Stump Grinding in South Jersey
Grind stumps below grade so you can re-sod, plant, or pave.
Pricing: $110–$450 per stump for typical residential sizes
A stump sits for years and bothers nobody. Then the mower hits it once. Or the inspector flags it during the sale. Or somebody finally wants the patio in that corner of the yard and there’s a 30-inch tulip poplar stump in the way.
Grinding gets rid of one cleanly. Done right, you can put grass over it inside a week.
What’s in the visit
- Mats down on the access path. The grinder is heavy and tracked and doesn’t belong on grass without plywood under it.
- Screens up around windows, vehicles, AC units, anything that doesn’t want chips at speed.
- Grind to spec. Default 6 to 8 inches below grade. We go a foot wider than the visible stump to catch the buttress roots fanning out underneath.
- Chips stay in or beside the hole. They settle in as you tamp.
- 811 markout when we’re near a property line, driveway edge, or known utility run.
How it goes
- Stumps under 24 inches we’ll usually quote off photos and a tape measurement. Bigger ones, tight spots, or multiples we come look at.
- Schedule. Most stump-only jobs run a half day.
- Grind. Two-man crew. One on the machine, one watching the throw. 20 to 60 minutes per residential stump.
- We probe the depth in a couple spots and walk it with you before we pack up.
What it costs
- Under 12 inches: $110–$180
- 12 to 24 inches: $180–$280
- 24 to 36 inches: $280–$450
- Bigger or multi-trunk: quoted on-site
Add-ons:
- Deeper than 8 inches below grade: $25–$75 per stump
- Haul-away of grindings: $50–$150
- Stump treatment to suppress sucker growth on silver maple, locust, sweet gum, ailanthus: $25
Five or more stumps in one trip gets a bulk price.
When to call
- House sale. Inspector flagged the stump as a fall hazard or termite vector.
- New patio, bed, fence, or pool. The stump is in the way.
- Replant. You want a new tree in the same spot — needs a deeper grind plus a root chase.
- Mower damage. A hidden stump in the lawn breaks decks and dulls blades.
- Carpenter ants. A rotting stump near the house feeds them, and they go looking for the foundation next.
After a removal
If we just dropped the tree, grinding is usually a same-week add-on at a discount — access is already set up. Old stumps somebody else left you, no problem. We grind plenty of orphan stumps a month.
What we don’t do
No chemical removal. The kits at the hardware store work slowly, only on rotted wood, and unevenly. Forty dollars and a year of waiting if you’re patient.
No drilling-and-burning either. Most South Jersey townships have fire codes that say no. What you get if you do it anyway is a smoldering crater that takes longer to clean up than the stump did to grind.
For bigger jobs — multiple trees, a back lot, a builder’s clear — see land clearing. After a removal, the grind is usually what closes the job out.
We grind stumps across Cherry Hill, Gloucester Township, Washington Township, and everywhere in between.