What's Left After the Tree
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The Tree's Gone. Now the Stump.
Every removal leaves a stump, and around Great Falls, Montana it tends to outlast whatever plan there was for it. It catches the mower deck, throws cottonwood or boxelder sprouts by June, and after a few springs of wet snow and thaw it is soft, hollow and full of ants. Electric City Tree Co. grinds stumps below grade so the spot can be seeded, fenced or poured over.
Stumps from our own removals go in the same visit, under one price. A stump another outfit left behind years ago is fine too: one call, a quick estimate and a grinder in the yard that week.
Where We Work
Also Malmstrom Air Force Base housing, Floweree, Raynesford, Geyser and the acreages along the Sun River road. See all the areas we serve →
When we take a tree down, the grinder is already on the trailer, so the stump goes that afternoon: one trip, one number. If you would rather see how the yard settles, we cut it low and come back.
The boulevard elm cut to a stool and never finished, the cottonwood taken to knee height when the house sold, the row a storm crew left after the February 2020 windstorm. An old stump is often softer, but ash and ponderosa stay hard for years, so we price it as it is.
A river-bottom cottonwood grinds fast but can measure five or six feet at the flare. Boxelder and Siberian elm run shallow roots across the lawn. A bark-on elm stump must be debarked or destroyed under 8.52.060, because the beetle that spreads Dutch elm disease overwinters there. Green ash is dense and slow; spruce, ponderosa and juniper grind clean.
Our usual grind takes the wood 4 to 6 inches under the lawn, deep enough to reseed. For a fence post, a shed pad or a driveway, or to get boxelder roots out of the mowing line, we grind deeper and chase the roots, priced as its own line.
Cost Planning
| Job | Typical cost range |
|---|---|
| Single stump (by diameter) | $100–$400 |
| Each additional stump | $50–$150 |
| Surface-root chasing / deep grind | $75–$200 extra |
Ranges are typical for central Montana based on published industry cost guides; your written estimate reflects your specific tree and site.
Diameter drives the price, measured at the ground including the flare, so a cottonwood that reads 30 inches across the cut can be 50 where the teeth work. Species, buried lines, the route through the gate and the stump count also move it. Tack it onto a removal of ours and the each-additional-stump rate applies.
Bench clay grinds easily dry or frozen; river-bottom cobble toward Black Eagle eats teeth. Older yards hide sprinkler lines a hand's width under the sod, and acreages toward Vaughn, Ulm and Fort Shaw hide irrigation pipe. We ask, probe, and call Montana 811 before every grind.
A grinder throws chips hard and far. We run it with the guards down and carry liability coverage for your siding, windows and the neighbor's pickup, with the certificate at the estimate.
Diameter, species and depth are settled at the estimate. The figure on the sheet is what you pay, whether the stump takes twenty minutes or two hours and a new set of teeth.
We backfill the hole, rake the spot for seed and haul the grindings if asked. The City will not take stumps, burning is banned in town (8.8.170), and a log pile left lying is an 8.52 nuisance. Elm leaves under the 8.52.090 permit.
How It Works
You can, but cottonwood, boxelder and Siberian elm stumps sprout for years, and a bark-on elm stump is a Dutch elm disease reservoir the code says to debark or destroy. For a quick read, try our Tree Diagnosis tool.
Your choice. Most people have us backfill and mound them a little high, since chips and clay settle through a freeze-thaw season. Otherwise we haul them; chips do not belong at the curb or in the alley.
Usually. The grinder works within inches of a post, walk or foundation, with the chip guard toward the house. Septic, well, gas and water lines get located first. A stump in the strip by the street is the City's, and injuring anything there without authority is unlawful (12.14.030), so we clear it with Park and Recreation before grinding.
Have a stump in the way? Call or request a free estimate.
Type your town or ZIP, say Belt or 59405, and see whether the Electric City truck runs there.