Stump Grinding in Covington, LA

A stump in the middle of a Covington yard has a way of staying put for a long time. People mow around it, trip over it, and eventually decide it has to go so they can plant, pave or put the lawn back. Stump grinding in Covington is the quick way to get there: the stump is cut down below the soil line and turned into a pile of wood chips you can rake out or use.

Big Easy Tree Removal grinds stumps all over town, from fresh ones left after a removal to old, gray stumps that have been sitting since before you bought the house. This page sticks to grinding. For everything else we do in town, start with our Covington tree service page.

What a grinder actually leaves behind

A stump grinder has a heavy spinning wheel lined with cutting teeth. The operator sweeps it back and forth across the stump, shaving the wood away a little at a time until the top of the stump sits below the surrounding grade. What you’re left with is a shallow hole full of shredded wood and soil.

The root system stays in the ground. The big lateral roots are cut off where the grinder passes, and the rest slowly rots in place over the following seasons. For a lawn or flower bed, that is often enough. If you want the stump and root ball physically pulled out, for a foundation, pool or driveway, that’s a different job, and our stump removal service page covers it.

Old roots, fences and wet ground

If your house is in the District of St. John or on another older block near downtown, and the stump sits in a fenced backyard, it may be behind a narrow gate with a garden bed between it and the street. An old live oak or magnolia can leave a wide root flare, and its surface roots can run a long way toward a walk or driveway.

Pine stumps come up too. After Hurricane Ida in 2021, the National Weather Service reported that thousands of trees were downed across the parish, and a storm removal can leave a stump behind for years. An old storm stump can be softer and easier to grind than a fresh one, though they can hide nails, fence wire or rocks that got pulled up with the roots.

If your yard is near the Bogue Falaya River or Bogue Falaya Park, or it stays wet after a heavy rain, keep in mind that a grinder is heavy and soft soil can rut under it. A job on soggy ground may be better scheduled after a few dry days.

Getting the grinder into your yard

Access is the first thing we look at on the walk-through. Before you call, it helps to know:

• How wide your narrowest gate is. Measure the actual opening with the gate swung back. That measurement tells us how the grinder can get to the stump.
• What’s between the gate and the stump. Beds, AC units, pavers, a pool deck or a septic lid all change the route.
• Whether a fence panel can come off. Sometimes pulling one panel is simpler than working around a small gate.
• How close the stump is to a slab, wall or fence post. The grinder can work close, but the last few inches next to a structure need care.

You get a free written estimate after the walk-through, so you know the scope before anyone starts.

Buried lines come first

A grinder cuts below the soi