start digging.. about 3 feet from the trunks ....

sawzall the bigger roots .... hand saw if no power tools ...

keep sawing and digging until it is out ...

in my sand... 3 to 10 years to let them rot naturally ...

look hubby in the eye.... wave a 6 pack in front of him... and very seriously ask him..... DO YOU REALLY WANT TO HEAR ABOUT THE TRUNKS FOR THE NEXT TEN YEARS .... or would you rather have these and your choice of the best dinner i can make/buy???

or find a strapping young man.. and spend the dinner/beer money on paying him to wrestle it out ...

besides the fact.. in z3 ... does the ground ever really thaw.. lol .. you might be looking at 15 years ....

there really isnt anyway around the hard work, especially since it is right next to the house.. and presumably in choice real estate ....

ken

Thanks Ken. I'm in no rush. Cut the roots, eh?
(sigh) I'm going to need that beer--not him!

Um, OK, I know this sounds stupid, but we can't find the roots.

Do the roots go down to a certain depth and then out? How far?
Is there a taproot?

What are we looking for?

Maybe I should mention there is another tall overgrown thuja tree behind it smack up against the foundation. It grew on the North side of the house and was about 8 feet around with foliage only on the last foot or so.

Here is a picture of what we've got.

key words...

just start digging ...

sooner or later you will figure out which are attached to the trunk you want removed ....

once you have a moat... a hose will blast away enough soil ...

my guess is that you will find a plethora of roots you can hit with the hand pruning shears .. or sequeters if you are in CA ...

and 3 to 5 giant roots the size of the trunks.. and one.. that goes straight down ....

JUST START DIGGING ...

ken

PS: sharpening you shovel helps slice thru the smaller stuff ...

Well, we've been digging for a couple of hours, the husband and I have had an argument and I'm still not finding anything substantial--just a few off-shoots I've cut with the secateurs....

Done for today.

Well, if you can't pull the stump out yet, there's still something holding it in there. If it's deep... well, that might be the answer to how plants survive in zone 3.

To get to the root of the matter, I've been known to use the unlikeliest garden tool: a shopvac.

But honestly.... you must be in pretty deep by now. Why not just saw it off there, and bury it? That will allow you to get on with planting on top. It won't resprout from roots or stump, it will eventually decompose and nourish your new plants, and the new plants have tools that are better than shovels for getting into and under the root mass - tools called "roots!"

I also have a hand pruning saw that I use almost exclusively for sawing through things underground, so I don't mind the blade hitting rocks.

KarinL

Yes, the hand saw Karin mentions, can be of great help. Also a loppers or lopping shears. I also like a mattocks for this kind of job. It looks a bit like an ax blade turned sideways. You can really bust through stuff with this.

When I woke up this morning, lttle did I realize I'd be reading a thread today with "secateurs"..or "sequeters" mentioned twice. Will wonders never cease?

;^)

+oM

Thanks everyone. It's out. Finally.

I just took it one wheelbarrow of dirt a day. None of the roots approached anything near the size of the trunks and we didn't find any "taproot." Still, the info you guys gave us was immensely helpful. Thank you.

What should we do with it?

"...What should we do with it?..."

Make a burl bowl out of it?

tj

scraplolly, this whole thread read like it was a Seinfeld adventure! You must do something with the trunk to commemorate the event. Perhaps work it into a "naturepiece" centerpiece? Or then there is the 1x4 brass label you could affix with the date and time. That should be a conversation starter!
As for myself, I am hiding this whole thread least my darling hubby should see it. Actually, be glad it is done. Mine would have hooked that puppy right to the bumper of the 4x4! (I can only wonder if that is how the first mobile home began, with tree roots beside foundations!)

My back hurts just looking at that thing.

What to do with it?
Unsentimental option: get someone with a chainsaw to cut it down far enough for firewood, compost, or yard waste collection if you have it.
Sentimental option: use it as garden art, maybe plant a fern on it...

Wait, I know! bury it!!!
Just kidding.

KarinL

Husband says he's sorry we don't have a 4x4!

I tell you, it was all worth it for the chuckle I've gotten from your responses!