Grinding below grade or full extraction of the root plate, priced off the diameter rather than by the hour. Mulch removed or left, your call. Free same-day quotes.
A stump left in the ground is a trip hazard, a termite invitation and the reason you can't put turf, a slab or a shed where you wanted one. Getting it out is usually quick and it usually costs less than people expect.
There are two ways to do it and they suit different situations. Grinding chews the stump down below ground level and leaves the root system in place to rot. Full removal digs the root plate out whole. Grinding is faster, cheaper and does the job for the vast majority of backyards. Extraction is what you need when something is going to be built on the spot.
We do both, and we'll tell you which one your job actually needs rather than defaulting to the more expensive one. If the tree is still standing, this is normally quoted alongside the tree removal itself, which works out cheaper than booking the two separately.
Price is driven by the diameter of the stump measured at ground level, how many you've got, and whether the machine can physically reach it.
| Stump | Typical price |
|---|---|
| Small stump, under 300mm across | from $80 |
| Up to around 1.2m across | up to $600, scaled by diameter |
| Over 1.2m across | quoted on site |
| Full excavation of the root plate | quoted on site |
| Extra stumps on the same visit | much cheaper than the first |
That $80 to $600 band is the same one we publish on our tree removal cost page, where stump grinding is quoted as an add-on to the removal itself.
Multiple stumps on the same visit drop sharply in price after the first, because most of the cost is getting the machine to your place rather than the grinding itself. If you've got five stumps from a hedge removal, don't book them one at a time.
Two things add cost. Restricted access is the main one — a narrow side path or a set of stairs means a smaller machine and a longer job. The other is rock and rubble. Old fill, buried concrete or a rock shelf blunts the teeth fast, and on some inner-north blocks that's a real factor.
Standard is 150 to 200mm below ground level, which is enough for lawn, garden beds and mulch.
If you're laying turf on top, ask for 200mm minimum. If a paver base, a concrete path or a shed slab is going over it, we go deeper and take out the surface roots radiating from the stump as well, because those are what lift a slab two summers later.
Tell us what's going on that spot before we start. Going deeper on the first visit costs almost nothing extra. Coming back to re-grind is a second call-out.
Grinding a decent stump produces a surprising volume of chip. A 600mm stump makes roughly a wheelbarrow and a half.
You've got three choices and none of them cost extra. We can backfill the hole with its own mulch and level it, which is what most people want. We can haul the lot away and leave the hole for you to fill with soil. Or we can barrow it to your garden beds if you want the mulch.
One thing worth knowing if you're planning to plant: fresh stump grindings are high in carbon and they pull nitrogen out of the soil as they break down. Don't backfill with mulch and plant straight into it. Either take the mulch away and fill with soil, or wait, or add nitrogen. There's more on that in our guide to what to do after a tree has been removed.
Cuts the stump into chips using a rotating wheel of carbide teeth. It's fast, there's no excavation, and the surrounding lawn and garden stay intact. The roots that run out from the stump stay in the ground and break down over the following few years. For 9 out of 10 residential jobs this is the right answer.
Sometimes called stumping out. It means digging around the root plate and lifting it out whole. You end up with a hole that needs backfilling and compacting, and a lot more disturbance. You need it when a footing, a pool shell, a retaining wall or an in-ground pool is going in that exact spot, or when a plumber needs the ground clear for a new line.
The third option people ask about. Products based on glyphosate or potassium nitrate will eventually rot a stump out. Eventually means two to four years for anything substantial, the stump stays a trip hazard the whole time, and it does nothing about termites. We don't recommend it unless the stump is somewhere nobody walks and you genuinely don't care how long it takes.
If you want lawn over the spot, the honest sequence is: grind to 200mm, remove most of the grindings, backfill with a sandy loam, water it in so it settles, top up, then turf. Skip the settling step and you get a dip in the lawn a month later.
If you want to plant a new tree in the same position, you can't. Not exactly the same position anyway. The old root plate is still down there and a new tree can't establish through it. Shift the new tree at least a metre and a half off the old centre, or go to full excavation.
This is where a lot of Brisbane stump jobs actually start. The tree came out because the roots were causing a problem, and the stump is the last piece of it.
Grinding removes the stump and the flare roots immediately around it. It does not remove the roots running under your slab or into your sewer line, and no reputable operator will tell you otherwise. If the problem was structural, you need the roots traced and dealt with, which is a different job and sometimes a plumber's job.
