Stump grinding is the fastest way to get rid of a stump after a tree comes down. We bring a self-propelled grinder to your property, cut the stump down to 15 to 20 cm below grade, and leave you with a mound of wood chips and soil where the stump used to be. This service covers small and medium stumps, roughly up to 60 cm across at ground level, which is the size class most residential removals in Toronto, Etobicoke and Mississauga leave behind. Bigger stumps, and jobs where the roots have to come out too, fall under our full stump removal service. Most residential grinds are done in under an hour once the machine is on site. Our grinder fits through a standard gate, so backyard stumps on older Etobicoke and Oakville lots are usually not a problem. Pricing starts at $150 for a straightforward small stump with clear access, and we put every number in writing before we start. If you are comparing quotes, ask each company how deep they grind and whether the flare and surface roots are included, because that is where cheap quotes cut corners.
What's included
- Walk the site with you before we start, confirm the grind depth you need, and mark sprinkler heads, landscape lighting wires and invisible dog fence lines so the grinder does not find them first.
- Arrange utility locates before grinding when the stump sits near known service runs, and ask you about private lines like irrigation mains and old drainage that locates do not cover.
- Grind the stump 15 to 20 cm below grade as standard, deeper on request when you plan to lay sod, set a fence post or replant near the same spot.
- Chase the visible surface roots and grind the flare down, not just the centre of the stump, so you are not left with a ring of woody humps under the lawn.
- Protect the surrounding area with mats or plywood where the machine tracks over soft lawn, and set up debris guarding so chips are not sprayed at windows, siding or your neighbour's car.
- Rake the grindings back into the hole and mound them neatly, or shovel and haul them away if you booked removal, and blow down hard surfaces so the driveway is clean when we leave.
- Do a final walkthrough with you so you can see the depth we hit and know exactly how much settling to expect over the next year.
How it works
- Call or send photos of the stump with something for scale. A tape measure across the top, or a boot next to it, tells us most of what we need.
- We confirm a price by phone for simple stumps, or come out for a free written on-site quote when size, access or the number of stumps needs eyes on the ground.
- If the tree is still standing, we sort out the removal and any permit questions first. Grinding a stump from a tree that already came down does not restart that process.
- On the day, we mark hazards, set up protection and guarding, grind to the agreed depth, and chase the flare and surface roots.
- We finish by backfilling the hole with grindings or hauling them out, cleaning every hard surface we crossed, and walking the spot with you before we leave.
What moves the price above starting at $150
- Diameter at ground level, measured across the widest point of the flare rather than the trunk. A tree that was 40 cm of trunk can leave 80 cm of flare, and the flare is what we grind.
- Grind depth. Our standard 15 to 20 cm below grade suits lawn and garden restoration, but replanting, fence posts or a small pad call for a deeper grind, which means more machine time and more wear on teeth.
- Access. The grinder fits a standard gate, but stairs, tight side yards, slopes and long carries from the street add setup time, and a stump the machine cannot reach changes the approach entirely.
- Wood species and condition. Dense hardwoods like oak, elm and honey locust grind slower than half-rotted ash, and a fresh green stump behaves differently than one that has seasoned for five years.
- What is hiding in and around the stump. Stones, old fence hardware, clothesline anchors and buried concrete dull or break grinder teeth, and stumps in older west GTA yards have swallowed a lot of history.
- What happens to the grindings. Leaving the mound as backfill is included. Hauling grindings away and bringing in topsoil to finish the spot is an add-on we price per job.
- The number of stumps. Setup happens once per visit, so a yard with three stumps is quoted as one job, and the total comes out better than three separate calls would.
Starting at $150, quoted in writing before any work starts.
On-site visit, written quote, no obligation. Usually within 24 hours of your call.
When you need this
- The ash came down after emerald ash borer killed it and the stump has been sitting there since. A huge share of the ash in Mississauga, Brampton and Oakville went the same way, and the stumps outlast the memory of the tree.
- A Norway maple or Manitoba maple stump keeps resprouting into a shrub every summer no matter how many times you cut it back. Grinding takes out the bud wood the regrowth keeps coming from.
- You are laying new sod, running a fence line or planting a garden bed and a stump sits exactly where the work needs to go.
- The stump and its surface roots have become a trip hazard in a lawn kids play on, or you are tired of steering the mower around it and clipping the flare every week.
- Carpenter ants have moved into the rotting wood. A decaying stump is nest habitat, and grinding it out removes the wood they are living in before they scout closer to the house.
- You are listing the house and the dead stump in the front yard is the first thing every buyer walks past. It is one of the cheaper curb appeal fixes going.
