Stump grinding cost dataset
This is the complete dataset behind the stump calculator, at national rates. It is organised by the inch of diameter, because that is the unit the trade quotes in, and it carries the machine time for each size so “how long does it take” has an answer too. The one thing on this page that costs nothing is the most important: grinding is an excavation. Last reviewed 2026-08-23.
By the inch, one stump at a time
National figures, standard depth of 5 inches below grade, open access, grindings left on site.
| Diameter | Machine time | Grindings | Cost | Per inch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 in | 17 min | 0.01 cu yd | $244 | $31 |
| 12 in | 21 min | 0.03 cu yd | $256 | $21 |
| 18 in | 28 min | 0.07 cu yd | $267 | $15 |
| 24 in | 34 min | 0.12 cu yd | $279 | $12 |
| 30 in | 41 min | 0.19 cu yd | $290 | $10 |
| 36 in | 48 min | 0.27 cu yd | $302 | $8 |
| 48 in | 61 min | 0.48 cu yd | $325 | $7 |
| 60 in | 74 min | 0.76 cu yd | $348 | $6 |
Look at the last two columns together. A 60-inch stump takes 4 times the machine time of a 12-inch one and costs only 1.4 times as much, because almost all of a small job is getting the machine there. That is why the per-inch rate published by contractors — usually two to five dollars — describes a day of stumps rather than a single one, and why a lone stump always seems to break the rate.
Why doing several at once is the only real lever
18-inch stumps, standard depth, open access.
| Stumps | Total inches | Cost | Per inch |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 18 | $267 | $15 |
| 2 | 36 | $323 | $9 |
| 4 | 72 | $456 | $6 |
| 6 | 108 | $579 | $5 |
| 10 | 180 | $835 | $5 |
Ten stumps cost 3.1 times one, not ten times. If a neighbour has a stump, or you have been putting off a second one, the same visit is where the money is.
Depth, and how the machine gets in
How deep
| Depth | Time | Grindings | Total | What it is for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standard — 4 to 6 inches below grade | 34 min | 0.12 cu yd | $279 | Enough to put topsoil and grass over it and never see it again. It is what almost every quote means by "grinding", and it leaves the root plate in the ground to rot away over the next decade. |
| Deep — 12 inches or more | 58 min | 0.34 cu yd | $325 | Needed if something is going on top: a new tree, a shed, a patio or a fence post. It takes much longer, it makes far more chip, and it is the only version that lets you plant in the same spot. |
Access, on one stump and on six
| Access | One 24 in stump | Six of them | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open access — a tracked machine can reach it | $279 | $648 | A drive or a side gate wide enough for a self-propelled grinder. It chews through a large stump in minutes and it is what makes this job cheap. |
| Through a standard garden gate | $313+12% | $868+34% | Around 36 inches. That rules out most tracked machines and brings a walk-behind grinder instead, which does the same work in roughly half again the time. It is the biggest driver on this page after the diameter itself. |
| Tight — carried through, or steps | $360+29% | $1,133+75% | A machine that has to be lifted over a step, squeezed past a corner or carried through a house. Some crews will simply decline, and the ones who accept charge for the wrestling as much as for the grinding. |
The two percentage columns are the point. On a single stump the call-out swamps everything, so access barely registers; on six it becomes the largest factor after the diameter. The useful rule: on one stump negotiate the call-out, on several negotiate the access.
The free thing that matters most
A grinder on the default setting cuts 5 inches below grade, and on the deep setting 14. The gas line to a barbecue, the irrigation, the cable and the feed to a shed are routinely shallower than that.
PHMSA, 49 CFR 192.614 — Damage prevention program requires every operator of a buried pipeline to run a written damage-prevention programme, and defines the trigger: “excavation activities” includes excavation, blasting, boring, tunneling, backfilling, the removal of aboveground structures by either explosive or mechanical means, and other earthmoving operations. That last clause is a stump grinder. The same section allows an operator to meet the requirement through a public service programme “such as a one-call system”, which is the footing under the national call-before-you-dig number. It is free, it takes a few working days, and a reputable crew will already have used it. Retrieved 2026-08-23.
Line items
The default job is one 24-inch stump: 34 minutes of machine time and 0.12 cubic yards of grindings.
| Line item | Unit | Material | Equipment / hr | Trade | Data |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bring the grinder and take it away1 per visit | visit | $95 – $260 | — | — | estimated±46% |
| Operator time at the machine(8 min + 1.1 min per inch) × depth × access, per stump | hour | — | — | Tree Trimmers and Pruners | sourced |
| Stump grinderone machine hour per operator hour | hour | $38 – $105 | — | — | estimated±47% |
| Take the grindings away (conditional)cubic yards of grindings where they are hauled away | cu yd | $28 – $78 | — | — | estimated±47% |
| Topsoil and seed the hole (conditional)cubic yards of fill where the hole is made good | cu yd | $60 – $165 | — | — | estimated±47% |
| Rake, blow and make good0.5 h + 0.2 h per stump | hour | — | — | Construction Laborers | sourced |
The reasoning behind each figure
Written out so an arborist can point at the exact assumption that is wrong.
