Carlsbad Stump Grinding
In the children’s book, The Giving Tree, by Shel Silverstein, a young boy develops a friendly relationship with a tree. He visits the tree nearly every day, and the tree shows her appreciation of his company by giving him things—apples to eat, branches to climb on, a place to carve his initials. As the boy grows into a young man, he visits the tree, though not as often. Happy in the joy of giving, the tree provides the man with money (he sells her apples), a home (he cuts off her branches), and even a boat (he cuts off her trunk). At the end of the book, the tree is reduced to nothing but a stump, while the boy has become an older man. The tree is very sad because she no longer has anything to give. But the older man makes her happy again by saying all he wants is a quiet place to sit and rest.
The older man never elected to grind away that poor, lonely stump as far as we know. Having said as much, the practice is quite common. It’s also far more convenient than full stump removal, which sometimes requires extensive digging to gain access to all of the roots they may be attached to it. Many homeowners choose to bypass stump removal in favor of stump grinding because it’s faster, cheaper, and far less impacting their property.
What is Stump Grinding?
Stump grinding is just what it sounds like. Using a machine equipped with a vertical cutting blade, we grind the stump into a fine powder. This happens as the cutting blade, attached to a mechanical arm, sweeps back and forth on the stump, grinding it down layer by layer until nothing but a pile of sawdust remains. Other, larger types of grinders may not use the mechanical arm. Let’s have a quick look at the most common designs of this machinery now. They are:
- The hand-guided portable grinder
- The rear-hitch grinder
- These larger grinders can be attached to a truck for transporting
- Riding grinders
- Skid stump grinders
- These grinders have tank-like treads and are driven from behind
- The stump grinder attachment
Some hardware distributors will rent out portable grinders, but really, these are machines for trained professionals. The cutting blades are more than just a little bit dangerous, and an accident only takes one mistake.
The remaining sawdust—there will be a lot—can be recycled into things like particleboard, mulch, or wood pulp. This sawdust can also be used to fill in the rather large hole that remains after grinding a stump, though most homeowners prefer to use soil instead. Stump grinding in Carlsbad, California takes anywhere from 15 minutes to 2 hours. The time we spend on one stump depends on that stump’s size, location, and other variables.
Carlsbad Pro Tree Service is here to safely grind any tree stump without tearing up large areas of your property or charging you a fortune. Find out more by giving us a call today at 760-280-5757.