Norman, Oklahoma
Stumps gone, ground smooth.
The stump chewed out below ground level, the chips left or hauled — your call — and a yard you can mow in a straight line again.
Grinding beats digging
A stump grinder is a toothed wheel that chews the stump into chips, working from the top down until the wood is gone below ground level. Compared with pulling or digging a stump out, grinding is faster, cheaper, and far kinder to the yard: no crater, no snapped irrigation, no truck ruts where the winch sat. The hole fills with its own chips, and when those settle you top it off with soil and seed.
We can also chase the big surface roots that trip mowers and heave sidewalks, grinding them down along with the stump itself. Say so when you book and we will quote it as one piece of work.
The sprouters
Cut a Siberian elm, a hackberry, a cottonwood, or a Bradford pear off at the knee and it will not take the hint. Stumps of those species throw shoots for years, and a mowed-over stump becomes a shrub with a trunk buried in it. Grinding takes out the stump and the crown tissue the sprouts grow from, which ends the argument for most trees. A few species can still send suckers up from far roots — if yours is one of them, we will tell you at the quote instead of letting you find out next June.
Gates, slopes, and backyards
Backyard stumps are the everyday job, not the exception. Grinders come in sizes, and the narrow machines fit through the gate of most Norman privacy fences. Tell us the gate width when you ask for a quote — or just send a photo — and we will bring the machine that fits. Soft ground after rain gets boards laid down first, so the grinder does not leave its own scar on the way to the stump.
Priced by the stump
Stump quotes are simple: the diameter at the ground, how deep you need it gone, how many stumps, and how hard they are to reach. Grass over the spot needs a deeper grind than a flower bed does. Grinding is usually the smallest line on a tree-work invoice, and it is cheapest of all when it rides along with a removal — the crew and the machine are already standing in your yard. Standalone stump days happen every week too. Either way the quote is free.
Planting after the grind
Fresh chips tie up nitrogen as they rot, so do not plant a new tree straight into a chip-filled hole and expect it to thrive. For grass: rake out the bulk of the chips, top with real soil, and seed. For a replacement tree: plant it a step or two away from the old spot, in ground that is not busy digesting the last tree. If you are replanting after a storm loss, the ice storm guide has a section on choosing species that will still be standing in twenty years.
Get the stump out this week.
Count your stumps, guess the widths, and call. Numbers over the phone are usually possible.