Grinding gets a stump below grade fast, without the disruption of digging the whole root system out. The one thing worth checking first is what else is sharing its roots.
Tell us the street and we’ll give you a fixed price. Free, no obligation.
None of them are obvious from looking at the stump above ground.
A pōhutukawa or macrocarpa stump can have roots running well beyond its visible width. What’s planted nearby, and whether it shares roots with the stump, matters more than the stump’s own size.
Clearing a spot for a path needs the stump flush. Planning a new lawn or garden bed over it needs it ground deeper, so roots don’t interfere with what goes in on top.
A lot of Mount sections have narrow side runs a full-size grinder can’t reach. Smaller compact grinders exist specifically for this — through a standard gate, where a bigger machine simply doesn’t fit.
Almost nobody actually needs the whole root system gone.
Grinding a stump is fast, contained and leaves the surrounding lawn and any buried services alone — the grinder works down through the stump itself rather than excavating around it. Most jobs are done within a couple of hours and the area’s usable again the same day.
Digging a stump out, roots and all, is a different job entirely — a much bigger excavation, more disruption to anything nearby, and real risk on an older Mount section where buried pipes or cables aren’t always exactly where the plans say they are.
The only reason to dig rather than grind is wanting every trace of root gone — typically because a new garden bed or lawn is going in on that exact spot and any regrowth from a live root would be a problem later.
For clearing a spot, levelling for a path, or just getting an eyesore gone, grinding does the job with a fraction of the disruption.
Checked before the machine starts, not after.
We check root spread before we start on anything close to a hedge or tree you want to keep. See the note on that below — it’s the one thing that changes how we approach a job right next to live planting.
Older, established sections carry more history below ground than above it.
Settled since the early 1900s, the Mount carries plenty of stumps from trees removed over the decades — old pōhutukawa, macrocarpa and others, often bigger below ground than their remaining visible stump suggests. Access is usually the deciding factor in how the job’s done.
We won’t grind a stump sitting inside a live hedge or tree’s root zone without checking first. Griselinia and a few other close-planted hedge species share roots at tight spacing, and a grinder doesn’t know the difference between a dead stump’s roots and a live neighbour’s.
Fixed once we’ve looked. Green waste is in it and GST is already included.
| Small stump | Under 300mm diameter | From $95 |
|---|---|---|
| Medium stump | 300–600mm diameter | $140–$220 |
| Larger or established stump | Over 600mm, older trees | $220–$380 |
| Multiple stumps, same visit | Discount per additional stump | Quoted |
Multiple stumps in one visit cost less per stump than booking them separately — the machine’s already on site and set up, so it’s worth mentioning every stump on the property up front rather than one at a time.
No strong seasonality of its own — timing usually follows what’s planned for the space afterwards.
The grinding itself doesn’t care about the season. It’s only worth timing around if you’re planting straight afterwards — then it makes sense to line up with a good spring or autumn planting window.
Assumed we’d need the whole tree dug out, roots and all. They talked us through why grinding was enough for what we wanted — a paved spot, not a garden — and it was done in an afternoon for a lot less than we’d budgeted.
Mostly about the job rather than about us, which is how it should be.
For most species, yes — without a stump to feed regrowth from, the root system dies off over time. A few species, including some hedge varieties, can resprout from live roots left in the ground regardless of what happens to the visible stump. We’ll flag if that’s a risk on your job.
Typically 150 to 300mm below grade, enough to clear for a lawn or garden bed on top. Deeper is possible if something’s being built directly over the spot — tell us what’s planned and we’ll grind to suit it.
Not if we check first. The main risk is a stump sitting inside another tree or hedge’s root zone, where roots can be shared or tangled — we check for that before starting anything close to planting you want to keep.
Left on site as mulch over the hole if you want them — genuinely useful, being fresh wood chip — or loaded out and removed if you’d rather a clean, level, chip-free finish.
Most single stumps are done within one to two hours, including the services check and clean-up. Larger or older established stumps, or several in one visit, take longer.
Occasionally — if every trace of root genuinely needs to be gone, usually because a new garden bed or lawn is planned for that exact spot and any regrowth would be a problem later. Most jobs don’t need this.
Trunk diameter first, then access. A big stump on an open section can still be faster and cheaper than a smaller one down a narrow, gated side run.
No — this is grinding an existing stump, not felling a standing tree. If the tree’s still up, that’s a different job we can point you toward.
Most people add one or two of these, since we’re already on the property.
