Every cleared tree leaves a stump, and every stump is in the way of something: a lawn, a driveway, a fence line, a build. There are three ways to deal with it, and the right one depends on how many you have and what you are doing with the ground afterward.
Option 1: Grinding
A stump grinder chews the stump into chips to a few inches below grade. It is fast, leaves the roots in the ground to rot, and is the right choice for one or two stumps in a finished lawn where you do not want a hole. The downside is that the roots are still there, so you cannot build, pave or trench through that spot, and the chip-filled hole settles for years. Grinding is a tree service job; we do not rent grinders.
Option 2: Digging by hand
Possible for small stumps under about eight inches with a mattock, a saw and a long afternoon. Not realistic for anything larger or for more than a couple.
Option 3: Excavator removal
The whole stump and the main roots come out, leaving clean ground you can build on, grade, or plant. It is the only real option for a fence line, a driveway, a building envelope or a lot with a dozen stumps. This is Kubota U35 work; the U17 handles small stumps under about a foot but will fight anything larger.
Step by step with the excavator
Get Ontario One Call locates first; roots and buried lines share the same ground and locates are free and required by law. Dig a trench around the stump about two feet out to expose the lateral roots. Cut the roots with the bucket teeth by pressing down on them, or with a chainsaw if they are large. Work around the stump until it rocks. Get the bucket under one side and pry; the stump lifts, tears the remaining roots and comes out. Shake the soil off over the hole so you keep your dirt. Set the stump aside for hauling, burning where the township permits it, or burial on site where allowed. Backfill the hole with the loosened soil, mound it slightly to allow for settling, and compact with the tracks.
How long it takes
A U35 pulls a stump up to about two feet across in ten to twenty minutes in sand, longer in clay or with a wide-rooted species like maple or spruce. A dozen stumps is a comfortable day. Larger stumps, three feet and up, take longer and sometimes need the roots cut in sections.
What to do with them
Stumps do not compost quickly and most landfills charge by the tonne. Options in this area: a bin from a waste company, hauling to a green waste depot on our tilt trailer, an open burn where your township issues permits and conditions allow, or burying them on a rural property in a spot you will never build on, which some townships allow and some do not, so ask.
The U35 rents from $350 a day and $600 for a weekend, delivered across Georgina, Brock, Uxbridge and Kawartha Lakes. Text a photo of the stumps to 905-251-2521 and we will tell you which machine and how long.