a chap with a JCB redoing the pavements in the street reached over the fence with the backhoe and pushed them out. Took minutes, cost peanuts.

A row of smaller ones between us and the neighbours went the same way thanks to a local builder with a mini digger working a few doors down.

I don't know what the reach of a backhoe is but if it's possible to knock them out this way, I would spend the money on that rather than the aggravation of hiring/using a stump grinder.

In fact, I'd look at hiring a long reach excavator if that's what's necessary to teach the bastards who's boss. I hate Leylandii.

Reply to
mike

I could I guess .. but there are more than a 100 of these.

no option on using a digger - no access

Reply to
rick

Not an option for 100+ trees

Reply to
rick

not possible due to access

rotavate the ground between the stumps to allow for the planting of

My problem is what I want to plant (looked at 3 varieties) needs 3-5 plants per metre ... with the stumps at 300 centres very little room left for planting. The hedge compnies report poor success when people have left stumps in .........which was my original idea

Reply to
rick

If I use a winch that is approach I think might work

Reply to
rick

Now he tells us its 100+ trees and there is no access. chainsaw + light remains.

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

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