AuthorsJust a Dad and his three sons passionate about getting rid of as many ugly stumps as they can. Read as Steve, Tyler, Spencer, and Trevor discuss their family business and why they do what they do. Archives
July 2023
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What can I do with a tipped over stump?4/24/2023  As I write this we are recovering from an ice storm that has caused widespread power outages due to falling trees and tree limbs. 4-6 weeks from now after homeowners have had time to call Tree service guys to come cut up downed trees they’ll be calling stump grinders to come get rid of the ugly stumps that are left in their yards. Undoubtedly some of those stumps that are left will be remnants of trees that tipped over in the storm, exposing the root ball and lifting up the ground around the tree. Depending on the size of the tree the root ball can stand 6 ft or higher leaving a large deep cavity. I’ve had customers tell me that Tree service guys have told them that large root balls from tipped over trees are too big to grind and must be removed by an excavator.
Excavating a stump with a hydra-hoe can cost many times more than having it ground out. In addition, excavating a stump typically removes good soil that must be replaced in order to level out the area, plant grass and make it look like the stump was never there. Also excavators are much bigger and heavier than stump grinding machines and tend to do more damage to your yard. The truth is we grind tipped over stumps and root-balls all the time, even big ones. We typically start by grinding the exposed roots. The dirt and grindings from the root ball fill up the cavity that was created when the tree fell. After that we get to work on the stump itself, grinding until it’s completely gone. Grinding a stump from a tree that has tipped over versus one that is left from a tree that’s been cut is a longer process and requires a little more time. The end result however is the same. The stump is completely gone. Once the grindings have been cleaned up, topsoil can be used to level out the area and grass seed planted and watered daily. Within a few weeks grass seeds sprout and before long you have a beautiful lawn again. Steve
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What does stump removal cost?4/17/2023 I recently stopped by a house to bid a stump I saw in the front lawn. When I gave the homeowner my bid he thought about it for a moment, then said "Let me think about it, Money’s been a little tight lately but I might be calling you in a few weeks." I told him “we run a special It’s half off every other Tuesday if you bring your stump to us!” Seriously we get it. Inflation is through the roof! Just putting gas in your car and food on the table can be a financial challenge.
At the same time we do our best to keep our rates reasonable and give you a fair price to grind your stumps. Some homeowners never even call for a quote because they assume getting rid of an ugly stump in the middle of their lawn is too expensive. Those that do call us are often surprised at how reasonable our prices are. Our minimum price since we started the business 3 years ago has been $150. The average job which typically involves grinding multiple stumps costs between $200-$300 dollars. The average time we spend on a job is 30 minutes to an hour. To some customers the amount we charge based on the time that it takes us to grind the stump seems somewhat expensive. We know that even $150 is a lot of money when things are tight. At the same time it’s not cheap to own a business. I recently purchased my fourth machine since I started in business; a 116 hp Bandit 2890T. It’s nearly 15 years old and I still paid $52K. Within a few weeks it had to go into the shop for repairs that cost over $2000. The cutting wheel has more than 30 carbide teeth that have to be changed often at a cost of around $20 per tooth. I had to replace the diesel motor in one of my machines that cost us more than $11,000. The point is owning and maintaining the equipment to do the job right is expensive. Even so we love grinding stumps and we love helping our customers get the gorgeous lawn they desire. So give us a call let us give you a quote and if you think it’s too much let us know. We’ll do everything we can to work within your budget. Steve
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Can you burn a stump?4/10/2023 Looking for an alternative to hiring a professional like us? You may consider burning your stump. I’ve seen many video tutorials on how to do it. I don’t recommend removing a stump this way though. Here’s why.
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Some people understand the cost of quality and professional work. For those who don’t, here’s some of the reasons why it can be so expensive.
Liability Coverage We are proud to be licensed and insured. This means we are covered in the event that we have a mishap on someone else’s premises. If we accidentally shatter a window from flying debris or someone is injured, we have insurance that covers us. This insurance is not cheap. Its several thousand dollars a year. Do not hire someone that does not carry liability insurance. High Start-Up Costs Depending on the type of machine you start with and what you intend to pull it with, stump grinding can cost $70,000 to $100,000 in equipment alone to get started. High Maintenance Costs Aside from routine maintenance, there are things that just tend to break over time. Unlike most heavy machinery, stump grinders take quite a lot of beating. They are built tough for that reason, but they aren’t indestructible. Parts tend to be expensive, and often only specialty shops can work on them when we can’t ourselves. We try to maintain our machines on our own as best as we can, but there are many jobs we simply aren’t equipped for. Another maintenance cost are the cutting teeth. Each tooth costs about $20 and they must be sharpened after only about a week of work. Dull teeth means more wear and tear on the machine, so it’s important they be changed out. They can be sharpened for about $4 a piece. Occupational Hazard As much as we love grinding stumps, it is dangerous. The cutting wheel can rip an appendage off in a split second if you’re not careful. Debris can also fly out of the mound and hit you, which is why we wear protective gear. We are also trained to keep ourselves and others safe. We have learned this trade and are skilled at it.
