Large stumps — 24 inches and wider at ground level — show up constantly around the Twin Cities thanks to decades-old oaks, silver maples, and cottonwoods that finally came down to storm damage, disease, or age. These aren’t jobs you knock out with a small walk-behind grinder. We bring a tow-behind or track-mounted grinder with a bigger wheel and more horsepower, because a 30-inch stump has roughly four times the wood mass of a 15-inch one. Grinding depth also matters more here — for a stump this size we typically go 10-12 inches below grade so a new tree or sod doesn’t hit a hard shelf of wood two years from now.
How we grind large stumps
We start by checking the stump’s root flare for buried rock, old fence wire, or irrigation lines, since bigger stumps have often been in the ground long enough to grow around obstacles. The grinder works the face down in a fan pattern, then we drop the wheel deeper and repeat the pass, working outward to catch surface roots running 4-8 feet from the trunk. On oak and elm, root systems tend to run wide and shallow, so we often grind a wider radius than the stump itself suggests. Chips from a stump this size can fill a pickup bed or more, so haul-off is worth planning for up front.
- Inspect root flare and surrounding soil for buried obstacles.
- Grind the stump face down 10-12 inches below grade.
- Grind exposed surface roots outward from the trunk.
- Rake and separate chips from soil for haul-off or fill.
- Backfill low spots and rough-grade the area.
What this costs in the Twin Cities
Large stumps fall into our 24-36 inch band, priced at $425-$650, with anything over 36 inches quoted from photos since access, wood density, and root spread vary too much for a flat number. A 28-inch oak in a Woodbury backyard with clear equipment access typically lands around $475-$525. A 34-inch cottonwood with wide surface roots and a tight side-yard approach in St. Paul can push toward $600-$650 because of the extra grinding passes and cleanup time. Per-inch pricing generally runs $4-$7 per inch of diameter at this size, and hauling the chip volume off site adds $75-$150.
- 24-36 inch stumps run $425-$650; anything larger is quoted by photo or site visit.
- Species matters — oak and elm are denser and slower to grind than cottonwood or willow of the same size.
- Wide surface roots on mature trees can add 1-2 extra grinding passes beyond the main stump face.
- Chip haul-off adds $75-$150 given the volume a large stump produces.
- Multiple large stumps on one property qualify for a 10-25% discount per additional stump.
How to know your stump qualifies
Measure straight across the widest point of the stump at ground level, not up on the trunk where it narrows. Anything 24 inches or more puts you in this category, and it’s common than people expect — a lot of the boulevard oaks and maples planted in the 1960s-80s in first-ring suburbs are now firmly in this range. If your stump came down from storm damage, disease removal, or just old age, and it’s wider than a truck tire, plan on this pricing tier rather than our standard small-to-medium rates.
- Stump diameter measures 24 inches or more at ground level.
- Tree was removed due to oak wilt, Dutch elm disease, or storm damage rather than routine trimming.
- Visible surface roots extend several feet from the trunk.
- Property has more than one large stump from the same removal event.
- You’re unsure of size — send us a photo with something for scale and we’ll estimate the band.
Text a photo of your stump to 952-388-3327. We’ll text back a fixed quote — usually within an hour on weekdays.