Attachment 11957


As you can see above, some genius decided to plant a tree directly in line with my front door, then place a poured concrete walkway over it.
Of course as the tree is growing, the concrete is cracking. I need to replace the walkway, but it makes no sense laying it in the same place.

So the plan is to cut the tree and place the walkway straight from door to st, which happens to be directly over where the tree is.

I was wondering what you all thought of the best way to do this?

best of all would be to dig the stump out completely, but as you can see in the third photo, when I did anything in my yard, I'm left with a gravel pit!
Then that's another headache.

At the same time, I don't want to have the walkway crack because the ground sunk as the roots/stump decomposes.

thoughts/advice/suggestions?

PS,
once I figure out how to rotate images in windows 8, I'll edit the post with the pics in the proper position!

 

I would still dig the entire trunk/root system out. You can fill in the cavity with #4 gravel with soil on top of that. You don't want the tree root system rotting out in a few years and swallowing your mailbox and sidewalk. You mention asphalt. Have you priced it lately? Not sure about your area, but our plants shut down to one day a week and you have to order a large quantity. Our local asphalt/concrete guys are finding it almost as cheap to concrete sidewalks and driveways, now.

 

I spent several hours this afternoon removing stumps with an excavator. Little pebbles in the soil is not an issue when you have the proper tools (diesel power). I can not imagine the amount of work required to properly remove a stump that size by hand. If you tried I'm afraid you would be tempted to dig down a bit and just cut roots instead of remove them.

Once the stump and roots are removed the crushed stone/gravel is the best way to insure that the fill goes in with a usable compaction so you don't have settling problemes in the future. You just have to be sure to excavate back to virgin or firm undisturbed soil. Removing the roots really loosens a lot of soil so you end up with a surprisingly large hole if done properly. Soil can be put pack in the hole and compacted but for the risk of not doing it right and the time & cost to rent a compactor you probably come out ahead just buying a load of stone.

 

Chandler,
I haven't priced asphalt to concrete. I was under the assumption that concrete was more expensive. I will do so now.

Pilot, unfortunately it's more than pebbles.
Here's a pic with a measuring tape to give you some context. this is what ended up with after digging a footing for a deck.

 

All the more reason to use an excavator to remove the stump. They can be rented but there is a learning curve to operate so it could end up cheaper to just hire someone to come in for an hour and remove the stump for you. One tree may come out quickly enough that you will be within their minimum charge which often includes an hour or two of work. See if there is any other digging you want done while they are there.