Hiring a tree service to remove a tree is one thing, but hiring a tree service to remove stumps can require a whole different service. Things that need to be thought about before hand are:

• The size of the stump grinder that is being used
• The price per inch that is being charged to remove stump
• The clean up of the grindings
• The ability to fill with dirt and reseed

Often times a property owner will put up with a large stump in their yard because they really don't know the alternatives. I have witness some people try to burn them out by drilling holes in the top of the stump and pouring gasoline inside of it. I do not recommend this alternative as it is dangerous and often times doesn't even eliminate much of the stump. Tree services usually have an additional service that is consider "stump removal". This is a whole different type of machine and can run a tree service $10,000-$20,000 for each stump grinder. The stump grinders come in all different sizes. Some are small enough to fit through a 32 inch gate but makes the stump removal job much harder due to the smaller size of the equipment. Using a tree service that has a big stump grinder that reduces down to 32 inches in width is preferable. This way, the homeowner is assured that the tree stump will be grounded out deep enough to later plant grass or another tree.

The going rate for stump removal is between $1.75-$2.75 per inch. Each state or region might fluctuate in that area but here in Iowa, the average is $2.50 per inch. This only includes the actual grinding of the stump, NOT the clean up of the stump grindings. Many people get confused and angry that the $2.50 per inch does not include the cleaning up of the stump grindings, so please make sure that that is all agreed upon before the job is started.

Cleaning up of the stump grinding can be a big job. The weight of removing the grindings is one problem that most people do not think about. Recycling the stump grindings is easy because they make a great mulch around other plants.  Some species of trees are not good to use like cedar so please do not recycle those grindings.  Once the grindings are removed from the hole, dirt needs to be hauled in to refill the area. Depending on the size of the original stump, a skid load might be used to clear out the stump grinding and load them  into a dump truck to be hauled out. The dump truck might also be used to haul the black dirt back in to fill the hole. There is a lot of manual labor that is involved in doing the stump clean up which is why the $2.50 per inch does not included the cleanup. Another $2.00 per inch will be charged for cleanup on average.

Finally, reseeding the area. This is fairly simple and can be done within minutes. Once the new black dirt is applied, grass seed is spread over the dirt and then raked in.

Within 2-3 weeks, the ugly stump is history and the new grass will eliminate any evidence of a tree being there in the first place.