Stump Grinding in Greensboro, NC

Cross-section of a wide flared stump cut flush, with a fresh saw face — The flare at the base is wider than the trunk, and it all has to be ground.

Grinding a stump and pulling a stump are two different jobs

People use the words interchangeably and they are not the same thing.

Grinding uses a machine with a spinning wheel of carbide teeth that chews the stump down in passes until it is below the level of the yard. The roots stay in the ground and rot away over the next few years.

Pulling means dragging the whole root plate out with an excavator. It leaves a crater the size of a small car, it takes the soil with it, and on most residential lots it is far more damage than the stump was ever causing.

Grinding is what nearly every homeowner actually wants. Pulling only makes sense when something is going in the same hole, like a foundation footing or a pool.

Photos are often enough to price a stump. Text a couple of pictures to (336) 908-7990 with something next to the stump for scale, a shovel or a shoe, and say roughly how far it is from the driveway. That is usually all it takes for a number, without anybody having to drive out.

The work

What actually happens on the day.

Large oak stump standing in a yard with the crew and the chip truck working behind it — A stump this size is a job on its own once the tree is down.

How far down it goes

The wheel takes the stump below grade, which means below the level of the surrounding yard rather than flush with it. That is the part that matters, because a stump cut flush still sits proud once the soil settles, and you will hit it with a mower.

How far below depends on what you want to do with the spot. Putting grass over it needs less than planting a new tree in roughly the same place, and a new tree really wants a different spot anyway.

Tell the crew what you are planning at the estimate and they will take it to the right depth the first time.

The flare is wider than the trunk

The base of a tree spreads out where it meets the ground, and the surface roots run out from there. Grinding a two-foot trunk means clearing a patch noticeably wider than two feet, which is worth knowing if the stump is close to a walkway or a fence post.

Fresh saw face on a large hardwood stump with grindings covering the ground around it — The ground around this one is grindings, and there is usually more than people expect.

What is left behind

Grinding produces a pile of chips and soil mixed together, and there is more of it than people expect. A big stump makes a mound.

You have three options and the crew will do whichever you ask for at the estimate:

Leave the grindings in the hole. Cheapest and fastest. They settle over the first year, so the spot will dip and want topping up.
Rake them out and haul them off. The hole gets backfilled so you can seed it.
Keep them. Some people want them for beds or paths.

One thing worth saying plainly: grindings are not topsoil. They are mostly wood, and wood pulls nitrogen out of the soil as it breaks down. If you want grass there this season, get real soil in the hole.

Stump left standing in an open yard after a takedown, with a skid steer and chip truck on site

Will the tree grow back after the stump is ground?

Almost never, and the exceptions are worth knowing. A ground stump has no leaves, so it cannot feed itself and it dies.

What does happen on some species is root suckering, where shoots come up from roots still in the ground several feet away from where the stump was. Sweetgum, poplar, locust, and a few others are known for it around here.

Those shoots are easy to deal with. Mow them, and they give up within a season or two once the root system runs out of stored energy. They are not the tree coming back.

If you are seeing suckers across a whole lawn a year later, that is worth a call, because it usually means a root system large enough that a few of them are still connected to something living.

Planting something new in the same spot

People often want a replacement tree where the old one stood, and that is the one thing a ground stump makes awkward. The old root system is still in the ground and it will be for years, so a new root ball has nowhere good to go.

Move the new tree a few feet if you possibly can. If it has to go in the same place, the grindings need to come out and real soil has to go back in, and the crew will take the grinding deeper for that. The ISA covers planting a new tree properly, and NC State Extension Forestry is the place to look for species that suit the Piedmont.

We will grind a stump somebody else left

Plenty of the stump calls Triad takes are cleanup after another company. A crew removed the tree, the stump was extra, and it has been sitting there ever since.

You do not have to have bought the removal here. Old stumps, half-rotted stumps, and stumps that have had a flower bed built around them are all normal work.

Pricing

What actually changes the price.

Triad publishes no prices. Stumps are the one job that can often be quoted from texted photos, and these are the three things being sized up.

