A day in the life...

[Stumpy]

Or just a good ol simple shovel.... just sayin...

Apparently Mendy has gone full native..

[David48atTD]

Poor Mendy. He may be a fancy scientist, but he drinks box wine and has no clue how to pull a stump out of the ground.

Oi ... I happen to also drink 'box wine' and personally I wouldn't have dug the stump out.

Cut it off as close to the ground as you can (use a circular saw) and put a small mound of dirt over it.
Keep it moist.

Because the roots are cellular, not dense, they compact down over time.

[David48atTD]

Or just a good ol simple shovel.... just sayin...

Apparently Mendy has gone full native..

I was wondering what 'Stumpy' might advise.

No 'save the stump'

'stumps' have feelings!

[Reg Dingle]

You use what tools are available I guess. The only one around was himself

I thought it was illegal to work in your own house in Thailand without a work permit and deprive the local peasants a paltry wage?

Poor Mendy. He may be a fancy scientist, but he drinks box wine and has no clue how to pull a stump out of the ground.

I think you hit the nail on the head earlier, he's not poor, he's just fukkin tight... and in those wicked grundies he wears, his arse certainly look like it squeaks when he walks.

[Stumpy]

Cut it off as close to the ground as you can (use a circular saw) and put a small mound of dirt over it.
Keep it moist.

One of the things I have always had issues with is the Thai bury stuff and cut a tree at ground level deal to let it rot which takes years and years. The problem is later you go to dig to either plant something or dig a trench whatever and then you hit that stump or all that brick, rock, garbage they buried. Most Goddamn frustrating thing. Mendy did it right. He dug it up. However he seems to have made it far more complicated then it needed to be. Like Stumpy would do. A good spade shovel could have had that dug out in a flash and a come along out of the hole...

[bsnub]

You use what tools are available I guess. The only one around was himself

I think you hit the nail on the head earlier, he's not poor, he's just fukkin tight... and in those wicked grundies he wears, his arse certainly look like it squeaks when he walks.

Dilly, you are a fucking epic beast.

[Stumpy]

and in those wicked grundies he wears, his arse certainly look like it squeaks when he walks.

[Mendip]

^ I like to get these things done David... a mound of earth would get washed away with every rainstorm.

^^ And a shovel wouldn't have gone through that soil which was like concrete, not a chance.

The hoe was perfect for the job.

Mendip
If you want to wait until Sunday, probably in the afternoon, I could bring my chainsaw down and you can deal with it (the palm that is).
I am booked in to see the Doctor but she has a lot to do for me

I wouldn't use a chainsaw IMHO. Palms are very fibrous and they can wad up in the blade.

Good point Stumpy... you know your Stumps. Thanks Ootai but I'll probably just chop it into three pieces tomorrow using a machete... (although I'm sure there will doubtless be many better tools for the job which I'll be told about ). It'll give me something to do instead of sanding the fence.

Have you tried sniffing the ballbag of the Alpha Males around your yard?

Strangely enough, no I haven't. I could of course but I try to maintain some self-respect, even in Korat, and I fail to see how sniffing my dogs' scrotums would help determine which one stole my lunch. Or is it just a hobby of yours you're passing on?

Just looked at the tool you used to dig all those stumps out....A hoe

My dad (78 years young) came around with what he called a grubbing axe and dug out the rooting system on two 3 foot diameter trees that kept shedding white shit and attracting wood pigeons last year and a hedgerow...

This is what you want/wanted

More advice... I could have gone to Do Home and asked if they had a 'grubbing axe' or a 'mattock' and I know exactly how that would have ended... and then I'd have got back home 2 hours later and dug out the stump with a hoe. Which was perfect.

[bsnub]

The hoe was perfect for the job.

[Joe 90]

Pour a gallon of petrol onit and let it burn

[Reg Dingle]

I could have gone to Do Home and asked if they had a 'grubbing axe' or a 'mattock' and I know exactly how that would have ended... and then I'd have got back home 2 hours later and dug out the stump with a hoe

My bad...I have forgotten how backward the place is.
Just reading this bit on the other channel about some Aussie looking to buy a grubbing axe in Thailand. It's quite funny actually..One guy has been looking for 2 years, one mentions welding and adapting a Thai hoe, one found one in a mom and pop shop without a handle and.... This Guy

[Mendip]

Pour a gallon of petrol onit and let it burn

I briefly considered this but seeing that the stump was a couple of feet from a white-painted wall I discounted the idea. Also I don't think a fire would have done the PVC water pipe any good.

