Stump Grinding in Cleveland, OH

Stump grinding uses a machine with a toothed spinning wheel to chip a stump down below ground level, leaving a hole full of wood chips and soil instead of a stump. It is the usual way to clear a stump in a Cleveland yard, because pulling one out whole takes heavy digging that tears up lawns, walks and buried lines. A stump left alone can take years to rot, sprout suckers in the meantime, and get in the way of mowing and planting.

Call 811 before anyone grinds

Ohio Utility Protection Service (dial 811) marks buried gas, electric and other lines before digging, and the City of Cleveland's Urban Forestry rules specifically call for an 811 request before stump or root removal. Gas service lines and buried cable often run right under front yards and tree lawns. We have the lines marked and grind around them.

How deep and what is left

Most residential grinding goes several inches below the surface, deep enough to lay topsoil and seed or sod over it. If you plan to set a patio, a fence post or a new tree in the same spot, tell us, since that changes how deep and wide we grind. Grinding takes out the stump and the root flare; long surface roots can be followed out, but the deeper roots stay in the soil and break down slowly. The chips can go back in the hole, be raked out as mulch, or be hauled away.

Narrow access

A lot of Cleveland backyards are reached only through a gate or down a single-car drive between houses. Compact grinders can fit through a standard gate, and we look at the route during the estimate so there are no surprises on the day. Stumps against foundations, fences or sidewalks take more care and sometimes hand work at the edges.

Tree lawn stumps

For a public tree removed from the tree lawn, the City's permit rules require the stump to be removed with the tree and the hole backfilled with topsoil. If you have an old stump in the tree lawn left from a City removal, call 311 before hiring anyone, since that strip is public property.