Houston Stump Grinding Crew Based in Waller County, TX: Tree Stump Removal, the Price per Stump and What We Grind
A stump in Waller County costs $150 to $400 to grind, by diameter, and the trailer is already here. The equipment yard sits in Hockley off Highway 290, so a Waller County stump carries no transport in the number. The ground is sand to loam up top and tallow clay in the bottoms, and sand is the easiest grinding we do. We grind 8 inches below grade in a yard and grub the root ball when a slab or a fence line is going over it. Fifteen stumps or more go by the day. Call (713) 587-6978 or send a photo with a tape measure across the top. Janine will have a number back to you by tomorrow.
COUNTY FIELD GUIDE
Stump Grinding vs. Stump Removal in Sand and Loam Soil: Grind It Out or Remove the Root Ball
Grind it if grass or a landscape bed is going over it. Dig it out if a slab, a driveway or a fence post is. On Waller County sand the grind is quick and the dig is clean, because the soil falls away from the roots instead of gripping them. The problem here is the oaks. Post oak sends roots sideways a foot down and as hard as the trunk, so a 24-inch one is a $400 grind with the surface root grinding running out eight feet, or it is a fence post that will not go in. Full stump removal means the excavator pulls the root ball, and on sand the hole backfills itself in one pass. On our jobs in Hempstead we see yaupon stumps by the hundred after a brush job, two to four inches each, and those are a day rate, not a per-stump count. Tallow in the bottoms toward the Brazos is the other case. Its crown sprouts if you leave it, so it gets ground deep. Safe stump removal next to a barn means a plywood shield, a smaller machine and a call to 811 three days ahead, because the water line to the trough is never where the homeowner thinks it is.
- Under 12 inches across: $150, 20 minutes.
- 12 to 24 inches: $250 to $300, under an hour.
- Over 24 inches: $400, or full root removal by the day.
- Fifteen or more stumps: priced by the day, never under the $1,200 to $1,500 trip charge.
Stump Grinding Cost in Waller County, TX per Tree Stump, with Multi-Stump Lots by the Day
Numbers first. The lot decides the final price.
The price is $150 to $400 per stump, measured across the widest point of the cut at ground level. Pine grinds faster than hardwood of the same size because the wood is softer, and on sand both grind faster than anything in Houston. Lots with many stumps go by the day. A fence line with 30 sprout stumps ground flush is a day, and the Hockley sketch is the pattern: 2,400 feet of fence line, yaupon and post oak sprouts, 8-foot path, one day, skid steer, $3,000, stumps included. We cleared a horse place off FM 2920 last spring and ground 22 stumps the second morning before the farrier showed up. Wood chips stay in a mound where the tree was unless you want them hauled, and haul-off adds $600 to $1,200 a load. On sand I tell people to spread the chips as mulch over the lawn and seed over them, because bare sand blows and chips hold it. I price from a photo with a tape across the top, and the estimate is the invoice unless I find a steel post inside the wood, which on an old fence line is more often than you would think. Call (713) 587-6978 or send the photo. Janine will have the number back by tomorrow, and the free estimate on site is free anywhere in Greater Houston.
Single stump
Illustrative range by size, access, and depth.
Multiple stumps
Same trip. Better to see them all before we roll.
Changes the day
Access, moisture, and what must leave the lot change the real number.
Tree Stump Removal After Tree Service Work, Tree Removal and Root Grinding on Pasture and Fence Lines
Most stumps we grind in Waller County were left by somebody else. Any tree service of northwest Houston will drop the tree and leave you the base, because emergency tree removal after a storm is paid by the hour and stumps are slow. I don't offer professional tree care services, trimming or planting. I grind what the tree man leaves. On our own land clearing jobs the stumps come out the same day with the mulcher or the excavator, because one left in a build pad rots, settles and cracks the slab in year three. A stump left to decay feeds termite and carpenter ant colonies for a decade, and the beetle larvae move into the fence next. That is the pest problem, and on a horse place a rotted stump in the pasture is a hazard for the horse before it is one for you. Unsightly stumps in a front yard are an aesthetic problem. One under a new patio is a structural one. Tree stump removal on a lot we did not clear costs the same as on one we did, and the debris goes out with the same trailer.
The right equipment on sand is a matter of teeth, not power. A 13-horsepower rental grinder with a 9-inch wheel will get through a yaupon stump and quit on hardwood. Ours carries 60 horses, carbide teeth and a hydraulic swing, so a 24-inch hardwood stump that would take your Saturday takes us 40 minutes. We specialize in the hardwood the rental counter cannot handle, and a professional stump removal service should remove a stump of any size without leaving a trench in the yard.
Professional Stump Grinder and Grinding Services in Hockley, Waller, Hempstead, Brookshire and Waller County
Our equipment yard is in Hockley. Send the address and Janine will confirm the route.
We grind stumps in Hempstead, Waller, Hockley, Prairie View, Brookshire and Pattison. Waller County pulled 339 single-family permits in 2025 by the Census Building Permits Survey, so most of our stump work here is pasture, fence line and the yard around an older house, not new builds. The same machine that grinds a live oak stump in West University or Highland Village on Monday grinds hardwood in Hempstead on Tuesday, and we park the trailer in the pasture here instead of the street. West Houston, Katy and Cypress are clay and tallow. Up here it is sand, and a woodland lot in Hockley grinds twice as fast as the same count on Houston's gumbo. Two inches of rain saturate the bottoms near Brookshire and drain off the ridge by morning, so the schedule here is the easiest of the seven counties. Grinding stumps on Houston clay is a longer day than anything on this sand. A tree needs 50 years to grow a $400 stump on this sand. We mow it down in an hour.
Residential and commercial work runs the same way, same machine, same rate. Commercial properties along Highway 290 with a row of parking-lot stumps go by the day. We are stump grinding specialists second and land clearers first, and the grinder rides on the same trailer as the mulcher. Under a county burn ban the chips cannot be burned, so they stay on the ground. Since 2018 that has never once been a problem.
Get a Free Quote for Stumps in Your Front Yard, Driveway or Horse Pasture
Get a free quote by sending a photo of each stump with a tape measure laid across the top, plus your address. Janine will have a number back by tomorrow, and the on-site look is free inside Greater Houston. Tell her what is going over the hole, grass, sod, a slab, a fence post or an irrigation line, and whether you want the chips left or hauled. Call (713) 587-6978. I will not call it competitive. I will call it $150 to $400 a stump, in writing, and in Waller County the trailer is already parked ten minutes from your gate. Janine answers the phone. I answer for the work.
Tell Janine about your lot.
The address. The growth. Three honest photos.
Design preview. This form does not send or store information until a backend is connected.
Plain answers.
If your question is about wet ground, Janine will ask me.
How much to grind one stump?
For planning, many stumps fall in a $150–$400 range, but the size, roots, depth, and access decide the quote. Send a close photo and the diameter.
Is stump grinding the same as removal?
No. Grinding takes the visible stump down into chips. Full removal takes out more root mass. A lawn and a slab need different results.
Do I need a permit to clear my lot?
It depends on the address and scope. Grading, floodplain work, drainage changes, wetlands, and local tree rules can trigger approvals. We check the jurisdiction before any regulated dirt work begins.
What happens to the brush?
Forestry mulching leaves chips on the ground. Full clearing can include piles or haul-off when the next use needs a different finish. Tell us whether you want mulch, a clean pad, or both.
Who answers the request?
Janine reads the web forms and handles the schedule. She usually responds within the hour during working hours. Hollis reviews the ground and takes responsibility for the scope and number.