Removed gigantic stump with tiny Kubota

[Jfet]

Hey guys. It has been awhile since I have logged on, but I still have my Kubota U35-4 mini excavator and still love it.

We decided this year to buy a small parcel of land (0.3 acres) in town and I brought the U35 over to it to use while building a house. We are going to build the house ourselves, my wife has designed and CAD modeled the whole thing. We plan to have the foundation done professionaly up to the mud sills and then we would build from there. With the virus situation though, it is looking very hard to get any contractors. I decided to start clearing the area after we had a few 28" ponderosa pines removed and one of the stumps happened to be right in the footprint of the future house.

Could the U35 remove it? They said it couldn't. It would take a week.

Challenge accepted!

Four hours later, I have a hefty hole and a stump out of it that probably weighs half of the 8000 pound U35-4. I had to cut away two of the main roots with a chainsaw after digging around them with the smaller bucket and was then able to rock and loosen the stump and then roll it out. I then pulled up the two tap roots (which were really stuck in there and ended up being about 8 feet long!).

So now I have this rather big hole, that I will need to compact and fill. I could leave this for the future foundation crew or if we end up trying to do the foundation ourselves I will need to learn how to properly compact the soil. There will likely be a foundation footing somewhere right over this area.

If I were to compact it, how might I approach this? I can read up on it, but my thinking was to get a dump load of the correct fill and rent a jumping jack ram compactor, then fill half a foot at a time while compacting it between each layer.

Alternatively, maybe I could find a hydraulic attachment for the Kubota? Do they even make one that small? I dunno, this might be a bit too much of a job...then again, they said I couldn't get that stump out!

 

[PoTreeBoy]

I'm thinking you may want want to beef up the footing that spans the old stump location. Maybe make it deeper and use 2 layers of reinforcing steel. Your best compaction still won't equal undisturbed soil. Could help you avoid future differential settlement issues.

BTW, good job with that stump! I've got a loblolly pine about that size I need to get out with my L35.

 

[BigG]

Do not place anything in the hole but dirt that will compact. Before you build the house you most likely have to get the soil tested. ALL the organic mater must be removed and dirt that can be compacted used to bring it up to the grade.

If you are going to build the house yourself I would suggest that you hire an experienced building superintendent. The money spent for his experience will most likely save you money in the long run from having to do redoes to meet your locale codes. And codes vary from state to state, from county to county within the same state and from city to city in the same county.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

Matters the content of the natural soil, if it's compatible then no issues use it.

If not have some brought in, and yea 6" compact and move up.

They do sell compactors for excavators but they are pretty pricey.

Your foundations are 36" minimum to 48" depending on your exact location, and you'll get plenty of compaction in to that depth.

 

[Jfet]

Yes, the hydraulic compactors seem to be about $5k.

The jumping jack type you can rent for about $90 a day. Maybe the high impact of the jumping jack would actually compact more than the hydraulic?

 

[kkk]

I see your in WA.
Here in OR. theres pretty strict guidlines for compaction under or near the foundation. I'm guessing at some point this building will require inspections by the local authorities. If they catch on to what you've done you may find yourself redoing the entire process. One of my bigger builders has been down this road several times in OR. The most recent is a piece of bare land out in the country that had been site prepped (leveled) years ago.....inspector noticed a differrence in dirt color of the dig out...They ended up removing 6' of material
on one side of the dig out and refilling in specific layers with multiple inspections...About a month long project and many dollars. The foundation gets poured on Monday finally.

 

[Jfet]

Well, unless we wanted to build the footings on top of the stump, it kind of had to come out, so I haven't *done* anything yet that is what I consider wrong. I am still leaning toward hiring the foundation and compaction out, but just can't get anyone interested while the virus is ongoing.

 

[kkk]

Well, unless we wanted to build the footings on top of the stump, it kind of had to come out, so I haven't *done* anything yet that is what I consider wrong. I am still leaning toward hiring the foundation and compaction out, but just can't get anyone interested while the virus is ongoing.

