I took down some saplings last year (about 2-3" diameter) that were on
a relatively steep hill in our front yard.

Is there any simple/cheap way to speed their decomposition?
It probably doesn't pay to rent a shredder plus it would be difficult
to manouvre it in the hilly area.
I had heard in the past of chemicals that are drilled into the trunk.
I'm looking for something readily available that is faster than
natural decomposition.

On Jun 29, 7:07*am, blueman wrote:
I took down some saplings last year (about 2-3" diameter) that were on
a relatively steep hill in our front yard.

Is there any simple/cheap way to speed their decomposition?
It probably doesn't pay to rent a shredder plus it would be difficult
to manouvre it in the hilly area.
I had heard in the past of chemicals that are drilled into the trunk.
I'm looking for something readily available that is faster than
natural decomposition.

Drill holes and fill with fertilizer.

I've heard of using powdered milk, but I've not tried it.
The one stump I took out, used a sawzall, and a lot of
blades.

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


"blueman" wrote in message
...
I took down some saplings last year (about 2-3" diameter)
that were on
a relatively steep hill in our front yard.

Is there any simple/cheap way to speed their decomposition?
It probably doesn't pay to rent a shredder plus it would be
difficult
to manouvre it in the hilly area.
I had heard in the past of chemicals that are drilled into
the trunk.
I'm looking for something readily available that is faster
than
natural decomposition.

Check out stump remover, at Lowes or Home Depot. Worth
asking.

Google is your friend.
http://www.google.com/products?hl=en...=N&tab=wf&um=1

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


"blueman" wrote in message
...
I took down some saplings last year (about 2-3" diameter)
that were on
a relatively steep hill in our front yard.

Is there any simple/cheap way to speed their decomposition?
It probably doesn't pay to rent a shredder plus it would be
difficult
to manouvre it in the hilly area.
I had heard in the past of chemicals that are drilled into
the trunk.
I'm looking for something readily available that is faster
than
natural decomposition.

blueman wrote:
I took down some saplings last year (about 2-3" diameter) that were on
a relatively steep hill in our front yard.

Is there any simple/cheap way to speed their decomposition?
It probably doesn't pay to rent a shredder plus it would be difficult
to manouvre it in the hilly area.
I had heard in the past of chemicals that are drilled into the trunk.
I'm looking for something readily available that is faster than
natural decomposition.

Drill holes and fill with a high nitrogen (first of the three numbers is
much larger than the other two) fertilizer.

On Mon, 29 Jun 2009 08:07:51 -0400, blueman wrote:

I took down some saplings last year (about 2-3" diameter) that were on
a relatively steep hill in our front yard.

Is there any simple/cheap way to speed their decomposition?
It probably doesn't pay to rent a shredder plus it would be difficult
to manouvre it in the hilly area.
I had heard in the past of chemicals that are drilled into the trunk.
I'm looking for something readily available that is faster than
natural decomposition.

2-3" in diameter? Really- *inches*? 5 minutes with a hand axe
should release the roots and you toss them in the trash. I keep
an axe for just such jobs. I quick-sharpen it on a grinder and
don't worry about chipping it on rocks.

Jim

On Jun 29, 8:18*am, Eric in North TX wrote:
On Jun 29, 7:07*am, blueman wrote:

I took down some saplings last year (about 2-3" diameter) that were on
a relatively steep hill in our front yard.

Is there any simple/cheap way to speed their decomposition?
It probably doesn't pay to rent a shredder plus it would be difficult
to manouvre it in the hilly area.
I had heard in the past of chemicals that are drilled into the trunk.
I'm looking for something readily available that is faster than
natural decomposition.

Drill holes and fill with fertilizer.

Saltpeter works good too. Its a strong oxidizer that will make it rot.
They use to sell it and potasium nitrate as stump remover.

Jimmie

OnWh Jun 29, 7:07*am, blueman wrote:
I took down some saplings last year (about 2-3" diameter) that were on
a relatively steep hill in our front yard.

