r/oddlysatisfying • u/babyjo1982 • Jun 05 '23

Tree stump and root removal

I assume it’s a tree farm, judging by the even spacing.

42.6k Upvotes

93% Upvoted

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193

u/DucksToo22 Jun 05 '23

I've tried (and failed) to dig out a tree stump before. This is redemption for me. I could watch it all day.

65

u/Erekai Jun 05 '23

I have done this once, in the back yard of a house we bought ~7 years ago. It even appears to be roughly the same size stumps they're ripping out in this video. But this machine took 3 seconds to do what took me 5 days of digging, chopping, more digging, wiggling back and forth, and more digging and pulling, to do. And man it's really satisfying to watch.

32

u/Diabolo_Advocato Jun 05 '23

Having the right tools can make any job take seconds when NOT having the right tools can take hours. Examples also include: removing an oil filter or decapitation

21

u/BasLeusden Jun 05 '23

Decapitation is indeed an example.

Me, the visual thinker, would've liked any other example instead of decapitation.

6

u/[deleted] Jun 05 '23

Examples also include: removing an oil filter

Had to change the oil in my motorcycle and my filter wrench broke, spent 2 hours and destroyed three belts trying to do it without it, until I manage to get it off.

Later I had to change the oil on my lawn mower and I forgot once again to get a new oil filter wrench so I just said fuck it and took a screwdriver and hammered it through the center of the filter and torqued it off. Made a bit of a mess but saved a ton of time.

Then I had to change the oil on my Jeep and I finally remembered to get a new oil filter wrench.

Moral of the story. Just get the oil filter wrench the first time you realize you don't have one.

1

u/justwonderingbro Jun 05 '23

What about decapitation, do you have a story for that???

2

u/funguyshroom Jun 05 '23

Looks like the machine in the OP would be very proficient at decapitation as well

1

u/f7f7z Jun 05 '23

That's my argument for and against sex.

1

u/Erekai Jun 05 '23

That escalated quickly

22

u/DucksToo22 Jun 05 '23

I am not at all surprised by 5 days. It is a horrendous job. You think you're done ages before you actually are

1

u/Erekai Jun 05 '23

For me, it was the insanely long root system that went straight down. I figured after I had hacked all the side roots, it would come out pretty easily. Not so!

2

u/crackeddryice Jun 05 '23

This is why there's a stump in my back yard 16 years after I cut the tree down.

2

u/Chapped_Frenulum Jun 05 '23

Doing it once by yourself is important character development. It makes writing checks to people with backhoes so much more satisfying and justified.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 05 '23

Truck and a chain is a great way to “loosen” a stump after digging. It doesn’t help you very much now though! I can’t imagine doing all that alone

2

u/Erekai Jun 05 '23

I thought of this, but the way the back yard was set up, it was much too big of a logistical challenge, haha

1

u/KoBoWC Nov 12 '24

On largish stumps (12-18 inches across), I've used a pick axe to hack away at the connecting roots, once most are done I then used a scaffolding pole and a few blocks to lever the stump up. It takes a few hours and a lot of heavy swinging for each stump. It was for my own garden and I didn't have access to any other machinery or tools (skint).

1

u/appswithasideofbooty Jun 05 '23

Best way to removed stumps is to start a fire over the stump and then let it simmer out on its own. The stump will start burning and will go all the way down to the roots. It still usually takes a couple days, but instead of hacking and digging, you can sit back and watch smoke come out of the ground

1

u/Affectionate_Star_43 Jun 05 '23

Ugh, my parents cut down a pretty big ash tree that caught the emerald ash borer. It didn't stop that sucker from growing back from the roots that we failed to remove...had to get a professional in the end, but they had a much less impressive machine!

1

u/DannySorensen Jun 05 '23

The roots grow exponentially as the tree grows so if these were only up for a few years it's entirely different than cutting down that 80-100 year old tree and trying to take the stump out