Is There a B.S standard for stump grinding ??

[kimtree]

very shonky contractors,any decent operator should be able to get down 12''

 

get your own stump grinder then you can guarantee client satisfaction

 

most stumps i do go down a min of 12'' more often straight through the bottom and ill chase out surface roots till they are well below the surface

 

then remove all the waste ,replace with topsoil and compact back to grade (run over with loader) bit of hand raking ,good to go

[AA Teccie (Paul)]

I have been working ona site where we hve taken out several large trees (15) the client asked me to reccomend someone for stump grinding , i gave the client two numbers of people that carry out this service , the client went with one of the firms and the work was quickly carried out . We havebeen on the site this week clearing timber and generally finnishing of with the clean up . It was to my suprise today when we started to rake out all of the grindings (which were left in heaps by the chap grinding) and we found that the stumps have not been ground any more than 75mm under the ground and in many cases the stumps and associated butress roots have not been ground below the surface at all .

 

My questions are -

 

Is there a BS standard for stump grinding ??

 

How deep do you expect the average stump grinder to grinde large stumps , these stums vary in width from aproximatley 28 inches - 75 inches (including associated roots .

 

Cheers in advance for any advice or info you can give me , i tend not to get involved in such situations however the client is now really not happy

 

 

Hi there, apologies (again) for my lateness in posting here.

 

The 'new' BS3998 does cover stump grinding in Chapter 12. Although it doesn't state a depth for grinding it does highlight the importnace of specifying such.

 

In general, I would suggest, a minimum depth of 150mm, i.e. 6 inches, is 'the norm'.

 

Cheers..

Paul

[combined tree services]

Thanks for your advice guys , the contractor came back today and after a heated exchange with the client he has agreed to get the stumps ground to a sensible depth , i must admit it takes balls to come back to a job that you have been paid for and tell the client that the stumps that are still level with the surface and some that have had bits missed and poking above the ground are all ok and you cant see what the problem is !!!!

 

Good job the client in this case had experience in dealing with contractors .!!!!!

[butler]

If he said 11" below then 11" below it should be

 

nice......

[Grumpystumpy]

I'd like to see something like a B.S for stump grinding, or even assessment from the AA for stump grinding businesses. This would help sort out the likes of this contractor you had in. I'm often being called in to follow up after this sort of contractor, its good for my business.

I mostly only do work for "trade" or recommended by the "trade", so some form of official standard would be good. Perhaps you AA approved fellas could push for having some sort of assessment/approval so that you can sub out with a bit more confidence.

[Grumpystumpy]

Having said that though, there does need to be a straight discussion with the client prior to carrying out the work to establish what depths are required/expected. Sometimes 2-3 inches is sufficient, other times 12"+ is required. But, it is horses for courses with the machinery.