Is there any simple/cheap way to speed their decomposition?
It probably doesn't pay to rent a shredder plus it would be difficult
to manouvre it in the hilly area.
I had heard in the past of chemicals that are drilled into the trunk.
I'm looking for something readily available that is faster than
natural decomposition.

What i do is drill a 12" deep hole in the trunk with a 1/2" bit, and
fill it with gasoline.

"blueman" wrote in message
...
I took down some saplings last year (about 2-3" diameter) that were on
a relatively steep hill in our front yard.

Is there any simple/cheap way to speed their decomposition?
It probably doesn't pay to rent a shredder plus it would be difficult
to manouvre it in the hilly area.
I had heard in the past of chemicals that are drilled into the trunk.
I'm looking for something readily available that is faster than
natural decomposition.

I got rid of a 3' diameter by 3' tall stump by building a fire on it. It
took about three days using a fan to keep it hot. The grass growing where
it was now makes it about impossible to notice anymore.

Is that still available?

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


"JIMMIE" wrote in message
news:d95c0b4d-e322-4710-b318-

Saltpeter works good too. Its a strong oxidizer that will
make it rot.
They use to sell it and potasium nitrate as stump remover.

Jimmie

Stormin Mormon wrote:
Is that still available?


I used to be able to buy jars of powdered saltpeter in drugstores.

We used to hear that they mixed it with food in prisons to curtail the
inmates libidos, but that story may be rot.

As kids, we used to make "fuses" by soaking thick string in a
concentrated saltpeter and water solution and then letting it dry out.

If you pour powdered saltpeter into bored holes in the stump and let the
rain soak it into the stump wood, repeating that a few times over
several months, you'll turn the wood into a very easily combusted material.

If you then pour a bit of charcoal lighter on the stump and set it
afire, the stump wood will burn it's way right into the ground.

A garden hose and reasonable caution should always be on hand when you
start the burning.

Jeff

--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.8*10^12 furlongs per fortnight.

On Mon, 29 Jun 2009 08:07:51 -0400, blueman wrote:

I took down some saplings last year (about 2-3" diameter) that were on
a relatively steep hill in our front yard.

Is there any simple/cheap way to speed their decomposition?
It probably doesn't pay to rent a shredder plus it would be difficult
to manouvre it in the hilly area.
I had heard in the past of chemicals that are drilled into the trunk.
I'm looking for something readily available that is faster than
natural decomposition.


The procedure is to drill 1" diameter holes into the stump, 4 or 5
inches deep and keep the holes filled with 34-0-0 (potassium nitrate
or saltpeter). The downside is that some nitrogen will leak into
surrounding area, making turf turn a deep green color.

I found it much easier to cut the stumps as close to the ground as
possible so you can mow over them. For your size saplings, it can't
take too long to allow them to decay naturally.

On Mon, 29 Jun 2009 10:22:34 -0400, "Stormin Mormon"
wrote:

Is that still available?


Ask your local butcher shop.

Phisherman wrote:
On Mon, 29 Jun 2009 08:07:51 -0400, blueman wrote:

I took down some saplings last year (about 2-3" diameter) that were on
a relatively steep hill in our front yard.

Is there any simple/cheap way to speed their decomposition?
It probably doesn't pay to rent a shredder plus it would be difficult
to manouvre it in the hilly area.
I had heard in the past of chemicals that are drilled into the trunk.
I'm looking for something readily available that is faster than
natural decomposition.


The procedure is to drill 1" diameter holes into the stump, 4 or 5
inches deep and keep the holes filled with 34-0-0 (potassium nitrate
or saltpeter). The downside is that some nitrogen will leak into
surrounding area, making turf turn a deep green color.

I found it much easier to cut the stumps as close to the ground as
possible so you can mow over them. For your size saplings, it can't
take too long to allow them to decay naturally.