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Underbid Nightmare3/27/2023 In this business, our accurate estimates are crucial. We do our best to give quotes that accurately reflect how much it will cost to grind based on the size and quantity of your stumps. Sometimes it’s more guesstimating than estimating. Stumps can be strangely shaped, tall, rotted, or hard as a rock; it’s not hard to imagine we don’t get it right every time. Unfortunately, an accurate bid can be the difference between getting and losing the job. We’d rather underbid than over; we do offer the best price after all, and we do our best to match our competition.
Sometimes though, we get it so wrong that it’s frustrating. We don’t increase our bids after we’ve made them unless we break or chip teeth on the job. I took a job over the phone since it was farther from our house than I was willing to travel just for the bid. He sent me several pictures but it was hard to tell how big these stumps were. He gave me measurements but people rarely include how big the actual root ball is. He had 10 stumps all 4 to 6 feet in diameter he said. I told him I’d do it for less than $1500 dollars. Ecstatically, he accepted my offer. Upon arriving at his homestead 2 hours away, I found that not one stump was less than 6 feet wide at the base and 1 to 2 feet tall. Some were as big as 8 feet across. I had never seen so many huge stumps in one place. This was when I was still running my 35 hp grinder. I could have easily charged twice as much, but I bit my tongue. I got to work and began chomping away. Little by little, the stumps disappeared. He was kind enough to push the chips away with a tractor so I wouldn’t miss anything. It took some time, but I was making progress. I was planning a night out with my wife, but that was looking less and less like a possibility. She called near 3 pm to see how it was going and I told here it wasn’t looking good for tonight. My customer saw me on the phone and asked me if everything was ok. I explained my intention to take my wife out on a date. He must have been intrigued by that: right then he pulled out $100 and handed it to me and told me to do something nice with her. Had I known just how big these stumps were, I would’ve gotten there at first light. After hours of grinding, it was dark and I was out of time. I loaded it up and took off feeling somewhat defeated. I returned the following week to finish up. It only took a couple more hours. My customer was pleased with my work effort and impressed by my little machine. It took some time, but it got the job done. I’m thankful now that I have my 60hp machine. It’s customers like this that make this job so fun. He was a good guy and it was a pleasure doing business with him. Not only did he help me with the job, but he gave me a generous tip. It’s stuff like this that makes me feel a lot better about an underbid job.
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Buying the SC3723/20/2023  After I decided to join my Dad in the business the first task was to buy some equipment. I had successfully purchased a 2004 Ram 2500 for a great deal! At the time, I had some covid stimulus money burning a hole in my pocket. I used most of it to buy my truck. The next task was to find me the right machine.
Weeks of searching had finally paid off when we spotted the right grinder for sale on forestry trader. A 2004 Vermeer SC372 for $11,000. The only problem was that it was pickup only… in Florida. Driving that far for an older used machine was pretty risky, but we weren’t going to pass up this opportunity. Within hours of finding it, we packed up and headed south. My Dad and I drove from Muncie where I was living at the time to about as far south as you can get in Florida. A little place called Pompano Beach. Only a seventeen and a half hour drive. Upon arriving at the address, we pulled up on what seemed more like a junk yard than a used heavy equipment dealership. The owner met us around back and took us to the machine parked on its trailer. We looked it over and asked to start it and he said he’d need to go get a battery for it. Why he thought we wouldn’t want to hear it run is beyond me. After waiting and waiting, a mechanic brought out an old battery, hooked it up, and turned over the machine. It fired right up to our surprise. He let us take it out and test it on a small stump he had. It worked as expected, despite me never grinding before. We haggled a little bit and managed to talk him down to just $9,000 including the ratty trailer it was parked on. The trailer had no title, and the machine was in decent shape besides a few odds and ends. By the way, in this industry, odds and ends will only cost you about $4,000. Despite all that, we managed to come home with a solid machine and a pretty good memory with my Dad to boot. That little machine gave me my start here in Indiana. I used it for two seasons before upgrading to my Dad’s much more powerful SC60TX. Trevor
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Why do I grind stumps?3/13/2023 If you had asked me 3 years ago what I’d be doing now, my answer certainly wouldn’t have been this. My journey into ministry began only a few years ago with a residency in church planting at Rising Hope in Muncie, Indiana. In 2020, I began learning what it takes to start a church. We were living in a parsonage and gearing up to try to plant a church in the next year or so. Covid happened just 3 months after the start of that residency, which really put a damper on things. Things seemed to come to a screeching halt, which left my wife and I to wonder, what could be next for us? I definitely had a very meaningful experience at Rising Hope, but it wasn’t enough to make me feel comfortable planting a church somewhere on my own just yet.
