Stump Grinding Cost in Southern Illinois

How stump grinding is priced

Cutting a tree down is the easy half. The stump is what gets left behind — a tripping hazard, a mower killer, and on species like locust, hedge apple, and mulberry, a root crown that keeps throwing suckers for years. Grinding is how you finish the job for good.

We charge $7.50 per inch of diameter measured across the stump at the dirt line, with a $175 minimum. That single number covers the grind down to 6 inches below grade. The math is simple: a 24-inch stump is 24 × $7.50, or about $180. Anything that works out below $175 is charged at the minimum, so a run-of-the-mill 14-inch yard stump and a 20-inch one cost the same.

Two add-ons sit on top of the base rate. Sprawling surface roots — the kind that ridge out a lawn 6 or 8 feet from the trunk — are ground at $12 per foot of diameter. And if you want the grindings hauled off instead of left as a mulch pile, that’s an extra we quote up front. Most folks just rake the chips out.

Stump grinding price chart

Measure the stump at its widest point right at the ground. Here’s roughly what a single stump costs at common sizes, before any root or hauling add-ons:

Estimates only. Surface roots add $12 per foot of diameter, hauling is extra, and a travel charge applies beyond 20 miles from our Patoka base. We quote a firm number once we see a photo and a ground-level measurement.

What changes the price

• Diameter at ground level — the main input. Wider stump, more carbide passes.
• Above-ground height — a tall stump left waist-high takes more grinding than one cut flush.
• Root flare— old oaks and maples with roots ridging out across the yard run on the $12-per-foot root rate.
• Batch count— five stumps at one address is cheaper per stump than one, because the machine is already on site.
• Hauling— leaving the mulch on the spot is free; carting it off costs extra.
• Travel— mobilization applies past 20 miles from Patoka.

Stump grinding vs. stump removal

People use the words interchangeably, but they’re two different jobs with very different price tags. Grinding chews the wood below grade and leaves the roots to rot in place. Removal means pulling the whole root ball out of the ground.

For nearly every yard, fence line, and field-edge stump, grinding is the cheaper and cleaner answer. We only steer people toward full removal when something is going where the ground has to be free of roots — a footing, a pool, a buried line.

Why batch jobs cost less per stump

The single biggest lever on your cost is how many stumps you grind in one visit. A lot of the price of a one-stump call is just getting the machine to your address. Once it’s there, each additional stump is mostly grind time.

That’s why old farmsteads around Patoka and Salem with a row of 40-year-old maples, and clearing jobs that leave a dozen pine stumps behind, get priced as a flat batch. If you just had a tree service drop trees but skip the grinding, or you’re cleaning up a fence line dotted with locust stubs, count the stumps and send one quote request. It’s the cheapest way to buy grinding. Pairing it with a forestry mulching or land-clearing job is cheaper still.

Stump grinding across Southern Illinois & the Metro East

We’re based in Patoka and run a skid-steer-mounted grinder with carbide teeth — compact enough to fit through a backyard gate, strong enough for the big legacy stumps other outfits won’t touch. Jobs within 20 miles carry no travel charge, which covers a wide stretch of Marion, Clinton, Fayette, and Jefferson counties.

We grind stumps in Centralia, Salem, Mt. Vernon, Vandalia, and Effingham, and out to Belleville and the Metro East. Wherever you are, text us a photo and a ground-level diameter and we’ll quote it. For the full picture on clearing and mulching prices, see our land clearing cost guide, or get a firm number on your stumps with a free estimate.