Man versus Stump

When Ralph chopped down the cherry tree last week, we were left with a large stump in the middle of my flower bed. Opting for the easy road, I suggested putting a flower pot on top and planting something that would cascade down over the stump. "That is so redneck ghetto," said Ralph and started formulating his plan of attack against the stump.

Soon he was hard at work with shovels, post-hole digger, ax, pick, breaker bar, sawzall, chainsaw, tractor, muscle and pure determination. While he was working on extricating the remnants of the tree from where it had stood for probably close to a century, the mailman came by and told him he'd never be able to dig out the stump. "By the time you deliver mail tomorrow, this stump will be gone," said Ralph. The mailman just laughed and drove on. The roots were numerous and thick, but Ralph chopped away. As the roots became larger, the power tools came out. Even with the new & improved tractor, the stump proved to tenacious to to be torn out of the ground so Ralph decided to jack it out a little at a time until is was free from the compacted hard shale ground.

I didn't have my camera handy for his attempts of lifting the stump with the bucket. He had the rear wheels off the ground a few times. Even with all the dirt knocked off the remaining roots, the stump proved too clumsy to chain into the bucket and safely drive down the street to George's fill hole. "Put a chain around it and drag it down the street," I said, but Ralph was worried about leaving a dirt trail and damaging the road. "The Amish & Mennonites leave more dirt and damage on the roads around here than that stump will ever do," I countered. So the tow chain went around the stump and the stump went down the road.