How long does it take to grind a stump?

A single 12–24 inch stump usually takes 15–45 minutes including setup and cleanup. Larger root flares or shelterbelt rows take longer but we batch them efficiently.

Do I need to be home?

Nope. As long as we can access the stump and you've marked any private utilities, we'll knock it out and send you photos when we wrap.

How soon can you come grind a stump?

Most jobs are scheduled within the week. Single stumps in Marshall often go same-day or next-day depending on weather and the route we're already running.

Will the tree grow back after grinding?

Grinding 6+ inches below grade kills the stump and the visible root crown. You may see a few sucker shoots from surface roots the first year — those are easy to mow off and they die out.

Do you locate utilities before grinding?

Yes — Gopher State One Call before any grind near a building or property line. Private lines (sprinklers, dog fence, low-voltage lighting) are your responsibility to mark.

Stump Grinding

Professional Stump Grinding

Below-grade grinding that lets you re-seed, re-sod, or rebuild over the spot the same week.

Call now Get a free quote

Licensed & Insured

Full MN liability

Locally Owned

Marshall, MN based

Modern Equipment

Walk-behind to track

Affordable Pricing

By-the-inch quotes

Fast Turnaround

Most jobs <7 days

5-Star Service

Owner answers

Stump grinding is the fastest, cleanest way to get rid of a tree stump without tearing up your yard. We bring a commercial-grade grinder right to your property, chip the stump down 6–12 inches below grade, and leave you with mulch you can use — or haul it off entirely.

Most single-stump jobs are done in under an hour. We grind in tight backyards, along fence lines, between sidewalks, and out on farms — anywhere you can get a walk-behind or track machine.

Benefits

Why grind a stump instead of leaving it?

Reclaim your yard

Get usable lawn back. Mow over the spot like the tree was never there.

Kill the regrowth

Grinding below grade kills sucker shoots so you're not fighting new growth every spring.

Stop the pests

Rotting stumps attract carpenter ants, termites, and wasps. Remove the food source, remove the bugs.

Protect your mower

No more bent blades or busted spindles from hidden roots and stump shoulders.

Boost curb appeal

A clean lawn line sells homes faster and lifts property value.

Build over it

Grind deep enough to pour a patio, run a fence, or plant a new tree.

How it works

How a stump grinding job works

Call or text

Tell us how many stumps and roughly how big. We quote on the phone in most cases.

Walk the site

We confirm pricing, mark utilities, and tarp anything that could get peppered with chips.

Grind below grade

Tracked grinder chews the stump 6–12 inches below the surface in a few passes.

Clean up

Mulch spread, hauled off, or left for you — your call. Paid on completion.

The details

What professional stump grinding actually includes

Every grinder operator should be doing more than running a wheel through wood. At SS Stump Grinding we treat each job like it's our own yard — because half the time it's a neighbor's. That means utility locates before we drop the wheel, tarps up to protect siding and windows, and a final rake-down so the grass around the stump isn't covered in debris.

We carry both a compact walk-behind for tight backyard gates and a tracked machine for big farm stumps, multi-stump lots, and root flares the size of a kitchen table. The right machine for the job means less time, less yard damage, and a cleaner finish.

How deep do we grind?

Standard grind is 6 inches below grade — deep enough to plant grass over. If you're putting in a patio, deck, fence, or replanting a tree, we go 12+ inches and pull more root mass. Tell us the plan and we'll set the depth right.

What about the wood chips?

Grinding one average stump produces a wheelbarrow or two of chips. We can spread them as mulch in your landscaping beds, pile them for you to use later, or haul them off as a flat add-on. Most folks keep them — free mulch is free mulch.

What size stumps do you handle?

From a 4-inch ornamental tree stump in a flowerbed to 40-inch cottonwoods on a shelterbelt. If a chainsaw can fit, the grinder can fit. We've ground in fenced courtyards through 36-inch gates and out in open pasture where the only neighbor is corn.

Will it hurt my yard?

Tracks spread weight better than tires and we lay down ground protection on soft turf. Some surface scuffing is normal — grass grows back in a few weeks. We're not driving a Bobcat through your peonies.

The machines we actually run

Two grinders cover almost everything in southwest Minnesota. The compact tracked walk-behind squeezes through a 36-inch gate, weighs light enough not to rut a watered lawn, and handles anything up to roughly a 30-inch trunk. For shelterbelt cottonwoods, silver maple root flares wider than a card table, and multi-stump days, the Bobcat-mounted grinder wheel goes on and the job speeds up three or four times over. Carbide teeth get swapped or rotated between jobs — dull teeth are what tear turf and throw chips into siding, so we keep a spare set in the trailer.

How long a grind actually takes

A 10–16 inch stump in an open front yard: 15–25 minutes door to door. An 18–24 inch stump with a wide root flare: 30–50 minutes. A 36-inch cottonwood with buttress roots: an hour to ninety minutes, sometimes longer if there's rock in the soil. Add ten minutes for setup, tarping and a utility walk on every job, and another ten to fifteen if you want the chips hauled instead of left. Most Marshall-area homeowners are surprised how fast it is — the drive is often longer than the grind.

Real pricing, not a range that means nothing

Grinding is priced per diameter inch, measured at the widest point of the stump at ground level — not the tree's old trunk diameter. Figure $3–$5 an inch with a minimum charge that covers the trip. That puts a typical 18-inch maple around $90–$120, a 30-inch cottonwood around $150–$250, and a row of five hedge stumps in the $175–$300 range as a batch. Hauling chips off site is a flat add-on. Hard access — through-the-house-only backyards, steep riverbank lots, frozen ground in January — is the only thing that pushes a quote up meaningfully.

Grinding vs. removal — pick the cheaper one when you can

Grinding is a wood-chipping operation: the wheel erases the stump and the root crown down past mowing depth and leaves the lateral roots in the ground to rot naturally over the next few years. Nothing is excavated, nothing is trucked away unless you ask, and your soil profile stays intact. If your plan is grass, mulch bed, or just not hitting it with the mower, grinding is the right and cheaper call. If you're pouring concrete, setting a post, or replanting in the exact footprint, read the stump removal page instead — that job digs the root ball and backfills.

FAQ