Stump Grinding
Single stumps are a trip hazard and a liability line. Dozens of stumps are a programme. We grind both, across estates, schools, housing stock, parkland, and development sites, with the access, documentation, and reinstatement handled.
Narrow-Access Machines Available
What We Do
Commercial stump grinding
Commercial stump grinding is the mechanical removal of tree stumps below ground level across organisational sites, whether that’s a handful of stumps left after planned felling, a backlog across a housing portfolio, or full stump removal on a cleared development plot. Silver Tree Services grinds stumps at contract scale across Gloucestershire and surrounding counties for facilities and estates teams, councils, housing providers, schools, and principal contractors, with machines sized from narrow-access grinders that fit through a pedestrian gate to tracked units for large open sites.
Why organisations grind stumps out
- Liability. A stump in mown grass or a footpath line is a documented trip hazard. Grinding it out closes the risk rather than managing it indefinitely.
- Maintenance cost. Every stump is an obstacle your grounds maintenance operation strims around forever. Removal pays for itself in maintenance time.
- Regrowth. Many species re-shoot from live stumps. Grinding ends the cycle of repeat visits to cut regrowth.
- Reinstatement. Ground-level stumps block returfing, replanting, paving, and construction. Grinding clears the way for whatever the space is becoming.
- Pests and pathogens. Decaying stumps harbour honey fungus and wood-boring insects, a real consideration near retained tree stock.
Programme work, not just one-offs
Where we’ve delivered felling, whether storm response, ash dieback removal, or planned works from a survey schedule, stump grinding slots into the same programme and the same invoice. For backlogs, we’ll survey the stock, price the programme as a whole, and work through it methodically, prioritising stumps in high-traffic and mown areas. Each stump is ground to a depth suited to the reinstatement plan: shallower for grass, deeper for replanting or construction.
Safe on occupied sites
Most commercial stump work happens on live sites: school grounds at half term, housing estates with residents around, healthcare sites that never close. We work to full RAMS, locate and avoid underground services before grinding, segregate the work area, and manage debris throw with guarding. Operatives are qualified and DBS-checked where the site requires it, and a named supervisor runs anything multi-day.
Reinstatement and arisings
Grindings can be left to backfill and settle, or removed and the area topped with soil ready for seed or turf, which our soft landscaping team can carry out as part of the same visit. As an ISO 14001 certified company, removed grindings and chip are recycled through our biomass operation rather than landfilled.
Why choose Silver Tree Services
Silver Tree Services has traded for over 20 years from Shurdington, Cheltenham, with 30+ qualified staff across seven specialist teams, ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certification, ARB Approved Contractor status, and SMAS SSIP accreditation. Crews are NPTC-certificated with IPAF and CSCS where work requires it, RAMS are produced per site, DBS-checked operatives are available for sensitive settings, and public and employers’ liability insurance covers every job. The client list, NHS, Gloucestershire Police, Stroud District Council, Savills, the Church of England, is the vetting evidence.
Areas we cover
Stuno grinding across Gloucestershire, including Cheltenham, Gloucester, Stroud, Tewkesbury, Cirencester, and the Cotswolds, with commercial work across Bristol, Bath, Swindon, and surrounding counties.
Pricing
Multi-stump work is priced per programme, not per stump, because mobilisation is the fixed cost and volume drives efficiency. Send us a site plan or stump list with rough diameters and we’ll price the lot; for backlogs we’ll survey and propose a phased programme.
Frequently Asked Questions About Commercial Stump Grinding
Frequently asked.
How is commercial stump grinding priced?
By programme rather than per stump. Mobilising a grinder and crew is the fixed cost, so a site with twenty stumps costs far less per stump than twenty separate visits. Silver Tree Services prices from a stump list or site survey, factoring diameter, species hardness, access, and reinstatement requirements, and presents an itemised programme price. Across Gloucestershire and surrounding counties the site survey is free, and phased programmes can be spread across budget periods.
Can you grind stumps in areas with restricted access?
Yes. Silver Tree Services runs narrow-access stump grinders that pass through a standard pedestrian gate, alongside larger tracked machines for open ground, so stumps in courtyards, rear gardens of housing stock, and fenced compounds are all reachable. Access is assessed at the site walk and the right machine matched to each stump, which is why a stump list with locations is the most useful thing you can send us.
Is stump grinding safe on occupied sites like schools and housing estates?
Yes, with the right controls, and most of our stump work is on live sites. Silver Tree Services works to site-specific RAMS, scans for and avoids underground services before grinding, segregates the working area, and uses guarding to control debris throw. Operatives are DBS-checked where the site requires it. For schools we typically programme grinding into holidays or half terms; for housing and healthcare sites we work around residents and site operations with the estates team.
How deep do you grind the stumps?
To suit the reinstatement plan. As a standard, stumps are ground 15cm to 30cm below ground level, which is sufficient for grass and general landscape reinstatement. Where replanting, paving, or construction follows, Silver Tree Services grinds deeper and can grub out root systems entirely if foundations or services are going through the spot. Agreeing the end use up front means the ground is right first time rather than revisited.
Can you reinstate the ground afterwards?
Yes. The grindings can be left to backfill the void, or removed with the area topped with soil and finished with seed or turf, carried out by our in-house soft landscaping team as part of the same programme. That matters on commercial sites because a half-finished hole is itself a hazard. As an ISO 14001 certified company, any material Silver Tree Services removes is recycled into biomass, mulch, or compost rather than sent to landfill.
Do you handle the stumps left after your own felling work?
Yes, and ideally we price it together. Where Silver Tree Services carries out commercial felling, whether planned works, ash dieback removal, or storm response, stump grinding is offered within the same programme, the same RAMS, and the same invoice, so the site is finished rather than left with a field of stumps and a second procurement exercise. We’ll also happily grind out stumps left behind by other contractors.
Ready When You Are
Every stump, off the risk register.
Send us your stump list or book a site walk, and we’ll return a programme price with RAMS and reinstatement options included.
Or call · 01242 472560