Was dead set against renting a stump grinder until I hit 47 stumps in one week

Figured I'd always just dig or burn them out, but after that mess I rented a Vermeer for a day and finished in 4 hours. Anyone else find one tool that totally changed their approach?

2 comments

2 Comments

paul1171mo ago

Wait, you did 47 stumps in a week by hand? Man, my back hurts just thinking about that. I dug out maybe a dozen small ones one summer and swore I'd never do it again. That Vermeer makes a world of difference, no doubt. I rented one for a bunch of oak stumps that were all tangled up in roots, and it chewed through them in half a day. Cheaper than a chiropractor visit too, I bet.

hayes.tara1mo ago

47 stumps in a week by hand sounds like a personal choice, not a necessity. People act like digging a stump is the hardest thing on earth but honestly if you're not dealing with massive oak root balls it's just sweat and some elbow grease. I've done plenty of stumps with a mattock and a shovel over the years, takes longer sure but it's not like you're breaking your back unless you're rushing or doing it wrong. And a Vermeer for a day probably costs what, 200 bucks? For 47 stumps that's still cheaper than buying one outright but it's not like the tool changed your whole life. You could have spaced them out over a month and been fine. Just saying, sometimes people make a bigger deal out of this stuff than it really is.