I drove through the small town of Trufant located in the farmland between Greenville and Howard City. I saw this massive thing standing in a park in the center of town and wondered what it was. The massive tripod made of logs the size of telephone poles was used for pulling stumps. Using ropes and chains a crew of men used the framework to pull massive stumps left over from the lumberjacks that harvesting the timber. The stumps were lined up along property lines to create “stump fences”.
According to the sign in front of it the stump puller was made in the 1900s and was used to clear farmland in the region. After it was no longer used Donald and Irene Gustavsen came to be the owners of this unique piece of history. They displayed it on their property in Six Lakes. After Donald’s death in 2000 Irene donated the stump puller to the town of Trufant because it has a Stump Fence Festival every Labor Day weekend.
P.S. I have removed a small stump from my yard and know how difficult it can be. I cannot image how much work it must have been to clear all of the stumps to create the farmland in Michigan.
Thank you for Subscribing to Lost In Michigan, If you have not subscribed yet, It would mean a lot to me if you did.