A stump grinding quote weighs the stump, the ground around it and what hides below.
Stump grinding cost follows the stump's diameter, the number of stumps, the depth of the grind, the way in for the grinder, the surface roots and whatever hides in or under the wood. North Carolina's public stump contracts write most of these down, and not always alike. Why no figure appears here is covered under how jobs get quoted.
Public stump contracts size the work by diameter, or by the hour
The unit is the buyer's choice. The City of Wilmington's stump bid request, issued in September 2024, asked for one rate for each inch of diameter; an NCDOT roadside contract opened for bids in January 2026 pays for each stump by diameter band; the NC Forest Service's model contract sorts stump removal into trunk diameter classes. An NCDOT contract for state roads in Davidson County and three other counties, opened for bids in September 2014, paid stump grinding by the hour.
Where the unit is diameter, a wider stump is more wood to grind, so width pushes the work up. Each was written for public streets and trees, not a yard.
Each stump is its own measurement
Wilmington's bid form gives several stumps at one address a line each, so two stumps are two measurements and the count adds to the work. Stumps close together spare the grinder the trips between them; stumps spread around a lot, or split by a fence or a bed, add moving and setting up.
Grinding depth is written down, and public specifications set it differently
NCDOT's roadside contracts call for at least six inches below the surrounding ground; the NC Forest Service's specifications at least 12 inches below normal grade, or six inches within two feet of an identified underground utility; Wilmington's, 24 inches or until the stump and roots are gone.
Deeper is more grinding on the same stump, so a plan that needs more depth pushes the work up. A refilled hole can settle, which is why Wilmington's specification mounds each one above grade; what can be built over the spot is the builder's question, and stump grinding covers planning the grind around it.
Getting the grinder in, and protecting what surrounds the stump
A stump the grinder can drive up to is the simple case; one behind a narrow gate, down a slope or inside a planted bed takes more getting to and more protecting. NCDOT's contract requires work that prevents injury to vegetation meant to keep growing, and the NC Forest Service's model has lawn damage restored.
Grinding also throws debris: the NC Forest Service's model requires skirts on the grinder and says barricades may be necessary, so a stump beside a window, a parked car or a street may need shielding first, which adds to the job.
Surface roots carry the grind past the edge of the stump
The NC Forest Service's specifications have adjoining surface roots ground to 12 inches or chopped out with an axe; Wilmington's takes them out to a set distance from the stump's outside edge, and not into neighboring private property. Roots snaking toward the driveway are more to grind than the stump alone.
Metal can hide in the wood, and private lines can run under it
EnergyUnited's vegetation page, on the stumps its right-of-way contractors cut low, makes an exception where "there is metal or a foreign substance that has grown into the tree," and Wilmington's bid request priced a complete stump removal to include removing "any uncovered trash or debris." A stump by an old fence line or a sign post can hold metal that may not show until the grinder reaches it.
NC811 says "Secondary water, sewer, gas and electric are considered private lines and will not be marked when contacting 811," so a line to a shed or a pool that passes an old stump is worth mentioning first.
Grindings hauled or left, and a stump alone or with a removal
The NC Forest Service's model takes the grindings out of the hole and grades the spot level with the lawn, tamping in topsoil where needed; Wilmington's specification refills each hole with its own grindings and has the excess removed. Hauling grindings off and bringing in soil is more work than leaving them, and which finish a yard gets is settled when the stump is quoted.
A stump ground with a removal rides on that job, and what drives a tree removal quote covers that side; an old stump on its own carries the grinder's trip alone. For limbs on the same visit, see what drives a tree trimming quote.
Get every stump counted and measured on the walk-through.
Questions people actually ask.
How is a stump's diameter measured for a grinding contract?
A stump's diameter is measured wherever the buyer's contract says: at the cut surface on the City of Wilmington's list, from the highest existing part of the stump in an NCDOT roadside contract, and at breast height, four and a half feet above grade, in the NC Forest Service's model.
Why is a stump sized by its width and not its height?
Because public specifications have the stump cut low first, leaving width to measure. NCDOT's roadside contract has trees cut as close to the ground as possible, and the NC Forest Service's model has the stump flush cut to the lawn's grade.
Does EnergyUnited grind the stump after its crews take a tree down?
No. EnergyUnited's vegetation page says the co-op does not grind stumps of trees that have been taken down; its contractors cut them close to the ground, so grinding one is a separate job. Duke Energy and Lexington Utilities customers should ask their own utility.
Why would a city that measured its stumps still tell bidders to look?
Because a measured stump is still an approximation. The City of Wilmington called its listed sizes "best-effort approximations to measure the diameter of natural shapes that are only roughly circular" and encouraged bidders to inspect every stump before submitting costs.