tree planting

[BrettFF205D]

Hello to all,
I'm new here and appreciate all the imput I've been reading. I have a lot of trees to plant and I want to know if there is an attachment that does this easily. Dig the holes, I mean. I have a 20 hp PTO, cat 3 hitch. thanks, brett w

 

[Alan L.]

A post hole digger comes in real handy. You can get one for $500 at Tractor Supply vs $5000 + for a backhoe.

 

[MossRoad]

How many trees are you talking? Post hole augers work pretty good for small amounts of trees. For really large amounts of trees, there are special 3pt hitch planting attachments that slit the soil open, the operator stuffs the tree in the hole, the machine packs the soil around the tree and them gives it a shot of herbicide to keep the weeds down for the year. You can plant several thousand trees a day with one of these and two people.

 

[beenthere]

More information will help. How many trees? What size are the trees? What kind of trees, and what kind of soil, conditions of the soil (sod, plowed, brush, logged, ??)?
Your comment on a 20 PTO HP tractor with a cat. 3 hitch was a little confusing. Maybe 3pt hitch of category 1 size?
You say "dig holes" , although the typical method of machine planting a lot of trees is to pull a planter which opens a trench or slit in the ground, that seedlings are laid into by someone riding on the planter. There are however methods of using a post hole auger on a 3pt to dig holes to plant trees into, especially if the trees to plant are larger than seedlings.
Does this narrow in on what you were asking?

 

[Turfman]

You're probably planting bare root trees that are small. For them a posthole auger works well. The bigger the hole the better, insure the roots are not curled or they will grow in a circle and girdle the tree. Also, if the soil is wet and clay be sure that you don't glaze the sides and make it like a clay pot. The roots won't penetrate the glazed clay wall. If that happens, just scrape up the sides a bit.

Kevin

 

[MossRoad]

Also, you might want to check out this thread <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.tractorbynet.com/cgi-bin/compact/showflat.pl?Cat=&Board=rural&Number=99206&page=&view=&sb=&o=&vc=1> tree farm </A> which has some links to pictures of a tree planter, as well as some great discussion on tree planting.

 

[billboe]

As many have suggested, it depends upon what size trees you are planting... I just did some transplanting and with the size the "root balls" I dug up, a backhoe was the only way to go... I'm not an expert, but, I believe you should have a bigger hole than the size of your balls... (root balls that is...)

 

[BrettFF205D]

Guys, thanks for all the help. Yes, I messed up what I typed. I have a 20 hp, PTO , and cat1, 3 pt hitch. I will be planting maybe 200 white pines I think. Can't tell yet exactly how many. They will be small/ root ball type. One other question, is it possible to pull trees out of existing woods and have them live after relocation? I'm talking bigger now. Probably red oak. This would be in place of having a nursery come out and put me in a large tree. Just wondering as I have lots of oaks in the woods, some easily accessible. thanks again, brett w

 

[DocHeb]

Oaks do not do well with transplanting since they have very deep central taproots.

 

[MossRoad]

The question isn't how deep are the roots, it's how deep are your pockets /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif. If you dig deep enough to not disturb the roots too badly and prune the tree properly you can transplant anything. I've transplanted several 5' and under oaks with good success. Haven't tried anything larger.