A stump against a fence can usually be ground from the open side with the fence left standing, as long as the wheel can stay clear of posts, concrete footings and any wire the tree has grown around. Where the trunk has swallowed wire or a post, that metal has to be found and cut free first, and occasionally a section of fence comes off and goes back.
Why fence lines grow trees
The strip under a fence is the one part of a yard or field nobody mows. Seeds dropped there get a few undisturbed years, and by the time anyone notices, a sapling has become a trunk pressed against the boards or swallowing the wire. Then it dies, blows over or gets cut, and a stump is left jammed against the fence with its roots wrapped around a post. Along old pasture lines that can mean a row of them. Long runs of fence-line stumps are their own job, covered under pasture and fence-line stump grinding.
Wire grown into the trunk
Barbed wire, woven field fence, staples and old nails disappear into bark within a few seasons, and the tree keeps growing around them. To a grinding wheel, buried metal is the worst thing in a stump: it breaks teeth and can be flung out. Look for wire that enters one side of the trunk and comes out the other, rust stains in the bark, and staples on the old fence posts nearby. If the wire is still part of a working fence, ease the tension at the nearest post before cutting it free on both sides of the stump, because tight wire springs back hard. Then tell us what you found. Even a guess about where wire might be inside helps.
Posts and footings
Wood posts are often set in concrete, and roots grow around the footing. Metal T-posts are driven straight in. Vinyl and aluminum fences sit on posts that cannot take a knock. The wheel works the stump down on the side away from the post and stops short of the footing. Sometimes grinding the stump loosens a post that the roots had been holding, and it then needs resetting. If the post is already rotten at the base, it is often simpler to take it out before the grinding and set a new one afterward, in firm soil a little to one side.
Which side of the line is it on?
Fences are often near property lines but not always on them. Before anything is ground, settle whose stump it is. Your plat or survey will show the line, and a neighbor conversation sorts out the rest. If the stump straddles the line or sits on the neighbor's side, get their agreement in plain terms, and decide who is paying and where the grindings go. The machine may need to sit on their side of the fence to reach it. Grinding only your half is possible, but it leaves a ragged half-stump and a fence post with roots on one side.
When a section has to come off
Most fence-line stumps are reached from the open side by a narrow machine built for tight access stump grinding, and the fence stays up. When the only way in is through the fence, or the stump sits in the gap between two runs, a board panel or a length of chain link can be taken down and put back. With board fences that is usually a matter of screws or nails at the rails. On chain link, the wire ties are snipped and the mesh peeled back, then retied. Vinyl panels often slide out of the posts. Nothing comes off without asking first, and our guide to stump grinding in a fenced backyard covers the gate side of it.
Electric fence and invisible fence
Livestock fence with an electric wire needs the charger switched off and the hot wire held clear before anyone works near it. Insulators on old posts are easy to miss in tall grass. Invisible dog fences are the opposite problem: a thin wire buried just under the turf, often following the visible fence line, that 811 does not mark. SC811's advice is that property owners are responsible for identifying private lines. Turn the system off, flag where the wire runs, and expect to splice it if the stump sits right on top of it.
Afterward: resetting posts and keeping the line clear
The hole is raked back with grindings and topped, unless you ask for them hauled off. A new post should not be set in grindings, because chips settle as they rot and a post in them will lean. Set it in firm soil to one side, or have the stump lifted out whole so the post goes in compacted backfill. Then keep the strip under the fence mown or sprayed so the next tree never gets started. Our guide to clearing a fence line covers longer stretches.
Common Questions
Can a stump with fence wire grown into it be ground?
Usually, once the wire is found. Cut it free on both sides of the trunk and say where it enters. Buried metal breaks grinder teeth and can be thrown, so known wire is ground around or dug out. Send a photo of where the wire goes into the bark.
Do I need my neighbor's okay to grind a stump on the fence line?
If the stump is on their side or straddles the line, yes, get clear agreement first. Check your plat or survey for where the line runs, and agree who pays, which side the machine works from and where the grindings go. A short conversation now avoids a long argument later.
Can I set a new fence post where a stump was ground out?
Not straight into the grindings. Chips settle as they rot and the post will lean. Set the post in firm soil to one side of the old stump, or have the stump lifted out whole and the hole backfilled and compacted where the post has to go.
What to Do Next
Take a picture of the stump, the fence either side of it and the gate or gap you would use, and send them with your town, or call (828) 574-4474. Point out any wire showing in the bark.