When grinding is the right choice
Stump grinding suits most backyard jobs. If the spot is going back to lawn, a garden bed or mulch, grinding is quicker, cheaper and much less disruptive than digging the stump out. It is the usual follow-up after a tree removal when nothing is being built in that spot.
Choose stump removal instead if a slab, pool, driveway, wall footing or other structure is going over the area. Roots left behind under a structure can rot and cause settlement.
How a grinder works
A stump grinder has a heavy spinning wheel fitted with hardened teeth. The operator swings it slowly across the stump, taking off a few centimetres at a time, then lowers it and repeats until the stump is below the agreed depth. The result is a pile of wood chips mixed with soil, which can stay as mulch or be removed.
Grinders come in different sizes. Small ones fit through a narrow side gate and handle most suburban stumps. Larger tracked or wheeled machines deal with big gum and peppercorn stumps faster but need wider access. Measure your narrowest gate before you ring, because that is often what decides the machine and the price.
Local ground and grinding
On the heavier soils near the Swan and Helena rivers, ground is often damp in winter, and a tracked machine is easier on the lawn than a wheeled one. On scarp properties in Swan View, Bellevue and Helena Valley, rocks around and inside a stump can damage teeth; the operator may need to work around them, which can slow the job. In sandy Ellenbrook yards, grinding is generally quick, but the grindings mix with the sand and spread further.
Reticulation pipes and garden lighting cables often run close to old stumps. Point them out before work starts. Grinding through a poly pipe is easy to do and a nuisance to fix.
After grinding
Once the stump is gone, the hole fills with a mix of grindings and soil. If you are laying turf, rake most of the chips out, top up with clean soil or sand, and let it settle for a few weeks before laying, because the chips break down and the ground sinks a little. For a garden bed, aged grindings work as mulch, but add some nitrogen-rich fertiliser to the soil, because fresh wood chips use up nitrogen as they break down.
Grinding several stumps at once
Many yards have more than one stump: an old removal from years ago, a fruit tree that died, a palm stump by the fence. Getting them all ground in one visit is almost always cheaper per stump than separate jobs, because the machine only has to be brought in once. Walk the yard before you ring and count them.
Pricing
Stump grinding is usually priced per stump based on diameter, access and how many stumps are done in one visit. Several stumps in one go cost less each than single call-outs. Our cost guide shows 2026 planning bands. For the real number, send a photo with something for scale and let the contractor look on site.