Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[Riley Blue]

[buzzy bee]

Any tractor even a little compact one with a winch and spade would do a good job. If you had better access, I might know of a engine with a winch, but that may need 15 or so ton coming onto your lawn...

[welshrover]

[47p2]

I had to use a 3 tonne excavator to remove mine








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ROVER
One of Britain's Fine Cars

[bob2]

I did use water based for wood, but the basecoats were mixed with hardner rather than water and only the top coats were water based, its been well over 6 years now and the door is still as good as when I restored it!!
Its been well looked after though protected from excessive sun and also from rain most of the time!

[ukdave2002]

My dad used to work for BT / GPO; telephone poles are pine, treated once in a vacume with creosote and they last 25 to 50 years. There is a place near us that offers the same service, creosote can still be used commercially , all our fences and sheds have been treated this way; not the prettiest ! But should last!

Dave

[buzzy bee]

Can't beat Creosote

[clan chieftain]

Old engine oil is good..a bit messy..............but its not getting out the tree stump.
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The Clan Chieftain

[Bitumen Boy]

[colwyn500]

As always, we've all wandered wondrously off the original topic; but it's all useful stuff.
I have used a coloured, water-based product called "Cuprinol Garden Shades" for several years with great success. In fact, my entire timber-clad, house extension is coated in the stuff. It repels water like wax, it is available in a variety of bright and more subtle colours, it can be overcoated without sanding or other preparation, it doesn't seem to flake or fade, it penetrates the timber slightly, I think that it is much less harmful to health and the environment than creosote, it doesn't stink (although I know many people love the smell of creosote); but the downside is that it's fairly expensive.

The secret to keeping wood from decay is to allow ventilation and to give somewhere for water to run-off. In my experience, even softwood can get wet repeatedly without suffering so long as it can also dry easily.

This brings us full circle to the tree stump, because if the reverse can be engineered and the stump be kept fairly damp for an extended period it WILL rot more quickly.

As it happens, I also have a large tree-stump to remove. I will stick my kneck out and will post a photo later once I have removed it.

[roverdriver]

Green stumps are a problem, but a stump of a tree that has had a couple of years to start to dry can be 'stoved' out fairly easily. This was a method used by early settlers in Oz and I remember using it on our property when I was a lad, and have employed it in recent times too.

First excavate around the roots as far as practical, but remember you are only getting soil away from the roots, not trying to dig the thing out. Once some clearance has been made, build a fire in the excavation, and for this one might use bits of the stump or remains of the tree, or any available wood. Once the fire is going well, then carefully cover the stump, fire and all with turf and soil from the excavations, bringing in more soil from nearby if needed.

Keep well clear of the site and warn anyone that might wander about to keep clear. The fire will burn slowly for days, just like a charcoal burner's fire. The main stump will quietly burn away, as will most of the roots. That is one reason to keep clear, because the roots will burn underground many feet from the stump site.

Very large Eucalyptus tree stumps- say from a tree 6 feet in diameter, might take up to 10 days or a fortnight to burn away, small ones of 2 feet will be gone in 3 or 4 days. When gone, and allowing for the ground to cool down, the area can be ploughed with little problem.
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Dane- roverdriver but not a Viking.

[colwyn500]

That's a brilliant explanation from Roverdriver and I may just try that with some smaller stumps from a few years ago. I have just come back into the house, slightly knackered after being as good as my word and trying my own method.

Stumped by peterthompson, on Flickr
It worked! I dug under and round it mainly using a drainage spade and took away about ten barrows of soil. In the course of that I severed some smaller roots and tried to under-cut the trunk as much as possible.

Finally, I took my sharp chainsaw with an almost worn chain and cut the buttress roots. I washed it all down with a hosepipe first to remove as much soil and grit as possible. It was tricky to get the main downwards root but with a bit of wiggling with the bar, out it came. Or rather, over it went. Now I have to make the huge lump a little lighter and remove the trailing roots that are everywhere. UPDATE. NOW DONE.SEE BELOW

Stumped by peterthompson, on Flickr

_JAN1642.JPG1292768256 by peterthompson, on Flickr
I feel quite proud of it though and no vehicle was harmed or strained.

[Mog]

ukdave, you just need to dig a bigger hole to find out what is holding it. Hope you have got it out by now.

[Uncle Alec]

Boys, boys, boys - you're a disgrace to the old car repairing fraternity.

Spray some WD40 onto it, leave it a couple of days, then just gently tug it out.

[D4B]

File a couple of flats on it and use your biggest spanner?