Tree Removal
Dead, dangerous or badly placed trees taken out whole or dismantled in sections over the house.
Learn more →When grinding is not enough
Most people who ring about a stump want grinding, and for most gardens that is the right call. Full removal is a different and more expensive job, and it is worth paying for in a narrow set of circumstances.
The first is construction. If a slab, strip footing, pier, retaining wall or pool shell is going over or near the old trunk position, buried timber is a liability. As the root plate decays it leaves voids, and voids under structural loads cause differential settlement. Certifiers and structural engineers routinely require the stump and major roots out.
The second is services. Where new sewer, stormwater or conduit has to be trenched through the old root zone, the roots come out first because you cannot trench through a blackbutt root plate with a hand tool.
The third is stubborn regrowth. Species that sucker persistently from lateral roots — privet, camphor laurel, some poplars — occasionally justify getting the whole plate out rather than fighting shoots every spring.
How the work is done
The area is cleared and services are located. The stump is usually ground down first to reduce the mass, then a mini excavator digs around the root plate, cutting major laterals with a saw as they are exposed. The plate is lifted out, broken up and loaded. The hole is backfilled with clean fill and compacted in layers, or left open where a builder is following straight behind.
On tight blocks — and much of the North Shore is a tight block — the excavator will not fit. Then it is hand excavation with a saw and a mattock, which is slow, and the quote reflects that. There is no point pretending otherwise.
The complications specific to here
Hawkesbury sandstone sits close to the surface across Hornsby, Lane Cove, Riverview and the gully edges, and a root plate wedged into a rock shelf comes out in pieces rather than as a unit. On the shale ridge at Gordon, Pymble and St Ives the soil is deeper and the plates are larger, because the trees are larger — a mature blackbutt or turpentine root plate is a serious excavation.
Older properties also hide things. Disused terracotta sewer, buried garden lighting, lead water pipe, and in a few streets the remains of earlier structures. We will ask what you know before the machine starts.
What it costs
Nothing on this site quotes a figure, because the honest range on stump excavation is enormously wide — access, machine size, root plate volume, rock and disposal all move it. The cost guide sets out each driver so you can see where your job sits before anyone gives you a number.
Ring (02) 9090 4915. If the stump is from a tree that has not come down yet, book it with the removal and save a mobilisation.
More services
Explore our other services
Tree Loppers
Weight reduction, branch and deadwood removal on overgrown gums, turpentines and planted exotics.
Learn more →Tree Pruning
Crown lifting, thinning and clearance pruning done to Australian Standard so the tree survives it.
Learn more →Stump Grinding
Grinding the stump and buttress roots below ground so you can turf, pave or replant over it.
Learn more →Palm & Bamboo Removal
Cocos and Bangalow palms taken down in a driveway-width space, and running bamboo dug out properly.
Learn more →Hedge Trimming
Lilly pilly, photinia and murraya screens brought back to a line you can maintain yourself.
Learn more →Emergency Tree Work
Storm damage, split trunks and limbs on roofs, with 24/7 response across the North Shore.
Learn more →
FAQs
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between stump removal and stump grinding?
Grinding chews the stump out to roughly 300mm below the surface and leaves the lateral roots in the ground. Removal excavates the stump and the root plate entirely, leaving an open hole that is then backfilled and compacted. Grinding suits turf and garden; removal is what a builder or pool contractor requires before work starts over that spot.
Do I need full removal before building?
Usually, if the footprint crosses the old trunk position. Decaying timber left under a slab or footing creates a void as it breaks down and that becomes a settlement problem years later. Your engineer or certifier will normally specify it. Ask them before booking, because if grinding is acceptable you will save a good deal of money.
How big is the hole and who fills it?
On a mature tree the excavation can be two to three metres across and a metre deep. It is backfilled with clean fill and compacted in layers as part of the job, or left open if a builder wants to work off it. Spoil laced with old root material is carted off rather than reused as structural fill.
Can you get an excavator into a North Shore back garden?
Sometimes. A mini excavator needs roughly a metre of clear access and ground that will carry it. Plenty of blocks at Lane Cove, Northbridge and Hornsby Heights have the back garden below a retaining wall or up steps, and those become hand-dig jobs or grinding jobs by necessity. We work that out at the quote, not on the morning.
Free, no-obligation