If you’ve spotted a few unsightly stumps in your yard, you might be tempted to remove them yourself. It’s just a stump, right? It seems like an easy do-it-yourself project.

But really, stump removal can become much more complicated than you would imagine. What looks like a simple project on the surface can actually be much more complicated below. Attempting DIY stump removal can even be dangerous.

You have no idea how far the roots extend. One method of stump removal involves pulling up the entire stump. But you can’t possibly know how far the roots extend, and you might not be aware of all electrical lines, gas lines, septic tanks, and other things underground that the roots might be touching. The end result can be that you have a much larger hole in your yard than you had pictured, and perhaps damage and disruption to vital utilities.

The necessary stump removal machinery requires experience and expertise. It seems simple, but using the necessary machinery for stump removal can become complicated. You’re facing the possibility of a lot of flying debris. And the old “pickup truck and a rope” method is far more dangerous than you would think. That rope will be under an incredible amount of tension, and accidents can happen in an instant if that rope snaps. You could be facing injuries or damage to the truck.

It’s actually a lot of work. A tree’s roots are extensive for a reason. Because it’s their job to hold up an entire tree, you can be certain that they won’t give up and let go of the soil easily. That means you could end up with a much larger hole in your yard than you had pictured, and it might require a large amount of work to fix.

Having said all of that, you can probably see that a simple little stump can quickly become a huge headache. Save that work for the professionals. Give us a call for an estimate, and we’ll help you decide if whole stump removal or simple stump grinding is right for your situation.