Where is the stump? In your shop? in the ground?Dug out laying on top of the ground? got a quick picture?

Herb

 

In the ground, no pic to share

 

That works. Seems to me I might have seen that on either youtube or one of the pinterest pages.

 

some reason you can not or do want to remove the stump completely for around 100.00 and be done with it.

 

Never meet a stump that a:
mattock;
shovel;
digging bars;
axe;
and unlimited ice water could defeat.....

OR PLan B:

 

Want to flatten it for a friend to make some sort of planter for the top

Not sure on species

 

If you just want to flatten it, use a chainsaw...

 

Build the dirt up around it and put a planter on top. My dad use to use 2 sticks and 50' of fuse.

Herb

 

I like it!

 

I think what Tripp wants is to flatten and level the top surface of the in-situ stump, for further development...a planter was mentioned.
No one I know personally has a chainsaw with a 4' bar...that's a serious machine.
Granberg International |

 

That looks like a 6',2-man saw with the outboard handle removed.:smile::smile: There is a serious amount of lumber in that sump.

Herb

 

Heh...road Tripp!!!
Sorry; I don't know what came over me

This isn't helping Tripp with his project. Maybe a router ski setup?

 

Yes, I see no reason why this wouldn't work to level the surface. Make sure your frame is solid and won't move on you... maybe go so far as to sinking it into the ground to help with stability, and take little bites at a time until you get it where you want it.

 

I can see this is going to take a while. Stick being the wonderful person that he is I bet he would do it for you. :wink:

 

Plus 1 for the blackpowder approach.

Great entertainment value.

 

Cut it into 3" slices, and sell them for $1,500.00 each. Retire!

 

Thanks, for the help

 

Old stump in most climates attract termites, which soon discover your house. We kept a near 4 ft stump and within a year it was infested, and that's in a very dry region. Then had it ground down, which we do with all removed trees now.

 

I made a lot of burl tables, back in the day. Ninety-nine percent of my work was free hand using what ever gnawed off wood.

For example, I used a chain saw to rough it down, then an electric hand plane. I have a Porter Cable Siding Sander and a twenty-four grit, carbide disk for it, so using that, then a belt and ROS was fair game too.

When I was done, I had a piece of tempered glass cut for the top. To support it, I used car valves. I just drilled holes and, using a level, pounded them down, until they were all level with each other.

To disguise the use of car valves, I just took some PVC and cut it to the same length as from the underside of the valve to the wood. Then I used a round rasp to put a bevel inside the pipe.

When done, I cut into the pipe with a band saw, so the pipe would spread to drop down over the valve and snap shut when against the wood.

No one ever knew.

 

Kelly, those tables are exquisite. And the valve idea? How very ingenious. Great example of thinking outside the proverbial box.

 

ew.. those are nice...

 

Just a thought......I have never routed green wood before. If the stump is fresh cut ,how would green wood cut with a router? End grain too? Also if it were a Doug Fir,Pine,Larch, or such large stump , the pitch would be a problem would it not?
I had several large Fir trees cut years ago ,and like Tom said the carpenter ants and red termites moved in a couple of years later. When they were cut, the pitch just poured out of the stump.

Herb

 

Sir Herb. The pitch that comes out of D. firs is usually caused by a shake in the tree. I think that Chuck could explain this better than I, but essentially, when a big fir - or medium sized one I guess - goes through a big windstorm, it bends.

Now sometimes, adjoining rings inside the tree will separate just a little. Over time, this shake area will start to fill with pitch. When the tree is cut down, that pitch has nowhere to go but out.

Something else to look for when a fir starts to lean a little is pitch coming out one side of the tree higher up. This may be caused by either damage to the bark, e.g. a branch snapping off right against the tree, or a shake close to the outside of the tree. This usually shows up as a yellowish looking substance which will run way down the tree, or if the tree is over far enough, it will simply drip onto the ground. It's all but impossible to clean this stuff off if it gets anywhere on you.

 

I did this one a bit over a year ago, transit and chainsaw and wifey. However a stick banged into the ground with another screwed into it with a cheapo centering bubble on the cross stick and a helper would provide the same result.

What I did discover, due to my lack of lumberjack skills is the top doesn't need to be perfect flat or level, it can be shimmed to perfect. What is important is the diameter of the table in relation to the diameter of the stump and what the tables function will be.

Big diam. table, small diam. stump
Supporting flower pots only, an equilibrium can be acquired by even distribution of weight.

Table used for entertainment, food, etc.
If it will require bracing.

I cut the stump to its height during the winter after a big honkin snow storm snapped that trunk. Lucky only one of the large branches from it hit the corner of the house leaving -0- damage. You may consider treating the stump top with fungicide and insecticide to prevent rot and infestation.

 

My experience was the termites bore in below ground and ate their way out the top. Would be hard to stop with insecticide.

Herb

 

Not sure how close to the ground it is but I would be careful of dirt in it dulling your bit.
Allen

 

By far in my area, residential/commercial properties suffer from carpenter ants than termites.

Regarding trees, the big problem in our area are tree borers, they seem to go after live and healthy as well as aged and deteriorated. The white pine in my previous post was saved from pine bark borers about 20 yrs ago by the whole family and insulation retaining rods, my wife, kids and I would go out to the pines in the yard, wherever we found a hole in the bark, weeping or not we poked the rods into the holes to destroy the bastiches.

The woods behind our house look like a war zone with all the dead WP, but it's just as bad out front now with the pitch pine borers, a tree falls about once a month, unless its really windy. So many dead trees and all I've heard from the town and extension service is we don't know and we're looking into it.

Ants and termites will tunnel wherever the wood is rotting, I've seen mud tunnels running from grade up foundations on a few homes and condos.

 

That is sad, Ronald, If it is not one darned thing it is another. You might consider planting cottonwoods , nothing wants them. and they are self sustaining, everwhere a seed tuff falls a new tree will grow.

Herb

 

Cotten wood for lumber? Probably going to slice it up and stick it in Chinese plywood.

 

I think it is already being used for that, Tom.

Tamarisk? that is a new one one me. Wonder how they got started here.
Wonder if some creative landscaper planted them thinking they would survive in arid climate?
All of my blue spruce were killed a few years ago by some bug. At one time they were thriving and beautiful, then the needles all fell off and they were done.

Herb

 

When I built our sheds, I found a root about 7 inches across had grown all the way to the front yard and helped damage the septic system. In their search for water, the can and will grow beneath your slab and break it up. Root system is expansive and shallow. Best thing to do with a Cottonwood is have it removed.

Out here in the desert, we also have an invader from China, the Tamarisk. Its tap root will dive a couple hundred feet for water and it sucks up about 200 gallons of water a day and on top of that, it adds huge amounts of salt to the soil around it so nothing will grow there.

We just had to remove a number of trees recently, two Tamarisk, a beautiful pine that had become a fire bridge to the house, and a little ash tree that was nearly dead anyhow. Have some new small trees to plant, but they won't be producing any shade during my lifetime.

 

Re the Copper deterrent that Stick suggested, you can accomplish the same thing by pouring a saturated Copper Sulfate solution into those bored holes.
A long ship's auger will get you deep into the stump.