Stump Grinding Mulch.

[dhuffnmu]

How many of you remove stump grinding mulch and do backfilling with topsoil and reseed? What kind of prices do you charge for it. Say if you took the tree down and did the stump yourself or if someone had a stump ground and you had to go in and clean up?

 

[tophopper]

2 per inch grind only
4 per inch grind and haul no dirt in hole
6 per inch grind and haul and backfill with soil

grass seed free of charge

 

[juststumps]

7 per inch, leveled, grindings hauled away...t+m to dig out hole,, fill, seed or sod,,

 

[Stumper]

No thanks. I grind stumps and backfill with grindings. Hauling should double the cost or more but since that isn't skilled/specialized work I'm not happy with what I need to charge and you Mr. Customer, won't be pleased with the extra cost. If I haul grindings and haul in topsoil and do a proper job of it a one hour job could easily turn into a full day. You can do that part yourself or hire someone cheaper.

 

[treesurgeon]

on bigger trees, it could turn into a whole new job. we do it all. but sometimes its not worth it. id rather just grind out another stump rather than screw around with all that other stuff.
2-3 dollars an inch.
40 dollars per yard of chips to remove
50 per yard topsoil dumped and spread
and yes, some times it cost more to finish the job than the cost of grinding the stump

 

[Scars2prove-it]

Charge what a landscaper would if you had to call him in for the job. A friend of mine is a landscaper and he charges $400 for a typical 30 inch stump. That is for removing the chips, backfilling with topsoil and seeding. I sub jobs out to him when people ask. It's not worth it for me to do it because it requires extra time to go get the materials. It's also a hassle when the customer calls back later and says there is a bare spot in the grass where the seed didn't take.

 

[Stumped_4_Life]

I charge What ever It cost To Grind the Stump Out, If i Took Out a Stump For $50.00 Dollars i Would Charge $50.00 Dollars To Remove The Chips, Fill With Dirt & Seed. If they just Want the Chip Removed I'll Charge, Half The price Of The Stump.

 

[Dadatwins]

Not for me either, some debris removal and soil replacement can take longer than the grindings. On hardwood I will usually overgrind the stump hole so there is more dirt in the mix and tell the customer to let it settle add some topsoil and seed. On shredded stumps like pine and maple I advise the homeowner to wait for it to settle and then scrap the top off and add topsoil and seed. There is a profitable end if you have the manpower and equipment to remove the debris and haul in topsoil but I do not have either.

 

[Lumberjack]

I have some ideas for exspansion (yet again) by next summer. I am thinking hard about a mini loader. If I got that and a hydraulic dump trailer, cleanup would often be a breeze.

The only real profitable way to clean up stumps that I see is using equipment. Man power is like renting a house, you never get ahead. With a mini loader you could make quick work of most stumps (in my area). On stumps that you cant get the trailer back to, use a hopper of the correct size (for your mini loader like Koa's) and haul them to the front. A two man job was just cut down to a 1 man job, done twice as fast in optimum condtions, go to the next clean up and do it. Keep a 2 man crew though, always something for the second guy to do.

 

[hobby climber]

I will grind out the stump and let customer decide if he wants me to back fill the hole or not. As far as hauling away the chips and filling with top soil & seeding... I give them the name & number of a landscaper. I sent work to him and he sends work to me. Its proven to be a very good way to do business without stepping on each others toes so so speak. My .02 HC

 

[Stumped_4_Life]

I Hate Leaving Business Just Laying Around, Any way i Can make A Few More $Bucks$ is Fine With Me.

 

[Lumberjack]

I Do Too Stumped 4 Life. I Also Hate Leaving The First Letter Of Every Word Lower Case After The First, So The Rest Dont Feel Left Out.

Dan, one up ya. I got a 1 ton flatty I would pull it with. The loader would stay on the truck, load from the curb, sit sideways on the bed, right behind the cab. Load if from the curb using aluminum ramps. Have it at every job will help make it pay for itsself and make the suspension ride better too!

 

[treeseer]

I have some ideas for exspansion (yet again) .

Here's another one: how about planting a TREE where the stump was, or shrubs?

 

[treeman82]

1 question though. You've got a day of stumps to do, where the chips need to be hauled away, and you need to fill in the holes with topsoil. You bring your rig over to the first job, you grind the stump out, and remove the debris into the back of your trailer. Now where are you going to get your topsoil from without having to dump the chips? Only effective way I see to do that type of job is 2 trucks. 1 carries the loader / grinder, along with the chips. The other carries the soil. Unless you guys see a better way?

 

[Toddppm]

We offer any and all of the above.
If it's just one or 2 guys doing the work a bigger equipment trailer that can hold a grinder and a loader with dirt a place for spoils on the truck would work easily.

 

[treeseer]

1 question though. You've got a day of stumps to do, where the chips need to be hauled away, Unless you guys see a better way?

How about keepin em on site? Chips are mulch, not trash. Every yard has a natural area that needs to be larger or deeper.

What we have here is a failure to communicate the benefits of mulch.

 

[iain]

try a flat bed van for the grinder + spoil + towing a trailer for the soil

 

[Lumberjack]

My thoughts where have the grinder and operator go through with his normal day of grinding, then a seperate truck and crew comes by to clean it up. Haul the mini grinder on a flatbed, along with some amount of top soil, and a dump trailer (perhaps with a divider for top soil/chips?


Guy, expansion into landscaping is what I am thinking, along with developing the PHC market here, its ripe for the picking, noone here does it, noone is aware of it.

Replanting a tree is a good thought as well. However I can show you plenty of yards that have no place to actually use the chips. Also raw pine chips will kill most plants if they are put directly into use without time to weather (at least this is true from what I have been told, am I mistaken?). If we grind an average pine stump you will have a pickup load of chips or better. Right now we currently leave 95% of our chips on site.

 

[Stumped_4_Life]

My Tractor is one of the best Investments i Have made It can pull my Stumper into Places where my truck cant go and i can Remove the chips with no Problums, then when im all done i pull the tractor with the grinder on it on to a lowboy Witch saves time and money because the tires on my stumper wear fast, 2 Sets a month Thats $200 Dollars a month i save with the lowboy and tractor.

 

[juststumps]

the way i work it is,,, i have a climber,, and a landscaper i'm tight with...
we all work together...climber sells a job, he calls me to take the stump out.. if the customer wants it redone,,(new tree,,grass) we get the landscaper on the job....


if i grab a job,, let him price it,, i do the stump,, and we call the landscaper if the customer wants it redone..


if the landscaper sell a job,, he calls the climber,,, calls me,, finishes the job...

this way everyone makes a buck,,,we all feed off of each other,,,,and every one doesn't have to buy extra gear....if one of us needs an extra set of hands,, it's there... life is good when everybody is making money!!!