Stump grinding in Bremen, IN
A stump is the part of a tree that keeps costing you: mower blades, a trip hazard in the dark, suckers coming up around it every spring. We grind it below ground level so the spot turns back into lawn.
How deep we grind
We take the stump below ground level, far enough down that the spot can be mowed over, seeded or sodded. The grinder is a spinning wheel of carbide teeth that chews the wood away in passes, working across the top of the stump and down into it. There's no digging and no pulling, so the lawn around it stays put.
How far down is right depends on what's going there next. Grass needs less depth than a new tree, a garden bed or a patio. Tell us your plans for the spot at the estimate and we'll grind to suit. If you want the big surface roots running out across the yard dealt with too, that's a slightly different job, covered on our page about stump and root removal.
What happens to the chips
Grinding turns a stump into a pile of wood chips mixed with soil, and there's more of it than people expect. We rake the chips back into the hole and level the spot. Over the next season they settle and break down, so the area sinks a little; a bag of topsoil and some seed at that point finishes it off.
If you'd rather keep the chips for mulch around your beds, ask about it at the estimate. Weathered stump chips make a decent path or bed cover.
Stumps left by someone else
Plenty of our stump calls are for trees we never touched: an old stump the last owner left behind, a tree a relative cut down years ago, or a removal done by another outfit that didn't grind. It makes no difference to the grinder. Old, half-rotten stumps are often easier than fresh ones.
We just need to be able to get the machine to it. Most yard gates are wide enough; if yours isn't, tell us and we'll look at another way in at the estimate.
Having a tree taken down?
Grind the stump the same visit. The crew and equipment are already there, and you don't have to think about it again. Mention it when we price the tree removal.
Where we grind stumps
Front yards in town, fence lines on farms, old stumps in the back of a lot. We take stump grinding across Marshall, St. Joseph and Elkhart counties.
Stump grinding questions
Most won't once the stump is ground out. A few kinds of trees can send up shoots from roots left in the ground for a season; mowing them off a few times usually ends it.
If you have sprinkler lines, invisible dog fence, or lighting wire near the stump, flag it. Buried utilities near a stump should be marked through Indiana 811 before any grinding.
You can, but it does better a little to one side, where the soil isn't full of decaying wood and old roots. If you want the new tree right where the old one stood, tell us so we can grind deeper there.