Overview

Living off the grid you have to get creative and “conservative” with your funds, which usually is the primary reason for this lifestyle. Conserve and consume fewer resources, minimize environmental impact, and simplify your lifestyle. This is an easy and free method to remove stumps on your property which takes a little more time than a stump grinder, but does the same job without breaking your bank.

All you need is a 55 gallon steel barrel, some time, and spare wood to burn. Before you start a fire make sure there are no burning restrictions and check with your local government on burning permits.

Items Needed

  • 55 gallon steel barrel
  • bonfire wood
  • stump
  • water buckets
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I cut down these paper birches two years ago they were dying at the top and losing their viability for firewood every passing day. Once trees start dying at the top I usually cut them down. Having 40 acres, I have plenty of trees that are very healthy which I can leave alone for another year. A county forester told me when a paper birch reaches 60 years old it’s past it’s time. The county is working hard with loggers to harvest as many birch as possible to get it before it rots standing up and no longer has any value.

This stump in particular was larger than the opening of the barrel so I needed to make sure that it didn’t tip over. You can see that I have plenty of dead wood on the ground to keep the fire going so I wasn’t using anything that I would burn in the wood stove in the house.

It takes 24-48 hours to completely burn out depending on how dry the stump is and the species of the wood. The wood fed into the barrel burns really quick so make sure you plan on staying home for the duration of the burn to keep the fire going and to make sure you don’t burn down your property or adjacent forest! The wind picked up while I was 10 hours into the burn so I had to stop for a day to make sure I didn’t burn down the woods. Nearly all forest fires are started by humans, don’t be that guy!

It’s also good to have a few 5 gallon buckets full of water near the fire to douse the ground or fire if it gets out of control. Good luck!

Shot with the GoPro Hero 7 Black.