Tree Removal
Full removals of dead, storm-damaged or badly placed trees, including tight residential blocks.
Learn more →When grinding is not enough
Most stumps should be ground. It is cheaper, quicker, tidier and enough for lawn and garden.
Full removal earns its extra cost in a specific set of cases:
- A slab, shed pad, pool or footing is going where the stump is, and the engineer wants clear ground.
- A service trench — sewer, power, water, retic main — has to run through the root zone.
- A retaining wall or paving is going over the top and a decaying root plate would cause settlement underneath it.
- The species suckers persistently and you want the root mass gone rather than dormant.
- A builder or a shire condition requires the root system removed as part of clearing a house pad.
If none of those apply, grinding is the better value answer and we will tell you so.
What the work involves
The stump is excavated with a machine sized to the block — a mini excavator on a suburban site, something larger on acreage. Roots are cut progressively as the plate is exposed, the stump is levered out, and the material is loaded out. What is left is a hole that needs clean fill and compaction, because a loosely backfilled excavation will settle noticeably over the first wet season.
On sandy coastal ground around Dunsborough, Vasse and Busselton the digging is fast but the sides collapse readily, so the excavation ends up wider than the plate. On gravel and clay loam inland the walls hold better but the work is slower and the machine has to be heavier. Limestone close to the surface, common on the Geographe coast, is the one that turns a half-day job into a full day.
Access is the whole conversation
You cannot excavate a stump without getting a machine to it. A 1.7-tonne excavator needs roughly a metre of clear gate and firm ground to track on. If the stump is in a courtyard behind a paved patio, or down a slope behind a retaining wall, the honest options are usually grinding with a walk-behind machine, or taking a fence panel out. That is a decision to make at quote time rather than on the morning.
Before the machine starts
Have the services marked. Retic is the one that catches people, because nobody has a plan of it and it always runs exactly where the roots are. Order a Dial Before You Dig plan for anything deeper. If the tree is still standing, get the removal and the stump job quoted together.
For what drives the price, see the cost guide. To get someone out, ring (08) 9785 0207 or send the details through. We work right across the South West.
More services
Explore our other services
Tree Lopping
Weight reduction and selective branch removal on overgrown marri, gum and peppermint.
Learn more →Tree Pruning
Crown lifting, deadwooding and clearance pruning done to keep the tree, not just cut it back.
Learn more →Stump Grinding
Grinding the stump below ground level so you can turf, pave or plant over it.
Learn more →Land Clearing
Clearing house pads, paddock regrowth and overgrown lifestyle blocks, within the clearing rules.
Learn more →Firebreaks & Hazard Reduction
Firebreaks, fuel-load reduction and overhanging limb work to meet your shire's annual notice.
Learn more →Emergency Storm Work
Fallen limbs, split trunks and trees on roofs after a South West front comes through.
Learn more →
FAQs
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between stump removal and stump grinding?
Grinding machines the stump to below ground level and leaves the roots to decay in place. Removal excavates the stump and the main root plate out of the ground entirely, leaving a hole to backfill. Grinding suits lawns and gardens; removal is what you need under a slab, footing, retaining wall or service trench.
How big is the hole afterwards?
Bigger than most people expect. A mature marri or jarrah root plate can be two to three metres across, and the excavation has to be wide enough to work around it. That hole then needs backfilling and compacting with clean fill, which is part of the job and should be part of the quote.
Will removal damage my lawn or driveway?
Excavation needs a machine on the block, and a machine leaves marks. On sand it is usually recoverable; on a wet clay loam in winter it is not. Talk about access and making good before you accept the price — whether the crew is protecting the lawn with mats, and who repairs what, should be written on the quote.
Can roots damage pipes and footings?
Roots do not usually break sound pipework, but they exploit existing cracks and joints, and they can lift paving, crack a thin slab edge and push over a light retaining wall. Where a stump sits close to a footing or a sewer line, taking out the plate rather than leaving it to decay is the safer call.
Free, no-obligation