EAB Specialty Service
Cleaning Up the Ash Stumps EAB Left Behind
Lake Country lost thousands of ash trees to Emerald Ash Borer. We specialize in cleaning up the stumps that got left behind — at standard $3–$4/inch pricing.
Lake Country lost thousands of ash trees to Emerald Ash Borer. We specialize in cleaning up the stumps that got left behind — at standard $3–$4/inch pricing.
If you have an 8–24 inch dead, gray, brittle stump in your yard that's been there for years, there's a very high chance it's from an ash tree killed by Emerald Ash Borer. You're not alone — these stumps are everywhere in Lake Country, and getting them out is a project a lot of homeowners have been putting off.
Send us a photo. We'll text back a price within an hour during business hours.
Emerald Ash Borer is an invasive wood-boring beetle from Asia that kills ash trees by feeding on the inner bark. It was confirmed in Wisconsin in 2008 and has since been detected in all 72 counties. Lake Country, like the rest of southeast Wisconsin, was hit hard. Most of the ash trees in residential neighborhoods, parks, and along streets were dead within 5–10 years of EAB arriving in the area.
Many of those dead trees got removed for safety — falling ash limbs are dangerous because EAB-killed wood becomes brittle quickly. But the stumps were a different story. Cutting down a 60-foot ash tree is one job; grinding the stump is another. A lot of homeowners had the tree taken down, paid for that work, and then put off the stump indefinitely.
A gray, decaying stump is the opposite of curb appeal. For most homeowners this is reason enough.
Especially when partially obscured by lawn or leaves. We've quoted plenty of stumps that were behind a "watch your step" warning to family.
Decaying wood draws termites, carpenter ants, and rodents — none of which you want anywhere near your house.
Want to add a garden bed, expand the patio, or replant a tree? The stump has to go first.
Decaying ash wood can host fungal pathogens that infect surrounding trees — particularly other hardwoods.
EAB-killed ash wood is brittle. It splinters and chunks rather than grinding into clean chips, which means more debris flying further. We use a controlled feed approach with EAB ash — slower passes, smaller bites — to keep the work tidy and protect the surrounding lawn.
EAB ash root systems are also often shallower than living-tree root systems because the tree was unable to maintain the deeper roots after EAB attack. That's good news for grinding — less wood to remove — but it means we sometimes find significant root debris near the surface that needs separate cleanup.
| Sign | What to look for |
|---|---|
| Diameter | 8–24 inches (typical Lake Country residential ash size at death) |
| Wood color | Gray, weathered, dried-out — not the cream/tan of recently cut wood |
| Bark | Loose or missing, often crumbles by hand |
| D-shaped exit holes | 1/8 inch wide, in remaining bark — the EAB beetle's signature |
| Galleries | S-shaped tunnels visible under loose bark |
| Time since cut | Often 5+ years sitting in the yard |
A lot of properties in Oconomowoc, Hartland, and Delafield had two, three, or four ash trees that all died around the same time. If you have multiple EAB stumps, getting them all done in a single visit is much cheaper per stump because we only travel and set up once. Most multi-stump EAB jobs we quote come in 30–50% cheaper per stump than the same stumps quoted individually.
Multi-stump pricing is significantly cheaper per stump. Tell us how many.
Emerald Ash Borer (EAB), an invasive beetle from Asia, was confirmed in Wisconsin in 2008 and has since been detected in all 72 counties. It kills ash trees by eating the tissue under the bark. Lake Country lost thousands of ash trees between roughly 2008 and 2018. Many of those trees were cut down but the stumps were left behind — and they're still in yards today.
Three signs: (1) the stump is 8–24 inches in diameter (ash trees in Lake Country typically died at this size), (2) the wood is gray, dry, and brittle — you can often crumble bark away by hand, (3) you'll often see D-shaped exit holes in the remaining bark, the EAB beetle's signature mark.
Easier and the same price. EAB-killed ash wood is brittle and grinds faster than fresh hardwood. We charge our standard $3–$4 per inch for EAB ash. The complication isn't the wood — it's often that the stump has been sitting for 5+ years with shallow root systems and surface debris that needs careful handling.
No. Once an ash tree is dead and the stump has dried out, the Emerald Ash Borer beetles inside have either emerged or died. Grinding the stump destroys any remaining wood, which is actually beneficial. The Wisconsin DNR recommends destroying or chipping ash material to prevent spread — grinding accomplishes this for the underground portion.
Most quotes back within 1 business hour, 7am–7pm Mon–Sat. We'll text you a price estimate.
Last updated: May 2026. EAB information based on Wisconsin DNR guidance. We are not a government agency — for official EAB information, see the Wisconsin DNR's Emerald Ash Borer resources.