Nearing the end of that one year residency, my district superintendent made me aware of a small church in Huntington looking for a pastor, and he felt I’d be the right fit. It’d be a learning experience, but they were only looking for someone part time. I wasn’t sure about it until my Dad mentioned to me about getting me in on the business. He wasn’t expecting much in return. He’d buy my way in and let me use our brand and I’d pay him a percentage of what I make. That was where it all started. By March of 2021, I was preaching every Sunday and grinding on the weekdays. After doing it for two years, I realize how much I love it. I can think of no better way to be out in the community getting to know people I otherwise wouldn’t have met. Trevor
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Why should you remove your stumps?3/6/2023 As you look at the stumps in your yard, you may be wondering to yourself what you should do with them. Or maybe you’re not thinking about that at all. Many times when asked, our customers simply say they hadn’t thought about getting their stumps removed. Others say they will just let them rot. Some think maybe they’ll turn them into a flower pot or some kind of yard art. Before you think about leaving your stump to its own devices, let me share with you some of the reasons why stumps should never be left to rot.
EYE SORES There’s no two ways about it: stumps are ugly. They compete for your attention as you look at your yard. This is especially frustrating if you are trying to sell your house. You want people’s eyes to be drawn to your beautiful garden, well maintained home, and gorgeous lawn. Stumps are like pimples that never seem to go away; constantly vying for attention. PLAIN NUESANCES Stumps can also be quite precarious to have in your yard. If you have kids or pets, they can often hurt themselves by tripping on them or running into them. They can be a hassle to mow around and you could easily damage your mower deck and blades if you’re not careful, which would cost you even more than if you had simply paid someone to grind them out. BIO HAZARDOUS You never know what killed the tree that your stump used to be. If it once had a disease, chances are it can still spread to other trees in your yard. Research shows that roots can continue to grow and infect surrounding trees in your yard if not properly dealt with. Although grinding the stumps is not a guarantee the disease will no longer spread, it does increase the speed at which the roots will fully decompose. Stumps can also be a good home for pests like chipmunks and termites. Don’t take the risk of causing more damage to your yard; call Mr. Stumpgrinder today for a free quote. Once scheduled, we’ll come and grind your stumps, roots and all so that you can clear the way for a gorgeous lawn.
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A blog about stump grinding?2/27/2023  Dean Leininger, the original Mr. Stumpgrinder! We thought you might ask us that. Yes, we have a blog about stump grinding. This is an industry none of us ever thought we’d be involved in; yet here we are. We wanted to share with our customers how we wound up here and we hope you’ll pick a thing or two up along the way.
It’s certainly been an interesting turn of events. Rarely does anyone ever wake up one morning and decide they are going to switch career paths and build a business grinding stumps. Yet that’s about how it went. Through a connection with our long time family friend Dean Leininger who was working his way towards retirement, we wound up developing his company name “Mr. Stumpgrinder” into the brand we know and love today. With help from Steve’s sister Sharie Schnell, we’ve developed an entirely new look for Dean's company. Thanks to Dean building a reputation of quality work for 20+ years, we now get to carry on his legacy one stump at a time; and we love it! We love it so much we thought maybe our customers would want to learn more about how we got here in the first place. So here it goes. |
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Mr. Stumpgrinder is based in Calhoun County and most of south and west central Michigan as well as northern and central Indiana. If we can line up several jobs in your area outside of that and you’re willing to wait on our travel schedule, we can guarantee you a quality job at a fair price.
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Came today to give an estimate and was prepared to do it then if we wanted. Fast, efficient, affordable and a really nice guy
Posted by Patty OHaver on Thursday, June 3, 2021
I can honestly say Mr. Stumpgrinder was amazing. I messaged him over the weekend and here it is Monday evening and the hideous stump is gone. I can not be happier.
Posted by Cindy McTaggart on Monday, May 10, 2021