Smelly tree stump

T

Timber

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Slohio
I had a gigantic silver maple cut down last fall, and the stump is oozing some orangish, sticky crap (it's not sap) that is attracting flies. It also smells like rotting flesh and the smell is driving me, my wife, and my neighbors nuts.
Several hours spent on Google just turned up that the roots still "think" there is a whole tree there and are pumping water to the "branches." Sounds possible, but why the damn stank? I'm going out tomorrow to buy some lime to put on top to try to curb the smell.

Any idea why it stinks and what to do?
 
It's slime mold. Try using a fungicide on it. There's still a problem though, what you see on the stump is only 1~5% of the total fungal biomass. . . .
 
Dump some gas on it and burn the top of the stump. Cauterize that nastyness. :thumbup:
 
Thanks, guys. The stump's only ~3 ft. from my vinyl-sided garage, so would burning the top be wise? Maybe use kerosene instead of gas?
 
chain it to the jeep and rip that bad boy out =]
 
Ralph said:
Can't you get rid of the stump?
Click to expand...

Money's tight right now, and my dad doesn't think I know how to properly use a chainsaw (I'm 38 and have used them for years--he's just like that) so I probably can't borrow his. The stump's existence doesn't bother me--just its smell. I'm going to try putting lime on it today and see if that helps. If not, I'll look into removing it/having it removed.

Thanks, everybody.
 
Got a torch...Propane, MAPP, acet? Burn it with that, and avoid the accelerants.

That, or huge quantities of Lysol / bleach.

Steve
 
We have an old stump that I'm slowly digging out right now. Of course, I figured I'd save $ and work off some of my fatness using a pickaxe and shovel. It sucks.

+1 on burning the top.
 
I was told if you pound a copper spike (or piece of pipe) into a tree stump, it will kill it and eventually shrink it down making it eaisier to remove. I have not tried this though. Has anybody else heard of this? The guy who told me this is in landscaping...
 
I think you should email Mythbusters on that one
 
They make a powder called 'stump remover', you drill into the stump with a 1/2 or larger drill bit, 12" long at least, then pour the powder in. When I did a couple of mine I mixed the powder into a large soda bottle with water and screwed the thing into the stump holes, over a few weeks it sucked the bottle dry. I never pulled the stumps and if you asked me I can not for the life of remember where they were and I cannot see them anymore. They were about 12" in diameter too.
 
RichP said:
They make a powder called 'stump remover', you drill into the stump with a 1/2 or larger drill bit, 12" long at least, then pour the powder in. When I did a couple of mine I mixed the powder into a large soda bottle with water and screwed the thing into the stump holes, over a few weeks it sucked the bottle dry. I never pulled the stumps and if you asked me I can not for the life of remember where they were and I cannot see them anymore. They were about 12" in diameter too.
Click to expand...

That stuff's on my list. Glad to hear it worked so well; however, my stump is about 5.5' across, so I think it'll take a while.

EDIT: Good idea with the soda bottle, too. That idea would never have occurred to me.
 
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