Dirt work

[tjkubota93]

I have been getting bids to have trees cleared and land leveled. One contractor wants to bury the rootballs on another part of the property and make use of the displaced dirt. (To save dump fees and buying fill dirt)

My understanding is that they will rot over time and fall in, then I would need fill dirt. A friend is telling me they would not rot if buried.

Either way, nothing will be built upon the area where they would be buried.

?

 

[Einthewoods]

The people who built the home my parents now own buried all of the stumps removed from building the house in a big hole. My parents have been hauling in dirt for the last ten years to fill the area in.

They noticed the spot kept sinking a bit and then my mother walked across the area and one of her legs fell in up to her knee. They had someone come and dig it all up and remove as much as they could, but still are doing some filling after further settling.

So, if you bury them, I say burn them in the hole first.

Fill dirt is cheap.

 

[atsah]

IMO, it is never a good idea to bury stumps, I have seen what happens 10-15 years down the road.. Someone buried stumps on my property several years before I bought it, I could tell they did before I bought the place and adjusted my offer accordingly, I rented some heavy equipment and moved it all to the edge of the 25 acres, it's rotting everyday above ground..

 

[4570Man]

I’ve buried stumps before. It sunk a lot in the first year mostly due to settling. It’s still sinking a little every year after 11 years.

 

[John Fitzgerald]

We buried some cedar stumps in pure clay (after burning as much as possible) almost three years ago, and no settling yet.

 

[tjkubota93]

The people who built the home my parents now own buried all of the stumps removed from building the house in a big hole. My parents have been hauling in dirt for the last ten years to fill the area in.

They noticed the spot kept sinking a bit and then my mother walked across the area and one of her legs fell in up to her knee. They had someone come and dig it all up and remove as much as they could, but still are doing some filling after further settling.

So, if you bury them, I say burn them in the hole first.

Fill dirt is cheap.

Thanks for the responses. Sounds like it would be a pain in the butt.

I disagree, kinda. Fill dirt is cheap at the dirt pit. It's kinda expensive by the time it gets to my house.

 

[4570Man]

I wouldn’t be above burying stumps in an area you don’t care about, but I wouldn’t be so quick to haul off all the dirt because you’re need it later.

 

[tjkubota93]

I wouldn’t be above burying stumps in an area you don’t care about, but I wouldn’t be so quick to haul off all the dirt because you’re need it later.

Oh no it would be used.

 

[4570Man]

Oh no it would be used.

But you’re going to need it to fill up the settling hole.

 

[oosik]

I got the root bawl from 18 fruit trees that I pulled out of my orchard. Put them in my "on-property" sanitary landfill and burned the snot outta them. Only way to go. If you can legally burn in your area - contractor digs hole - stumps go in hole - leave hole open and burn snot outta stumps - when done, cover burned stumps and fill hole back in.

 

[tjkubota93]

But you’re going to need it to fill up the settling hole.

That seems to be the problem with doing it that way.

 

[dragoneggs]

I don't know what your cleared area size is, the size of root balls, density of debris, etc. etc. or the burning rules around your place. I had a little under an acre cleared and piled such that I could manage a burn and firewood cutting on a regular basis. Horsed around very large stumps with my little BX. Too small a tractor to do it efficiently but it was dang fun.

Took me a couple years to completely burn up non firewood debris. Stumps took multiple burns but were always the center of my next burn pile. Had to keep the pile reasonable (bigger than burn code but reasonable and manageable with a garden hose to 'sort of' control if needed. Not advising this process here but I surely did not want to bury them as I didn't want to deal with it for years and years. I love having a burn pile going while I'm landscaping etc.

 

[tjkubota93]

We got annexed by a city, your not supposed to burn now. Some people (not me I would never break a rule) still do occasionally, but a bunch of logs and stumps would probably attract unwanted attention.

 

[dragoneggs]

We got annexed by a city, your not supposed to burn now. Some people (not me I would never break a rule) still do occasionally, but a bunch of logs and stumps would probably attract unwanted attention.

Understand. We are under county rules and I stretched it a bit. Neighbors could have... but in my case didn't rain on my parade. I guess a little different attitude the further from 'civilization'.

When I lived in the suburbs and burned smaller piles, a newly arrived next door neighbor called the FD twice. In both cases, I was legal (pretty much) and the FD was nice enough, but it really pissed me off that the neighbor was trying to be the police for reasons that weren't neighborly. Guess what, I helped him (for free with my time and tools) before that, but I never helped him after that. I never asked him for help before or after that. How did that work out, neighbor?

 

[tjkubota93]

Understand. We are under county rules and I stretched it a bit. Neighbors could have... but in my case didn't rain on my parade. I guess a little different attitude the further from 'civilization'.

When I lived in the suburbs and burned smaller piles, a newly arrived next door neighbor called the FD twice. In both cases, I was legal (pretty much) and the FD was nice enough, but it really pissed me off that the neighbor was trying to be the police for reasons that weren't neighborly. Guess what, I helped him (for free with my time and tools) before that, but I never helped him after that. I never asked him for help before or after that. How did that work out, neighbor?

I have known people to get ratted out by neighbors and by overly concerned citizens driving on the closest 4 lane and seeing smoke "over there"

 

[Diggin It]

What kind of trees and how big are the stumps? Any chance they could be cut up enough to run through a chipper?

 

[tjkubota93]

What kind of trees and how big are the stumps? Any chance they could be cut up enough to run through a chipper?

Hickory, gum and oak.

I'm guessing I need to go on and pay to haul them off. The tops and brush will probably be chipped and blown over the rear of the property.