Finally got that stubborn willow stump out after three days of digging

Man, what a week. We had this old willow removal job in the north end of town, and the stump was just a monster. The client wanted it gone for a new garden, and the root ball was tangled up with old clay pipe from the 70s. I spent two full days with just the stump grinder and a digging bar, barely making a dent. On the third morning, I brought in a small winch from my truck and hooked it to a solid oak across the yard. After another four hours of cutting roots and pulling, the whole thing finally gave way with this huge cracking sound. My helper just looked at me and said, 'I thought we were gonna live here.' Felt so good to see that clean hole. Anyone ever have a stump fight them that hard?

3 comments

3 Comments

lindab493d ago

Oh, that's a solid win. I have to say though, I'm always a bit careful with winching from another tree. Even a solid oak can get its root system damaged if you're pulling something really heavy. I've seen it happen. In my experience, it's safer to use a proper ground anchor or a deadman anchor you bury, especially with a monster like that willow. You don't want to hurt a healthy tree to remove a stump. Glad it worked out for you this time, but it's something to keep in mind for next time.

quinn_wood3d ago

That's a really good point about protecting the anchor tree. Read an article by an arborist who said the same thing. He explained that the pulling force gets transferred down to the roots and can snap the smaller feeder roots you can't even see. His rule of thumb was to never use a living tree for a pull stronger than your own truck could manage. For anything bigger, like you said, a buried deadman is the way to go. It just spreads the load out safely.

margaret3043d ago

Ugh, that's the worst kind of job. It's funny how often the real problem isn't the main thing you're fighting, it's the old junk tangled up with it. Like trying to untangle a garden hose and finding it's knotted around a buried toy from 1995. The past just won't let go cleanly.