The stump that stumped Martin

It all started with those pesky trees in the back yard. They just happened to be in the way of progress and needed to go. Easier said than done. If you've checked out some of the earlier blogs, the two largest trees (pines) didn't fall where they were supposed to.  Then came the problem of removing the stumps.

Martin was determined that he was going to get the stump out today (4/20/2013).  For those of you who know Martin, you will understand my dismay when he decided this after we had been working at an tigin for a few hours moving topsoil by shovel and wheelbarrow.  I knew that we wouldn't be heading home for a well deserved break until the stump was no more.

So he hooked up a come-along to the stump and to a tree at the back of the property. "To put a little pressure on the stump," was Martin's reasoning.Then he tried to push it over with the bucket of the backhoe.  It wouldn't even budge.

A few bounces on the pry bar didn't seem to help, so he tried chopping the roots with the ax.

Then he got the big guns out and attacked the roots with the chain saw.

He chopped the last stubborn roots with the ax.

The stump was out! If it had only known how stubborn Martin can be, it wouldn't have tried to hold on quite so long.