Stump grinders allow you to grind a stump out of the ground in minutes. In most cases, when you have a professional do the job for you, they will be using a stump grinder to get the job done. You should be able to rent a stump grinder yourself from a local tool rental shop. Many of the stump grinders that you are able to rent at local tool shops are on the smaller side, and can only handle small to medium sized trees. If you have an extremely large stump, you might want to seriously consider hiring a pro.

Obviously, if you decide to rent a stump grinder and tackle the project yourself, make sure you read all of the instructions that come with the tool, and pay attention to what you are doing. You can do some real damage.

There really isn’t too much to using the grinder. Before grinding the stump, make sure you cut the stump off about six inches to a foot from the ground. Once you’re ready, start the grinder up, and sway it back and forth over the stump taking off a few inches at a time until you take the stump down all of the way.

This video from This Old House illustrates the process pretty clearly.