[malmomike77]

^ I've heard those called a mattock

it is and a great tool, i use mine for digging more than a spade in Thailand.

[Mendip]

My bad...I have forgotten how backward the place is.

I'm certainly no perfectionist but finding half decent tools here is a nightmare. I've had spades that have crumpled on their maiden dig, forks with splayed tongs the first time they touched soil, and so on. I've got a decent rake and I'm surprised that guy bothered to import one from his work trip. To be honest his selection of tools seems a bit flimsy considering the effort he had made... should have got some more robust stuff.

This is why I use hoes for pretty much everything.

Edit: ^ Where did you get your mattock, Mike?

[DrWilly]

Mendy, everyone’s an expert but I don’t see them digging that stump out!

[Mendip]

^ Exactly. A lot of armchair experts from afar.

It's the same with my toes. Lots of criticism but I don't see anyone showing off their perfect digits!

[Headworx]

This is why I use hoes for pretty much everything.

Must. Resist.

[DrWilly]

^ Exactly. A lot of armchair experts from afar.

It's the same with my toes. Lots of criticism but I don't see anyone showing off their perfect digits!

Jaysus, Mary and Joseph! I was sticking up for you!

[armstrong]

[Joe 90]

I assume you have a drill Mendip?
Drill loads of holes around the circumference of the base until the trunk snaps free.
Job done

[Looper]

^ I've heard those called a mattock

Yes indeedy. Them there's called mattocks round these here parts

I call the small ones mattocks and the big ones pick axes

I have 1 pick axe (1 meter handle + 2.5kg head) and 3 mattocks (0.5m handle and 1.5kg head)

Although technically a mattock is any size pick axe but with a horizontal + vertical blade instead of a pick axe which has a horizontal blade + a pointed end

My small mattocks actually have a horizontal blade + point so technically they are not mattocks but actually pick axes

Mattocks are brilliant for digging into hard ground and this is how I have dug up and then relocated 10 palm trees over the course of the past 10 months

I have also used it for remedying and re-routing straying watercourse in the forest that had wandered off course and were running over the driveway at a couple of spots.

Possibly my favourite tool in my garage. You can have fun all day just smashing away at rocks and dirt with a mattock.

I wish I knew someone with a chainsaw as this will take a lot of chopping...

If you get a chainsaw you should use it above ground on the stump only. If you use it on the roots in the dirt you will blunt the chain tae fuck in 20 seconds. But I am sure Ootai won't mind! You should use a mattock or pick axe for hacking roots covered in dirt.

If you use the chainsaw then replace the chain at the end of the job. The chains are only about $10 each if you replace it with a Chinese chain. Ootai probably won't even notice!

If you are really keen you can resharpen your chain using a chain saw file. But I don't bother when a new chain is $10

[malmomike77]

I call the small ones mattocks and the big ones pick axes

Loops. If tas pointy ends tis a pick axe if tas a wide flatish end tis a matock

[Stumpy]

finding half decent tools here is a nightmare

True that Mendy. Quality yard tools are extremely hard to find and some of the old school Thai rice paddy plow tools are not only odd to swing but dangerous too. I have seen a few heads fly off. I won't get anywhere near a Thai using a Thai home made tool. I will say, I do get a good laugh at the rebar rakes.

A lot of armchair experts from afar.

Well some of us armchair experts have dug out many a stump and have dug many a hole so we speak from experience and are offering advice in hopes to make it easier for you ( and others).

I dug out two coconut trees a few years back. Man what a pain in the ass. The stumps were huge. To make it easier I started watering around the base a few days prior. Then got after it with a pick axe, then my shovel. Once I got them out I used this odd tool my FIL had to split off pieces to make manageable. Honestly, I doubt I would do it again.

So was your gardener sitting in the shade by the pool watching you dig?

[DrWilly]

Morning Stumpy.

So was your gardener sitting in the shade by the pool watching you dig?

More importantly did the maid bring him a fresh home made lemonade or G&T to sip?

[Stumpy]

Morning Dr.

Yeah. Inquiring minds want to know. Something just isn't adding up.