Potassium nitrate is approx. 14-39-0 and sodium nitrate is 16-0-0.
Ammonium nitrate is 35-0-0 which is what you are referring to and may
leach faster. Saltpeter refers to potassium nitrate but Chilean
saltpeter is sodium nitrate. Myself, I just use whatever fertilizer is
on hand.

I used to, also. Back in the1970s. Not sure it's available
any more. I've heard that some hardware stores have it, as
stump remover. But I havn't looked very hard.

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


"jeff_wisnia" wrote in
message
unications...
Stormin Mormon wrote:
Is that still available?


I used to be able to buy jars of powdered saltpeter in
drugstores.

We used to hear that they mixed it with food in prisons to
curtail the
inmates libidos, but that story may be rot.

As kids, we used to make "fuses" by soaking thick string in
a
concentrated saltpeter and water solution and then letting
it dry out.

If you pour powdered saltpeter into bored holes in the stump
and let the
rain soak it into the stump wood, repeating that a few times
over
several months, you'll turn the wood into a very easily
combusted material.

If you then pour a bit of charcoal lighter on the stump and
set it
afire, the stump wood will burn it's way right into the
ground.

A garden hose and reasonable caution should always be on
hand when you
start the burning.

Jeff

--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.8*10^12 furlongs per fortnight.

"Jim Elbrecht" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 29 Jun 2009 08:07:51 -0400, blueman wrote:

I took down some saplings last year (about 2-3" diameter) that were on
a relatively steep hill in our front yard.

Is there any simple/cheap way to speed their decomposition?
It probably doesn't pay to rent a shredder plus it would be difficult
to manouvre it in the hilly area.
I had heard in the past of chemicals that are drilled into the trunk.
I'm looking for something readily available that is faster than
natural decomposition.

2-3" in diameter? Really- *inches*? 5 minutes with a hand axe
should release the roots and you toss them in the trash. I keep
an axe for just such jobs. I quick-sharpen it on a grinder and
don't worry about chipping it on rocks.

Jim

Buy yourself a Grub Hoe and dig them out...Stumps that small will be pretty
easy...

George writes:

blueman wrote:
I took down some saplings last year (about 2-3" diameter) that were on
a relatively steep hill in our front yard.

Is there any simple/cheap way to speed their decomposition?
It probably doesn't pay to rent a shredder plus it would be difficult
to manouvre it in the hilly area.
I had heard in the past of chemicals that are drilled into the trunk.
I'm looking for something readily available that is faster than
natural decomposition.

Drill holes and fill with a high nitrogen (first of the three numbers
is much larger than the other two) fertilizer.

Just did that...
How long does it take to have a noticeable effect? How long till it is
mostly complete? Days? Weeks? Months? Years?

Jim Elbrecht writes:

On Mon, 29 Jun 2009 08:07:51 -0400, blueman wrote:

I took down some saplings last year (about 2-3" diameter) that were on
a relatively steep hill in our front yard.

Is there any simple/cheap way to speed their decomposition?
It probably doesn't pay to rent a shredder plus it would be difficult
to manouvre it in the hilly area.
I had heard in the past of chemicals that are drilled into the trunk.
I'm looking for something readily available that is faster than
natural decomposition.

2-3" in diameter? Really- *inches*? 5 minutes with a hand axe
should release the roots and you toss them in the trash. I keep
an axe for just such jobs. I quick-sharpen it on a grinder and
don't worry about chipping it on rocks.


I misspoke. Trees are more like 8" diameter

"blueman" wrote in message
...
George writes:

blueman wrote:
I took down some saplings last year (about 2-3" diameter) that were on
a relatively steep hill in our front yard.

Is there any simple/cheap way to speed their decomposition?
It probably doesn't pay to rent a shredder plus it would be difficult
to manouvre it in the hilly area.
I had heard in the past of chemicals that are drilled into the trunk.
I'm looking for something readily available that is faster than
natural decomposition.

Drill holes and fill with a high nitrogen (first of the three numbers
is much larger than the other two) fertilizer.