Fig species are the worst offenders here, followed by camphor laurel and poplar. If you've had a fig out and there's a crack in the driveway, mention it when you book so we can look at the whole picture rather than just the stump. We've written up how tree roots affect Brisbane pools and foundations if you want the detail first.
A rotting stump within a few metres of a Queensland house is a food source and a nesting site. Subterranean termites will happily colonise one and then look for the next timber source, which is your bearers.
That's the most common reason we get called out to grind a stump that's been sitting there for years. If you've got a stump close to the house and you're due a termite inspection, get the stump out first. Your inspector will thank you.
We run more than one size of machine, so the width of your narrowest gate or side path is the single most useful thing you can tell us when you book. Give us that number and we'll bring the grinder that fits rather than turning up and finding out.
Before we arrive, clear the area around the stump, move cars off the driveway, and let us know about anything buried. Irrigation lines, low-voltage garden lighting, pool plumbing, telecom conduit. We do a visual check, but you know your yard better than we do.
If the stump is behind a locked gate and you're at work, that's fine. Plenty of jobs get done with nobody home. Just tell us how to get in.
We quote stump work as a fixed price off the diameter and the access, not an hourly rate. Grinding is one of the few jobs where an hourly rate genuinely disadvantages the customer, because you're paying for the machine to hit buried rubble that nobody could see.
If the stump turns out to be bigger underground than it looked, which happens regularly with figs and camphors, that's on us.
The other thing worth knowing: stump grinders throw debris hard and a long way. Ask any operator working next to your neighbour's car for their certificate of currency before they start. Ours is $20 million public liability and it's available on request.
Access is the thing that varies most by suburb. The post-war housing north of the river through Kedron, Stafford, Wavell Heights and Windsor typically has a narrow side path, which is why we run a narrow-access machine as standard rather than as an exception. Newer estates further north have better access and often several stumps at once from a builder's clearing job.
The eastern suburbs are the opposite problem: good gates, but a lot of stumps sitting between a pool and a boundary where there's no room to swing the machine. Either way, the job usually follows a tree lopping or removal we've already done, and palm stumps get handled a little differently again. Our guide to stump grinding after tree removal covers the sequencing.
A photo of the stump with something for scale next to it, plus your suburb, is usually enough for a firm price the same day.
Send us a photo and your suburb. Most quotes go back the same day, and there's no obligation.
Stump grinding runs from about $80 to $600 depending on the diameter of the stump at ground level. Anything much over 1.2 metres, or a full excavation, gets quoted on site. Extra stumps on the same visit are much cheaper than the first.
Standard is 150 to 200mm below ground level. If you're laying turf, ask for 200mm. If a slab, path or shed is going over it, we go deeper and take the surface roots out as well.
Grinding cuts the stump down below ground and leaves the roots to break down naturally. Removal digs the whole root plate out. Grinding suits nearly all backyards. Removal is for when something is being built on the spot.
Your choice, and there's no extra charge either way. We can backfill and level with the grindings, take them away, or barrow them to your garden beds.
Not in the exact spot. The old root plate is still in the ground and a new tree won't establish through it. Move at least 1.5 metres off the old centre, or have the stump fully excavated.
Most single residential stumps take 30 to 90 minutes. A very large stump or one in rocky fill can take half a day.
There's some disturbance right around the stump and we put boards or mats down where the machine tracks over turf. Anything within about a metre of the stump gets some impact. We'll point that out before we start.
Yes, though palms behave differently. Palm stumps are fibrous rather than woody and they rot much faster, but they're also dense and wet, which is harder on the teeth. See our palm tree removal page.
Usually. Tell us the width of your narrowest gate or side path when you book and we'll bring the machine that fits. Stairs are the main thing that stops us, and even then there are options.
No. Removing the tree may have required approval, but grinding a stump that's already there does not.
Yes, and it's cheaper because it grinds faster. A rotten stump is also the one most likely to be hosting termites, so it's the one you least want to leave.
Yes. Body corporates, property managers and builders are a big part of what we do. See commercial tree removal for how we handle those jobs.
Call 0474 011 120 or send a photo through the form. Most stump quotes come back the same day.
0474 011 120
info@budgettreeremoval.com.au
0474 011 120