Do not plant trees next to big steel rods.

del44

2 years ago I had a big 45 year old maple tree that got hit by lightning. The strike was about 5' off the ground. It hit one side of the tree and blew the bark off the other side. It was so bad, I had to get a tree co. to remove it. As they were cutting it down they were getting to the area where the lighting hit. Their chainsaws kept hitting something metal in the middle of the tree. Well, to make a long story short, this is what thy ran into. Some type of truck axel or something. Because of this 1" piece of solid steel I cannot use a stump grinder. It would gret all tore up. This piece of steel was about 5' higher but the tree guys rocked the upper part of the stump until it broke. I guess I'll keep on carving until I find the bottom of it. Trying to burn the stump doesn't help. What an eye sore.[IMG][/img]

Bill Ayotte

That sucks man...My parents had a dead branch on an old tree trimmed off, and the whole tree ended up falling into the street after they dropped that branch....The stump was about 4ft in diameter, it took my dad and I about three days to get that thing ground down....It never ended up looking good though.....

TN_Polk_Lover

I may have dreamed this, but it seems many years ago I remember seeing at Lowe's or Home Depot a product that you pour onto a tree stump and it helps speed up the deterioration of the stump to make it easier to get rid of. But, like I said, it was many years ago, and I may be totally luney.

F1nut

Shove a stick of dynamite about a foot deep into the center, problem solved.

ledhed

TN_Polk_Lover wrote: »

I may have dreamed this, but it seems many years ago I remember seeing at Lowe's or Home Depot a product that you pour onto a tree stump and it helps speed up the deterioration of the stump to make it easier to get rid of. But, like I said, it was many years ago, and I may be totally luney.

Yea, it's a bacteria that speeds decomposition which really is the only way to perfectly get rid of them.

dylan

TN_Polk_Lover wrote: »

I may have dreamed this, but it seems many years ago I remember seeing at Lowe's or Home Depot a product that you pour onto a tree stump and it helps speed up the deterioration of the stump to make it easier to get rid of.

I was also wondering if I dreamed that idea last week. Some utility-company sponsored tree removals have left me about 10 small stumps in the back yard. This looks like a good possibility. Especially with a steel rod in the middle... man.

ben62670

I did tree work for a while. We have found horse shoes in them, railroad spikes, cables, and rocks.... Lots of stuff.

disneyjoe7

But Jesse's idea would be quicker.

dorokusai

I would stick a severed goat head on top of it for good luck.

RuSsMaN

Get all hogged up and throw some horseshoes with your friends.

shack

How about taking a gas welding torch and heating that rod until it chars all of the wood surrounding it? Once you do that you should be able to break it loose and pull it out.

Nisqually Dave

No joke you can get a powder man to blow it out for you. a good powder man can place it just about anywhere you want it to land. A bad powder man can do what happened to a friend years ago blew it out right over the house and into his drivway on top of his car.

The truth is I Don't know if it is still done. But back then a good powder man was like an artist.

ben62670

You can drill big holes in it, and fill them with drain oil mixed with gas or kerosene. Let it soak overnight. Fill again, and light it. Stumps are wet, and more dense than the rest of the tree. Its not a fast way to do it, but I like fire, and its easy. Repeat several times. Straight Kero works good to if you don't have drain oil. Be creative
Or you could go redneck, and make one of them there fancy planters out of an old tire:p

schwarcw

TN_Polk_Lover wrote: »

I may have dreamed this, but it seems many years ago I remember seeing at Lowe's or Home Depot a product that you pour onto a tree stump and it helps speed up the deterioration of the stump to make it easier to get rid of. But, like I said, it was many years ago, and I may be totally luney.

No dream, it's plain old lye. Rent an industrial drill or auger that can drill 1/2" or larger hole as deep as you can 1 ft would be great. Drill as many of these holes as you can. Fill them with crystal lye or Draino. Use a mask and DO NOT INHALE ANY of THE POWDER!! Draino or lye is chemically known as sodium hydroxide. It will break down the cellular structure of the wood. After about a year you can use a pick axe to break apart the stump. If there is still hardwood left, use more lye and wait another year. This is a slow process but it will do the job in a couple of years.

Black power will also do the job. Not an easy thing to do in the city. Shock waves break water lines, etc. Most times, it will be difficult to get a permit.

The best way is to hire a contractor with a big back hoe, he'll get it out. Then it's time for landscaping. Insurance companies usually cover the cost for tree removal from lightning strikes.

strider

RuSsMaN wrote: »

Get all hogged up and throw some horseshoes with your friends.

I like this option the best, but also think it would be even better when coupled with this:


You can drill big holes in it, and fill them with drain oil mixed with gas or kerosene. Let it soak overnight. Fill again, and light it.....

audiobliss

"Hey, I finally got it around the post!"

"Yeah, well. You can just go retrieve it, too. I'm not sticking my hand in that firey blaze!"

Dennis Gardner

Those darn tree huggers from the early '60s, spiking trees to kill lumberjacks....can you believe it?;)

I see that all the time out here in the country, but the trees are growing around those orange fence posts put along side them to hold them up during their early life, and someone forgot to remove it until it was too late.

ben62670

strider wrote: »

I like this option the best, but also think it would be even better when coupled with this:


You can drill big holes in it, and fill them with drain oil mixed with gas or kerosene. Let it soak overnight. Fill again, and light it.....

It burns more like a candle, and for a quite a bit of time. I have done this. Its nothing scary. Just something to do to kill time, stump, and maybe some beers if thats your cup o tea. Make sure to have a dirt buffer around the stump. Back in the day it was a good excuse to get a keg, and burn something;)

del44

I'm loving the suggestions. But DYNAMITE is a no go.:eek: Too close to the house. I've built big fires on that thing last year. Barely made a dent in this friggin thing. It's the stump from hell! I like the idea of dumping some sort of stumpacide or kerosene into it though. I think that the rod may be very deep in the ground. Bad thing is that there's a matching maple on the other side of the yard. Probably another 6' lighting rod in that one too.

ben62670

del44 wrote: »

I'm loving the suggestions. But DYNAMITE is a no go.:eek: Too close to the house. I've built big fires on that thing last year. Barely made a dent in this friggin thing. It's the stump from hell! I like the idea of dumping some sort of stumpacide or kerosene into it though. I think that the rod may be very deep in the ground. Bad thing is that there's a matching maple on the other side of the yard. Probably another 6' lighting rod in that one too.

One tree I cut down had a copper wire the size of you finger running up to the top of the tree. It had been there so long that it had grown into the tree, and you could see it popping out here and there. BTW building a fire on top of a stump is like building a fire on ice when Ice fishing. They burn up;)

jmwest1970

schwarcw wrote: »

No dream, it's plain old lye. Rent an industrial drill or auger that can drill 1/2" or larger hole as deep as you can 1 ft would be great. Drill as many of these holes as you can. Fill them with crystal lye or Draino. Use a mask and DO NOT INHALE ANY of THE POWDER!! Draino or lye is chemically known as sodium hydroxide. It will break down the cellular structure of the wood. After about a year you can use a pick axe to break apart the stump.

This works very well. I have a stump that's 6' across from an old Gum tree that was hit by lightning that I used this method on last spring. Now you can kick it over! I'll be taking the axe to it in a couple more weeks to get rid of it.

ben62670

If you can find someone in the tree biz you can get a chemical that you apply to the outer ring of the stump, and in about a month you can kick it out with your boots. If you can get this stuff be extremely careful with it. It is super toxic, and a couple drops soaked into your skin can make you very ill. Does not hurt wells or anything else, and is safe after a day or two.

engtaz

WOW and Dang