The three bands, and where most Hermitage stumps fall
For 2026, a compact stump under about a foot across typically runs $100 to $175. A mid-size stump, the 12 to 24-inch range that covers most trees taken down after two or three decades of growth, lands between $175 and $350. A large hardwood - and in this town, that usually means an original willow oak or northern red oak planted when the subdivision first went in - can run $350 to $700. Given how many Towering Oaks and Hermitage Hills properties still carry their original 1970s and 80s plantings, we quote more jobs in that top band here than in a lot of newer towns nearby.
What actually moves a number within its band
Diameter gets a quote most of the way there, but access and root spread do the rest. A stump reachable straight off a driveway prices lower than one requiring a walk-behind squeezed through a side gate, and a willow oak's wide, shallow root system can genuinely take longer to grind through than a narrower, deeper-rooted species of the same trunk width. Irrigation lines, which run under nearly every lawn in this town, don't usually change the price directly, but they add time for careful marking that a faster, riskier approach could skip - time we build into the quote rather than surprise you with afterward.
Why a covenant lawn doesn't cost more, just takes more care
Some homeowners assume a job in a strict HOA subdivision costs more because of the cleanup standard expected. It doesn't - the base grinding price is the same whether the yard has a covenant or not. What changes is how carefully we finish: raking level rather than mounding, clearing debris fully off hardscape, timing haul-off around any covenant deadline you've mentioned. That's part of how we normally operate anyway, not an upcharge.
Getting an accurate number without a site visit
Text a couple of clear photos with something for scale next to the stump - a shoe, a rake handle, anything of known size - and mention how many stumps and roughly what the yard access looks like. For most single-stump jobs on a standard Hermitage lot, that's enough for a firm price the same day. A few situations still call for us to look in person first: several large hardwoods clustered together, or a stump we suspect has grown into a driveway edge or slab footer where guessing wrong from a photo isn't worth the risk to either of us.
The short version
2026 pricing runs roughly $100-175 for a compact stump, $175-350 mid-size, and $350-700 for a large hardwood - a band Hermitage sees more often than most towns nearby because of its original 1970s-80s plantings. HOA lawns cost the same; they just get extra care on cleanup.