How to Remove a Stump Using a Hand Winch

Warms my heart when mechanical advantage is maximized.

Lastly, if you know you're going to remove some trees always leave a 4-foot Tall part of the stump. Do not cut it down to the bottom because you can use the leverage of the 4 ft to help break it out of the ground applying pulling chains to the other trees not yet removed. Take advantage of your existing objects/things around you to assist in efforts and with a little bit of pre-planning and leverage removing the tree stumps without mechanization.

Thanks for the video, reminded me of a project I did quite a few years ago. Since I was cutting down the tree, so I had the option to leave about six foot of stump, to give me a leverage advantage on the stump. Like you I dug around the stump as much as I could and cut what roots I could get to. I connected a two ton come-a-long to the stump and to a solid tree. I then pulled as tight as I dare, then just left everything hooked up, I poured water around the hole I dug, around the roots. When I got home from work the next day, I would tighten the come-a-long a few more "clicks" (as tight as I dare) and then pour more water around the roots, In about three days it came loose. Took longer, but the end results were the same. Take care and God bless.

The reposition for upward force was pretty smart! I'm sure I'm gonna use that idea at some point. I use an old truck wheel for the same sort of effect when stumps are short. You can also wrap chain around the stump and use a recovery strap between the chain and wench. Leave tension on it overnight amd just start a small fire under the base where the roots are. It should slowly pull up as it smoulders. The recovery strap will just keep on pulling as the stump moves. Make sure the area has nothing flammable and soak it down. And put a fire ring or bricks Around it just to be safe.

Hard work doing by hand but keeping the stump intact for future project is worth it. Everyone needs to learn how to use snatch blocks. They can help with lots of jobs.

Get yourself a spud bar. One of the greatest tools known to man, a true back saving multi-tool. I never go on a job without one. As for this hand winch method, love it! Tried it myself on a stump removal job last week. There wasn't a convenient tree for the winch, so I ran it around one of the stumps holding up their neighbour's house. They were out at the time but I figured they wouldn't mind. Better to ask for forgiveness, I think, than to ask for permission. Pleased to report back that it worked a treat! Well, actually, just as we were pulling away we saw the neighbour's house collapse. Not that surprising really, but the important thing is that we got the stump out and we got paid. At the end of the day, that's what really matters most. Haven't had the time to go back, and probably won't anytime soon. Still, I'm sure it all worked out fine in the end. After all, that's what insurance is for, right? Of course, we had to change our ABN again, get a new fake address and ditch the existing cell phone number. But that's just the cost of doing business these days.

Very satisfying to watch! Im using a hand winch to uproot some saplings in my yard. Great job with those large stumps!

I'm more impressed that you used a come-a-long for the project. I hate those things! Great job!

Several comments regarding wasted time and money. Likely you have less invested than a month of gym membership, you get to keep the stump and tools, and I would bet your body fat percentage and strength would beat any of theirs, Keep it up, there is value in hard work.

Jack, after I cut the first root apron, I fill the pit with water. Wait and hour. Then 8K of pressure is plenty. I also use a cheater bar/metal tube to give the hand winch lever 3 times the power (24,000 pounds).

Wow dude solid effort i see you had three of those things by the end - I've removed a stump this way before and for the same reason. A good friend of mine is a cabinetmaker and he made a beautiful outdoor table with it. I must admit though, since then I've used stump grinders wherever possible 😅

Hi Jack...I do it pretty much the same way. That pop when the tap root goes it always a good moment. It always amazes me just before it fully goes what tiny roots still hold it in place. I respect what nature gives us and it is good to try and plant replacements somewhere even if it's not in your yard. I hope the project goes well.

Pulling stumps is hard work, but thanks to your strategy and technique it is manageable.

Thank you for sharing your work. I always try and learn from others, nothing is easy and every problem requires hard work. Thanks again!

I hate working on my knees and trying to dig soil around roots, so I use a garden hose to blast out the soil around the roots. Do the initial digging with a spade but once I start hitting tangled roots, I start hitting it with the garden hose.it’s kind of messy and mucky, but I do it over a period of a few days, letting the water drain away each time. It saves a lot of backbreaking work, even though it turns into a multi day project.

I find leaving several more feet of the trunk attached rather than cutting it off a foot or two above ground level gives much more leverage potential when winching the root ball out. Hard but satisfying work when you finally pull the root ball away from the hole.

You never trust the rating on your straps to mean they won't break. Instead you don't stand places where you'd get hurt if they did. Imagine a work site where they just said "hey, make sure you don't get hurt" You need to both use correctly sized straps AND make sure they can't hurt you even if the ratings aren't accurate (either never were or they have degraded)

If you make anything with the stumps, know that stump wood is extremely abrasive because of the embedded sand and grit in it.

My friend suggested a wench for me to remove mine which is already loose and I can get movement with a shovel but I don't have a tow hitch on my suv to give it just that yank it needs. I Googled wench & found your video! I think this is exactly what I'm going to do. I've aldwssy dug around it on 3 of the sides. So thank you for this helpful video

Nice! I used a pressure washer to expose the roots on a stump I was pulling. It was smaller than yours,though.