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Stump grinding has an unusual cost shape: a large fixed element for getting a machine to the property, and a comparatively small variable element per stump. That one fact explains most of what follows.
What Sets the Price
Diameter at ground level
Not the height, and not what the tree used to be. Measure straight across the top of the stump at ground level, and if there is a wide flare of root around the base, measure across that too — grinding it properly means dealing with the flare, not just the column.
Access
This is the one that can double a price or make a job impossible:
- Open access, vehicle nearby — a large machine, fast work
- Standard side gate — narrow-access machine. Slower, but perfectly workable
- Steps, a very narrow gate, or through the house — may rule out grinding altogether, in which case the options change entirely
- Steep or soft ground — slower and sometimes needs boarding
What is in the soil
Stones, flint, old hardcore, rubble or concrete around the stump all slow the work and damage teeth. Stumps in old borders and near former outbuildings are the usual offenders.
Why Several at Once Is Much Better Value
A machine has to be transported, unloaded, walked into position and loaded up again whether it grinds one stump or eight. Once it is in your garden, the extra cost of the next stump is largely just the time it takes to grind it.
This is why the price per stump for five is dramatically lower than for one, and why it is worth walking the garden before you enquire and counting every stump, including the old ones you have stopped noticing.
Better still, combine it with other work. If a tree is coming down anyway, grinding the stump in the same visit is much cheaper than arranging it separately later, because the team and the vehicle are already there.
The Things People Expect to Change the Price and That Do Not
- The species. Marginal. Some timber is harder, but it rarely changes the figure much
- How old the stump is. An old stump can be softer and easier, but it is not a big factor
- How tall the tree was. Irrelevant. The stump is what is being priced
What Might Be Extra
- Removing the grindings. Leaving them in the hole is included; carting away a large volume is a separate cost, as is bringing topsoil in to replace it
- Grinding deeper than standard, where a build or a replanting requires it
- Extensive surface roots that need chasing out beyond the flare
- Hand digging, where access defeats a machine entirely. This is considerably more expensive than grinding would have been
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Ask Us About Your Own Garden
Measure across the stump at ground level, count how many there are, and tell us the gate width. That is everything we need.
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