Off and On Again.
By koopharper
@koopharper (7502)
Canada
May 30, 2016 3:10pm CST
Disappeared for just a few days this time. I don't spend any time here on Saturdays but Sunday didn't yield any time to visit either. Regular maintenance guy couldn't work so I ended up covering both of our basic responsibilities for the day. Made for an eleven and a half hour shift. I'm also trying to get a new garden plot ready by the end of the week. We need a spot to plant potatoes and a lot of work needs to be done. I cut the Alders down last fall but their roots are still in the ground. I spent another two hours after work slaving away after that. That didn't leave any spare time at all. Today rained so I can't continue that work until it dries out some. Probably a good thing. I'm pretty stiff and sore from the work. Anybody know any short cuts for getting Alder stumps out of the ground in a hurry without a tractor?
6 people like this
6 responses
@koopharper (7502)
• Canada
31 May 16
Alder burns pretty good and the roots would probably burn down underground but our soil is way too wet for that to work. Besides that we have a burn ban in effect. Fort McMurray has a lot of Canadian pretty paranoid about forest fires right now.
1 person likes this
@koopharper (7502)
• Canada
1 Jun 16
@JudyEv Making good progress. Just got a lot of rain overnight. Hopefully things will dry out a lot before I finish my shift today. Got two more stumps out and I have clear sailing for another ten feet or so by the look of it.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (326467)
• Rockingham, Australia
1 Jun 16
@koopharper I can imagine the paranoia over fires. I don't have any other suggestions. 
Looks like it's back to the pick and spade or whatever.
Looks like it's back to the pick and spade or whatever.1 person likes this
@koopharper (7502)
• Canada
30 May 16
I'll try not to. I just want to get something accomplished. We have 2.4 acres of former farm land that is mostly just a tangled mess of this stuff.
1 person likes this
@koopharper (7502)
• Canada
1 Jun 16
@jaboUK It is but slow and steady will accomplish a lot over time.
1 person likes this
@jaboUK (64361)
• United Kingdom
30 May 16
@koopharper That's a lot of land to sort out.
1 person likes this
@GardenGerty (157735)
• United States
30 May 16
Did the old timers use dynamite. That is what hubby says.
1 person likes this
@koopharper (7502)
• Canada
30 May 16
I doubt they used it for Alders but they did for bigger stuff. Problem is I haven't got any of that and if I did I'm sure there'd be some regulation I'd be breaking using it.
@Carmelanirel2 (8084)
• United States
31 May 16
Glad to see you again, and no, I have no idea on how to remove stumps. I really don't envy your job, I know I wouldn't be able to do that kind of work, I'm exhausted just removing leaves and dirt, along with some branches I cut.
1 person likes this
@koopharper (7502)
• Canada
1 Jun 16
Digging, pulling, twisting and then resting. Hopefully after a few goes it comes loose and I can beat the topsoil off it before throwing it on the burn pile.
1 person likes this
@Carmelanirel2 (8084)
• United States
1 Jun 16
@koopharper Ugh, my back hurts just thinking about it. 
1 person likes this
@acelawrites (19273)
• Philippines
30 May 16
I don't know about Alders. Is it a tree? Then the stump could be so enormous and it will be laborious to remove it manually.
1 person likes this
@koopharper (7502)
• Canada
30 May 16
Alders don't grow very big and the don't put down deep roots. The trunk is usually only five to ten centemetres in diameter. However they usually grow in clumps with the roots tangled and connected to each other. Each stump I'm taking out yields and twenty to thirty kilo wooden octopus. I'm digging and doing a lot of pulling and twisting.
