Stump

[thewoodlands]

After felling a tree should you leave the stump or cut it flush with the ground or does it matter.

zap

 

[EatenByLimestone]

If it's in the way I'd cut it flush. If nobody will care I'd leave with 6" or so so I don't get the chain in the ground. I took down a spruce last year and am slowly digging out the stump so I will be able to put another tree in it's spot this spring.

Matt

 

[Wood Duck]

Unless you have a reason to cut it flush, I'm going with 'doesn't matter.' I leave some stump to avoid contacting the dirt with my chain.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

I rarely cut them down tight to the ground but have done a few. The stumps don't bother me at all and by leaving the stump, many times you will get new growth right there. I've never seemed to get it when cutting down flush with the ground.

 

[smokinj]

I would flush cut it just so you dont tear up that nice buggy some time down the road. Looks much better flush cut as well that 390 can handle it....just use the long bar when doing them.

 

[rdust]

Flush cut if they're in my way or if someone is letting me cut on their property. If I'm in the woods I'll leave the stump.

 

[sksmass]

If you are clearing land for some alternate use (like a yard or garden) and the trees aren't too big you might leave the stumps long so you have extra leverage when the time comes to hitch up a come-along or a truck to try to yank them out of the ground.

 

[dave11]

If the stump is within 50 feet of a house, I'd get rid of as much of it and as far down as possible. Carpenter ants and termites love old stumps.

 

[gyrfalcon]

After felling a tree should you leave the stump or cut it flush with the ground or does it matter.

zap

Depending on where it is and whether you have an enthusiastic gardener in the family, leave a stump for somebody to plant some wildflowers around it. Makes a pretty nice accent piece in a stretch of lawn. I have a couple around my property. Throwing in some wildflowers and letting the grasses grow up around it looks really nice in a country setting.

 

[firefighterjake]

As mentioned it depends . . . if you're clearing a lot you want to leave a bit of a stump so the dozer can push up against it . . . and if you're clearing a tree from a lawn or making a woods trail you might want to cut it flush.

 

[billb3]

Close to the ground might be easier for a stump grinder.

I've found some old stumps from when the neighboring property was logged close to a hundred years ago and they're all cut to within 4 inches of the ground.

I prefer cut close to the ground, but a lot of trees here that were cut before I started were left with as much as two feet. Something to sit on I suppose.

 

[gpcollen1]

if u chop or make a bowl on top, water will soak in,freeze, & rupture the wood for later removal

I drill holes in mine about 12" deep if I can. Those things rot right down in 1-2 years and disappear.

 

[billb3]

I just drilll some 'holes' with the saw.

Never done any side-by-sides to compare rate of decomposition.

I've carved my initials, too.
Look more like Ws on thier sides, but hey.

 

[CrawfordCentury]

Leave the stump. Like Mother Nature's own barstool. Gives the bunnys sumpin to sit on.

 

[Tony H]

Depends on where it is ,in a lawn area I will go pretty low depending on how the stump will be removed ...Pulled , burned, drilled /cut up or ground out.
Out in the woods I will go low or leave a foot so you can see it because I always trip over the 6" ones I can't see under the leaves.

 

[mayhem]

In the woods I'll leave it a foot high give or take, around the house I try to dig around it on the side I want it to fall on and do my best to knock it over so it takes the stump with it. Still working on the best way to do that, but its sure nice to not dink with the stumps.