Just did that...
How long does it take to have a noticeable effect? How long till it is
mostly complete? Days? Weeks? Months? Years?

I had a hack berry tree (soft wood) with about a 14" base and multiple
stumps from that. I built a flower box over it out of untreated 2x pine.
We fed the flowers a lot of rapid grow and by the time the flower box rotted
the stumps were also. Estimated 4 years.

All you need is a high nitrogen fertilizer. Try to buy to ammonium nitrate
(pure nitrogen) might be a problem these days if you aren't a farmer. The
super green lawn products are about the same content at 29-0-10.

Keep it moist and it will rot faster.



--
Colbyt
Please come visit www.househomerepair.com

On Thu, 09 Jul 2009 15:43:52 -0400, blueman wrote:

George writes:

blueman wrote:
I took down some saplings last year (about 2-3" diameter) that were on
a relatively steep hill in our front yard.

Is there any simple/cheap way to speed their decomposition?
It probably doesn't pay to rent a shredder plus it would be difficult
to manouvre it in the hilly area.
I had heard in the past of chemicals that are drilled into the trunk.
I'm looking for something readily available that is faster than
natural decomposition.

Drill holes and fill with a high nitrogen (first of the three numbers
is much larger than the other two) fertilizer.

Just did that...
How long does it take to have a noticeable effect? How long till it is
mostly complete? Days? Weeks? Months? Years?

No idea. I have read that placing plastic over the area will
accelerate the process.

On Thu, 09 Jul 2009 13:16:25 -0700, Oren wrote:

On Thu, 09 Jul 2009 15:43:52 -0400, blueman wrote:

George writes:

blueman wrote:
I took down some saplings last year (about 2-3" diameter) that were on
a relatively steep hill in our front yard.

Is there any simple/cheap way to speed their decomposition?
It probably doesn't pay to rent a shredder plus it would be difficult
to manouvre it in the hilly area.
I had heard in the past of chemicals that are drilled into the trunk.
I'm looking for something readily available that is faster than
natural decomposition.

Drill holes and fill with a high nitrogen (first of the three numbers
is much larger than the other two) fertilizer.

Just did that...
How long does it take to have a noticeable effect? How long till it is
mostly complete? Days? Weeks? Months? Years?

No idea. I have read that placing plastic over the area will
accelerate the process.


Buy one of these
http://www.weedwrench.com/

On Jun 29, 7:07�am, blueman wrote:
I took down some saplings last year (about 2-3" diameter) that were on
a relatively steep hill in our front yard.

Is there any simple/cheap way to speed their decomposition?
It probably doesn't pay to rent a shredder plus it would be difficult
to manouvre it in the hilly area.
I had heard in the past of chemicals that are drilled into the trunk.
I'm looking for something readily available that is faster than
natural decomposition.

I used a mattock for 20-30 of this sized "volunteer" tree roots. For
the larger trees (6" diameter and up, a couple approaching 20"), I
used either a bow saw or a chain saw to cut, then used a mattock on
some after digging around the stump to reveal roots radiating out.
For the extremely large stumps (including the 35"-40" stump left by
the city after they cut down trees interfering with power lines), I
had a guy with a grinder come in. He used a large unit, not a bumber
mount, which was self-propelled.

If they aren't too big, digging/cutting/roots/digging/cutting roots
around the tree works pretty well to get the stump below ground level
at least a foot or so. Once you get the first couple roots cut with
the mattock, additional roots become easier to cut.

On Jun 29, 8:18*am, Eric in North TX wrote:
On Jun 29, 7:07*am, blueman wrote:

I took down some saplings last year (about 2-3" diameter) that were on
a relatively steep hill in our front yard.

Is there any simple/cheap way to speed their decomposition?
It probably doesn't pay to rent a shredder plus it would be difficult
to manouvre it in the hilly area.
I had heard in the past of chemicals that are drilled into the trunk.
I'm looking for something readily available that is faster than
natural decomposition.

Drill holes and fill with fertilizer.

Or weed and root killer.