I get it. We are still allowed to work on Residential const. in OR but the WA & CA branches have been ordered to cease const. If the house was already started as in Post & beam phase they were allowed to take it as far as roofing & siding to protect structure but thats where it stops till further notice.
Either way your stump had to go. Its the process of filling and dealing with inspectors that turns it into a pita & $$.

I'm sure it was a bunch easier with your 35 than my 15.
These machines will do amazing things but stump removal is my least favorite. I feel it in my back for days afterwards. Everytime the bucket slips off a root you get a nice jolt. I don't think even an air-ride seat would help.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

We don't have any structural inspections in North Idaho.
It's rather easy to build.
But I've been a contractor for 30+ some years, I've never had an issue with a stump or anything else being dug out as long as you put good compactable soil or rock in its place.

I've never had issue one with backfilling and compacting as long as you do it right, I prefer either a ABC mix if I need to do compaction.

 

[Redlands]

Hydraulic compactors for track hoes work well. However can be hard on the boom connections, wear on the pins. Two excavation contractors I work around will not allow them installed on their equipment. Compactors and especially the jack hammer type breakers are only used on rental equipment.

 

[powersrp]

Why not dig hole back to the depth it was after removing stump, throw 12” of same dirt back in hole and tamp it down with bucket, then do the same again and again, they are going to dig it out for footings anyway.


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[flyidaho]

I tackled a similar sized stump with my U25 Kubota, and after about 30 minutes gave up! I really didn't need to move it, other then on general principles, and I thought it would be easy. I Didn't want to excavate a big hole all around it.

Then I had the bright idea of hooking my 56,000 pound boom truck to it, using some old rigging, to the Mack truck tow hooks, and then taking a bit of a run at it. The stump never even wiggled, and stop the truck cold, from a fast walk speed. That's when I realized I REALLY didn't need to remove it, and it sits there to this day.

We are building here still, no real slowdown at all. I admire your inclination to do your own foundation work, but would suggest you sub it out. 35 years of general contractor experience tells me that, leave it to a pro, learning on your own home is...problematic.

 

[Jfet]

We are building here still, no real slowdown at all. I admire your inclination to do your own foundation work, but would suggest you sub it out. 35 years of general contractor experience tells me that, leave it to a pro, learning on your own home is...problematic.

I contacted 12 builders/foundation guys and 6 returned my calls, 4 said they would get back to me and never did, 1 said they were too busy for the job (no virus depression in construction I guess!) and just one I am still holding out hope even though they have not come back with a bid.

The one I have hope for did not have time or want to do the excavation, so we are doing that ourselves, digging to 32"+ a six foot wide trench to be able to work on the stem walls and footings. It is actually going really well with the U35. I hand finish the last few inches with a flat shovel to not disturb the soil but I am getting pretty dang good at pulling a scoop of dirt across a level surface.

I still want to hire someone to actually do the pour, but we might end up doing it ourselves if nobody will even give us a bid. I don't know why someone doesn't just throw ANY type of bid out there...we have money.

 

[N7HEVN]

Hi all.
Am really new to all the land maintenance activities such as this, and appreciate the information about digging out big tree stumps.

Please forgive me for this possibly being a dumb question... But why not figure out a way to burn the stump out?
It was my understanding that you could drill holes in the stump, get enough of them done that the stump has the ability to dry-out through the diameter. Once then dry / enough, put some diesel fuel or kerosene in there, let it soak for a few hours, and light it up. Then, 24 hours later, it should be all burned out, enough down into the roots, that the 'job' should be 'good enough' and you could do other potential needed digging with the small excavator.

Am I naive, is this not a rational approach to get a big stump out of the way, in an efficient manner..?

 

[Jfet]

This property is in town, only a few blocks from main street. I do not know if they want people lighting up diesel fueled stumps here.

It also only took me about 4 hours on the Kubota to pull the stump and all of the tap roots. Technically faster than burning it out and then removing the debris.

I have already compacted gravel/dirt in the area now and getting ready for footings.