It’s not often that we come across a 2 metre wide, oak tree stump especially in Australia! Oak is an incredibly strong, hardwood hence why it has been used for construction projects for hundreds of years. Oak stumps tend to flare out at the base and flare out even more below the ground so we knew this was going to prove an interesting mission! The stump needed to be removed due to that the property has been subdivided and the land is going to be developed. It would have been almost impossible to remove this stump with an excavator during the construction process, that’s what stump grinders are for!
This large oak stump removal in Pascoe Vale was a nice local job for us, approximately 6 minutes from our depot to be exact! We knew we would be on site for a good 3 to 4 hours and it was pouring with rain too but that didn’t stop us.
We tracked the machine along a public footpath that runs adjacent to the property and entered the garden through some construction site fencing that has been put up ready for the new development. The access was wet and slippery but we made it in with little disruption as our machine is on tracks.
The stump had some epicormic growth or suckers growing out of it when we arrived which you can see in the photos, we decided to cut these off about halfway through the job, just so we could get some good shots for you all.
With any large stump grinding removal job, you almost have to break the stump down into sections before you start, planning your attack. It is important to start in the right place for the machine you use. We picked a side that looked best for access and the width of the cutting sweep. Before we started grinding, we used a mattock to clear any pavers, rocks or debris from around the stump to ensure we kept the tooth damage to a minimum.
We took it at a leisurely pace and still finished the job in just under 4 hours, our biggest stump to date at Proleaf. We pushed all of the debris back into the hole and levelled the area, leaving all debris on site. Oak smells amazing when it’s cut or mulched, especially in the rain in Pascoe Vale!