- Bring the grinder and take it awayestimated, ±46%
- Towing the machine, unloading it, getting it to the stump and loading it again. It costs the same for one stump as for six, which is the whole reason there is a minimum charge on this job.
- It is also why grinding four stumps at once costs nowhere near four times one. If a neighbour has one too, ask for a price on both.
- Operator time at the machine
- Eight minutes to set up plus about 1.1 minutes per inch of stump diameter, multiplied by the depth and the access. A 24-inch stump with open access is roughly half an hour; a 36-inch one is about three quarters.
- ⚠️ Before any of those minutes: the utility locate, which costs nothing and is the most important thing on this page. A grinder cuts four to eighteen inches below grade, and the gas line to a barbecue, the irrigation, the cable and the feed to a shed are routinely shallower than people assume.
- 49 CFR 192.614 defines "excavation activities" to include "the removal of aboveground structures by either explosive or mechanical means" — which is what a stump grinder does — and says an operator may meet the damage-prevention requirement through a public service program "such as a one-call system". That is the federal footing under the national call-before-you-dig service, and a reputable crew will have used it before they arrive. Asking whether they did is free.
- ⚠️ The wage is official BLS data for tree trimmers and pruners adjusted to your area, and that occupation is published for only 192 of the 530 areas in our index. Outside those it falls back to the broader group for the same area.
- A grinder throws stone and wood at speed and it is one of the machines OSHA covers under tree care operations. The shield and the exclusion zone are not decoration.
- Stump grinderestimated, ±47%
- The machine itself, per hour on site. A self-propelled tracked grinder costs more per hour than a walk-behind one and finishes in a fraction of the time, which is why open access is cheaper overall even on the dearer machine.
- ⚠️ Other machines on this site are priced from the FEMA Schedule of Equipment Rates. FEMA publishes a stump grinder rate, but that document is a PDF whose text could not be extracted and verified here, so this band is our estimate and is not presented as a FEMA figure.
- Take the grindings awayestimated, ±47%
- Grindings are bulkier than the stump was — roughly two and a half times its volume, because chip does not pack like wood and it comes up mixed with soil. Concretely: a 24-inch stump ground deep makes about a third of a cubic yard, three wheelbarrows; a 48-inch one makes over a yard, a dozen. Less than people fear and more than fits in a bin.
- The default in most quotes is that the grindings stay, heaped over the hole. They settle and rot down over a year or two and they are perfectly good mulch, so hauling them is a choice rather than a necessity.
- ⚠️ They are not topsoil, though. Wood chip pulls nitrogen out of the ground as it breaks down, so grass sown straight into it struggles. If you want lawn there this spring, take the chip out and bring soil in.
- Topsoil and seed the holeestimated, ±47%
- Screened topsoil into the hole and grass seed over it. Priced by the cubic yard against the volume the grindings occupied, because that is the hole you are filling.
- It only makes sense together with hauling the chip out. Soil laid over a mound of wood chip sinks as the chip rots, and you get a dip in the lawn exactly where the tree used to be.
- Rake, blow and make good
- Half an hour plus a fifth per stump. Grinding throws chip several yards in every direction and into everything, and the difference between a tidy job and a mess is entirely here.
Not included in this dataset
- The roots
- Grinding removes the stump and the top of the root plate. Everything running away from it stays where it is, decaying slowly. A large root lifting a path or a driveway is a separate excavation job, and taking it out is usually more disruptive than the stump ever was.
- Full stump excavation
- Digging the stump and root plate out whole with a machine is a different job: it needs an excavator, it leaves a crater that has to be filled and compacted, and it costs several times a grind. It is only worth it where something structural is going on that exact spot.
- Felling the tree
- This page assumes the stump is already there. Taking a standing tree down is priced by our tree removal calculator, and most crews quote the two separately because they are two visits with two machines.
- Anything the grinder cannot see
- Old fence wire grown into the trunk, embedded nails, buried rubble and rock all destroy grinder teeth, and a set of teeth is not cheap. Crews price for normal wood and charge extra when they hit metal, which is fair and worth agreeing in advance.
- Replanting in the same spot
- Even a deep grind leaves the ground full of decaying wood, and a new tree planted straight into it struggles for years. Planting a few feet away is free; excavating properly for a replacement in the same hole is not, and it is not priced here.
Use the calculator, price the tree itself at tree removal cost, or read the full method.