Stump grinding
The wheel turns the stump into chips below grade. Roots stay in the ground and break down. The surface can take soil and sod. This is the job we schedule as stump grinding.
Veteran-owned | Marion County and Ocala
Stump grinding vs. digging a stump out
Grinding takes the stump below the grass. Digging takes the root ball out. Green Ace grinds stumps. If a builder needs the wood gone from a footing, say that before anyone schedules a grind.
Key takeaways
- Stump grinding is the stump service on our tree services page.
- Grind when the next use is lawn, mulch, or a clear path for a mower.
- If a footing, a trench, or a new planting hole needs the root ball gone, grinding can leave too much wood.
- Chips can stay as mulch or be hauled. Say which one you want.
After a removal, the stump is still in the yard. Most Ocala lawns only need it low enough to mow and mulch. A new house pad is a different problem.
How to tell them apart
Digging the stump out
The stump and the main roots come out of the hole. That is excavation, closer to grading and construction than to a lawn visit. Do not assume a grind includes it.
Use this when
| Next use of the spot | Grinding | Digging out |
|---|---|---|
| Lawn or mulch | Yes. | More hole than you need. |
| A mower has to cross the spot | Yes. | No. |
| A new tree in the same hole | Only if the hole can miss the old roots. | Often, so the new roots have soil instead of old wood. |
| A footing, patio base, or trench | Not if wood will sit in the concrete or the pipe. | Yes. Tell the builder and tell us. |
What goes wrong if you swap them
Grinding a spot the builder has to dig
The crew still hits chips and roots. The grind did not clear the wood a footing needs. Digging that wood out is closer to grading and construction than to a lawn grind.
Digging a stump that only needed to disappear under grass
You are left with a hole to fill on a spot a grind would have left ready for topsoil.
What to tell the crew
- Lawn, mulch, a new tree, or construction.
- How close the stump is to the house, a walk, or a buried line. Call 811 before anyone digs.
- Whether chips can stay on the beds.
- How many stumps, and whether the removal is already done.
Where this stops
Grinding does not replant the tree and it does not pour a footing. See removal when you are building and mulch after the chips are down.
Tell us what goes in that spot
Lawn and mulch are a grind. A footing or a new tree in the same hole may be more than grinding. Send a photo.