AI Templates for Stump Grinders: Job Size Boards in 2026

Every stump grinding quote starts the same way. The homeowner points at a stump and asks what it will run. You look at the diameter, the access, whether there is a fence in the way and how far the chips have to go, and you give a number. They hear the number cold, with nothing to compare it to, and half the time they say they will think about it.

A job size board changes that conversation. It is a single laminated sheet, in your hand or clipped to the truck, that shows stump sizes as tiers with a price range against each one. You hold it up, point at the tier that matches the stump you are both looking at, and the number lands as a category instead of a guess.

In 2026 you can build one in an afternoon using AI templates, and reprint it every time your rates or your equipment change.

Why homeowners push back on stump pricing

Stump grinding is one of the hardest trades to quote verbally because the customer has no reference point. They know what a haircut costs and what a lawn cut costs. They have never bought stump removal before and probably never will again.

So when you say a figure, they have no way to tell if it is fair. The absence of context reads as risk, and risk makes people delay. That is not a price objection, it is a confidence problem, and you cannot solve a confidence problem by lowering the price.

The second issue is that customers underestimate what the job includes. They are picturing a machine touching a stump for 5 minutes. They are not picturing the utility locate, the fence panel that comes off, the tarping of the neighbor's siding, the grinding depth below grade, or the chip volume that a 30 inch stump produces. When the price seems high, it is usually because the scope was invisible.

A board fixes both problems at once. It gives the number a category, and it makes the scope visible before anyone argues about the total.

What goes on a job size board

Size tiers with real diameters. Four tiers is the working number. Small up to 12 inches, medium 13 to 24 inches, large 25 to 36 inches, and oversize above 36 inches. Measure at grade, and say on the board that you measure at grade, because customers measure at the trunk they remember.

A visual for each tier. A simple circle or a photo of an actual stump at that size. This is the part that does the most work. People are poor at estimating inches and good at matching pictures.

A price range per tier, not a single number. Ranges are honest and they protect you. Give the range and put the reason for the spread right underneath.

What moves a job up the range. Three or four factors, stated plainly. Tight access, rock or fill in the soil, grinding deeper for replanting, multiple stumps close together, chip haul away. This is where you make the invisible scope visible.

What is included as standard. Grinding to a stated depth below grade, chips left on site and raked level, surface roots within a stated distance. Naming the standard prevents the argument later.

Add-ons priced separately. Chip removal, topsoil and seed, root chasing beyond the standard distance, stump grinding in a bed with irrigation. List them, price them, and let the customer choose.

Minimum charge and multi-stump discount. Both of these change behavior on the spot. A stated minimum stops the tiny job that costs you a mobilization, and a multi-stump line gets the neighbor's stump added while you are already parked.

Your name, phone number and insurance line. Fully insured, printed small but present, closes more jobs than most people expect.

Building the board without a designer

Open MiriCanvas and use the Chat Interface rather than starting from nothing. Describe it the way you would say it out loud: an 8.5 by 11 inch vertical board for a stump grinding business with four size tiers, a photo slot for each tier, a price column and a footer with a phone number.

The layout comes back structured, with the tiers already spaced evenly and the type sizes already set for reading at arm's length. Never start from a blank page again. You then edit real content into a real layout instead of fighting a blank canvas.

Smart Blocks earn their keep in the tier rows. The description under "Small" might be one line and the description under "Oversize" might be four, because oversize is where all the caveats live. In a rigid template that longer block shoves the price column out of alignment and the tiers stop reading as a clean ladder. Smart Blocks reflow the surrounding elements so the price column stays aligned down the whole board regardless of how uneven the descriptions are. Write what you actually need to say and let the layout absorb it.

Then the Full-Spec Editor does the finishing. Set the exact board size before you start, control margins so nothing is lost at the trim, set your brand colors to match the truck and the shirts, size the tier headings large enough to read from a step back, and export at 300 DPI so the print shop and the laminator get a clean file. AI starts it. You make it yours.

MiriCanvas carries 300K+ templates according to company data, and the Human-Made AI Source behind its AI means the suggested layouts come from professionally designed human work instead of generic synthetic imagery. On a board a customer holds in their hands, that difference reads as a business worth hiring.

How the board gets used at the quote

Print it at 8.5 by 11 inches and laminate it. Keep one in the truck door pocket and one in the trailer.

Walk the property first, then bring the board out. Hold it next to the stump so the customer can see the size match happen rather than take your word for it. Point at the tier, then point at the range, then name the factors from the board that apply to this specific stump. You are not defending a price, you are reading a document you both can see.

The multi-stump line does real work here. Once the customer is looking at tiers, the second stump at the back fence stops being a separate decision and becomes an add-on with an obvious discount.

Leave a smaller version behind. A 4 by 6 inch card with the same tiers, your number on the back, and the date you visited. It survives on a kitchen counter far longer than a texted quote survives in a message thread.

Where teams compare tools

Any of them can put four rows on a page. The question is how long it takes to keep those rows aligned once you type in your real caveats.

A worked example

A single-machine operator wants a board before storm season.

First hour: describe the board in the Chat Interface, get a four tier layout, and drop in four photos of stumps already on the phone from past jobs.

Second hour: type the real tiers and ranges from the last 20 invoices, add the factor list and the standard inclusions, add the minimum charge and the multi-stump line, and set the colors to match the trailer.

Third step: export at 300 DPI, print and laminate two copies, then duplicate the file, resize it to 4 by 6 inches, trim to the tiers and phone number, and print 250 leave-behind cards. Less exploring. More delivering.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Should I put actual prices on the board or only tiers?

Put ranges. A tier with no number leaves the customer exactly where they started, and a single fixed number will be wrong on half your jobs. A range plus a short list of what moves a job to the top of it is honest and defensible.

2. How many size tiers should the board have?

Four works best. Three is too coarse for the jump between a 14 inch stump and a 34 inch stump, and five gets crowded on a single page at readable type size.

3. What size should the board be?

An 8.5 by 11 inch vertical board is the practical choice. It reads at arm's length, laminates cheaply, and fits a truck door pocket. Make a 4 by 6 inch leave-behind version from the same file.

4. How do I update the board when my rates change?

Reopen the same file, edit the ranges, and export again. Smart Blocks keep the tier rows aligned even when a new line of text runs longer, so a rate change does not turn into a rebuild.

5. Can the same design work for social posts and my website?

Yes. Duplicate the design, change the canvas to a square or vertical social size, and adjust the layout. Posting your tier board answers the pricing question publicly and filters out calls that were never going to book.

Build your job size board today

You already know your tiers. They live in your head and in your invoice history. Getting them onto one printed sheet is what turns a verbal guess into a quote the customer trusts. Open a template at blog.miricanvas.com, describe your four tiers, type in your real ranges, and export a print-ready board today. Save time. Save effort. Get results.