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Using highly flammable fuels like gasoline to burn a stump carries significant safety risks and should be avoided. Gasoline is highly flammable and volatile, potentially leading to uncontrollable fires, explosions, and other environmental hazards. Additionally, the risk of the fire spreading to surrounding areas is much higher with gasoline use. Safer alternatives, such as specialized stump removal chemicals or professional grinding services, are the best options for stump removal.

Whether it's better to grind or remove a stump depends on your professional tree service’s advice and what you intend for the landscape to look like after removal. Grinding is faster and likely more affordable, but manual removal unearths the root system and leaves the potential for a clean slate for landscape design. 

The most common alternative is burning the stump first, then dealing with the cinders and ashes. As you can imagine, this option creates fire hazards, especially since roots can burn underground, hidden, for long afterward. That’s why many states and cities have outlawed the use of stump burning entirely. We do not recommend this option as a viable alternative unless you get a permit from the local fire department and practice all safe burning procedures.

Others prefer a more long-term DIY approach of degrading the stump with home mixtures like Epsom salt and vinegar injected directly into it. This may help the stump decay faster, allowing homeowners to dig it out themselves, but it’s still a lengthy process. It usually takes months for a stump to start falling apart with such treatments, and in the meantime, it can be vulnerable to rot, insects, and other problems.

While the fastest way to kill a tree is to simply cut it down, there are several other methods to choose from. You should hire a professional tree removal service to cut down a tree to ensure your personal and property safety. Some slower but effective options include treating or grinding the tree stump or using a basal bark treatment.