Last Updated: · Written by Sunward Palm Coast Land Clearing
Sunward Palm Coast Land Clearing’s typical range for stump grinding is $2 to $6 per inch of stump diameter, with a first stump at $120 to $400 because the machine has to come out for it. Additional stumps on the same visit cost less each. Hardwood, wide surface roots, tight access and hauling the grindings push a job up. We grind stumps across Palm Coast and Flagler County and price them from photos or a quick visit.
In short
- Per inch of diameter: our typical range is $2 to $6.
- First stump: $120 to $400.
- More stumps per visit lower the cost per stump.
- Outside the price: tree removal, permits, soil and sod.
What do we charge?
| How it is priced | Our typical range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Per inch of diameter | $2 to $6 | Measured across the top of the stump |
| First stump | $120 to $400 | Covers the trip even for one small stump |
We confirm your price before we start. A 20-inch pine at the per-inch range would fall between $40 and $120 on its own, which is why the first-stump figure, not the per-inch figure, sets the floor for a single small job.
What moves the price
| Factor | Lower | Higher |
|---|---|---|
| Wood | Pine, palm | Live oak, other dense hardwood |
| Roots | Compact base | Wide surface roots ground out across the lawn |
| Access | Open from the street | Through a gate, between fences, up steps |
| Depth | A few inches for sod | Deeper for pavers or a new planting |
| Grindings | Left to fill the hole | Raked out, hauled, backfilled with soil |
| Count | Many stumps, one visit | One stump, one trip |
| Surroundings | Open lawn | Beside a driveway, foundation or buried lines |
Live oak and other hardwoods take far longer to grind than pine, and their surface roots often run several feet across a lawn. Palm stumps are fibrous and grind fast. Next to a driveway, a sidewalk or a foundation, the wheel works down slowly and the last of the stump may be cut by hand. Near the street, we have lines located through 811 before grinding starts.
Several stumps?
List them with a rough size each. Doing them on one visit brings the cost per stump down.
What a grinding price leaves out
Grinding starts with a stump. Taking down the tree is a separate job, and in Palm Coast any tree of 6 inches or more across at 4.5 feet needs a tree removal permit first, with replacement trees possibly required at $220 to $580 each if paid into the city’s tree bank. Soil to top up the hole and sod or seed over it are usually separate too, and the spot settles a little as the roots decay, as the after clearing guide notes for cleared lots generally.
We don’t grind stumps under a planned slab, driveway or pool at all. We pull them out with their roots as part of clearing and grubbing, which is priced with the clearing; the grind or remove guide explains why.
Grinding as part of a larger job
Stumps ground on the same visit as other work, such as a brush clearing job or the edges of a newly cleared lot, share the cost of bringing the machine. On a building lot, stumps under the house are pulled during clearing and only the ones at the edges are ground, so the grinding line on a lot clearing quote is usually a handful of stumps rather than the whole lot.
Local labor
Labor isn’t what makes grinding expensive here. Tree trimmers and pruners in the Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach metro, which includes Flagler County, earn a mean $23.11 an hour, below the $26.91 national mean, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. A wage is not a billing rate: the price also carries the grinder, its teeth and fuel, the trailer, insurance and overhead.
Example budgets (illustrative)
These examples are illustrative, built only from the ranges above. They are not quotes and do not describe real jobs.
- One 14-inch pine stump in an open front lawn, chips left in the hole. The first-stump range sets the price.
- Five pine stumps of 10 to 20 inches along the edge of a newly cleared lot. Priced per inch across all five, with the trip spread over them, so each costs less than a lone stump would.
- One 30-inch live oak stump behind a fence with wide surface roots and the grindings hauled. Toward the top of the per-inch range, plus the haul and soil.
The Palm Coast land clearing cost guide covers stumps as part of a full lot clear, and the stump grinding page covers the work itself.
Want a price for your stumps?
Send a photo of each stump with a tape measure across the top, and how the machine gets to them.