Local notes for the west GTA
Most stump grinding calls come after the tree is already down, and the permit conversation belongs to the removal stage, not the grind. Where it still matters is when you call us about a standing tree you want gone, stump and all. Toronto, including Etobicoke, requires a permit at 30 cm trunk diameter measured 1.4 m up, and trees on ravine protected land are regulated at any size, so we always check before touching those properties. Mississauga regulates private trees at 15 cm in some zones, Oakville at 76 cm circumference, which works out to about 24 cm diameter, Burlington at 20 cm, and Brampton at 30 cm with exemptions that include hazardous trees. Milton has no private-tree permit for most residential lots. On the ground itself, west GTA clay holds moisture around old stumps, which is why the ash stumps left from the emerald ash borer wave rot slowly and stand for years. Grinding gets you past that wait in an afternoon.
Where we provide this service
Frequently asked questions
How much does stump grinding cost in the Toronto area? +
Our stump grinding starts at $150, which covers a small stump with straightforward access, ground to our standard depth. From there the price moves with the diameter of the stump at ground level including the flare, how deep you need us to go, how hard it is to get the machine to the stump, and whether you want the grindings hauled away instead of left as backfill. Multiple stumps on one visit are quoted as a single job, which usually works in your favour because setup only happens once. We give you the full number in writing before any work starts, and the written number is the number. If a company quotes you over the phone without asking about flare width or access, treat that price as a guess.
How deep do you grind, and what is left afterwards? +
Our standard grind takes the stump 15 to 20 cm below grade, which is enough to lay sod, spread topsoil or run a mower over the spot without ever knowing a tree was there. If you are planning to replant, set a fence post or pour a small pad in that location, tell us and we grind deeper. What is left behind is a mound of wood chips mixed with soil, sitting in and over the hole. You can rake the mound level and let it settle, use the grindings as mulch elsewhere, or have us haul them out and top up with soil. Expect some settling over the first year as the chips break down. That is normal, and one topsoil top-up in spring usually finishes the job.
Can I plant a new tree where the old stump was ground? +
You can, with caveats. Grinding removes the stump but leaves the larger roots in the ground, and fresh grindings tie up nitrogen as they rot, which starves new plantings. Grass handles this fine once most of the grindings are removed and topsoil is brought in. A new tree in the exact same spot is harder, because it is fighting old root wood for space. Your options are a deep grind with the grindings hauled out and clean soil brought in, planting offset a metre or two from the old stump, or our full stump removal service, which takes the roots out and gives the replacement tree an honest hole. On narrow front yards in Toronto and Etobicoke where there is only one sensible planting spot, full removal is usually worth it.
Do I need a permit to grind a stump? +
The tree permits in west GTA municipalities apply to removing trees, and that step happens before we ever show up with a grinder, so for a stump from a tree that already came down, the bylaw side was dealt with at removal. Where permits do come up is when the tree is still standing and you want it gone, stump and all. Toronto, including Etobicoke, requires a permit at 30 cm trunk diameter measured 1.4 m up, Woodbridge and the rest of Vaughan regulate at 20 cm, Mississauga at 15 cm in some zones, and Hamilton at 30 cm. Ravine protected land in Toronto is regulated at any size, so we check those properties before quoting anything. We run the permit check as part of the quote rather than leaving it on you.
When is the best time of year to grind a stump? +
Any season works if the machine can reach the stump. Winter grinding is often better than people expect, frozen ground carries the grinder without rutting the lawn, and our schedule is lighter, so booking is quicker. The awkward window is early spring thaw, when lawns in Mississauga and Brampton are soft enough that tracking a machine across them leaves marks, and we may suggest waiting a couple of weeks or laying protection mats. Deep snow can hide the stump and the hazards around it, so after a big storm we sometimes push a grind by a few days. For most of the year we can get a small stump done within the same week you call, during business hours. There is no horticultural reason to wait for a particular season, the stump is already dead.
Will the stump grow back after grinding? +
Depends what the tree was. Ash, spruce, pine and most other conifers are done once the stump is ground, they do not resprout. Norway maple, Manitoba maple, willow, poplar and black locust are another story, they can push suckers from the roots left in the soil even after the stump itself is gone. Grinding removes the main bud wood, which knocks the tree back hard, and any suckers that appear are running on stored root energy with no leaves to replenish it. Mow or snip them every time they show and the roots starve, usually within a season or two. If a stump in your yard has already turned into a shrub that comes back every summer, mention it when you call, because that changes how deep we grind and how far we chase the roots.