The short version
A machine with a toothed wheel grinds the stump into chips a few inches below grade. Roots further out are left to rot. You end up with a pile of chips and a soft patch you can fill and seed.
Before the grinder shows up
- Call 811 so buried electric, gas and cable get marked. Grinding counts as digging.
- Measure your narrowest gate. Small grinders fit about a standard gate; big ones won't.
- Say if you want surface roots chased across the lawn. It's extra work.
- Decide whether the chips stay as mulch or get hauled.
Parkway stumps in Oswego
If the Village removed your parkway tree, you're not stuck with the stump. Under the Village's 50/50 Tree Replacement Program you aren't charged for the removal, the stump grinding or the planting; you pay half the cost of the new tree, which the Village buys wholesale. You choose from a Village species list, and planting happens in spring and fall (Village of Oswego).
In unincorporated Boulder Hill the Oswego Township Road District removes dead parkway trees and their stumps but doesn't replace them (Oswego Township).
After
Rake out most chips, add topsoil, seed, and expect settling. Plant a new tree a few feet off the old spot.
Crews size a stump job by diameter, root spread and access. Measure across the top before you call.
Measure the gate
Compact grinders fit through about a standard gate; tow-behind units don’t. Tell the crew the width.
Mark sprinklers
Irrigation heads and invisible-dog-fence wire aren’t on 811 maps. Flag them yourself.
Decide on chips
Chips can stay as mulch or be hauled. Either way, they settle.
What makes a stump job bigger
Diameter matters most, then the width of the root flare, how hard the wood is, buried rocks or old edging, and whether the grinder fits through your gate. Surface roots chased across the lawn add time too. Have the crew look at all of it before they quote.
Parkway stumps
If the stump is on the parkway, between the sidewalk and the curb, it's the Village's. The Village owns and maintains parkway trees and removes them at no charge, so call Public Works at 630-554-3242 instead of hiring someone (Village of Oswego). In Boulder Hill, parkway questions go to the Oswego Township Road District, 630-264-4587 (Oswego Township).
Where the chips go
Grinding turns a stump into a mound of chips and soil. Township brush pick-up takes limbs, not stump grindings or whole trees (Oswego Township), so decide up front: rake them out as mulch, or have the crew haul them. The hole will sink as chips break down, so top it with soil before you seed.
Replanting in the same spot
Planting a new tree right in fresh grindings isn't ideal. Shift the new tree a few feet over or dig the chips out and backfill with soil. On the parkway, let the Village decide; it plants and maintains parkway trees itself (Village).
Questions to ask
- How deep will you grind?
- Who calls 811, and when?
- Will you rake the chips back or haul them?
- Is cleanup of the surrounding lawn included?