01

Diameter at the flare

Measured across the widest part where the trunk meets the ground, not the trunk higher up. That flare is most of the work.

02

Whether the grinder can reach it

A stump beside the driveway and a stump behind a locked gate on a slope are different jobs with the same diameter.

03

What you want done with the grindings

Leaving them in the hole costs less than raking them out and hauling them off, and both are perfectly normal.

Reasons people stop putting it off

It is the one thing the mower keeps hitting
Carpenter ants and termites move into rotting wood near the house
Shoots keep coming up around it every spring
It is in the way of a fence line, a shed, or a patio
Somebody is going to trip over it in the dark
The yard cannot be graded or seeded around it

What a stump costs you if you leave it

A stump is not urgent, which is why so many of them sit for years. It does have a running cost though, and it is worth knowing what it is before you decide to live with it.

Rotting wood near a house attracts things you do not want. Carpenter ants and termites are drawn to damp decaying wood, and a stump twenty feet from a crawl space is a food source sitting inside their range.

Then there is the mower. Everybody says they will remember where it is, and everybody eventually hits it. A stump grinder is cheaper than a deck and a blade.

The last one is the yard itself. You cannot grade, seed, run a fence line, or put a shed anywhere near it, so a stump quietly takes a piece of the yard out of use.

Where we work

Greensboro is home, and the yard is at 4262 Pleasant Garden Rd. The crews cover the wider Triad: High Point, Winston-Salem, Jamestown, Kernersville, Summerfield, Oak Ridge, Pleasant Garden, Archdale, Thomasville, Gibsonville, Whitsett, Browns Summit, Colfax, Stokesdale, McLeansville, Randleman, and Julian.

If your town is not on that list it is still worth asking. The answer is usually yes.

Common questions

Stump grinding questions we get every week.

How much does it cost to grind a stump in Greensboro?

It comes down to the diameter across the flare where the trunk meets the ground, how close the machine can get to it, and whether you want the grindings hauled away. Stumps are the one job that can usually be priced from texted photos, so send a couple to (336) 908-7990 with something beside the stump for scale.

Will the tree grow back if I grind the stump?

Almost never. A ground stump has no leaves left to feed itself, so it dies. Some species such as sweetgum and poplar send up shoots from roots still in the ground nearby, and mowing those a few times finishes them off within a season or two.

How long does it take to grind a stump?

Most residential stumps are well under an hour of actual grinding once the machine is in position. Getting to it is often the longer part, especially through a gate or around a back yard. Several stumps on one property usually still fit in a visit.

How deep do you grind?

Below grade, meaning below the level of the surrounding yard rather than flush with it. A stump cut flush sits proud again once the soil settles and the mower finds it. Tell the crew whether you want grass or something else there and they will take it to the right depth.

What happens to all the wood chips?

Your call, and it changes the price. They can be left in the hole, which is the cheapest option and will settle over the first year, or raked out and hauled away so you can backfill with soil. Some customers keep them for beds.

Can I plant grass right over it?

Not straight into the grindings. They are mostly wood, and wood pulls nitrogen out of the soil while it breaks down, so seed struggles. Have the grindings taken out and put real topsoil in the hole if you want a lawn there this season.

Can you grind a stump another company left behind?

Yes, and that is a good part of the stump work here. You do not have to have bought the removal from us. Old, rotted and overgrown stumps are all normal.

Can you get a grinder into a fenced back yard?

Usually. Gate width and slope are the two things that decide it, so mention both when you call or send a photo of the gate. If nothing can get through, the crew will tell you at the estimate rather than after.

Also on this site

The rest of what we do.

Crane and bucket truck set up in a yard to take down a tall pine in sections

Tree Removal

Large and hazardous trees taken down in sections, roped and lowered, and hauled out.

Trimming & Limbing

Deadwood out, limbs off the roofline, and canopies thinned before storm season.

Lot & Land Clearing

Building sites, fence lines, and overgrown acreage cleared with skid steers and a mulcher.

Stump grinding in Greensboro, taken below grade so the yard closes over it