How Much Does Stump Removal Cost in West Virginia?
Published cost guides put stump grinding at $150 to $300 per stump, with a national average of $200. A second guide runs wider, at $131 to $438, with an average of $272 per job. Digging the stump out whole costs more. One guide prices full removal at $200 to $700 per stump, with a national average of about $380.
Size sets most of the number. Grinding gets quoted at $2 to $5 per inch of trunk. Some companies hold a minimum charge around $100, while one guide lists small stumps as low as $50 where there is none. These are market numbers, not our price list.
We dig stumps out with a mini excavator, roots and all. We do not run a stump grinder. Grinding prices sit here so you can compare the two ways to get a stump gone. For stump removal in Hampshire County, the price comes after we look at the stumps.
What does stump grinding cost per stump?
A grinding company prices by the size of the stump. National cost guides put a small stump of up to 12 inches at $40 to $75 each. A medium stump runs $75 to $150. A stump over 48 inches runs $150 to $250 each. By the inch of trunk, the published rate is $2 to $5.
The first stump carries the trip. One guide lists a base rate of about $80 to $150 for the first one. Each stump after that adds $40 to $75. Grinding also gets quoted by the hour, at $125 to $200 in one national guide.
Wood type moves the price. One guide adds $50 to $150 per stump for hardwood, because the teeth cut slower in dense wood. Most of what comes down on this ground is oak and hickory.
What does it cost to dig a stump out instead?
Full removal is the higher number in every guide. One puts stump removal at $200 to $700 per stump, with a national average of about $380. Another lists full stump extraction at $250 to $800 per stump. Priced by the hour, removal work sits at $100 to $150.
The hole is the other half of the job. A root ball brings up more dirt than people expect. The dirt from the dig goes back in, gets packed, and gets bladed level. One guide prices removal with the root system at about $2 to $4 per inch of stump.
| Job | Published range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Grinding a stump up to 12 inches | $40 to $75 each | Some companies hold a minimum charge near $100 |
| Grinding a medium stump | $75 to $150 | Priced by size |
| Grinding a stump over 48 inches | $150 to $250 each | Big surface roots add time |
| Grinding, per inch of trunk | $2 to $5 per inch | Measured across the cut at ground level |
| Grinding, whole job | $131 to $438, average $272 | A second guide lists $150 to $300, average $200 |
| Grinding, per hour | $125 to $200 | Used on rough or tight spots |
| Hardwood stump, added | $50 to $150 per stump | Oak and hickory are dense |
| Digging a stump out | $200 to $700, average $380 | The roots come out with the stump |
| Digging a stump out, second guide | $250 to $800 per stump | Listed as full stump extraction |
| Digging, per hour | $100 to $150 | Common on rock and wide root plates |
| Clearing an acre with the stumps out | $2,500 to $7,000 per acre | Called clearing and grubbing |
| Land grubbing, West Virginia page | $2,800 to $4,480 per acre | Full root removal and grading |
Is it cheaper to grind or dig the stump out?
Grinding is cheaper on the day. The published grinding bands sit under the removal bands at every size. What changes is what stays in the ground. A grinder cuts the wood from 1 inch below ground level to as much as 12 inches down. The root system stays.
In the middle of a yard that works fine. A Virginia Extension bulletin notes most hardwood trees sprout on the stump unless the root system dies. Under something you build on or drive on, the leftover roots matter more. A pad for a cabin or a shed wants the wood out before grading and site prep starts. A gravel lane sinks where a buried stump rots out. A drain line has to run at a steady grade. Big roots in the path come out during excavation and dirt work.
Why do stumps cost more to take out on this ground?
Two things run the price up here. The first is the wood. Oak and hickory are dense, and one cost guide adds $50 to $150 per stump for hardwood. The second is what sits under the stump. Shale and rock stop a grinder wheel and slow a bucket down.
Slope is the next piece. Roots on a ridge spread wide and shallow over rock, so the dig opens a bigger hole. Old fence rows add black locust. Penn State Extension credits the black locust fence post to the wood’s resistance to fungal attack. Those stumps sit in the ground a long time.
Access counts too. Each machine comes in on our own trailer. A soft lane or a tight gate adds time to the day.
How long does it take to get a stump out?
One national guide puts grinding a 20 inch stump at 15 minutes to 2 hours. A guide from the same publisher covers digging one out. It puts an average 24 inch stump at about 3 to 4 hours. Rock and big roots push both times up. A tight work spot does the same.
Time is why thick ground gets quoted by the hour. Nobody counts the roots from the road. A stump sitting in open field dirt comes out fast. The same stump on shale can take most of a morning.
What happens to the stumps after they come out?
They stay on your property unless someone hauls them off. Most people stack them in a back corner, clear of the mowing. Burning them in West Virginia follows the state fire law, and the dates and the hours are written into code.
West Virginia Code 20-3-5 sets forest fire seasons of March 1 through May 31, and October 1 through December 31. In those seasons a fire may burn only between 5 p.m. and 7 a.m. The same section calls for a cleared safety strip at least 10 feet wide. The Division of Forestry allows vegetative material such as leaves, brush and yard clippings. More on that sits in the permit and burning rules for clearing land.
Burying stumps on site is the other question people ask. Wood under a pad or a drive rots and the ground above it drops. A Virginia Extension bulletin on clearing land puts pine stumps at three to five years to rot away. It gives no such number for hardwood.
What does it cost to clear an acre and take the stumps out?
When a whole lot gets cleared and the stumps go with it, guides price the work by the acre. One national guide puts clearing and grubbing at $2,500 to $7,000 per acre. Light ground sits at the low end. Heavy wooded ground with big root balls sits at the top. The same publisher’s West Virginia page lists land grubbing, clearing with the stumps and roots out, at $2,800 to $4,480 an acre.
Grubbing is the word for taking out the root systems along with the trunks. That is the version a build needs. Our post on what land clearing costs per acre breaks down the clearing side. The land clearing page covers the work itself.
How do you get a number on your own stumps?
We are based in Augusta, in Hampshire County. We dig stumps out with a mini excavator. The dirt from the dig fills the hole, and the spot gets bladed level. One stump in a yard works, and so does a field full of them after a clearing job.
Estimates are free, and we come look at the ground first. Call or text (540) 327-1400.