Best way to get old bush stumps out?

[Kermit power]

I'm looking at clearing a stty old overgrown bit of flowerbed to turf over. Obviously a lot of the stuff comes up fairly easily, but buried under everything else are a whole load of old bush stumps which I assume someone has previously tried to remove then given up on and covered them with other vegetation.

Could anyone provide some tips on getting them out? I'm getting nowhere with shovels, forks and the like, so am assuming I'll have to rent/buy something with rather more destructive power, but I don't know what?

Frustratingly, this is the back garden, so pulling them out with a rope attached to my Shogun isn't an option.

[freecar]

Kermit power said:

Frustratingly, this is the back garden, so pulling them out with a rope attached to my Shogun isn't an option.

Pah, you're just not trying!

1 Pulley on peak of roof
2 Long rope to shogun in front of house
3 ???
4 Profit!

[richyb]

Keep digging or a hand winch. Someone like Speedy or HSS probably hire them out.

[Rollin]

Dig around stump.
Cut thick roots with a lopping saw.
Push stump back and forth.
Repeat.

[normalbloke]

Unimog. Winch. Done.....

[rhinochopig]

PM BruvceV8, I believe he's just about to be demobbed. He can probably sort it for you

[Toilet Duck]

Don't know if the same technique will apply, but when I had to get rid of some bush/tree type things with horrific roots I just dug a bit down underneath then shoved a scaffold pole in the hole, levered it down over a piece of timber and it forced the things out the ground. Saved me digging around for hours to get at all the roots to allow the stump thing to come out.

[VxDuncan]

Get yourself a mattock. Sharpen the blade with an angle grinder. Like a pick axe, but the big flat blade can be used to cut through the roots, or turned round to specifically cut stuff. Plus it can be used to lever stuff out of the ground. A 7lb mattock swung from above the head will make short work of them...
http://www.wickes.co.uk/contractor-mattock/invt/50...

[Simpo Two]

There is always one bd root as thick as your arm that goes straight down! Another trick roots like to play is to be oval, so they appear only 1" diameter when viewed from above, but actually measure 3" from top to bottom

A saw is no good as the green fibrous wood clogs it and the soil blunts it in seconds. So yes, axe or mattock. And a wrecking bar, and a beefy friend and a lot of sweat!

[TooLateForAName]

VxDuncan said:

A 7lb mattock swung from above the head will make short work of them...

And who needs legs anyway?

[andy43]

Someone elses chainsaw would do it.

[Kermit power]

richyb said:

Keep digging or a hand winch. Someone like Speedy or HSS probably hire them out.

I've been out for the afternoon, so only just checked this, but thanks for that. I've actually got a hand winch in the garage! Now just need somewhere to anchor it.

[henrycrun]

simple, just tie it to the car...

[mikR]

Rollin said:

Dig around stump.
Cut thick roots with a lopping saw.
Push stump back and forth.
Repeat.

The above is the only way to remove.

[normalbloke]

mikR said:

The above is the only way to remove.

Amateur.

[base]

A Stump Grinder is your friend

[eliot]

Had the same problem - Chainsaw just bounced of the Hawthorn. So it was "Warm up the chevy" time..



Note - when doing this put your seatbelt on, because if the stump is stubborn you will headbut the steering wheel.

[Kermit power]

Hand winch or mattock looking the best bets at the moment, as I can't get a vehicle anywhere near it, and even on a rental, the stump grinder looks pretty expensive!

[Swoxy]

[eliot]

Swoxy said:

Thats just a twig!