I want to make sure we know exactly what your trying to do. What are the holes for?

to put in "stump out", then in the Spring burn it out.

picture of the project?

i doubt it will work ...

i dont understand.. if you are so space limited ... that your only option is to put the shed right there... how you are going to have a big enough fire... to burn out a buried stump ... which dont really burn ..

next.. i dont understand why the guy who ground it out.. didnt grind it far enough down ... why not have him come back ...

next.. i dont understand what kind of foundation you will put down for the shed ... i dont know if you will be able to pour a slab over this stuff ... if it wont crack over the years from what is left rotting under the slab ...

finally ... why not have a backhoe come dig it out ...

where are you ... i doubt any stump rotting goo... is going to do much of anything.. in winter...

you can copy/paste the issue into all the forums.. to cover all your bases ...

sorry.. but.. IMHO ... if you want to do it right ... its going to cost money ....

ken

Sounds like you need a decent quality bit of the twist/boring varieties rather than spade. We use a 1/2 inch twist bit with a regular line-powered drill. The stump removers we've used recommended aging 12 months after application before burn. Could be shorter if tree had rot, but think at least 12 months is good if it's a healthy stump.

....how you are going to have a big enough fire... to burn out a buried stump ... which dont really burn ..

A long small burn with charcoal is the alternative for spots were large fires are unsafe or otherwise frowned upon. Our 3+ ft diameter mulberry stump took 3 or 4 large bags to burn out over something like 84 hours.

from what I've gathered, to give you the best chance of success burning a stump, you would drill a bunch of holes 10in deep, preferably 1 in in diameter, put potassium nitrate in it, followed by hot water. let this work for a few weeks. the beginning of the rot will allow kerosene ( which the stump will be soaked in when time to burn) and then burn it.

as for the foundation type, planning on going with piers.

for location, it's what I have. half the stump will go into where the foundation will be. Given that I plan on putting up the shed in the spring, and what I've read about the burn method, seems this would present with the least settling, short of removing the stump.

I would hire a stump grinder. I have never burned a stump out in my life - if at all possible, I quite enjoy a bit of fun with a block and tackle off the back of the truck (for an entire tree trunk), but generally, I like heavy duty machinery and don't mind paying for the hire (especially if it avoids hours of toil).

If you are still keen on drilling, an auger bit is much better than a flat bit...but can cost a fair bit on their own. You also might find a hand brace easier to use - slow but reliable.

Growingadvice, the trunk should have been ground down below the soil level, leaving no sign of the trunk. I agree with those who suggest that to be your best, fastest, most thorough option.

4 ft diameter is decent sized. I'd have the stump ground if there are no utilities present. Otherwise this is going to be a project.

Now I do have an acre or so of grass. IF the stump was in the right place I MIGHT be entertained by starting a bon fire over it burning it. This will likely be a 2 day or so affair. Plus my bonfires are decent sized and can melt siding.

Back on the farm I was clearing brush in a pasture and lit the brush pile which was around 10-15 feet from a standing tree about 3/4 dead. That tree caught on fire and it burned down underground more than a foot deep so it is possible to burn down under the ground. Had I tried to burn the tree up, most likely it would have been impossible to get done. IIRC, it took a good 10 days all told.

Grind out additional stump/roots material. Today there are myriad choices of small, portable stump grinders, able to get into tight spots-if that's what this is. I know of no other reasonable way. We've removed lots of stumps. A stump grinder is/was used in every case,no burning ever. Sounds archaic to me.

+oM

I vote for hiring a professional stump grinder as well.

Not sure why this was bumped...but indeed, I've been surprised by how quickly potassium nitrate (typical 'stump out') or ammonium nitrate (still available online in small quantities) will accelerate the decay of large pieces of wood. I had some huge 3' X 10' logs from a tree that fell about 3 years before, that I had pushed back into a wooded area with my FEL. They just weren't breaking down very fast. I didn't even drill into them, I just carefully sprinkled prills of KNO3 into the nooks and crannies where the bark was splitting. (edit: I now remember I did put just a few drill holes in places there were only big flat surfaces...but not many.) A year later those nooks and crannies took on a porous, cardboard like appearance, with big chunks of the wood sloughing off. Mushrooms are also growing all over them. If I do another round this year, I think they will be on schedule to have totally vanished by 2-3 years time.

How ever you finally get the stump out, I would get the area treated for termites. I our area termites can destroy a piece of wood in a couple of season.

In my opinion if the stump absolutely has to come out the best way would be to rent a back hoe and dig it out. Grinding it out works if you grind it deep enough. Other methods are hit or miss and at best will take working on it for several season to get rid of the stump. This also depends on the tree, some trees rot at the drop of a hat, other are extremely rot resistant.